Hello everyone! This week has been so intense for me when it comes to language learning, because this is the 4th entry that I have written this week, and it's the 2nd in English. Recently, I've been striving to learn Russian and practice English, although this is the week of the month that I set aside to study only Russian (I know, it's contradictory). I tried to read Crime and Punishment (the book that I talked about all week) every day since I bought it, and I'm doing so successfully. Regarding the Russian, I think that my progress is the result of so many hours of listening. Since I started learning Russian, I use a method that consists of listening to only one item in the language that you're learning for a specific time. After listening to my “dead times” and reading the transcripts following the subtitles (yes, what I’ve listened to is the audio from a YouTube video) and by repeatedly listening to the same material, you will begin to assimilate things and remember them. At first I thought this was bullshit, especially in such a different language (Russian). But after a few weeks of doing this, I started to remember words and short phrases that I didn't even try to remember. As a result, I started to write entries using what I learned by listening and reading the same material. I think that writing texts using what you've learned is such an amazing tool to consolidate your knowledge. Another thing is that I've been using this audio material for almost two months. But I don't feel like I've learned everything that I need to learn, so I'll keep using it.
One thing that I've been thinking about is how I'm dealing with mistakes. Yesterday I wrote an entry in English, and I made many mistakes. But what made me feel uncomfortable was that on the same day I took an English test in which I achieved the result that indicates that I'm B2 (upper intermediate). But I don't feel like I'm upper intermediate, because I've made so many basic mistakes and my pronunciation is terrible. I don't think I'm an upper intermediate, but I am also not a beginner or an advanced (contradictory, again). I don't like labels; they make me confused.
I'm enjoying what I've gotten out of my language studying. I'm reading a book, taking courses to improve my curriculum, and listening to a lot of content, and I'm doing it all in English. I think that to improve my confidence in the language, I'll try to improve my pronunciation and start watching more movies in English.
What do you think about it? How can I improve my pronunciation alone (and without paying for it hehe)?
If you speak Russian, please check out my new entry. In it I wrote about the movie "Inglourious Basterds" and why I think it's Tarantino's masterpiece.
Hi @wandrey alexandre! I haven’t read your previous post, but based on this writing, I would definitely believe you are at the B2 level! Your writing is very advanced, and, for the most part, you have very accurate grammar. To improve your pronunciation, I would recommend a technique called “shadowing.” You may already have heard of it, as it’s relatively popular in the language learning community, but basically you would listen to a short clip of English (about 10 seconds), pause the audio, and repeat what they said with the same intonation and pronunciation. If you keep doing this, you will notice that you are able to mimic the speaker more and your pronunciation will improve. Keep up the great work! :)
Hi @wandrey alexandre. I agree with @Olivia_07, your English is good. I don't know what level and I agree with you that sometime they are a hinderance to learning. Your writing is very good, just watch out starting sentences with "and". In most of the cases above, just drop the "and". For the pronunciation, you can see if there is a language exchange in your area (or just on-line) as I believe they are often free.