Remember this post?
Well, with the wedding just over two months away, I'm pretty much in planning mode 100% of the time now. Trouble is, there isn't actually all that much left to plan.
What does that mean?
Well, it means that I've started spending entire days obsessing about tiny details. In fact, I spent several days stressing about finding the perfect box for our reception guests to put cards into. Yesterday, despite having chosen our wedding favors months ago, I decided to take a second look at what was out there. For the whole day.
Truthfully, I'm glad that I did. I ended up finding something that my fiance and I both like better.
But still... If I could bring myself to put as much time and energy into Rosetta Stone as I've been putting into finding ribbon and labels for the favors, I would be fluent in Danish by now.
Luckily, I think all of the major decisions have officially been made in terms of reception decor. Time to buckle down with the Danish. After that binge a few weeks ago, I've been seriously slacking.
Binge, take two.
Showing posts with label Rosetta Stone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rosetta Stone. Show all posts
Friday, March 23, 2012
Friday, March 2, 2012
Danish Lessons - Rosetta Stone, Entry #5: The Binge
We've narrowed down our move date a little bit, and it's coming up quickly.
With our honeymoon in New Orleans scheduled for mid to late June, and my fiance due back by mid-August, it looks like we'll be heading to Copenhagen some time during that window. Probably some time in July.
That's 4 months. I have 4 months to learn Danish.
That realization hit me this week, and I went on a Rosetta Stone binge. I've taken to sitting down with it for 1 or 2 hours each day.
The sad part? I'm still only halfway through Unit 1....of 8.
I have a looonnnggg way to go.
It's starting to get a little bit more frustrating that Version 2 of Rosetta Stone doesn't explain any grammatical rules. I definitely appreciate learning the vocabulary, and committing phrases to memory. But I'm looking forward to taking the formal state-provided Danish classes once we move, so that I can start to get an understanding of why some words are pluralized one way, and others another way, etc.
I think if I can keep up the binge, I may be able to finish the program before we move.
If my head doesn't explode first.
With our honeymoon in New Orleans scheduled for mid to late June, and my fiance due back by mid-August, it looks like we'll be heading to Copenhagen some time during that window. Probably some time in July.
That's 4 months. I have 4 months to learn Danish.
That realization hit me this week, and I went on a Rosetta Stone binge. I've taken to sitting down with it for 1 or 2 hours each day.
The sad part? I'm still only halfway through Unit 1....of 8.
I have a looonnnggg way to go.
It's starting to get a little bit more frustrating that Version 2 of Rosetta Stone doesn't explain any grammatical rules. I definitely appreciate learning the vocabulary, and committing phrases to memory. But I'm looking forward to taking the formal state-provided Danish classes once we move, so that I can start to get an understanding of why some words are pluralized one way, and others another way, etc.
I think if I can keep up the binge, I may be able to finish the program before we move.
If my head doesn't explode first.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Danish Lessons - Rosetta Stone, Entry #4
I don't remember if I learned numbers using number blocks when I was a kid, but that's how I'm learning them now.
Technically, I supposed I started learning Danish numbers in the informal class I took this past fall, but I definitely prefer the Rosetta Stone method. When I was taking that class, I found myself trying like hell to cram and memorize those numbers before each class, leaving me with barely any time to even look at everything else he'd tried to teach us. Rosetta Stone makes the basics far more intuitive.
Here's the thing: I get that repetition is part of the method, but maybe three quarters of the way through each lesson, I find myself distracted. And since I already basically know one through ten in Danish, I even found my eyes drifting up to the TV... which was showing "Honey" on mute in the background.
"Honey" of all things...
I'm going to try to move through numbers as quickly as I can, and hope that the next unit keeps my attention a bit better.
Technically, I supposed I started learning Danish numbers in the informal class I took this past fall, but I definitely prefer the Rosetta Stone method. When I was taking that class, I found myself trying like hell to cram and memorize those numbers before each class, leaving me with barely any time to even look at everything else he'd tried to teach us. Rosetta Stone makes the basics far more intuitive.
Here's the thing: I get that repetition is part of the method, but maybe three quarters of the way through each lesson, I find myself distracted. And since I already basically know one through ten in Danish, I even found my eyes drifting up to the TV... which was showing "Honey" on mute in the background.
"Honey" of all things...
I'm going to try to move through numbers as quickly as I can, and hope that the next unit keeps my attention a bit better.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Small Business Euphoria
Hey, remember how I was having fairly regular career-induced hives?
As it turns out, I thought of the solution almost 3 years ago. I'd just forgotten.
Back in 2009, I had an idea. It was, in fact, the idea that had me rushing out to buy PVC and moving blankets to build The Pod (1.0). People have brilliant ideas all the time, and sometimes the only thing holding them back from making those ideas a reality... is a job that keeps them busy 40+ hours a week.
That, and insecurity.
Well, now that I'm free of the radio grind, and I've got my lovely fiance rooting me on, I'm going for it. More details will follow soon enough, but I'm spending much of my time these days looking into the details of starting my own business. A business that I can do from anywhere in the world.
Funny how some of the smallest details of starting a business seem so daunting in the beginning. Just coming up with a company name with a corresponding (and available) web domain name was surprisingly stressful.
I'm beyond excited to get this whole thing moving, and equally excited to share it with everyone (once all of the details are hammered out).
I've also already got a plan for The Pod 3.0. It looks like this:
And it's portable!
Also, in case you're worried that I'm slacking on my Danish... I sort of am. But, I have a fabulous to-do list that my fiance worked up that includes working on my Rosetta Stone three times this week. One session down, two to go.
Also on the to-do list? Three trips to this hotel's hot tub. He's a slave driver, that fiance of mine.
As it turns out, I thought of the solution almost 3 years ago. I'd just forgotten.
Back in 2009, I had an idea. It was, in fact, the idea that had me rushing out to buy PVC and moving blankets to build The Pod (1.0). People have brilliant ideas all the time, and sometimes the only thing holding them back from making those ideas a reality... is a job that keeps them busy 40+ hours a week.
That, and insecurity.
Well, now that I'm free of the radio grind, and I've got my lovely fiance rooting me on, I'm going for it. More details will follow soon enough, but I'm spending much of my time these days looking into the details of starting my own business. A business that I can do from anywhere in the world.
Funny how some of the smallest details of starting a business seem so daunting in the beginning. Just coming up with a company name with a corresponding (and available) web domain name was surprisingly stressful.
I'm beyond excited to get this whole thing moving, and equally excited to share it with everyone (once all of the details are hammered out).
I've also already got a plan for The Pod 3.0. It looks like this:
And it's portable!
Also, in case you're worried that I'm slacking on my Danish... I sort of am. But, I have a fabulous to-do list that my fiance worked up that includes working on my Rosetta Stone three times this week. One session down, two to go.
Also on the to-do list? Three trips to this hotel's hot tub. He's a slave driver, that fiance of mine.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
The Pod 2.0, and Other News
I'll be totally up front with you here... Until today, it'd been over a week since I fired up the Rosetta Stone. But I have a good reason, I swear! Or, I have a reason at least.
Monday of last week was my last day as a traffic reporter, and I've been working on getting my bearings in a brave new world that doesn't involve the constant grogginess of split shifts.
Okay, to be honest, I was giving myself a bit of a vacation.
For years, I just figured I was kind of a sleepy person. Turns out it was the working and sleeping in shifts that never let me out of that early-morning haze that most people only have... in the morning.
So, back to the grind. I spent Sunday of this week re-building The Pod.
The Pod is my little home-made recording studio. It used to be a free-standing thing in my kitchen made of PVC pipes and moving blankets. It looked like this:
And inside, was this:
The PVC pipes are long gone now, but the moving blankets now blanket the walls of a closet in our apartment. I call it The Pod 2.0
I've got a career plan, and it involves talking to myself in a padded room.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, I did work on the Rosetta Stone today. Still on colors. I had lunch with a friend yesterday, and he asked me what I could say in Danish. And the truth is... not much. I can recognize plenty of words and phrases, but I just don't trust myself to speak the language yet.
I'll let the Danes teach me pronunciation once we get to Copenhagen.
P.S. - If you haven't already, and would like to follow this blog on Facebook, click here and then click "like."
Monday of last week was my last day as a traffic reporter, and I've been working on getting my bearings in a brave new world that doesn't involve the constant grogginess of split shifts.
Okay, to be honest, I was giving myself a bit of a vacation.
For years, I just figured I was kind of a sleepy person. Turns out it was the working and sleeping in shifts that never let me out of that early-morning haze that most people only have... in the morning.
So, back to the grind. I spent Sunday of this week re-building The Pod.
The Pod is my little home-made recording studio. It used to be a free-standing thing in my kitchen made of PVC pipes and moving blankets. It looked like this:
And inside, was this:
The PVC pipes are long gone now, but the moving blankets now blanket the walls of a closet in our apartment. I call it The Pod 2.0
I've got a career plan, and it involves talking to myself in a padded room.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, I did work on the Rosetta Stone today. Still on colors. I had lunch with a friend yesterday, and he asked me what I could say in Danish. And the truth is... not much. I can recognize plenty of words and phrases, but I just don't trust myself to speak the language yet.
I'll let the Danes teach me pronunciation once we get to Copenhagen.
P.S. - If you haven't already, and would like to follow this blog on Facebook, click here and then click "like."
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Danish Lessons - Rosetta Stone, Entry #3
Learning colors is hard work.
And the bizarre thing about it is that while I'm going through these lessons, I'm thinking to myself, "This is far too simple. I can't possibly be learning anything." Yet, at the end of each lesson, I have more vocabulary floating around in my head that wasn't there before.
And it must not be as simple as the program makes it seem, because I still find myself ready for a nap when I'm done.
I'm sure that eventually I will find that version 2 of Rosetta Stone's lack of explanation of grammatical rules frustrating, but for now I'm just glad to have the vocabulary. Every once in a while my fiance will come in while I'm working on a lesson, and he'll try to explain slight grammatical differences in the phrases I'm learning. Most of the time, I have a hard time processing it, because my brain is in vocabulary mode, and not grammar mode.
This constantly gets me re-thinking this post. Some days I agree with myself, and other days I'm not so sure. But for now I'm grateful to have a few more Danish words floating around in my head.
My fiance has suggested that I give the formal informal Danish classes another try... the classes that I attempted this past fall...
I'm not sure that I'm ready to jump back into that. I think actual formal Danish classes in Denmark will be much less of an emotional roller coaster, especially if I manage to make it through Rosetta Stone by the time we get to Copenhagen.
And the bizarre thing about it is that while I'm going through these lessons, I'm thinking to myself, "This is far too simple. I can't possibly be learning anything." Yet, at the end of each lesson, I have more vocabulary floating around in my head that wasn't there before.
And it must not be as simple as the program makes it seem, because I still find myself ready for a nap when I'm done.
I'm sure that eventually I will find that version 2 of Rosetta Stone's lack of explanation of grammatical rules frustrating, but for now I'm just glad to have the vocabulary. Every once in a while my fiance will come in while I'm working on a lesson, and he'll try to explain slight grammatical differences in the phrases I'm learning. Most of the time, I have a hard time processing it, because my brain is in vocabulary mode, and not grammar mode.
This constantly gets me re-thinking this post. Some days I agree with myself, and other days I'm not so sure. But for now I'm grateful to have a few more Danish words floating around in my head.
My fiance has suggested that I give the formal informal Danish classes another try... the classes that I attempted this past fall...
I'm not sure that I'm ready to jump back into that. I think actual formal Danish classes in Denmark will be much less of an emotional roller coaster, especially if I manage to make it through Rosetta Stone by the time we get to Copenhagen.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Danish Lessons - Rosetta Stone, Entry #2
I'm trying to do one exercise with the Rosetta Stone every day. I've just finished exercise 3 (of 5) in lesson 2 (of... I'm not sure how many).
Lesson 2 is all about verbs, so I've been learning all about how to talk about men, women, children, fish, birds, bulls, and airplanes doing various things. Running, jumping, swimming, reading, flying, falling...
I'm not going to lie, the repetition gets a bit tedious. Each exercise in a lesson has all the same pictures and phrases as the previous exercise, but learned in a different way. Whether it be learning to read the text, or recognize it aurally, it's all the same stuff. I'm not going to complain about it, though. Tedious as it is, it does help to solidify the information in my mind. Unfortunately, a side effect is that my eyes start to blur a bit by the end.
And when I'm done, I'm usually ready to take a nap. Just one exercise, and I'm mentally exhausted.
I'm glad to be learning it this way for now, though, so that this mental exhaustion doesn't get the better of me when I'm sitting in Danish classes in Copenhagen.
Lesson 2 is all about verbs, so I've been learning all about how to talk about men, women, children, fish, birds, bulls, and airplanes doing various things. Running, jumping, swimming, reading, flying, falling...
I'm not going to lie, the repetition gets a bit tedious. Each exercise in a lesson has all the same pictures and phrases as the previous exercise, but learned in a different way. Whether it be learning to read the text, or recognize it aurally, it's all the same stuff. I'm not going to complain about it, though. Tedious as it is, it does help to solidify the information in my mind. Unfortunately, a side effect is that my eyes start to blur a bit by the end.
And when I'm done, I'm usually ready to take a nap. Just one exercise, and I'm mentally exhausted.
I'm glad to be learning it this way for now, though, so that this mental exhaustion doesn't get the better of me when I'm sitting in Danish classes in Copenhagen.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Danish Lessons - Rosetta Style
My Christmas gift has arrived in the form of a bright yellow box from Rosetta Stone.
So far, I've done most of the first lesson, and I'm feeling positive. I suppose this is the whole point, but I feel like a child learning to speak for the first time with this program. I haven't learned a whole lot so far, but the repetition and the visual aids with each phrase really do help.
What have I learned so far? Phrases like "en dreng er under en bold," or "a boy is under a ball." Where one would expect to find him, of course...
I know that I will never forget the word "flyvemaskine," or airplane.
And, of course, "elefant." If the prevalence of the word in my lessons so far is any indicator, I can only deduce that Scandinavia is made up of pachyderms, boys flying airplanes, and other boys hiding under beach balls.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Informal Formal Danish Class vs. Sanity
Something had to give.
Either the Danish classes, my job, or the wedding. Something had to give.
For the sake of my sanity.
And since the latter two are not actually on the table, I regret to say that it looks like I'll have to stop going to Danish classes for now.
Plan B... or... is it C? I've asked for Rosetta Stone for Christmas.
Hopefully that'll allow me to get through the holidays without completely losing my mind, and then I can start again in earnest in January.
Now, here's the deal with the Rosetta Stone for learning Danish... Since there isn't really much of a market for folks who aren't Danish to learn the language, the folks at Rosetta Stone never updated beyond version 2 (more widely learned languages go up to version 4). So, the technology isn't as good, but it's still pretty good. They've also only made the most basic level of Danish in version 2 for Danish. Luckily, that's the level I'm at, so it's not an issue.
And if I can become decent at beginning level Danish by the time I get there, I'll feel more confident in the state-provided Danish classes I'll be taking there.
I'm trying not to think of myself as a quitter right now.
It's not easy.
Either the Danish classes, my job, or the wedding. Something had to give.
For the sake of my sanity.
And since the latter two are not actually on the table, I regret to say that it looks like I'll have to stop going to Danish classes for now.
Plan B... or... is it C? I've asked for Rosetta Stone for Christmas.
Hopefully that'll allow me to get through the holidays without completely losing my mind, and then I can start again in earnest in January.
Now, here's the deal with the Rosetta Stone for learning Danish... Since there isn't really much of a market for folks who aren't Danish to learn the language, the folks at Rosetta Stone never updated beyond version 2 (more widely learned languages go up to version 4). So, the technology isn't as good, but it's still pretty good. They've also only made the most basic level of Danish in version 2 for Danish. Luckily, that's the level I'm at, so it's not an issue.
And if I can become decent at beginning level Danish by the time I get there, I'll feel more confident in the state-provided Danish classes I'll be taking there.
I'm trying not to think of myself as a quitter right now.
It's not easy.
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