So I’ve been listening to short podcasts with a tapescript to help. This hasn’t had the magical affects I’d been hoping for. However, it has highlighted a weakness in my Polish that I had ignored for too long, so that’s a positive. I see how much I miss on the first listen and then when I follow it the second time with the tapescript catch a lot more, even stuff I know which is frustrating frankly.

Resisting the temptation

I’m referring to the temptation to tune out whenever I hear a sentence or some words I don’t know. The initial instinct is to say “Sh*t what did they say there?” But I see now that the key is to just keep listening till the end and that is a key insight because all to often I just bugger off and lose motivation to continue listen. That’s important I feel because it’s proof that listening does require your full attention, whether it is a new language or your own.

Hard to know

This is in reference to my progress. I simply can’t tell if my listening is getting better. Am I wasting my damn time or what? I can’t be sure but I hope it’s not for nought. I will have to continue with this strategy for a while to see if it pans out. The upside is that I can choose the level I want which is quite amusing actually because when I hear an A2 conversation I think ” Yea, I got all that, I’m the man!” Then, I play a B1 or B2 conversation and…..well…..I get a good ol’ ass-kicking just to remind me that I got plenty of work still, how lovely!

Plans and strategy

Simple:

• Keep listening and don’t get distracted retard!
• Make sure to review new words, writing them down is nice but don’t skip the hard part – learning the words.
• Have faith in the process no matter how frustrating it gets.
• Slap yourself if you have a thought of not doing the 30min of practice and work on a given day
• I have to embrace any opportunity to practice and not switch to English whenever it’s convenient, loser!

To be continued……