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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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 Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 9:37 pm Post subject: The Year Without English |
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"I can't say for sure whether or not I will be fluent in any of these languages after, although I'm certainly going to try my best to get as close to that as possible."
http://vimeo.com/73107593
Fluent in Korean (or as close to that as possible) after three months here? Living in Korea speaking nothing but Korean (no English) the whole time? @.@ This should be interesting!_! (@_@)
"Have you made a firm ‘strictly no English’ pact with your travel partner?"
"We don’t speak English to each other.
We don’t speak English with people we meet (even when they insist on speaking English to us)." |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 10:16 pm Post subject: |
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I'd ask them 2 questions
How are they supporting themselves on all these, what are basically, long holidays and would they break the rule if it meant the difference between getting laid or not? |
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El Bandito
Joined: 07 Oct 2013
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| Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 11:32 pm Post subject: |
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Ah, the delusions of youth.
I also wonder where they are getting the money to finance this slacker lifestyle. |
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Xanetos
Joined: 23 Jul 2013
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| Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 1:08 am Post subject: |
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| El Bandito wrote: |
Ah, the delusions of youth.
I also wonder where they are getting the money to finance this slacker lifestyle. |
The guy has done a (off shoot) TED Talk and completed other pretty awesome personal challenges that were very challenging. Just because it is impossible for you does not mean it is impossible to others.
Sometimes it just takes dedication.
I do agree that they must have saved up some money  but... after his other projects, i doubt money is as big of deal.
Q: How are you paying for this? You guys must be rich.
Most people grossly overestimate the cost of a trip like this. Living in a single place for three months is far cheaper than staying in hotels and doing the things people typically associate with tourism. My first time I lived abroad for a year, I earned less than $12,000 that year and didn’t have any debt when I left.
I will continue running my business online and I’ve hired Vat to help me edit the videos for the project. This means the only major expenses are plane tickets and any activities we want to do in each country, which we wouldn’t normally do back home. |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 1:52 am Post subject: |
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| How about answering the second question? |
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The Cosmic Hum
Joined: 09 May 2003
Location: Sonic Space
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| Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 4:33 am Post subject: |
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| edwardcatflap wrote: |
| How about answering the second question? |
Answer to question 2?
They have that covered...by each other. |
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El Bandito
Joined: 07 Oct 2013
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| Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 4:33 am Post subject: |
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| The Cosmic Hum wrote: |
| edwardcatflap wrote: |
| How about answering the second question? |
Answer to question 2?
They have that covered...by each other. |
Nice one  |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 4:36 am Post subject: |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 4:37 am Post subject: |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 4:37 am Post subject: |
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like it  |
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kpjf
Joined: 07 Oct 2012
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| Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 11:38 am Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
"I can't say for sure whether or not I will be fluent in any of these languages after, although I'm certainly going to try my best to get as close to that as possible."
http://vimeo.com/73107593
Fluent in Korean (or as close to that as possible) after three months here? Living in Korea speaking nothing but Korean (no English) the whole time? @.@ This should be interesting!_! (@_@) |
I don't think they'll become fluent in any of those languages in 3 months, but of course an issue is that some people have different definitions of "fluency"; so what he might feel as fluency someone else might think of as something else. For instance, the blonde guy says his level is probably intermediate, but from being fluent in Spanish myself I'd say his level definitely isn't intermediate - he's being a bit generous with his self-evaluation in my opinion. He has conversational Spanish, but with a lot of basic errors (which of course is totally fine for 3 months of Spanish). He seems to like the sound of his own voice, this Canadian guy!
Also, something doesn't fit here: are they trying to tell me for one second that they'll shun and ignore their family/friends for a whole year? It's not likely that they all speak Spanish etc. Not that there's anything wrong with this exception, but seriously if they didn't do this, how many parents would accept that? I think they should be a bit more clear about things: talking with their family, are they absolute beginners in the 4 languages, do they go to an intensive language institute in the country? Do they speak other languages to a high level and so-on?
Furthermore, they're talking in the video about making more than just superficial friends in their next country - Brazil. But hold on a minute, these 2 guys only want to talk to natives to improve their language!! Who wants to be friends with someone like that? Certainly not me. I'm sure many teachers in Asia have encountered this with locals who only want to be friends with them because they're English native speakers.
I'd like to see how they do after 3 months in Taiwan and Korea. I guess with Mandarin for example, a problem would be the tones, for Spanish even with crappy pronunciation you'd imagine people would be more likely to understand them but in Mandarin wouldn't it be a totally different ball game? |
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kpjf
Joined: 07 Oct 2012
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| Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 12:03 pm Post subject: |
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Okay, I see in the most recently uploaded video they say they had private lessons 4 times a week. That's that point clarified  |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 5:39 pm Post subject: |
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| kpjf wrote: |
| in Mandarin wouldn't it be a totally different ball game? |
Korean is hard as hell to pronounce (well enough to be understood) as well. It's debatable which language has more difficult pronunciation. Listening (distinguishing what is said) is ridiculously tough in Korean. I think most people agree speaking Korean (with its insane convoluted grammar) is harder than speaking Chinese (which has easy, straight forward grammar). Writing in Chinese is more difficult (but most day to day communication on the street is spoken, not written).
| Mezzo Guild wrote: |
| The number one complaint I’ve heard about Korean from other learners is that its grammar is very tough. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 7:13 pm Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
Korean is hard as hell to pronounce (well enough to be understood) as well. It's debatable which language has more difficult pronunciation. Listening (distinguishing what is said) is ridiculously tough in Korean. |
As a student of both Korean and Mandarin, I do not think it is debatable at all: Korean is harder to both pronounce and (especially) listen to than Mandarin, even despite Mandarin's tones. In fact, the tones actually make listening easier by providing additional audio information. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 7:32 pm Post subject: |
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There was a study counting syllables spoken per minute. Korean is one of the fastest languages in the world. Chinese: one of the slowest.
Korean: significantly faster than English. More syllables per minute in both news broadcasts and casual conversation. |
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