Finishing Italian Tutor, My CEFR Levels, & Re-Starting Bulgarian! // September 2020 Recap

Not a lot of study clips in this one…but some good discussions and realisations! How was your September?
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[@theoraven]

I really enjoy all of your monthly check-ins, even if you didn't get as much done. They are realistic and fun to follow. I'm so excited to see how Bulgarian goes this time!

[@PolyglotProgress]

Thank you! And so am I! I'm looking to have this be the time that doesn't end finally haha!

[@claireabadie3981]

Le livre d'assimil est un manuel pour débutants donc c'est pas mal de le feuilleter si tu connais déjà toutes les bases pour voir à quel point tu comprends. Et personnellement c'est la méthode que je privilégie pour apprendre les langues car elle est plus accessible et simple à trouver pour un public francophone.

[@isaberuteuki]

I love these monthly vlogs! Muchos ánimos con el búlgaro estos próximos meses.

[@PolyglotProgress]

Gracias!!

[@adamclark1972uk]

I remember hearing you speak Bulgarian before. You were pretty good.

[@PolyglotProgress]

Thank you! Hoping to get back to that point and a bit better :)

[@DespicableGru]

I'm going to rewatch your Bulgarian videos after this. :-)

[@petravancaneghem6049]

Looking forward to your bulgarian updates. Studying bulgarian myself too, with the same books. Много успех! (who’s your italki teacher?)

[@PolyglotProgress]

Thank you! I've had lessons with a lot of tutors, and a few of them are no longer teaching. The ones who still are are Elena, Yoana, and Vladimir! I actually just booked one with Elena lol Good luck with your Bulgarian as well!

[@MissUzumakiUchiha]

Congrats on finishing Italian Tutor!! 😊📖❤️

[@PolyglotProgress]

Thank you!

[@liscatcat8756]

I needed this video, I lost my job last month it was such a shock as we was ready for to go back . So had loads of things to sort out . You given motivation to get back on the language learning . I really hope we can rid of the bumbling idiot that is SUPPOSED to looking after us in the UK. Hope you are well and enjoying your new man 😉

[@PolyglotProgress]

I'm so glad this has helped! I've been in that exact position this year with being laid off and dealing with a bumbling idiot running things. Making videos and having that accountability and community has helped me a lot, so I'm glad it's done the same for others. I am doing pretty well (and though he's actually not so new at this point I am also enjoying my man lol), I hope the same for you!

[@OpheliaVert]

I LOVE THESE VIDEOS

[@OpheliaVert]

Also congrats on finishing Italian tutor

[@PolyglotProgress]

I LOVE YOU Thank you!!!

[@lunaticw1tch572]

Heyy I missed your videos

[@PolyglotProgress]

I missed making them!

[@carlamercedesrivas4365]

I really would like to learn foreign languages, maybe ARABIC. Could you make a video about books for learning ARABIC? Sorry! My English isn't good. If you see a mistake, please forgive me.

[@Tinneas_poite]

Hey, your english is great👍 Also you don't have to put arabic into capital letters. Arabic is ok👍

[@adamclark1972uk]

Consider yourself absolved

[@PolyglotProgress]

I am hoping to study Arabic within the next few years, possibly even this upcoming year! When I do there will definitely be videos about it :)

[@mishapsmakemagic]

I'm so curious what my language levels actually are. I think I'm B1 in Spanish and A2 in Korean but I'm just not sure. 😕

[@annap1871]

Don't worry about new things in your French. In my opinion, it's quite normal - even if you learn some language the whole life you find something new from time to time. Don't you find anything new in English? I do in my native language. What do you think about learning a lot of languages vs. learning e.g. three languages but developing them to really high level?

[@PolyglotProgress]

Very true! There are a lot of things I don't know or get wrong in English. And for me personally I like a mix of both! There are a lot of languages I'd like to develop to a high level, but I'm fine studying them all or rotating through them and potentially making slower progress to get there. I haven't *needed* any language to be at a high level in a specific timeframe yet, so I'll often switch between focussing on getting certain languages to a much higher level and focussing on learning the basics in a bunch of new ones. I like aspects of a bit of both! And I definitely think learning a lot of languages helps me to get a few to a higher level, so it works out quite nicely!

[@annap1871]

​@@PolyglotProgress I know what you mean. I also have never needed to learn any languages but knowing them, you meet new opportunities. And I feel very uncomfortable when my new language is below the middle of B1 because I want to express so many thoughts and I can't or have to make them more superficial. That's why I am focusing on three; however, I fancy learning Japanese. I have learned hiragana and katakana, but I feel guilty that I could neglect other languages... But I suppose you inspired me and I will learn a little bit more.

[@nextlifetimebrendan3940]

“I have no good feelings about doing homework” LMAOOO

[@edytazemlak2781]

I've been learning Irish (Gaelic) on Duolingo. It's very hard to learn unless you start with the pronunciation first before you learn anything else. It makes a world of a difference in learning Celtic languages.

[@adamclark1972uk]

Don't forget to check out Jake Steiner's channel

[@jasminedubois6711]

Who makes those tutor books.

[@PolyglotProgress]

Teach Yourself

[@kimkima2408]

[LONG COMMENT SORRY] As a person who's been following your journey from the start, I wanted to give my thoughts on certain things - from the viewer's perspective. Firstly, I wanted to say that I admire you for the time and effort you put into learning languages, I can most definitely see it's your hobby and you enjoy it a lot, despite getting burnt out every so often, but it happens to all of us. The one thing that I think could be changed in your approaches to languages is how you approach French in your personal life but also on this channel. From the beginning you've been telling your audience how you hate your accent so you won't be uploading any videos of you speaking French, but in one of your new year check ins you mentioned you might do some French videos and you've also said that accent is not the most important aspect of learning a language to you, so I'm surprised we still haven't seen a single clip of your speaking French. In one live session when someone commented in French you refused to say anything back in French because you weren't feeling so great and your throat felt a bit sore, so I'm a little confused as to what the real reason actually is. I'm just a bit lost, because you seem confident with speaking any other language you're learning such as German, Italian and Spanish, and even though you know your accent is slipping while speaking in those languages, you're still confident to share your updates with us and I think that's amazing. I just don't know what the deal is with French. At one point you said your French is near to C2 and that you're pretty much "bilingual" at this point, but then say you've forgotten a lot of it, and feel like you need to start going through the basics again. I just personally think that it's not the accent that is holding you back, but perhaps the fact that your French is not as good as you had claimed it to be - which is totally ok! But since you mentioned (few months ago) you wanted to be more honest with your language journey on this channel, I think you should think about addressing your French a bit more. I don't know what it's like in the US but usually in Europe if you major in a language, you leave university knowing enough to be able to speak freely about most topics - you said you learned and used advanced French at uni but from what you're telling us in your updates, it doesn't seem like your French is actually that strong. I'm not hating on you at all, I think you're doing a grand job, but I just think that if you're going to share your honest journey with all the other languages you're learning I think you should do the same with French. It's ok if your French is not amazing, but should still give speaking a go on this channel. I think many of your viewers are confused at this point. Anyway, I wish you all the best Abigail. Stay safe :)

[@PolyglotProgress]

Hey! Sorry that's come across as confusing! I didn't realise things I'd said were coming across as conflicting, sometimes editing/filming only certain things has that downside. I'm going to try my best to clear it up here, but let me know if anything is still confusing! I haven't been hiding my French/French accent from the channel since probably 2017, the only reason you haven't seen French content is that the only diaries posted after 2016 were the romance language challenge videos, and then since coming back this spring I have been working through a long list of videos I've been wanting to make since returning to KZbin and haven't gotten to that one yet. It can be difficult keeping current tabs on all the languages when I'm trying to vary my content and have just wanted to focus on diaries for the languages I was refreshing this summer. There'll definitely be a video in French by the end of the year, I believe it's currently scheduled in my plans to be filmed/posted in mid-November. In terms of my French level, I'd say I'd feel confident describing it as a C1 (which I was trying to communicate in this video and will try to explain better below!), but only because it's not something I'm using often, so I don't feel confident saying if I sat down and took a CEFR exam today I would receive a C2. That's not me trying to say I don't think I have a grasp on the concepts needed to pass C2 or can't communicate on any subject in French. I don't think I have forgotten a lot of it/need to start going over basics again. I think my speaking is rustier than my reading/writing/listening in the language and I also *did* feel I needed to start with basics for German/Spanish/Italian/Bulgarian which I think is where that confusion came from, but not with French! I definitely have a good grasp on French even after periods away. And it's the same in the US with a language degree! I left having completed the highest level of French offered as well as having taken translation/literature/film courses in the language and completed two internships where I worked with francophones and also interpreted and translated between francophones and Americans. The video I was talking about earlier is going to be about my majors/minors at university so if you want me to clarify anything specific about my French degree feel free to reach out and I'll try to include it! The point I was trying to make in this video is that I feel like with some work I could pass the C2 DALF exam, but what currently holds me back is my speaking abilities, because while I know the words/grammar to speak on any subject I could in English, my speaking skills were not developed alongside my writing and comprehensive skills. What I was trying to communicate is that because of this disconnect if I had to assign a CEFR level to it I'd say my speaking is at a B2, while the rest of my level is at that c1-c2 bilingual level. However, I suppose I should have just said I felt like my speaking holds me back from getting a C2 on a language exam as exams aren't graded as such, and I can totally see how then that would be confusing when it comes to my level instead of more clear, which had been my intention. So TLDR; Yes I received a degree in French and I can speak freely on any subject I can in English. The point I was (poorly) trying to make in this video is just that speaking is my weakest French skill due to my history with the language. French video next month, if there's anything you want touched on let me know! Sorry it was confusing, I totally see how it could seem from those things like I was knowingly saying my French was higher than it was and then hiding it, it really has just been sore throats/my hard drive erasing French videos/working my way through content being weird coincidences... I'll definitely keep this request in mind and work on prioritising some French content over the coming months! I hope this helps clear it up a bit, though I thought the things that were confusing were clearing things up too haha! Hope you're also doing well :)

[@PolyglotProgress]

Sorry I'm adding on to my long comment but I did just look up an example C2 DALF exam too after reading this comment, and if it helps I do fully stand by that the only thing that would prevent me from passing would be speaking. The reading and essay sections are quite similar to the papers I wrote at university, so you're right that that's typically the level correlated with a degree! This might be the really easy TLDR to that big one lol

[@kimkima2408]

@@PolyglotProgress Hi abi, I just saw your post on twitter and I wanted to apologise for making you feel the way I did. To be honest, I just wanted to encourage you to use your French and not be afraid to show your true French level on your channel, despite of what people might think it currently is at. Nobody is going to say you're a fraud. I just wanted to express my honest opinion on how I felt as a viewer of your channel since 2018. I think your worry from what other people are going to think (based on claims you've made in the past) is what's really stopping you from speaking French on this channel, and I just want you to not care about that. Just do you, girl :)