Oh my gosh. Anyone else feel like January was 4325 days long? Seriously! January stuck around so long that I actually got used to writing "2025" on everything!
Although we aren't out of the woods yet for cold weather, this month brings a lot of hope. The days are getting longer, camping reservations begin, and the UND Writers Conference is right around the corner. In fact, the community events start this month as part of the lead-up to the conference!
I can't complain too much about this winter, though. We haven't had a lot -20s (or worse) like we've had in the past. The picture at the top of the post was one of the few very cold days where sundogs were present. As we were driving, the angle was perfect to snap a picture of a sundog lighting up that tree.
Writing update
Still struggling, but making progress!
I'm still trying to work on my big nonfiction project, but it's a slow go. Though I do wish I could progress a little faster with it, it's an independent project, and can't be rushed.
At the end of January, I decided I was going to try to resurrect my creative processes by doing the Writer's Digest February Flash Fiction Challenge.
I've tried a couple of challenges--most notably, the poetry challenge that ran most of last year. I "kept up with" for all of a week or two!
Though it's still too early to tell, the flash fiction challenge has actually worked out better than I thought. I didn't write anything for day 1, though I might circle back to the prompt.
But then on day 2, I read the prompt and thought, "Wow. I like that. I think I can write something for that." I went about my day to let the prompt percolate, and headed off to the first of the Writers Conference Community Events.
And my creativty was sparked enough that, after the workshop, I came home and wrote a short piece of fiction!
I'm ecstatic!
I'm going to try and get it finished and edited during this "creative time" of the workshops and the writers conference so I don't lose my momentum with it.
And I have the workshop to thank for it. When I go to these writer events (these workshops, the Writers Conference, my local writers group), it always energizes and inspires me. And every time, I say, "Why don't I do this more?!" Seriously, it's been well over a year since I went to my local writer's group, and they meet twice a month!
So I am once again telling myself, "Me! Listen up. Let's keep the inspiration and creative energy going! Go to all the workshops in February! Go to all the events at the UND Writers Conference. And for the love of all that is holy, reconnect with and start attending your local writers group! For you own good!"
And I'm not going to put any pressure on myself with this new story. I'm going to work on it and see what happens. If it goes in a drawer, fine. If it becomes the first new story I've finished and submitted in way-too-long, that's awesome. We will just have to see where it goes.
And today, on day 3, I wrote another story, though this one is more bare-bones than the other and will need more work to finish. But still...it's writing!
Reading Update
I started Erdrich's The Nightwatchman, but I haven't made enough progress in it. I want to go to the bookclub at the end of the month, so I have to get started on reading Erdrich's The Mighty Red. The bookclub meets at the end of the month!
Contrary to usual course of business, I have NOT bought and read any of the books from the Writers Conference authors. It's no reflection on the authors, just the progression of my own experience. Every year, I buy ALL the books, adding to my ridiculously large "to be read" stack (which I have no hopes of finishing unless I live to be 5000 years old). And then I go to the conference and discover that, while I always enjoy the discussion an author brings to the conference, their book might not be my cup of tea. Sometimes, it's not only not my cup of tea, but it's on a whole different planet from the things I enjoy reading.
Don't get me wrong; it's still great to support the author by purchasing their work. But when you combine my limited time to read stuff plus my budget for buying books (which I'm TRYING to be more responsible about, lol), it just doesn't make sense to buy ALL the books.
So this year, I'm going to take a more responsible course of action. I'm going to attend the conference and purchase the works that speak to me as a reader.
What I'm watching this month
I haven't had a lot of time to watch anything other than my regular shows (Survivor, when it's in season; All the 90-Day Fiance flavors; and Sister Wives). Even when I do watch, the TV is usually on in the background while I'm working at something else (painting, programming, chores, etc.)
Classes Update
I am continuing learning Java through Udemy, and I'm getting pretty good at it. My computer science class was a struggle, but it did remind me how much I love programming, and helped me fall in love with Java.
I would really love to pursue a computer science major (how many times have I said that, right?), but I have the same issue that I did the first time: all the math and science, lol. Except now I'm 112 years old and the math and science is even harder.
And I do understand the reasoning for all the extra stuff required for the degree. You have to take all the crazy, in-depth math because that might be what you end up using your programming skills for. And you have to take all the electrical engineering courses because that might be part of what you end up doing if you get a job in the field.
I rememer my first computer job. I was doing QA and testing for the programming department, which also involved writing scripts to test the software. It was such a small company, we were expected to do our own computer upgrades. So if I needed to network several computers to run tests, that was on me. If I needed to install extra RAM or a bigger hard drive, that was on me. So I understand the "extras" that are required for a programming degree.
But gosh darn it! I just wanted to write code then, and I just want to write code now!
I'm still working through the full-stack developer course at Codecademy. I'm in the Javascript section, which is awesome! A lot of the syntax is much like the Java I'm learning, so it's pretty easy (so far).
I'm still learning Spanish through Duolingo, and I've added a different Spanish course in Skillshare. I like it, because it's giving explanations for things, which is something Duolingo falls short on (more on that in a later section).
I've also added "Dreaming Spanish" to my lesson list.
Dreaming Spanish is a good site for practicing your Spanish because it is a series of fun little videos about different things like playing "spot the difference" between two photos, or "which celebrity is older," etc. But the phrases are spoken very slowly, with charade-like hand gestures at times, and repeated, so they are easier for Spanish-learners to follow.
Website Update
I haven't gotten much done with porting over the old website. With the all the other things going on, I'm guessing I won't get any new website development (or bringing the legacy pages forward to this host) until at least April or May.
This month's playlist.
The ten songs I'm listening to on repeat.
Duolingo Review
I've been using Duolingo for almost a year now, so I think I'm ready to give a full and comprehensive review.
And if you are a “TL;DR” person: I like Duolingo, in spite of its problems, and will continue to use it. But I recommend using Duolingo in tandem with another language-learning app because Duolingo's strength is in practice and repeition, not instruction.
Now, on to the full review.
Almost from the moment I started using Duo, I was getting ads in my feeds from its competitors referring to Duo as an abusive relationship. I thought that was ridiculous, but as I continued using the program, I began to understand some of what they meant.
I started to use the app just because I wanted to casually learn Spanish. And at first, it was fun. It was fun to see that I was keeping a streak of practicing every day.
There are all kinds of challenges you can participate in, though I generally don't. Like I said, I just want to have fun and learn Spanish. The one thing I did find myhself roped into was the levels, though.
I didn't even realize that there were levels when I first started using it. But then I completed "X" amount of lessons and got the notification that I moved up to the Silver League.” Then, after more lessons, I moved up to Gold League. Pretty soon, I was paying attention! I started trying to make sure I moved up a league every week. And at first, it was easy.
But the lessons started getting harder, and it was requiring more and more points to move up. Instead of completing two lessons a day to move up, it was five, and then six.
And then pretty soon, I couldn't keep up with progressing to the next league, even doing the same number of daily lessons. I went from trying to move up to just trying to make sure I stayed out of the “Demotion Zone” for my league so I didn't drop down a level.
One Saturday, even after completing 2-5 lessons every day for the whole week, I had to spend an hour and a half on the app to “catch up my points” so I wouldn't drop down a level and fall out of my current league.
Suddenly, learning Spanish wasn't fun anymore. It was an actual chore!
I looked at the scores for next week and did the math: I'd have to get at least 200 points a day to stay in my league. Except for times when you win a 2x boost, most lessons are 10 to 20 points per lesson, with each lesson requiring around 15 translations. I don't have time to spend an hour a day on Duolingo. The whole point of this was supposed to be “in just three minutes a day, you can learn Spanish.”
NOW I understand why one of the guys I follow has been using the app for ELEVEN YEARS and is still several levels below my level. He's been using the app long enough to not buy into the level trap.
So I've stopped chasing levels. I don't care if I drop all the way back down to Bronze level. I'm just going to go back to a lesson or two every day and have fun with it.
From the start, one of the big problems with learning through Duolingo is that there is almost no instruction. You are just introduced to words, and then gradually put those words in sentences. Occasionally, a "here's a grammar tip, how to conjugate ir verbs" will pop up, but it's usually after you've been struggling to conjugate them for the last month or so.
So I run into a lot of problems where I feel like I've learned from repetition that a sentence should be structured in one way (or a verb conjugated in a certain way), and then suddenly it changes and now the app is showing me to do it this other way. And I'm left wondering why? Why is it different this time around? And then I have to go Google it and try and figure it out.
I think Duolingo could benefit from a bit more instruction. As it is, it is very much a "language practice app" and not a "language learning app," in my opinion.
Another problem with Duolingo is that it could improve the learning process by using sentences where you are able to figure things out based on context. For example, I was doing an exercise where the app spoke a sentence. There was no word bank to choose from, just an audio sentence and a blank text box for me to type in what I thought I heard. I couldn't quite make out what one of the words was. I figured out all the rest of the sentence: “Yo (blank) cuando ella dijo eso” = I did (some verb) when she said that.
Okay. So what's the missing word? I tried to gain some context and re-listened, including in slowed speed, three times. I still couldn't make out the missing word. I finally just decided to get it wrong and typed in phonetically what I thought the speaker was saying.
Nope. Got it wrong.
The word was "manejaba." So the sentence was, "I DROVE when she said that."
Ummm. Wow. I would have never guessed that in a million years.
All it would have taken was for the sentence to have more context, something like, "Yo (blank) el coche cuando ella dijo eso" (I blank the car when she said that) and it would have moved this out of the "that's so strange and frustrating" column (which creates learning walls) and into the the "learning and understanding" column!
In spite of the problems I will continue to use Duo because I have learned a lot and (generally) enjoy the app. I do recommend the app if you are interested in learning a language, but I also recommend learning through another app or program in tandem.
That's it for this month. Until next month, Stay Spooky, my friends!
~~Here be monsters . . . and corgis.~~