Update!!!

Has it been ages since I last wrote in this blog? Well, here’s a quick update then. In a nutshell, I am still earnestly studying my languages.

• Podcast: I still listen to these. Admittedly, I’ve been favoring JapanesePod101 for my listening routines, but I do listen to the other podcasts every now and then. A while ago I mentioned another Japanese podcast that I thought I’d like more, but I can see now that’s not the case. Here’s why I like this podcast so much:
  • not too much material, making each episode very easy to digest
  • funny! I really enjoy the interaction among the staff.
  • interesting dialogues
• Reading: I’ve been reading French quite a bit, and German a little less. I try to read one or two French and German news articles every week for the past couple of months, but sometimes I still get lazy. But all in all, I think I’m making good progress here, at least in French.
• Grammar: I’ve got this one French book called “Un Peu de Tout,” and it has tons of readings and also quite a bit of intermediate level grammar in the beginning chapters. I’m proud to say that after being on the shelf for so long, I finally got to finish the grammar chapters, and now I’m doing the readings. Of course, I still need to review those grammar points, but at least now I’m somewhat familiar with them. Perfection comes next. For German and Japanese, well, I’ve made some progress (finished Genki I for Japanese and finished a few chapters of one German textbook), but I haven’t been as studious in these other languages when it comes to grammar.
• Vocabulary: I think my vocabulary is still rather poor. So, I’m planning on focusing on this for the next few months.

I wish I could give some assessment as to where I actually stand in these languages right now. Maybe I should take some proficiency tests this year… We’ll see.