{"id":94,"date":"2014-05-17T22:46:49","date_gmt":"2014-05-17T22:46:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.dminlgp.com\/?p=94"},"modified":"2014-08-11T21:35:50","modified_gmt":"2014-08-11T21:35:50","slug":"vols-parlar-catala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/vols-parlar-catala\/","title":{"rendered":"Vols Parlar Catal\u00e0?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week in our D.Min program we were tasked with reading Josh Kaufman\u2019s book The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything\u2026 Fast!\u00a0 <\/em>Kaufman\u2019s book is basically a guide on how to break down skills into component parts and tackle the learning process in an organized and logical series of steps.\u00a0 Kaufman greater and more impactful learning experience.\u00a0 Our task after reading the book was to attempt to learn something using Kaufman\u2019s process and blog about it.\u00a0 Here is how I worked through the process:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Choose a loveable project<\/strong>: I currently speak and write Spanish fairly fluently.\u00a0 I have lived in Spain for 9 years, and do all my work and life in Spanish. I have enjoyed learning Spanish, and am still learning. \u00a0However, Spain is a country of many languages.\u00a0 Many of my co-workers and friends come from Catalunya and their primary language is Catalan.\u00a0 Moreover, I often myself in Barcelona for work and meetings, often feeling a bit strange being in a city in the country I have lived in for 9 years, but not being able to speak the language!\u00a0 Since, Catalan is related to Spanish (kind of a hybrid between Spanish and French), I thought it might be fun and not too hard to begin to learn Catalan, while also maybe giving myself an edge with Catalan friends and co-workers.<\/li>\n
  2. Focus your energy on one skill at a time: <\/strong>Languages have many components parts.\u00a0 Pronunciation, grammar, verbs, vocabulary, conversation, etc.\u00a0 Obviously, I am not going to learn to be fluent in Catalan in 20 hours, but I could begin to master some of the basics (especially since it is similar to Spanish), so that I can build a base for continuing to grow in the language<\/li>\n
  3. Define your target performance level:<\/strong> Here once again, my goal was not to master fluency in Catalan, but to me it seemed the best first step that was plausibly within my ability to master it would be pronunciation.\u00a0 Could I quickly understand the Catalan alphabet and then be able to phonetically read and pronounce Catalan verbs?\u00a0 This was my target performance level, which would then allow me to further develop my Catalan skills and then move onto other skills.<\/li>\n
  4. Deconstruct the skills into subskills:<\/strong> For pronunciation, there is the need to master consonants, vowels, dipthongs, and then the forming of words.<\/li>\n
  5. Obtain critical tools:<\/strong> This was an easy step, as there are a number of websites that give free Catalan lessons, for instance: http:\/\/livemocha.com\/pages\/languages\/learn-catalan\/<\/a> There are also books and lessons that can be obtained.<\/li>\n
  6. Eliminate barriers to practice:<\/strong> This was one of the hardest steps in the process, as work, family, and unexpected interruptions made it hard to focus for extended periods of time, or even collect information.\u00a0 Going forward, if I truly want to learn Catalan, I need to set aside specific time each week.<\/li>\n
  7. Make dedicated time for practice:<\/strong> This proved to be the key to moving along and advancing.\u00a0 Setting aside an hour here and there to work on learning the alphabet and practicing on pronunciation, made a big difference.\u00a0 While, I chose a fairly easy part of the language to begin to focus on, specialized time on working through how to pronounce words in Catalan allowed me to master that skill fairly easily.<\/li>\n
  8. Create fast feedback loops:<\/strong> This was probably the hardest step for me.\u00a0 Particularly, with learning a language the best way is regular interactions with native speakers.\u00a0 I have a number of Catalan friends, but they all live in Barcelona, and this week was unable to spend time talking with them.\u00a0 Going forward, I will need to schedule Skype times with Catalan friends to speak and hear Catalan.\u00a0 Perhaps I can find a native Catalan speaker in my city.<\/li>\n
  9. Practice by the clock in short bursts:<\/strong> Kaufman points out that focusing short amounts of intense time learning the skill, then taking breaks, is the best way for our brains to acquire a skill.\u00a0 For grasping Catalan pronunciation this was a very capable way of learning quickly.<\/li>\n
  10. Emphasize quantity and speed:<\/strong> Our brains need to be immersed.\u00a0 Working through a fast amount of words, sounds, and pronunciations helps to familiarize oneself quicker with a large amount of information and skill acquisition.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In the end, I was able to get a good grasp of Catalan pronunciation.\u00a0 Now I feel comfortable attempting to read Catalan and sound out words.\u00a0 I feel like I probably have a solid base for continuing to learn Catalan.\u00a0 My biggest need is to have constant, regular time speaking and hearing Catalan with a native speaker. Kaufman\u2019s book is a big help in logically and practically working through learning a new skill.\u00a0 \u00a0Languages are complicated systems to learn, especially with out the help of a teacher or an immersion process, however, Kaufman\u2019s book can be a big help with learning a new language on your own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This week in our D.Min program we were tasked with reading Josh Kaufman\u2019s book The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything\u2026 Fast!\u00a0 Kaufman\u2019s book is basically a guide on how to break down skills into component parts and tackle the learning process in an organized and logical series of steps.\u00a0 Kaufman greater and more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[49,2,29],"class_list":["post-94","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-catalan","tag-dminlgp","tag-kaufman","cohort-lgp3"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1410,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions\/1410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}