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I've tried for years to learn Arabic, but I never get anywhere for lack of good learning materials. My options for learning materials are limited because I'm hellbent on learning the language without English translation, and translation is how languages are almost always taught, it seems. Arabic grammar is apparently too complicated for Rosetta Stone's teaching format. It's certainly too complex for the shitty gamification language apps that have multiplied like roaches throughout the Internet.
Yum, I'm having a delicious apple cinnamon protein cookie for the second half of my dinner. I'm in my cozy apartment, which I don't have to share with anyone. I have a safe and more or less comfortable place to sleep tonight. It's times like these that I really appreciate being homeless, out in the cold, and in the rain especially.
Anyways...Today I tried out an app that specializes in Arabic (which is unusual; all the ones I've seen so far offer at least six or so languages). I was going to give up on it once I saw that it's only available as a mobile phone app (because I don't have a network-connected mobile phone), however, I do have virtualization software, and I even had a virtualized Android OS set up on it already, so I'm able to use the app, which is called Arabigo.
Turns it that it also is a gamification app! Gamification language apps purport to make learning fun by presenting information in a way that games are presented; in my experience, what they really do is cater to ditherers and the unmotivated, dragging the learning process out for much longer than it needs to be. Duolingo is probably the most popular one, and it's one I've tried the most times and subsequently gave up on. The stupid, cutesy presentation is annoying and the information is presented too slowly. Maybe the rate of presentation is ok for someone who has no language learning experience or a shitty memory, but for me, it drags ass. Also annoying is that the learning continually gets interrupted by notifications about user achievements, which are achieved with so little effort that they are the equivalent of participation trophies.
These are the two problems I'm having with Arabigo, but it's still early in the lessons; maybe the pace will pick up. Also, I know a few basic Arabic words, and that makes learning seem easier than it is. I have to remind myself sometimes that these apps aren't designed with an experienced learner like myself in mind.
The most attractive characteristic of this app is that the language is taught without translation. It's all pictures and words in Arabic. I find that this makes learning go more smoothly for me, as I don't have to focus on switching between two languages and I don't have to worry about imprecise translations (about which I tend to worry a lot).
My feet have been hurting. I hope three hours of walking per day + being on my feet for hours (I use my standing desk full-time now) doesn't damage them. Seems like it shouldn't be too much. Aren't hunter-gatherers on their feet for hours each day? Without any shoes even. I stand on a blanket that lies on a carpeted floor and walk on a soft track. Maybe I just need time to get used to this.
I've gone through three email applications in the past couple of days. I had to give up on the first two; the first would fail to send and receive mail for no clear reason, and the second provided no clear way for me to enter my email account password. I skipped a third because it doesn't even provide POP3 access. At least two of these three are relatively lightweight, which is what attracted me to them; now I'm with a bulkier email client that has a busier UI but seems to work fine. There aren't many email client options available in my distro repository (I'm a Linux user), presumably because it's such a privacy-and-OSS-focused distro. OS stands for Open Source Software. Privacy and non-proprietary software is definitely what I wanted, but the lack of software options cramp my style sometimes.
I can no longer stand my chilly bedclothes, so I'm on the hunt for a heated blanket or a large heated pad. Cold blankets at the beginning of the night can keep me awake all night because I tend to not fall asleep at all if I don't fall asleep soon after I've gone to bed. Because I'm so sensitive to environmental factors, a comfortable bedroom in general is crucial for me.
I half feel that I should start these blog posts earlier in the evening because I never have time to type everything I want to type and tend to forget things because I'm sleepy later in the evenings, but posting before the day is over, before everything I might want to post about has had a chance to happen, feels wrong as well.
Yum, I'm having a delicious apple cinnamon protein cookie for the second half of my dinner. I'm in my cozy apartment, which I don't have to share with anyone. I have a safe and more or less comfortable place to sleep tonight. It's times like these that I really appreciate being homeless, out in the cold, and in the rain especially.
Anyways...Today I tried out an app that specializes in Arabic (which is unusual; all the ones I've seen so far offer at least six or so languages). I was going to give up on it once I saw that it's only available as a mobile phone app (because I don't have a network-connected mobile phone), however, I do have virtualization software, and I even had a virtualized Android OS set up on it already, so I'm able to use the app, which is called Arabigo.
Turns it that it also is a gamification app! Gamification language apps purport to make learning fun by presenting information in a way that games are presented; in my experience, what they really do is cater to ditherers and the unmotivated, dragging the learning process out for much longer than it needs to be. Duolingo is probably the most popular one, and it's one I've tried the most times and subsequently gave up on. The stupid, cutesy presentation is annoying and the information is presented too slowly. Maybe the rate of presentation is ok for someone who has no language learning experience or a shitty memory, but for me, it drags ass. Also annoying is that the learning continually gets interrupted by notifications about user achievements, which are achieved with so little effort that they are the equivalent of participation trophies.
These are the two problems I'm having with Arabigo, but it's still early in the lessons; maybe the pace will pick up. Also, I know a few basic Arabic words, and that makes learning seem easier than it is. I have to remind myself sometimes that these apps aren't designed with an experienced learner like myself in mind.
The most attractive characteristic of this app is that the language is taught without translation. It's all pictures and words in Arabic. I find that this makes learning go more smoothly for me, as I don't have to focus on switching between two languages and I don't have to worry about imprecise translations (about which I tend to worry a lot).
My feet have been hurting. I hope three hours of walking per day + being on my feet for hours (I use my standing desk full-time now) doesn't damage them. Seems like it shouldn't be too much. Aren't hunter-gatherers on their feet for hours each day? Without any shoes even. I stand on a blanket that lies on a carpeted floor and walk on a soft track. Maybe I just need time to get used to this.
I've gone through three email applications in the past couple of days. I had to give up on the first two; the first would fail to send and receive mail for no clear reason, and the second provided no clear way for me to enter my email account password. I skipped a third because it doesn't even provide POP3 access. At least two of these three are relatively lightweight, which is what attracted me to them; now I'm with a bulkier email client that has a busier UI but seems to work fine. There aren't many email client options available in my distro repository (I'm a Linux user), presumably because it's such a privacy-and-OSS-focused distro. OS stands for Open Source Software. Privacy and non-proprietary software is definitely what I wanted, but the lack of software options cramp my style sometimes.
I can no longer stand my chilly bedclothes, so I'm on the hunt for a heated blanket or a large heated pad. Cold blankets at the beginning of the night can keep me awake all night because I tend to not fall asleep at all if I don't fall asleep soon after I've gone to bed. Because I'm so sensitive to environmental factors, a comfortable bedroom in general is crucial for me.
I half feel that I should start these blog posts earlier in the evening because I never have time to type everything I want to type and tend to forget things because I'm sleepy later in the evenings, but posting before the day is over, before everything I might want to post about has had a chance to happen, feels wrong as well.
