I finished the German Duolingo course!

I didn't post anything about this publicly, but I had a goal to finish the German Duolingo course by May. But then I decided to use my downtime to finish it by the end of March. Then I ramped it up and wanted to finish it by Sunday night. I did all the sections by midnight Sunday and posted the accomplishment on Twitter/X, but wanted to get a good screenshot of the Daily Refresh section to post here, so I just redid that section to get this:

This doesn't mean I'm done studying German; I have a long way to go, and now my goal is to get even better by August because I'm going to Berlin to study for a couple of weeks with Easy German. I will do a separate post about that, but I'm very excited to go to Germany. I haven't been there in several years, and back then my German was horrible.

Easy German is fantastic

I was trying to figure out a good way to study German, and saw someone online mention Easy German. Usually I use something for free before paying for it, but I knew right away it was worth the subscription price. 

I don't like using flash cards. In the past, I created them for various languages, and a while ago, a Japanese teacher gave me a bunch of them, which I still have. Flashcards work for a lot of people, but they seem too isolated for me. I like to learn words in context, and I've even gotten to the point that I won't even try to learn all the grammar at first in order to get a feeling for a language. 

That's why I love Easy German. They have a lot of videos where they ask people questions, so we get to hear native speakers, and they add German and English subtitles for each video. Other videos feature slower German, explanations in German, and recaps of meetings or trips they've taken. They also send transcripts, vocabulary, and other exercises with the paid subscriptions, so the $60 price is worth it. At first, I went to the members-only Discord, but it seemed too difficult for me, and I'd rather spend more time offline than on.

I got a chance to meet the three main members of the Easy German team, and they were the same offline as they are in the videos, which made me appreciate them even more. I've seen various language-learning videos where the hosts seem pretty hyper, like they're trying to sell something, but Easy German keeps it real (unlike the phony author/speaker I met a while ago who was quite unfriendly offline and didn't seem to actually like people). 

I've also watched Easy Spanish, Easy Italian, and Easy French. They're all good ways to hear the language naturally while following along via the subtitles.

But I still have to learn the grammar. Right now, I'm struggling with German prepositions and split verbs, so I need to grow up and tackle those and more.

para isn't the same in English

I've noticed that Spanish speakers use "for" often, and I've realized that it probably comes from the use of "para." 

For example: "Estudio para aprender" is "I study to learn" in English, but some people say "I study for to learn" or "I study for learn." I think it's because people are directly translating "para aprender" literally. 

Spanish infinitives are always one word that is conjugated (-ar, -er, -ir), but English infinitives are "to" plus the base verb. So instead of transferring the concept from Spanish into English, drop it and think in English.

At home

I've decided to post some English tips here since I've been teaching ESL a lot more, and I encounter similar issues in pretty much every class.

Here's a common phrase I hear:

"On Saturday, I stayed in my house."

This means that you are literally inside the house, instead of outside the house; you're saying that you are in an enclosed physical space. 

Instead, you have to use "at" instead of "in" because it's an activity at a location. 

"On Saturday, I stayed at home."

This person is inside a house (as opposed to outside the house).

Free time

For the first time in a while, I have a lot of free time because I'm between semesters and am working only one gig during this time. I've been doing Duolingo (Italian, German, French, Spanish), studying French at the Alliance Française, and will meet with a student at least once a week to learn how to speak Spanish better. We're going to do an exchange: we will practice speaking our target language with each other, so one block will be English and the other will be Spanish. He's randomly helped me with Spanish in the past, which is why I asked him if he wants to do an exchange. 

Even though my Spanish isn't where it should be, I experienced an exciting moment when I went to a store last weekend: the cashier spoke Spanish to me, I answered, and she continued speaking Spanish. Usually people start to speak Spanish, then switch to English, but I guess she sensed that I could manage it. I was very happy about that, and it helped break through my block.

I'm also still fake blogging, working through ideas for a fictional journal I plan to post publicly. It's pretty impossible to sell books, but not impossible to write.

p.s. the e-book version of my debut novel is still at Amazon, and the price for the print version has been reduced: buy at the Eckhartz Press site.

About fake blogs again

An experienced writer told me that the term "fake blog" may imply certain controversial concepts, thus when I keep telling people and writing about my fake blogs, it could have negative implications. 

Sure, "fictional blog" is more accurate, but I still like the term "fake blog." But when I looked up examples, saw how the phrase is used, and even asked AI, everything was sinister; nothing showed up as a mere fictional attempt to write in another voice. Many places mention the fake blog that Walmart/Edelman set up, and Wikipedia's description of fake blogs is about deception and mockery: "appears to originate from a credible, non-biased and independent source, but which in fact is created by a company or organization for the purpose of marketing a product, service, or political viewpoint."

Yikes. I'm not doing that at all, just having fun. And I still like the term because it's succinct and punchy, just two syllables. I'm just writing in the voice of someone else, such as Tyler Perry did with Madea in the book that I just finished, Don't Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings: Madea's Uninhibited Commentaries on Love and Life. It's incredible that Tyler Perry was able to write more than 200 pages in a character's voice. That's what I'm doing, but I'm doing it via blogs, and I'm not making any money off of them and am forever toiling in obscurity. Tyler Perry is on a whole other level and is an A-list content creator, entertainer, businessman, celebrity, wealthy guy, etc. I'm obviously not; I just like to explore ideas, take notes, and create something from them. 

So as for now, I'm still going to use the term "fake blog" and I am still writing there frequently. At this point, it's a combination of fun and is sort of like a sketchbook, working out ideas, characters, and action, but in a journal form. Maybe I'll formalize it, give it structure, and publish something as a short booklet on Amazon. 

20 years

I wish I could report something more exciting, such as winning a real award, but so far I've had a few strikes in that area, and will probably have more. But I am happy to report that I got to the top of the Duolingo mountain for the second time. 

I am definitely back to my language-studying and enjoyment roots, which is appropriate because this blog is now 20 YEARS OLD. I've obviously not posted as much as in the early years, but at least I never deleted it or moved on. 

The biggest difference between then and now is the rise of social media and proliferation of digital content. Even language study and translation is much easier. I used to have to buy large dictionaries, but now there are so many resources online that I feel even more inadequate in my language-acquisition pursuits. But it never ends, and I'm glad I'm totally back. It's definitely a big part of my life now and will be for the rest of my life. 

Danke/merci/obrigada/gracias/ありがとう/grazie!