During my first language meeting of the week, my partner and I reviewed two news articles for the vocabulary and grammar. I needed some help with specific phrases (such as "durup dururken") whose dictionary definitions don't express the meaning of the phrase. He also helped to explain the constructions that turn verbs into adjectives and nouns, which is something I find very difficult. While I wouldn't necessarily be able to use these constructions in conversation, I can recognize them on paper and, with effort, in speech. For the second meeting, we had an hour-long conversation. This was the most helpful activity so far, because I was forced to convey/understand thoughts and ideas that I wouldn't come up with while framing a dialogue on my own. I beleive this was a good weekly strategy - while I can carry on a conversation and contribute to it, I need to study grammar, texts and audio in order to get a general sense of the language. I noticed that I can become familiar with one person's way of speaking, but often another person's use of the language might be incomprehensible. I plan to work on understanding a variety of types of speakers.
Finally, my vocabulary for the week has centered on variations of verbs, such as adding -en, -dik, -las etc. This is a mix between grammar and vocabulary, so in the coming weeks I will make an effort to formulate and study proper grammar lists. I did not attempt a writing exercize, but I will plan to do so in the coming weeks in order to produce an artifact. Finally, I believe intensive listening will help me acheive many of the goals mentioned above, and I will make use of the Schola materials to train myself to pick up specific usages.
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