The majority of my posts have been on the "passive" aspects of my Tagalog studies. I tend to avoid terms like "passive" and instead opt for something more accurate like "environment" because creating a Tagalog environment isn't entirely passive. Yes, a lot of it passive in the sense that it's background. However, I tend to incorporate a lot of small activities that are active.
For instance, even though I have music playing constantly in the background, I will every so often listen intently to some lyrics, perhaps a verse or the refrain. I will pay attention to a song when I haven't heard it before. Things like that are all active aspects.
I link this environment I have created to hearing because that's really what I'm doing. It's both passive and active. This environment also includes movies, shows, and news in video form. Those are always done with active hearing.
There is another active aspect that I want to talk a bit about here. That is the studying part which includes imitation and memory. I use only two resources: Anki and the Learning Tagalog books.
Anki is a spaced-repetition computer flashcard program. I use the basic front-back card setup. The card shows me something in Tagalog (the front) and then I try to determine the English idea and check it against the answer (the back). Some would say that this is problematic because I'm using English. But that's what I have to work with right now.
Regarding specifics, one way I use Anki is to learn words that I hear often. I enter the Tagalog as the front and then use a dictionary to determine the English idea and enter that as the back. I enter this as another deck so as not to mix this up with other groups that I'm learning. I eventually want to move to pure Tagalog but I'll figure out how to do that as time comes.
The bulk of my Anki work is the Learning Tagalog sentences and drills. I purchased the entire set because I found it to be the best blend of grammar, vocabulary, and conversational style that I have come across. Learning Tagalog presents lessons consisting of short dialogues and drills. There is a natural speed audio and a slowed down audio. I copied the sentences into Anki along with the audio so that I can read the sentence and hear it. I usually imitate the sentence a few times and then check my understanding with the English they provide. I'll provide an in-depth review of Learning Tagalog some time in the future.
I don't do too much Anki work per day. At this point I'm learning about 20 new sentences along with whatever the program has determined is due for the day. Currently my Anki reviews are taking about 35-40 minutes per day and I expect that time to increase as I do more. I will probably feel most comfortable when an entire review takes between 1 hour to 1.5 hours.
For instance, even though I have music playing constantly in the background, I will every so often listen intently to some lyrics, perhaps a verse or the refrain. I will pay attention to a song when I haven't heard it before. Things like that are all active aspects.
I link this environment I have created to hearing because that's really what I'm doing. It's both passive and active. This environment also includes movies, shows, and news in video form. Those are always done with active hearing.
There is another active aspect that I want to talk a bit about here. That is the studying part which includes imitation and memory. I use only two resources: Anki and the Learning Tagalog books.
Anki is a spaced-repetition computer flashcard program. I use the basic front-back card setup. The card shows me something in Tagalog (the front) and then I try to determine the English idea and check it against the answer (the back). Some would say that this is problematic because I'm using English. But that's what I have to work with right now.
Regarding specifics, one way I use Anki is to learn words that I hear often. I enter the Tagalog as the front and then use a dictionary to determine the English idea and enter that as the back. I enter this as another deck so as not to mix this up with other groups that I'm learning. I eventually want to move to pure Tagalog but I'll figure out how to do that as time comes.
The bulk of my Anki work is the Learning Tagalog sentences and drills. I purchased the entire set because I found it to be the best blend of grammar, vocabulary, and conversational style that I have come across. Learning Tagalog presents lessons consisting of short dialogues and drills. There is a natural speed audio and a slowed down audio. I copied the sentences into Anki along with the audio so that I can read the sentence and hear it. I usually imitate the sentence a few times and then check my understanding with the English they provide. I'll provide an in-depth review of Learning Tagalog some time in the future.
I don't do too much Anki work per day. At this point I'm learning about 20 new sentences along with whatever the program has determined is due for the day. Currently my Anki reviews are taking about 35-40 minutes per day and I expect that time to increase as I do more. I will probably feel most comfortable when an entire review takes between 1 hour to 1.5 hours.
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