hard work pays off
This was another solid week of Luganda work. In addition to putting in a good amount of time and energy, I had an experience where I could really see the results of the work I've been putting in.
Simon had me translate a short article from the newspaper (above). This type of reading was once completely out of reach for me - too many synonyms, too many uses of nga, too much difficult grammar. But this time, for the first time, it actually feel fairly easy to translate a newspaper article. That's not to say that I had 100% accuracy or knowledge of vocabulary, but that it felt like a pretty manageable task and that my overall comprehension was very high.
Additionally, as I translated, I noticed several elements of the language that I've been working on recently. They included:
- Vocabulary: a number of words which I've been studying lately were used, including enju (a less-commonly used synonym for house), okuteereka (to save money), emitendera (steps, stages)
- Object relatives: I've been reviewing their use in the grammar book- I never really had them nailed down
- Future tenses: When I first learned future tense I learned two easy ways of constructing it, but there are several other ways to indicate future action. I just recently worked on them in the grammar book as well
The visibility of my progress through this exercise was energizing, and made me hopeful about my ability to attain my goals this semester.
However, I have gotten a bit behind on my advanced exercises. Writing out my proposal in Luganda is taking longer than I'd planned, so I'm hoping to dedicate a little more time to that this week so that I can have a draft complete and learn from that process. The amount of time this has taken me lets me know that I will have to start earlier on my next project if I want to stay on schedule.
Here is what my week looked like:
Monday: Lesson with Simon, 1 hour of radio, 50 Quizlet words
Tuesday: 1 hour with the grammar book, 50 Quizlet words
Wednesday: 1 hour lesson work, 50 Quizlet words, texting with friends
Thursday: 1 hour newspaper translations, 1.5 hours radio, 30 minutes on dissertation proposal, texting with friends, found a new language resource
Friday: Lesson with Simon, 10 minutes deep listening
Saturday: 50 Quizlet words
Sunday: Read 2 newspaper articles, 150 Quizlet words, 5 minutes practicing proverbs, 30 minutes lesson work
Looking ahead to next week, I'm hoping to make better progress on my dissertation proposal and to generally keep the work up. However, I woke up feeling sick today and am worried for what that means for the rest of the week. I spent almost all day in bed, hoping to kick this illness before the week starts, but we'll see. If I get properly sick, this will probably be a down week for my Luganda studies.
Simon had me translate a short article from the newspaper (above). This type of reading was once completely out of reach for me - too many synonyms, too many uses of nga, too much difficult grammar. But this time, for the first time, it actually feel fairly easy to translate a newspaper article. That's not to say that I had 100% accuracy or knowledge of vocabulary, but that it felt like a pretty manageable task and that my overall comprehension was very high.
Additionally, as I translated, I noticed several elements of the language that I've been working on recently. They included:
- Vocabulary: a number of words which I've been studying lately were used, including enju (a less-commonly used synonym for house), okuteereka (to save money), emitendera (steps, stages)
- Object relatives: I've been reviewing their use in the grammar book- I never really had them nailed down
- Future tenses: When I first learned future tense I learned two easy ways of constructing it, but there are several other ways to indicate future action. I just recently worked on them in the grammar book as well
The visibility of my progress through this exercise was energizing, and made me hopeful about my ability to attain my goals this semester.
However, I have gotten a bit behind on my advanced exercises. Writing out my proposal in Luganda is taking longer than I'd planned, so I'm hoping to dedicate a little more time to that this week so that I can have a draft complete and learn from that process. The amount of time this has taken me lets me know that I will have to start earlier on my next project if I want to stay on schedule.
Here is what my week looked like:
Monday: Lesson with Simon, 1 hour of radio, 50 Quizlet words
Tuesday: 1 hour with the grammar book, 50 Quizlet words
Wednesday: 1 hour lesson work, 50 Quizlet words, texting with friends
Thursday: 1 hour newspaper translations, 1.5 hours radio, 30 minutes on dissertation proposal, texting with friends, found a new language resource
Friday: Lesson with Simon, 10 minutes deep listening
Saturday: 50 Quizlet words
Sunday: Read 2 newspaper articles, 150 Quizlet words, 5 minutes practicing proverbs, 30 minutes lesson work
Looking ahead to next week, I'm hoping to make better progress on my dissertation proposal and to generally keep the work up. However, I woke up feeling sick today and am worried for what that means for the rest of the week. I spent almost all day in bed, hoping to kick this illness before the week starts, but we'll see. If I get properly sick, this will probably be a down week for my Luganda studies.
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