During these two weeks, I caught up on my cultural artifact posts and tried to utilize sources that required me to interact with the Maltese language. For example, I tried to read through L-Innu Malti (the Maltese national anthem) while writing Cultural Post #7. Although I was not very successful, I think this is a very important piece of work to be able to recognize. I wrote the lyrics out in my Maltese binder and practiced speaking the words. An important learning challenge I have realized is that many of the most relevant Maltese texts are very old and the style is outdated. Modern Maltese language has developed significantly over time. Maltese is somewhat of a dying language, therefore there are not many modern texts available online. For example, the news and literature are frequently produced in other languages, such as English. In addition, I read Tal-ġelati by Adrian Grima to guide Cultural Post #4. I really enjoyed this poem because I recognized many vocabulary words and could provide an analysis of the writing style and word choice. I added the words I did not know to my Maltese binder and continue to study them during my weekly sessions.
I find that exercises that are personal or of cultural significance are the most memorable to me. For example, I frequently use poetry lines I've read to recall familiar vocabulary words. Poetry often stylistically uses repetition and short phrases that make learning easier. I highly recommend that new language learners use publically available modern poetry to their advantage in learning. In combination, writing a literary analysis as a cultural post where I identified key phrases and word meaning was very successful.
I applied my traditional strategies for Maltese learning during these two weeks, as well (reviewing the textbook, my notes and writing excerpts, vocabulary lists, etc.)
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