Zach's Journey to Learn French by Zachary Lee https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp My Creative final en-us 2023-05-03 15:26:51 UTC 2023-05-09 22:34:51 UTC hello@padlet.com This was very recent on 5/3/2023. This was a massive achievement for me- I had attempted to learn French in years past but I never had enough dedication or built the habits needed to have a strong record. But now I have built it into my day so that every day I can try to expand my knowledge and practice on what I need to grow on. On page 105 of Starkos book, he described how people who are creative have passion for their activities. "Such Motivation can be particularly valuable when the going gets tough" This quote from Starkos chapter on habits of creative people is something that stuck with me!more_verticalAvatar of Zachary Lee zlee42 https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2578401708 I achieved a 100 day streak on Duolingo!]]> 2023-05-04 14:47:04 UTC https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2578401708 This video was pivotal to me at the start of my journey! It taught me some of the basic bits and pieces I needed to get started on my journey. I first watched this video in January. zlee42 https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2583816329 2023-05-09 13:26:59 UTC https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2583816329 Going to Europe/France has been a dream of mine, and I have always heard that the best way to learn a language is to immerse yourself in it entirely! So- that is exactly what I am doing! It does not even feel real to know that I am going to be on a different continent surrounded by languages that I do not really understand This was a pivotal moment for me and my partner. This will come at the point of a long trek of 200 or more days of learning French. It is almost like a reward for being able to go this long and practice so much. I have also used this as a journey to learn more about culture. I booked these flights with my GF in Mid May, but I had been planning it since 2020. COVID actually delayed it a year, as I was intending to go after undergrad, but now it is a break from getting my masters. zlee42 https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2583828975 2023-05-09 13:34:35 UTC https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2583828975 The first video that I had seen from a YouTube who cooks French food recipes- I watched this then got into his series making Julia Childs videos and I was hooked! I have always had a love for cooking, especially what I consider to be fine dining. Watching his other videos was a great auxiliary support structure in that I would use to learn simple French terms- like the words for butter, chicken, or beef. Integrating these small structures into my day to day life was important for me in regards to my ability to learn French. I first watched this video in December of 22. zlee42 https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2583890117 2023-05-09 14:11:10 UTC https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2583890117 This podcast works really well, and had a lot of episodes. I have been able to turn a daily slog of driving into an educational experience. Just like the YouTube videos, this has been a recent find, only within the last 3 weeks or so when I was traveling to and from work and had been caught up on my regular daily podcasts- which always centered around news and sports but did not gear towards learning- that I decided to add onto my learning process. zlee42 https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2583907699 2023-05-09 14:21:42 UTC https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2583907699 From a very young age, I have always been interested in history- the history of nations, war, and borders. and what continent has more interesting borders than Europe? When I was about 12, I had a book that was designed by National Geographic- it had outlined the history of every nation, and I was obsessed with it. I would spend time looking at it every day, going to a new country, reading about their people, their culture, their history. zlee42 https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2583920856 2023-05-09 14:29:27 UTC https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2583920856 zlee42 https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2584269443 2023-05-09 18:40:53 UTC https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2584269443 zlee42 https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2584271727 2023-05-09 18:42:43 UTC https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2584271727 So, here is a bit of a progress update. I am thoroughly enjoying this project, it is Spring Break, so I am actually typing this from Denver, CO. It has been a ton of fun! I am keeping up with DuoLingo, watching more videos and listening to as much of the language as possible. Now that this trip to Denver is done its time to start researching for a trip to Europe that I have been thinking about for multiple years. COVID is dumb and ruined it, but nows the time to be back! zlee42 https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2584291353 2023-05-09 18:59:02 UTC https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2584291353 So, this unit of Duolingo has been really hard. I am really struggling with understanding the Present Tense section. Its not that it is really difficult, its just that some words are very similar and I get them confused VERY easily. Very frustrating, but I know I can overcome it. Its been a few days since coming back from spring break, which was nice to be off. zlee42 https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2584295233 2023-05-09 19:02:27 UTC https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2584295233 This is my last update, this is where my Duolingo streak sits at as of May 9th. Thank you for. great semester. The owl is how I feel to finish this semester! zlee42 https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2584457452 2023-05-09 22:33:35 UTC https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2584457452 Quick Tiktok I made as reflection, hope this works. zlee42 https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2584457954 2023-05-09 22:34:40 UTC https://padlet.com/zlee42/la6fzapkswa7yfkp/wish/2584457954