Duolingo October Progress with Zulu, Romanian ,Brazilian Portuguese & Czech

Learning Focus in October: language maintenacne and progression at my pace

Please consider answering my QUICK languages poll to guide me on which language posts you prefer and find most valuable.  I would love to help one or two people on their way to self study in languages, as I share my own learning journey.

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October Language Learning Log

I dabble in lots of languages asa hoboby around work, family and commitments   It fits in between in stolen moments but helps keep my work/life balance. My language journal when I have free time at home and Duolingo when I am out and about in waiting rooms helps me maximise my idle time and make it more productive than scrolling on Facebook endlessly.

*** Spotlight on Czech *** 

 I am interested to learn Czech, but have no real background to connection to it. My parents traelled there when Dad was at a conference. Mum came home saying she loved going to the supermarket and reading the signs in the fruit and veg section. “mandarinky” she thought was a fun and cute word and friendly to the English speaker trying out new words in a foreign language as it it similar to the English. 

Czech -  Nejsem muz’. (I am not (1 word) (a) man.) 

English - I am not a man. 

Reflection: 'muz' means 'man'. It helps an English speaker that is it also a short word sarting with M. It makes me think of similar words

Compare langauges

English - man 

Italiano - uomo 

Français - homme 

Cymraeg - dyn

Español - man 

Polskie - facet 

Türk - adam 

Spotlight on Portuguese I am trying to learn Brazilian Portuguese. It is further from Italian than Spanish but there are similarities. It is slow going, so I am taking my time. 

Brazilian Portuguese - Eu escrevi naquele relogio.

 English - I wrote on that watch. 

Reflection: 'escrevi' means 'wrote '. The Romance languages often have similar root word often from Latin. So, words like to write are formed from similiar etymology or sounds, althrough spelling patterns can differ. English to write Italiano scrivere 

Compare langauges

English - to write 

Italiano - scrivere 

Français - écrire 

Español - escribir 

Cymraeg - ysgrifennu

Polskie - pisać 

Türk - yazmak 

 I have not been working on Zulu long, but I eagerly jumped in to have a go when Zulu was out of Duolingo's incubator.  It is exciting to have a go, and less daunting since it uses the alphabet I am familiar with in English and no accents written on letters.  It makes it easier to read and write let alone listen to and pronounce as a beginner.  It is the spelling that takes some adjustment.  I was surprised how many words are similar to English and other languages I have learned earlier in my languages journey. I have tried learning Swahili and now Zulu as the only langauges from the continent of Africa.  It is exciting to try since I have had no opportunity in my schooling to try learning them now until Duolingo.  I have noticed a few familiar words, sawubona namely for hello from a song I learned in a choir. 

 Zulu -  Ngisebenza esikoleni. (I work (1 word) in a school (1 word) 

English - I work in a school. 

Reflection: 'esikoleni' means 'in a school'. I guess that means the preposition is integrated.  Some languages, this would appear as a prefix or a suffix. It makes me think of similar words: English - in a school Italiano - in una scuola Francais - dans une école

Compare langauges

English - schol

Italiano - scuola 

Français - école 

Español - escuela 

Cymraeg - ysgol

Polskie - szkoła 

Türk - okul 

Safe arrivals in in Belgium, India, Germany and Finland

Sent & Arrived in October

I can’t believe this postcard arrived in 20 days from Australia to Belgium. I am glad it made it safely, and excited to see where my next received cards arrive from in my letter box.  This month my postcards have already made it safely to (speedy 24 days, ave 36 days) India , (slow 38 days ,ave 22 days) Germany & (slow 47 days, ave 20 days) Finland.

Below is average days travel for each postcard sent overseas grouped by destination country.  Postal services vary in service from country to country as well as can be affected by covid and natural disasters. So, averages in 2022 vary from 20 to 169 days (which is over 5 months in transit). 

 I celebrate each postcard caught.  I don't want to disappoint the waiting post crosser so if it is not caught safely, I make sure to resend a postcard again to the same address so they don't miss out.

Received in 2022

Usually postcard arrive from the top few countries with the most post crossers: Germany, Finland, Holland or USA. I have never had a card from Africa so far. I would love a card from Italy or Wales or any place I know a little of the language.

A lot of post crossers are demanding and make specific requests for their post card collection, I love any but most excited when they are map or culture cards where I can learn more about the language, people or place.

Fingers crossed and checking my letter box daily for fun mail and not always bills lol.

Which blog posts are of most interest? Any requests?

  I am making this blog in the hope of helping at least one learner who wants to study on their own as a beginner.  I am a trained teacher, so I m making my own journey with languages I have not yet tried using the same process I used at school, university and then teaching children.

Please let me know in this QUICK multiple choice survey about what interests you for your languages journey so that I can make it more useful to more people.  With 4 questions about your langauge, your target language, your learning history and which blog posts you enjoy the most :-) 

Please answer my QUICK languages poll:

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