A little update

I've been busy for the last few days with preparation. I've updated the website a little bit (woo!) and added some graphics. The picture in the title is stitched together from a picture I took in Afghanistan of my flashcard use in a guard tower. Notice they are all separated via type, using the A.G. Hawke book. The pictures to the right of that are flashcards I made when I began learning Persian (Farsi) at PSU. The book I used was written by an old Persian that was horrible at teaching, though I guess had a PhD in Persian studies, so he had the "credentials" according to Persian gravitas standards.

I also added Adsense. I've put ads between the blogs that cater to the interests people share with this website--language learning. I've looked at a few of them, and they seem kinda interesting. Edufire.com is one site advertising heavily, and they have some nice free eFlashcard use. I suggest you come every day to the blog and click the links. I get money that way ;-)

Anyways, I am now in the National Guard, and Friday I leave for my Annual Training (AT) for two weeks. When I return, I'll be getting Spanish (Latin America) 1,2,3 levels, and using it to immerse in Spanish. I'll be doing an hour a day, and will give a review after I complete each level, as to how effective Rosetta Stone software is.

Rosetta Stone uses language recognition and the linguistic method of "First Language Acquisition". It's a bit different from other ways, and it has some positives and negatives that I think I'll find out when I start using it. So look for that!

Also I'm going to put a blog up on the use of IPA - International Phonetic Alphabet. It's the alphabet linguists use to read things as they are pronounced. Sounding out is much easier, and it's great for languages that have sounds not usually written in English that don't always have literate teachers (Dari, for example).

UPDATE: I am holding off on learning Spanish via Rosetta Stone. A friend who is a classmate speaks better Persian than me, and I am now determined to get better than him in a year of solid Persian study.

L2 - Second Language Acquisition

This fall I begin LING438 at PSU ~ Second Language Acquisition, or L2 in linguistic terms. The course details and maps out the progress people make in various methods as they learn a second language.

Language learning has always been a joy and mystery to me. I’ve only recently learned what I was doing when I was learning. I tried learning Japanese in high school, via grade school texts and ingenious use of flashcards by my teacher. I learned Pashto in Afghanistan really quickly, though I’ve since forgotten it due to lack of use, and now have about 1500 words at the tip of my tongue every time I see an Afghan, but only able to repeat the same initial conversation you have with an Afghan who knows you speak Pashto:

“Pashto khabari kawil shi?”
“Wo. Ama zuh faghat lugh lugh Pukhto pohegum”
“wow! De cherta Pukhto zda kre?”
“Pu Khost ke zhwend kro.”
“Dera Pukhto heir khro :(”

Basically saying I speak Pashto, but only a little. I lived in the city of Khost, and I have forgotten most of it.