Trip to Dubai and Germany; Learning German; Improving the program
In less than 2 weeks, I will be going to Dubai and Germany for 9 days. So, this is putting me in a “squeeze” for getting this program done. My plans are to have those 9 days covered, and a little after that as well so that we still have a program for every day.
This brings me to another point, I have gotten several emails suggesting that we should do fewer programs and try to make them better. I completely agree that the program can be improved, and I am committed to doing so. However, I also feel committed to doing a daily program. It is a discipline thing. Once I start to move the line from daily to something else, then I am the afraid it would be the beginning of the end of the program. I have seen this in several other things that I have been involved in. Once I reduce the frequency, then I am tempted to reduce it again, until it becomes so infrequent, that I’m not really doing it. So, I really feel like I have to stick with a daily program.
However, it has occurred to me, and been suggested by some people via email, that the programs should be related to each other. So, my thinking is to have a big program, recorded and planned together, that would be broken up into 7 pieces are so. For example, we could have day 1 a vocabulary builder lesson. Day 2 we can do a dialog using those words. Day 3, we can have a grammar lesson tied into the vocabulary/dialog someway. Day 4, find some of the words/grammar “out in the wild” in some printed material and explain that on the program. Day 5, another dialog using the grammar/vocabulary, Day 6 have a excerpt from something on the radio or TV tied in with the grammar/vocabulary. And the day 7 would be saved for something completely different: interview, cultural lesson, review a song, etc.
Anyway, still working through some ideas, but I think this could be a good way to improve the program.
Also, over the next two weeks I’m trying to learn some German on the LiveMocha site. It is a really good program, I think all of you might like to try out the Hindi program there.
premasru said,
November 9, 2007 @ 4:40 am
I know exactly what you mean about the possibility of fading out if you reduce the programs. I did suggest something like that in an email in the event that you got overwhelmed by too many tasks. But, please, keep the daily programs going in that case. I think it can only get better and just hearing you all regularly, the words sink in. Your suggestions about future programs are great. They do need to be more varied as you say. So the ideas you put forward are something to look forward to.
premasru said,
November 9, 2007 @ 4:48 am
PS. LiveMocha site is good. You have to persevere with it, but it’s great, I agree. I’d also like to mention ‘Freelang Dictionary’. It is a very simple program that you download for free. You can add words to it. Create practice lists. And one really great thing about it is when you want to practice words, you can put it on automatic and a new word [Hindi word on the top and English word on the bottom or visa-versa] changes every few seconds. You can speed it up, or slow it down. It’s really cute. It is only in roman script though. I recommend that one. And the icon is a little red book. It is great fun.