Today was the last day but one of my five days' studying Indonesian on the island of Java. It was sweltering hot and sunny when I arrived for class but they don't call this the rainy season for nothing, as I discovered on my journey back to the hotel. The lesson went well, with Johan, my co-ordinator, who also taught me on Monday, back as my teacher. After an early … [Read more...]
“Minimmersion” Indonesian 5: Day 3 (video): more key vocab, the US elections and downtown Yogyakarta in the rain
It's Wednesday evening and I'm a good half-way through my five day "minimmersion" in the Indonesian language, here in Yogyakarta on the island of Java. The day began, as yesterday, with a 45 minute lesson via skype where we dealt with ways of saying "have" and some important "classroom" vocabulary (table, chair, pencil, pen and so on). Then it was over to the language … [Read more...]
“Minimmersion” Indonesian 4: Day 2 (video) begins online and ends with a splash
It's Tuesday night, the end of Day 2 of my five-day crash course in beginners' Indonesian. I got a good start this morning, even before I left my Yogyakarta hotel room: a 45 minute lesson on italki with Zacky, the teacher I met up with in a café yesterday afternoon. I had a different teacher at the school today for my daily 10:15 to 12:00 session: a young lady called … [Read more...]
“Minimmersion” Indonesian 3: Day 1 (with video) at the school, further explorations & speaking some Indonesian
Yesterday I posted for the first time from Yogyakarta, Indonesia. I'm here on a one-week "minimmersion" to try to get some Indonesian language basics and to learn about the country and culture. Today was the first of my five days of study. The day started with a good breakfast at the hotel, then I was picked up and driven to the language school. The driver told me to … [Read more...]
“Minimmersion Indonesian” 2: arrival video
I'm now in my hotel room in Yogyakarta on the Indonesian island of Java on "day zero", the eve of my week's intensive Indonesian. The flight from Singapore was smooth, made easier by the efficient civility of the airport there. I was pretty tired on board after only about four hours' sleep last night and, as a result, I worked less on vocab that I'd have liked....I did try … [Read more...]
“Minimmersion” Indonesian 1: the plan revealed
Hi from Singapore! I arrived here four days ago for a work trip straight from the Greek city of Thessaloniki, where I was attending the fourth Polyglot Conference. Look out for my review and videos from that wonderful event later. I've got a vlog on the languages of Singapore in the pipelines too. Now though, I want to tell you about the new project I hinted at in the last … [Read more...]
Six tips for keeping going with your language learning (and an update on my Basque)
You may be several months - or years - into learning a language and it still feels like you're a long way from fluency. You may even be wondering whether you're making any progress at all. If so, welcome to the club! I've been learning Basque two and a half years now. In the last few months, there's been a real feeling of progress, but it's still slow and I was trudging … [Read more...]
Learning Basque in Add1Challenge 5, final report.
It's already over a month since the end of Add1Challenge 5, the on-line 90-day language study group in which I participated as a Basque learner this spring (following on from my time in Add1Challenge 4, last summer). This report may be late, but at least it's timely. The next Add1Challenge, no 8, begins on 1 June. I've just sent off my video application. [Update since this … [Read more...]