Posted by Becky Walker on February 15, 2009 at 4:00pm
110 Farsi Week Four Objectives.docxWeek four was ambitious. I ended up focusing more on learning different verbs and building my noun/verb vocabulary instead of collecting a foundation for adjectives. I found it frustrating to be able to understand questions asked in drill class, and not be able to respond to them simply because I didn't know verbs. Thus, I changed my learning plan mid-week, or rather I enhanced it (as I ended up learning more).My workbook, Modern Persian, arrived this week, and has been a great help. I really like the lay-out of the book as it combines grammar with vocabulary. It also has an audio section, which will be a great help as the book includes many of the scripts that they read.I am continually finding similarities to the aspects of Arabic that I found easy, and thankfully, the parts that I struggled with don't exist in Farsi which is extremely reassuring. I am also finding it quite easy to relate this language to Spanish--a foreign language I am comfortable with--as without having to dedicate too much time on the script I can implement many of the same methods from Spanish to Farsi.
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Posted by Will Cragin on February 11, 2009 at 7:27pm
Week 1 – This week, my first week of studying Persian, I plan on focusing almost solely on learning the alphabet. The rest of the students in my drill section have either studied Arabic or already learned the alphabet, so I feel it’s crucial that I get this down as soon as possible. My goal is simply to learn each character as it stands on its own. I also plan on being able to say hello, how are you, and answer accordingly, as well as counting from 1-10.Resources – I plan on using the handouts that Mona passed out in class, as well as the easypersian.com website for further reference. I will also use BYKI to help with greetings.Reflection - This week I learned the alphabet, and am pretty confident that I can recognize each letter as it stands on its own. The problem is, characters change form depending on whether they are at the beginning, middle, or end of the word, meaning that reading is still a big problem. I am able to say hello, how are you, and answer I am good, and am able to count from 1-10 now as well.Week 2 – This week my main goal is to be able to learn the characters in their different forms, and hopefully begin to be able to read some words. After that, I would like to learn numbers 11-20, and expand on my greetings. I would like to be able to ask what someone’s name is, where they are from, and say goodbye.Resources – Handouts, EasyPersian, Farsi textbook, and BBC Farsi website.Reflection - This week I learned more than I expected. I made solid progress on being able to read Persian script, although I am certainly far from being able to read it well. I am now able to ask where someone is from, what their name is, and answer those two questions as well. I also learned days of the week, some colors, time, and how to say goodbye. In addition, I have begun listening to BBC Farsi daily just to get a feel for how the language sounds.Week 3 – This week my major goal again is to continue to gain familiarity with reading Farsi script. In addition to that, I would like to learn months, pronouns, and prepositions, family vocabulary, question words, and review time.Resources – Handouts, Farsi Textbook, Drill session notes, BBC Farsi website, and easypersian.com
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As it was planned, I worked on vocabulary building and have started printing articles on different issues. highlighted the words which were new to me and were supposed to be used in formal settings. Besides, I have been listening to Radio Arman, basically a news/talk and entertainment radio broadcasts from Afghanistan to develop listening and understanding in the language. Radio talks also communicate the culture of the country as well.Sources:www.armanfm.comwww.bbc.com/persian
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Objective:- Vocabulary building.- Structuring formal sentences.Task:- Flash cards- Iranian TV channels.Resrouces:- BBC online persian news articles.- Online Farsi radios.Evaluation:- Use the vocabulary when I talk to my language partner or anyone to whom I speak in Farsi.- Try to translate English sentences to Farsi.
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- The main goal for me is to be able to read and write more sophisticated documents and be able to absorb the main idea of the topics read or discussed.- Increasing vocabulary building.- Learning to structure formal sentences.- Learning the framing and style of Farsi letter writing- Writing business letters- Learn about the history and different cultures of the spoken language.- Farsi grammar.Artifacts:- At the end of the semester I will give a presentation in Farsi Language discussing a business topic.- I will write a letter to an organization applying my understanding of the format used in governmental offices. I will also write a letter to a family member in Farsi.
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Posted by ReidSchluter on February 10, 2009 at 3:14pm
I'm going to paste my 3 paragraph learning plan from this past week, and comment on how effectively I accomplished the goals within each paragraph:My learning plan for the week will focus on fundamental conversations. In other words, I wish to master simple, everyday conversations within Dutch—and as a byproduct hone my pronunciation skills—and use those as a basis point for expanding my knowledge. I’m of the opinion that this is the best way to approach the language, since I think that pronunciation may well be the biggest hurdle I face in learning it. Once I have conquered this issue, I will be able to have dialogues in my head (i.e. start thinking in Dutch) far easier, and at that point the language will become second nature.REACTION: I did great work on my accent this week, but will touch on that more in reaction to the next paragraph. With regard to fundamental conversations, I don't yet possess the ability to think, react, & pronounce properly if I were to have a random conversation in Dutch. I am okay with basic phrases like 'hoe gaat het... - how are things...' or 'kan ik u helpen', 'wat kosten', etc... and can say those at the drop of the hat. anything substantially more complicated would still be a stretch as I don't yet possess a complete enough vocabulary. That will come in time though. This week I learned a lot of words/phrases useful in grocery store (or really any service establishment), so more vocabulary will come through reading more of the book.My tasks for this will be simple. My primary objective will be repetition of the many different sounds in Dutch. As an example, I mean differentiating between ‘OO’, ‘O’, ‘OE’, etc… and all the alterations that can occur from the letters positioned around them. There are large amounts of varying vowel sounds, and after meeting with my language partner for the first time, I am beginning to get a pretty strong grasp on them. I’ve learned simple introductory conversation to another person as well as a variety of everyday situations in a restaurant or store. I need to focus on making this more seamless though, so that I do not have to think about what I am saying. By continuing to work on my pronunciation by myself as well as with my language partner, I think I could develop a very strong knowledge of these basics this week, which will serve as a launching point for a far steeper learning curve.REACTION: I did very well with this based on both Jan's & my own estimation this week. Now by my third meeting with Jan, I'm becoming quite good in differentiating vowel pronunciations, and as a result my speech has become noticeably quicker (while still slow), and I find myself not thinking about it as much. It is becoming like second nature, and that has been my overall goal for the early weeks of the course. After our second meeting, Jan told me my vowels had developed, and I should switch my focus to R's, V's, & CH's. I don't think I've mastered any yet, but he said there was a marked improvement on all three after our third session yesterday. Jan is very honest with me, and we both are of the opinion that my accent is developing about as well as either of us could have hoped. I am hoping that within two weeks it will be good enough that it could get me around the country, and I can start working through vocabulary, conjugations, & the other structures of the language that will rapidly advance my skills.My evaluation of what I’ve learned will rely heavily on my language partner. We met briefly on Sunday to develop a schedule and see what we would be working on in the near future. Yesterday we had our first official language instruction though. He pointed out my main flaws as ‘R’s’ that occur in the beginning of sentences, and a lack of awareness of differentiation in vowel sounds. As a result, I have to work on my ability to pronounce R’s, as well as merely remembering which vowel sequences produce which sounds. My improvement over the hour I spent with him yesterday leads me to believe that I could more or less master these skills in the next week or two. He says my book is very good, and has encouraged me to work with certain words he has given me as well as some phonetic examples given in the book. My ability to have a simple conversation with Jan will serve as a very effective barometer of how much I have learned in this regard. He will evaluate me in this regard, but hopefully I can go from scripted conversations with a few glaring pronunciation errors, to unscripted conversations with little or no pronunciation errors.REACTION: I touched on much of this in the last paragraph. I wrote a fairly lengthy dialogue that we practiced with yesterday. Writing it was not too difficult, but doing something similar unscripted still wouldn't be possible (unless maybe it was very honed in the lessons/phrases I've learned thus far). My pronunciation has improved to the extent that a native speaker would completely understand what i was saying [I think]. In yesterday's meeting, Jan did not point out any glaring errors, but merely subtle ones that did not disrupt the conversation as a whole. I'm pleased with this development, am starting to feel as though I'm no longer speaking a 'foreign' language, & honestly think I'm about to takeoff in terms of my learning.
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This week I want to divert off from my oral objectives and focus on an area that will enrich my education as a whole. I feel there isn’t any meat so to speak behind my developing skills because the context in which I am learning them is missing one crucial element, my cultural and historical education in the Farsi language. Up until this point, my education in the cultural and historical aspects summed to a few fragmented stories from my parents and the media hogwash from our televisions.Objectives:*Learning and understanding the main holidays and customs of Iran and Afghanistan*Differentiating aspects of the society into religious and cultural components*Trying to understand how Farsi is an Indo-European language if it derived primarily from the more Semitic Arabic language* The political organizations of Iran* The aftermath of the Islamic revolution post-Khomeini* Learning the basics of Persian cuisineResources:* Past BBC clips from their archives that date more than 20 years ago.* Tolo TV* LexusNexus and WorldCat online databases* My language partner, comparing and contrasting her interpretations from the ones I concluded from my English articles*Making Flashcards for the holidays and their datesEvaluation:*I think the trick may lie in how I can find the middle ground to what I assume will be very different interpretations of the political structures and instruments that me and Muska will have due to me using primarily secondary and English resources and her being from the country.*Being able to specifically label which customs and holidays have a Afghan/Iranian cultural origin or an Islamic one.* Being able to carry a conversation with my language partner on the cons and pros of Iranian politics compared to that of the States.*Knowing exactly what dish or beverage my language partner is describing to me and giving its specific name back to her.* Being able to describe the alterations of Iranian-American customs and culture compared to that found back in Iran and Afghanistan and knowing why and how the variations stem from.
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Posted by Brian Mahoney on February 8, 2009 at 11:00pm
This past week I didn't make as much progress as I had hoped. Part of this is due to the fact that I've been really sick, but I also am finding that it is harder than I expected to figure out some of the things that I want to learn. I have come across many sources that point out how rapidly evolving the Persian language is, and I think this makes it considerably more difficult to learn what is appropriate in different contexts. The substantial differences between the written and spoken languages, in addition to formality and uses in different settings has led me to find that many things I've learned are no longer used in most everyday language. These subtleties are often hard to pick up on from a website or a book, so Mona has been very helpful in this regard, as even things such as the conjugation of some verbs differs between written and spoken contemporary Persian.I have been able to achieve most of my goals with regards to learning new vocabulary. I've also made some progress in my listening skills, but it is slow in coming. I find that even when I recognize everything within a sentence, I often still have to pause to think it through to determine what the sentence actually means. The Insta-Class recordings have proven fairly helpful with this. To be able to gain much from intensive listening, I've found that it is much more effective if I have access to the transcript of whatever is being said. I try to listen without the transcript, but it helps a lot to be able to pause it and check the transcript for things that I miss or words that I'm not familiar with.For this week:Goals- continue to work on improving oral comprehension- learn vocabulary associated with government and politics- learn present progressive tense for verbs I'm familiar with- get used to using prepositions to describe the order and timing of eventsMethods- listen to Insta-Class recordings intensively to try to understand as much as I can without the transcript, stopping to catch up and to read what I don't recognize- read news from BBC Persian to look for common terms used in politics to learn; listen to news broadcasts to try to pick up on vocab learned- write a story in the past tense about going to a restaurant to practice prepositions and review food related vocabEvaluation- ability to recognize subject of news stories read- how often it's necessary to stop and re-listen or read the transcript of Insta-Class recordings- ability to describe things that happen around me in present progressive without prior planning
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By the end of the week, sunday (2/15) I would like to accomplish the following:a). continue my knowledge and recognition of numbers and the alphabetb). memorize basic hello/goodbye phrases, colors, and days of the weekc). begin working through basic adjectives, such as good, bad, cold, hot...etcI will use the following tasks to assist my memorization:a). for the continuation of my knowledge of the alphabet and the different forms of each letter depending upon its placement within the word - a self made chart where I have to fill in the chart from memory.For numbers I am going to continue memorizing the spelling for the names (such as 1 to one) by the use of flashcards.b). For phrases, this will be a big part of the drill for the week, using them more and more aloud and making them more natural and easy to say and respond to.For the colors I will continue to use flashcards as well as using everyday objects around me to make me come up with the name of the color to describe them when I see them.For days of the week, I am going to try to write them in my planner and use them where ever possible in my everyday activities - I will also use my flashcards to assist with their repetition.c). For the basic adjectives, this is just easing into them and learning how to correcting pronounce them and use them in a sentence form. I am hoping to also work on this in drill.The resources I will be using are the following:a). Alphabet - self made, fill in the blank worksheetNumbers - flashcards - and they are also a main component in the days of the week and will therefore be enforced by learning them.b). Phrases - repetition, drill, and the BYKI flashcards (alternating between sound, no sound, and what is displayed on the card itself)Colors - the website (http://www.digitaldialects.com/Farsi.htm) has a great matching up game for the colors.Days of the Week - again a website it helpful (http://iteslj.org/v/pe/se-days.html) and I am also planning on just using the farsi version of the days of the week in my plannerc). For the adjective, I am going to use the notes from drill and make flashcards to begin learning from.I will use drill as a large form of my evaluation - having my instructor ask me questions pertaining to my learning goals and seeing if I have memorized all that I set out to do. I am also going to create a mini test, using children's workbooks in English and shifting the activities to fill my needs in Farsi.
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Below is my learning plan for the next week. Hopefully this plan is not too ambitious but I think all of my objectives are essential to learning Farsi and will be important in working on my communication with others. The one objective I am extremely excited for is being able to watch a scene from the movie Kandahar, which is in Farsi, in order to see how many words I can pick up and to work on recognizing when words end and begin/spaces between words.Learning PlanObjectives• Learn the numbers by 10s through 100• Learn interrogatives and be comfortable using them in conversation• Learn how to tell time and the different times of day• Learn 5 adjectives and be able to use them in a conversation• Learn 5 prepositions• Learn pronouns and rules for verb conjugation in the present tense• Be able to listen to a chapter of the movie Khandahar and identify word spacing, greetings and interrogativesResources• Language Partner• Other classmates• BYKI flashcards• Modern Persian text book• Diigo Links• Other classmatesKandahar movieTasks• To learn the numbers I will study the diigo link and make flashcards. The flashcards will have English on one side and then the transliteration, script and symbol of the number on the back.• Practice reading phone numbers in Farsi to better learn the numbers• Study the interrogatives through both flashcards and oral repetition• Practice reading time in Farsi by looking at the clock during classes or at my cell phone between classes• Make flashcards for 5 more adjectives and practice using them with the language partner and classmates• Make flashcards for 5 prepositions in order to learn them• Make a list of pronouns as well as the rules of verb conjugation• Make a table of pronouns and the appropriate verb conjugation rules with them• Watch the 5th chapter of Khandahar where a variety of interrogatives and greetings are used to work on my listening comprehensionEvaluations• Be able to ask someone how old they are, understand there age and then respond appropriately when asked how old I am• Be able to hold a simple conversation that allows me to greet someone, ask them how they are and respond with newly learned adjectives, ask them what their name is and respond when asked what my name is, where they are from and respond with where I am from and properly say good bye• Be able to ask what time it is, understand the response and be able to answer the question what time is it• Be able to greet people according to the time of day and tell them what time of day it is• Have a language partner take an object and place it in relation to another object and be able to say where the object is in relation to the other• Be able to describe how I am feeling, my language partner is feeling and how my other classmates are feeling in order to practice pronoun useBe able to recognize 2 greetings and 2 interrogatives in the scene from Kandahar
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After reviewing what my objectives were for this past week, I can say that I have successfully completed them. I can speak and write the numbers, 1-20, identify and say 10 colors, say 5 more adjectives and use them in a conversation when asked how I am, and can say the days of the week in order. It seems like a lot to have learned in only a week, but I find that practicing them everyday whenever I get a chance really helps me to learn them. Sometimes in class when I would get bored I would find myself writing down the numbers and the days of the week to practice them.The drill instructions are also extremely helpful because there my pronunciation is corrected and I have the opportunity to converse with Mona and other students in addition to working on my comprehension skills. On Thursday, Mona decided that she would speak as much as possible in Farsi and I realized how much I could understand and the words I didn't understand I could figure out through her gestures/drawings on the board. It was also nice because every drill when we come in she asks us how we are and it allows us the opportunity to use the adjectives we are learning.This week hasn't been frustrating besides the fact that my Modern Persian textbook still has not come, but hopefully I will get it soon because I am finding it helpful, particularly for vocabulary and grammar. I haven't used the audio tapes yet, but will give those a try hopefully during this upcoming week. The one slightly frustrating thing is that I feel like I am focusing more on the oral/conversational side of Farsi instead of the written part. I know that the writing component I wanted to achieve was extremely basic, but I think I will need to focus more attention on writing in order to get where I want to be.On a cultural note, we learned from Mona that in Iran the weekend only consists of one day, Friday, the holy day. I find it interesting that there is only one day off, because when I was in Jordan the weekend was two days, but it was Friday and Saturday instead of Saturday and Sunday. I will be interested to try and understand why there is this difference and why they decided to only have one day off.Since this week went so smoothly I'm enthusiastic to see how much I can accomplish in the next week.
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Reflection on Week 2This week I decided to work on a subject area that I’ve always been very unsure and uncomfortable in for years. Taking the advice of my professor, I decided to use this week to the work on a very specific area, and I choose the area of formal, informal, and professional addresses. Using “Tolo TV” clips, one of the mainstream media outlets in Afghanistan, from their official website and Afghan forums/messageboards recommended to me by my language partner Muska, I picked out specific moments when guests and speakers would arrive at the main set and notice the various ways the two or more individuals greeted each other. This varied from professional, family, semi-professional, etc. settings. I was unsure of why the females were never addressed as “zanaka”, a broad term I’ve used for years to address the female sex, and a plethora of other questions popped in my head which I tried to remedy in my sessions with Muska. Here are a couple of very specific nuances and rules that I learned:* “Zanaka” is a very degrading name to address females in any setting unless its used as slang in very informal jokes* “Zan” is a lot more proper in addressing women in informal and professional settings compared to “zanaka” but hardly the best way. It’s a lot more proper in informal settings, yet is also susceptible as a degrading name if used in a improper tone.* “ Khanoom” and “Na-taq” are far and above the most proper ways of addressing females in any setting. It’s resistant to becoming degrading in any context or tone.* “Quar-ak” which means “sister” is a bit of a wild-card. It can be used in informal and formal settings but is generally not accepted in a professional setting unless the individuals are comfortable with each other. However, where the three previous titles can be used in a marital sense, this title cannot.* When dealing with females or males generally at least 20 years older in a non-professional formal setting, it’s accepted to use the titles “Khal-ah” and “Ka-Ka” respectively. The literal meanings are “aunt” and “uncle”, but it is used nonetheless.* The titles junior, senior, III, etc. are not used in FarsiI have omitted most of the male nuances, but the most interesting thing I learned from that area is that males are usually called by two names, their first and middle, and if there’s no middle name, it is substituted with common titles, such as: Allah, Muhammad, etc. And if they carry the term “Sayed”, it is a reference to their holy genetic connection to the Prophet Muhammad.
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Posted by Becky Walker on February 6, 2009 at 1:38pm
This week was a combination of frustration and learning. I am finding the aural exercises overwhelming, because I am expecting to gain more from them than I am. The challenge is being able to overcome my frustrations of knowing no content, and still listen for any clues of words, greetings, or sentence separation. I generally try to avoid using listening exercises until my competency is a bit greater, so this is a learning process of both language and learning.The google-book that I found online has helped greatly with grammar and basic terms. It has been the perfect filler until my Modern Persian book arrives next week.Thus far, everything on my lists have been completed for the past three weeks. Now all I have to do is use the words and phrases repetitiously so that can use them outside of the groups in which I learned them. I will begin to scramble my flash cards so that all the colors, numbers, and phrases aren't in their individual groups but interspersed with each other.Overall, I am still pleased with my progress. I throughly enjoy our drill classes, I am finding them extremely beneficial, especially our most recent class when Mona spoke entirely in Farsi at the beginning, and we try to interpret what she was saying.
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Posted by Becky Walker on February 3, 2009 at 4:09pm
I was pleased with my progress this week, though I will have to attribute it to the language itself. Electing to learn the numbers and days of the week at the same time was nice, as the days of the week are labeled by which day in the week they fall on--for example, Monday (do.shan.be) is day one.Mona is incredibly helpful in informing us which types of greetings are appropriate for who. Unfortunately none of the sites I have found tell the learner who is the subject being addressed with various greetings, and using the wrong one with the wrong person would be rather insulting--so thanks Mona!I am still struggling with the amount of reading and writing that I want to use. I understand that its important, and that I should learn at the beginning, but I am finding that it greatly inhibits my learning curve. I could learn at a much quicker rate if I didn't have to worry about whether I use the 't' that has the two dots, the one that looks like a b, the one that looks like a b with the dot, or the one with three dots.My rationale for wanting to learn Farsi is to be able to orally communicate, with no ambition of wanting to translate or write. I'm going to go through this next upcoming week still writing down the words in Farsi script, but I have a feel that as the weeks progress, my words will become purely transliterated.Overall, I am pleased with the amount of Farsi that I am learning, and I think that the manner in which I am learning it is ideal for what I am hoping to gain from this course.
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So far I am feeling confident in how much Farsi I have learned thus far. At this point I feel like I know and can recognize all of the letters of the alphabet, basic greetings, questions and answers. Below is my learning plan for week 2 and already I feel as though I have accomplished much of it already. I have begun to realize how helpful flashcards, the language partner and practicing with classmates are. The only setback I have had so far is the language partner asked me a question today and I was not able to understand what she was saying so I got flustered instead of trying to understand what she was saying. I think this was a valuable lesson in learning what not to do, freezing when asked a question, but staying calm and trying to understand what she is saying. I realized once she asked another student the same question I knew what she was asking, but had become flustered when put on the spot. This is definitely something I want to work on for next week and be better prepared for class so that hopefully this scenario does not repeat itself.Learning PlanObjectives• Learn numbers 1-20 and be able to say them and write them• Learn 10 colors and be able to say them and identify them• Learn 5 adjectives and be able to use them in a conversation• Learn days of the week and be able to say them in order and recognize them when writtenResources• Language Partner• Other classmates• BYKI flashcards• Print out of Farsi numbers• Links posted by others on Diigo, particularly the one related to days of the week posted by Becky WalkerTasks• To learn the numbers I will study the handout of Farsi numbers, make flashcards and learn the flashcards. I will then mix up the flashcards so that they are not in order and be able to correctly place them in order from 1-20. Without the flashcards or the handout sheet I will write the numeric symbols in order from memory.• I will learn 10 colors from the BYKI flashcards, make flashcards, and then be able to identify different colors after studying the flashcards• I will learn 5 adjectives from the BYKI flashcards, make flashcards with English on one side and Farsi on the other and study them in order to use them appropriately in a conversation. I will practice my conversations with my language partner and other classmates• I will learn the days of the week from the online site posted by Becky Walker on the Diigo by placing them on flashcards and studying them. I will also put the Farsi script on one side of the flash card so that I can learn to recognize the days of the week when they are writtenEvaluation• In order to determine if I know the numbers 1-20 I will recite them orally to my classmates and language partner in order. I will also have a classmate scramble the flashcards with the Farsi side up and have me put them in order to demonstrate that I know the numbers in addition to writing the numbers in order from memory.• In order to determine if I know the colors I will have my classmates or language partner point to objects around the room that are the 10 colors I have learned in order to orally identify them.• Be able to respond with 5 different adjectives when asked the question how are you by my language partner or classmates.• To learn the days of the week I will take my wall calendar and translate from English to Farsi the days of the week orally and be able to look at a Farsi calendar and identify the days of the week.
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Finding out the severity of my English accent and ways I can remedy them with my language partner. In the past I have been described as being as fluent as a 6 year old, meaning I understand everything orally, however my own, individual oral skills are underdeveloped. Increasing my vocabulary, to the extent I can use at least 2 synonyms for every word. I have no target subject area that I want to focus my vocabulary in, at this stage; any and every increase is needed for me. I have found that the daily BBC news podcasts are an extremely valuable resource. The various clips run anywhere from 2 to 30 minutes long and cover a plethora of subject areas. I plan on completing the first two levels of Rosetta Stone and then retesting myself on it 3 or 4 days later to get a handle on much information I attained. I will use the time with my language partner to ask her any questions I have on the BBC clips. The clips carry a very sophisticated tone and might be above my level but I believe it will greatly accelerate my development. I also plan on listening to the audio clips in Blackboard and afterwards trying to provide a summary outloud to an imaginary audience to determine how much information I can sink in. And once again, I jot down every question or area I find interesting to further discuss with the language partner during our sessions.
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