The First Slip

German and I were getting along quite well for the first several weeks, but then something treacherous happened. The holidays snuck into town. Thanksgiving was no problem; I had two twelve hour train trips and a lot of down time to sit around and practice. Now though, with the year winding down, I'm starting to wind down too, or wind apart perhaps. I have the added bonus of needing to finish most of my graduate school applications, which is not an inspiring process after having finished my statement of purpose essays (the creative part.) To sum it up, I've got a case of the holiday blues, deadline anxiety, and general boredom with routine. That's a bad recipe for language learning, which takes a lot of discipline even when you do have enough time and motivation. So I'm trying to shift my learning style a little bit, borrowing against my past success with the hopes of a brighter outlook--the economy of self-improvement. I spend more time than I used to looking over my flash cards and adding mnemonic devices on cards missing them. I figure since I don't have the energy for a two hour learning session the least I can do is try to keep the words that I've learned fresh in my head.

This is also a good time for me to do low-intensitiy activities, like check out the free German video course called Fokus Deutch. Language-learning can be done without too much effort at times when you need a break. Movies and books (depending on your level) are a nice alternative to the mind numbing (and mind hurting) drills I usually do in my FSI course.