Suffice to say, my SAC is over.
What I accomplished this summer:
[flag=]gd[/flag]
I have expanded my vocabulary and read four novels this summer. I also did a lot of grammar review and my confidence with my pronunciation is improved. So some small steps toward being more fluent. Yay.
Next steps: writing more and finding more ways to actually use my Gàidhlig. I really could use a tutor for conversation practice but I'm still terribly poor.
[flag=]fr[/flag]
My pronunciation has improved dramatically, I think. I did a fair amount of work with repeating things out loud while listening to podcasts, videos and audio files and it has really helped. I reviewed the entire French tree on Duolingo and am currently doing French medium courses on Memrise for Breton, Spanish and Italian. I started the review French-English tree on Duolingo but I find it uneasy mix of annoying and boring, so I doubt I will finish it. My confidence with writing has improved a little--I can thank the PUG books for this. I think I need to just focus on those for now. I don't lack for opportunities to use French, but I do need to work on my writing more intensively.
Next steps: keeping up the momentum with French I gained this summer and really refining my writing skills. Also, I need ot get back to my songs which I have been neglected over the later part of the summer do to my health being adversely affected by the heat here.
[flag=]ga[/flag]
I finished reviewing the Duolingo Irish tree, finished TYCI, and started Stenson's Basic Irish (which covers a lot that I already know but repetition in a different setting doesn't hurt). I didn't get my phrasebook completed but considering what else i did finish this summer, I'm OK. I made a lot of progress with Irish. I still don't love it, but being better at it makes it a bit more agreeable for me--and the headaches it's given me has made me appreciate and love Scottish Gaelic even more, heh. And it's good to be able to read Irish tweets and occasionally reply in Irish with more ease now.
Next steps: finish the Basic Irish workbook and get started with the Intermediate Irish workbook. When the Duolingo Irish Tree 2.0 comes out (hopefully before the holidays), I plan to review the tree again, but for now I'll just keep it golden.
[flag=]it[/flag]
I just can't get into the Duolingo Italian tree, but I am enjoying the French language Memrise Italian course and have made some progress with that. My goals for Italian at this stage are really just about getting down the basics, and I am happily progressing in that area. I am still using the French-Itialian Book2 audio files too and this has been very helpful developing some basic listening skills and pronunciation.
Next steps: once I get more comfortable with the basics I will focus on learning the grammar more intensively.
[flag=]cy[/flag]
I have really taken to Welsh but I lack the available time to really devote myself to it. Nonetheless I am progressing slowly in Welsh. I am a little over half-way through the Welsh Duolingo tree and am at level 13. I am not in a big rush but I would like the finish the Welsh tree within the next two months. I also started doing a couple of light courses on Memrise to practice basic vocabulary, and it really helps, especially with keeping Welsh separate from Breton.
Next steps: finish the Duolingo tree and get the Routledge Welsh workbooks, if I can come up with the money for them, They also have a graduated Welsh reader I hope to get. But those Routledge books are so seriously overpriced.
I'll have to see if my interest in Welsh holds up over the next months before investing in those.
All in all, I am very happy that I made progress in all my languages. It was definitely a productive summer for me!
[flag=]ru[/flag]
Russian was never really intended to be one of my SAC languages, but more of a little diversion. Given the limited time I have been able to allot for Russian I have made bare minimal progress on the Duolingo tree. I am thinking of shelving it (again) for now, as there are other things I am much more interested in working on right now.
Other projects for this fall:
[flag=]br[/flag]
I put Breton on hold for my SAC but I'm back, baby! I had hoped to have the Welsh Duolingo tree finished before I picked up Breton again, but the Welsh tree is taking a lot longer than I thought it would and I got tired of waiting.
I reviewing with a couple of Memrise courses--one for the Assimil book and another for the Buan hag Aes textbook I did a couple years back. It's so nice to be back studying Breton. Plij' a ra din deskiñ brezhoneg!
[flag=]sw[/flag]
There is a Swahili Duolingo course due out this December for Swahili and I am prepping for it by reviewing the vocabulary for Simplified Swahili on Memrise--although I had forgotten what an avalanche of vocabulary that books hurls at you--and reviewing some grammar. Nothing too intensive--it's just to be ready for December.
[flag=]es[/flag]
I am trying to review some Spanish on Memrise--laddering it with French makes it a little more appealing for me. Again, this is not a language I have ever had much affection for and I don't like the idea of studying 3 Romance languages at the same time. I would prefer to spend the time spent on Spanish working on almost anything else, but damn it, my Spanish skills could use improvement especially since whatever work I get this fall with likely be with Spanish-speaking students, so here I am, giving it yet another go.