GRRRRRRRR!
This one is for you, the blog readers. It’s a chance for you to air your language-learning grievances and get some community involvement. As we reach the end of 2011 and head into the New Year (supposedly our last on the planet if you listen to the Tin Foil Hat Brigade) we usually spend an inordinate amount of time trying to think of new ways to torture ourselves to do things vastly different than the previous year.
Instead of trying to inspire you to come up with a list of language goals for the upcoming year, what I would like to hear from you is what you struggle with most. What gives you the most problems and causes you the most headaches?
I’ll start. For me, it’s vocabulary. I cannot for the life of me seem to remember the definitions of words. I have tried tons and tons of different methods, but no matter what I do I just cannot seem to get over the vocabulary hump.
How about you? What kills you the most? What gives you the most grief? What makes you want to pull your hair out?
i struggle with just about all of it.
i just do not retain the words – even simple ones. even if i do all the memorization tricks, the next day the word for “box” is… is…???
and hearing the tones… for a long time i was asking for “noodle with mosquito net” same word: “moo” different sound for mosquito net or chicken.
but i’m still trying.
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My two top challenges are – 1. Vocabulary – A good way to build vocabulary is to process a massive amount of *comprehensible* input. Listening to Thai TV where I can understand less than 20% of what is being communicated doesn’t help much. Trying to read even children’s books in Thai has been difficult due to the vocabulary problem. I would like to find a lot Thai input material where I can understand 80% of what is being said or written. 2. Speaking – Finding more opportunities to use the limited Thai that I already know.
Hi, awesome blog you have here. I’ve just stumbled upon it through Twitter; so it does it work! For me, it’s getting over the plane that you reach after the initial year of learning lots of new and basic words, concepts etc. It’s easy to order food, tell someone that I’m married, or have lived in Thailand for X years. It’s not so easy to say: You know that man on the TV who is really funny and he has that show where … blah blah blah. Basically, I want to get over the lower intermediate stage. That’s my plan for 2012, end of the world!
Sounds like we are in the same boat, Ray. Keep going! We’ll get there…
I cannot for the life of me seem to remember the definitions of words. I have tried tons and tons of different methods, but no matter what I do I just cannot seem to get over the vocabulary hump.
Hi Josh! We are on the same shoes! There are times that the word is on the tip of my tongue yet I just couldn’t find the right term to use. Another problem is the grammar. Ugggh! There are times I do not notice the past tense and the present tense.
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I think I’m starting to resign myself to just going with the flow and not going nuts trying to “get it.” It will come when it comes.
Hi josh, I think its not gonna be a great decision if you will give up from it. Learning is very challenging but all you need is to believe in your self.
Don’t get me wrong, Brien. I don’t intend on giving up on Thai at all. I just think I’m starting to lean to the side of just going with the flow rather than trying to shove it down my own throat.
Hi Josh,
That’s what you called spirit… I agree with you 100% that quitting is not the solution for all the greatness and learning…
yes it’s the vocabulary for me too, and even if I can remember the words I sometimes forget how to say them. Giving my grandmother to the cow to eat instead of grass is a no no I guess.
I guess that depends on how much you love your grandmother, David, but I imagine you would be right!
I’m using http://www.flashcardexchange.com to create/find flashcards for Thai vocabulary. It can remind me to review a batch of words periodically using the Leitner study techniques.
You can also create audio or picture flashcards, which can be very useful for learning languages.
Hope this could be of help to those having problems remembering words.
And you can find iPhone(iPad) and Android apps to download flashcards from flashcardexchange.com too, so you can review words on the run.