#And the test is b1-c1 so I don't have to be perfect. I just have to be okay enough to pass

[ta-bajna-cerna-okybaca]

Oughhhhhh there's only two days to take that german placement test i need before I sign up for any courses. I can't find any info on how they will grade it. What if I bomb the test so hard I can't ever show my face again??? My reading and listening comprehension is fairly good but I'm sooo bad at active usage. My German knowledge is so fragmented from the years since high school that I on one hand can form perfect Konjunktiv 2 forms and at the same time make the most basic ass mistakes in genders. How much do I really want a German course anyways? If I'm living in Germany surely I can absorb the language like a sponge. Why am I putting myself through this. Oughhhhhh

I have to do it. It's good for my future and I do actually want to take an actual German course to get better. But oh god I don't want to. I'm scared. I have to do it scared and I hhhhhhate it. So if I can do nothing else but suffer through, by god will I complain about it at least. Fucking stupid bitch of a school system making me do Tests even though I am Scared. Tch.

[rigelmejo]

I have realized there's very few people actually doing Automatic Language Growth as Marvin Brown made it, pretty much only Thai AUA and ALGworld and Comprehensible Thai (on youtube) and their related school/teachers. So if you aren't studying Thai then you probably won't run into pure ALG lessons/study program unless you make it yourself. Pure ALG is only going to be reasonable when doing a program, if you happen to already be in an ALG school. I have found very few people doing pure ALG on their own, outside of ALG programs, and few have posted results and experiences. (So if you wish to read/hear about experiences, David Long on youtube who did ALG Thai, and a few other youtubers and redditors doing ALG Thai, are the best resource).

Dreaming Spanish is not purely ALG according to certain ALG enthusiasts, but it is the closest thing you'll find that's hugely popular in the English speaking sphere. Dreaming Spanish is welcoming even if you have taken classes before, and even if you still use other study methods alongside it. So I do recommend it if you like it. With the caveat you Remember that for goals involving listening, reading, speaking, writing, you DO eventually need to do things to practice all of those goals. Dreaming Spanish Roadmap mentions starting to read and speak at Level 6 of the roadmap, and anecdotally learners on r/dreamingspanish mention eventually reading 1-3 million words, speaking 200 hours, and working with a tutor/friend or a WritingStreak writing group for practicing writing in prep for B2 or C1 tests. So if you plan to reach goals in all 4 skill areas, eventually you will want to do those things too.

(And I would say that most people who have done Dreaming Spanish who are going viral lately for 1000-2000 hours and can't speak well, probably just haven't practiced 200 hours speaking yet, or have not read 1-3 million words yet. I'd argue a lot are actually A2-B1 level already in speaking even before 200 hours of speaking practice, but since a lot of people claim they'll "speak as well as a native speaker" they're getting torn to shreds online, because A2-B1 - or even B2 to C1 after 200+ hours of speaking - is not as good as a native speaker. I think Dreaming Spanish changed it's roadmap as it now has B2 level skills as it's Level 7 description. But certain ALG enthusiasts love to say perfect pure ALG results in speaking as well as native speakers, and then those enthusiasts say Dreaming Spanish is NOT pure ALG enough and that's why the results are imperfect. But B1 is fucking GREAT for never having spoken before, and B2 after 200 hours of speaking practice is excellent as far as I'm concerned. Dreaming Spanish roadmap is 1500 hours for B2, and FSI Estimates 1200 hours for B2 in Spanish when accounting for 40 hours a week - self study and class time - at 30 weeks. Those estimates are in the same ballpark. Expect it to take 1000-2000 hours to get to B2 in Spanish no matter what route you take to study.)

And don't get me started on the purist ALG enthusiasts... I read Marvin Brown's book. And I honestly think he did NOT guarantee you would become as good as a native speaker! I think the ALG schools may market themselves using such language though, so maybe that's where the misunderstanding comes from - and David Long in particular did pure ALG, runs an ALG Thai school, and definitely claims he speaks as well as a native... though I'm not sure. I've seen other anecdotal reports of students who did ALG Thai school, and they got B2 active skills results (C1 comprehension) in around 2000-3000 hours - Pablo Roman, and ALGWorld blog posts. Not "results like a native speaker," B2-C1 level. I think Marvin Brown himself... himself... thought any adult learner could NOT learn to speak as well as a native, due to all the years they've learned about grammar in their native language and in other languages. I think Marvin Brown's theory of permanent damage and a learning ceiling, was based on his own experience of fossilized mistakes and things he could not stop mentally thinking about before speaking/could not spontaneously produce. Basically, I think Marvin Brown did not claim any adult learner could learn to speak just like a native speaker... I think he said theoretically IF you did ALG perfectly, and had no prior experience analysing languages then maybe you could get the best result possible. But almost all adults have done grammar revision on essays in school, so they already have a ceiling on the results they can achieve, according to his theory. Maybe Brown's ALG school claimed it could give students "native speaker like results" and it's false marketing is still plaguing ALG theory. I'm going to say... probably. Hey if a school says THEY can give you native like results, sure do it if you want to spend your money, and hold the school accountable if the results are worse than they claimed. But if you're doing ALG on your own? Expect B2 overall results if you do the hours they recommend, then speak for a couple hundred hours after you feel ready to speak (after 1000 hours of listening), read a lot once you've done a lot of listening, and practice writing once you are practicing speaking. Expect realistic results - B2. Not "as good as a native speaker," and you can't be let down later.

[lang-learner]

2022 language goals

Well here we are... near the end of the year. I know it's probably too early to make this post but I didn't really have goals or plans for this year so it doesn't matter. But I kinda do for next year. I don't like to plan since it never works out but there are things I wanna work towards.

I think my biggest language achievement this year was being able to hold a conversation in Korean with a native. It's not perfect but at the start of this year I could barely speak it. So for next year I have set the following goals to work towards:

#1 - Hold a conversation in Korean about an intermediate topic (for example economy or society): I wanna expand my vocabulary and be able to talk about things outside of daily topics. I think I will continue with the same tutor and later on check out a tutor who can help with business focused vocabulary.

#2 - Topik Level 4: I don't really like language tests but I could use the motivation and I'm genuinely curious. Also, it's nice having a goal to work towards. Since this is just for personal means and setting this goal to motivate me, I don't feel pressure. I wanna test myself and try to improve my comprehension, writing, vocabulary and listening. Currently I feel like I'm a level 3 and it would nice to reach level 4.

#3 - French level C1 - This is ambitious but I will take French at uni next semester and I already know a lot, so I'm hoping to go from B1 to C1. Even if it doesn't happen, I would like to try and investigate for my uni homework in French and learn economy vocabulary and read more in French. Even if it's fanfics currently lol

#4 - A2 Mandarin / Hold a conversation in Mandarin - I would like end the year by speaking Mandarin. One of my dreams is to work for a Korean company such as Samsung in my field, and since I already have a foundation in Korean and French, I am starting this year with Mandarin and would like to learn more of it throughout the year. I might take tutoring on italki to practice speaking it and learning it. It would be my fifth language and one that goes with what I study so it's an important goal.