الهربة - الأسبوع 2

This week was a good week and a somewhat frustrating week all in one.  It started out really well, but the last few days I have not studied as much as I would have liked.  I have valid reasons for this, however it is still annoying after putting in so much consistent time to have a skid of any degree.  Despite this, I had a realization last night - I believe that I may be able to eclipse my initial goal for Arabic by the end of this first month.  This is great, but requires me to come up with a new set of goals for the additional two months I have to work on this language.  Luckily, I discovered these checklists which outline very specifically what is contained in each respective level and I will use them to set my short and long term goals for each language.  I am using the CEFR guidelines because they are more universal.

I do not have much to say about my vocal progress.  There were two observations this week:

1.)  I vocalized a full voiced B-flat in my exercises that felt like it was a part of my voice.

2.)  I have noticed a generally more heady feel to my singing, however upon checking I still have chest resonance throughout most of my range (including increased resonance in the lower range).

Methodology Minute


There are many people who are very input focused when it comes to learning a language who are very successful.  I'm not saying that I am necessarily one of them, however I do feel that native input is important.  In our current society, this exposure to native input is easier than it has ever been.

The internet provides a language learner all of the possibilities to immerse him/herself in a language as a vacation does all within the comfort of his/her own home.  A particular site that I have been using for almost a year now which is fabulous is RadioTime.  As the name suggests, this site provides access to radio stations all over the world in just about any language that radio is produced.  Additionally, RadioTime has an app which I use on my Palm Pre when I am driving, so that I can listen to as much native radio programming as possible.

Second, just this morning I discovered wwiTV which provides T.V. programming from around the world.  I have not really used it much yet, but am looking forward to it very much.

Finally, there is the wonder that is Skype.  With Skype it is possible to video chat with people from around the world thus giving a language learner ample opportunities to practice their conversational skills.

There are numerous other resources on the internet for language learners as well including forums for language learners, language lessons, and opportunities for practice.  As with everything else in life, the internet has revolutionized the way we can approach learning languages so that we might be more efficient and better exposed.