Blog

June 16, 2010 | Greek

A Multi-Source Approach to Learning

In which I get spoiled having so many products to study with.

I took Pimsleur to Central Park with me tonight and enjoyed an educational walk. It also happened to be the first evening of the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge, a 3.5-mile race, so I took pictures. I think there were something…

June 18, 2010 | Greek

On Mnemonic Devices

A mythical creature helps me remember the Greek word for "because."

Yesterday I couldn’t take it anymore: I ran. I wasn’t initially sure it would be a good idea, but my doctor said okay, try it, though without great enthusiasm. He taped up my feet, which helped a lot. …

June 20, 2010 | Greek

I Can Compose Original Sentences

In which I have a (very small) Greek exchange.

Today I woke up early and went to Central Park to take pictures of a Father’s Day race, which I would probably have been running if not for my injury. It was a pea soup kind of day, hot…

June 21, 2010 | Greek

Shopping with Pimsleur

Pimsleur accompanies me around town.

I woke up way too early and promptly began studying. It made me happy. I did a lot of Pimsleur today. I took Pimsleur with me as I ran errands all over town, including a number…

June 23, 2010 | Greek

Candor in Greek

In some languages, people are more direct than in others.

I have been doing a lot of Rosetta Stone. I am definitely learning from it, but I concede I am having a hard time at any given moment understanding where I am in the sequence of lessons. I plan to…

June 25, 2010 | Greek

I Get a Bad, Bad Grade

Am I going to be able to graduate from Rosetta Stone?

Today I chose to do Rosetta Stone instead of Pimsleur because, frankly, I felt too delicate for Pimsleur. Pimsleur requires a lot of mental energy and focus, particularly for non-Romance languages. With Rosetta Stone, on the other hand, you can…

June 26, 2010 | Greek

On Mice and Language Books

I reach Pimsleur's second level of Greek and also complain a little about self-study guides.

Today I finished the first level of Greek Pimsleur and promptly got started on the second. Different verb forms and tenses are floating around in my head. Pimsleur has already introduced me to some past, present, and future, and I…

June 28, 2010 | Greek

Grade-Grubbing

I get caught up in my Rosetta Stone scores.

This morning I did not feel great when I woke up, I think because I got overheated yesterday. Sunday was extremely hot, and Brandt and I were outside in the sun at the annual gay pride parade. Parade and Parade…

June 30, 2010 | Greek

Funny Things About Greek

Some very small Greek words cause me trouble way out of proportion to their size.

In each language I’ve studied as part of this project, there have been certain words or expressions that just don’t sound to me as though they mean what they mean. As a result, I find them difficult to…

July 1, 2010 | Greek

Anniversary!

I began this project a year ago today.

Today marks the one-year anniversary of this project. In honor of it, I managed another appallingly bad Rosetta Stone score. How Many Languages Were Spoken in Times Square Today? Oops. It was again on a writing unit. I was told…