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More Learning About Learning

This is Day 1 of my journal.

I am placing in BOLD letters some insight that may be helpful to our students in their own studies.

I’ve decided to learn Hebrew. Why?! Well, I'm not sure. I've always loved learning languages and if I could read Hebrew, I could go back to the original manuscripts of Biblical texts and read it for myself. What a concept!

I ordered it from Rosetta Stone. They are known for being the best in language education.

First Day working on the software.

COOOOOOOL!

These people know how to teach!

I'm going through the exercises and enjoying it. It isn't easy and I'm making lots of mistakes, but I'm doing each exercise again and doing better the second time. Well, maybe the third time will be better. {sigh} I think I've been at this too many hours. I'm getting tired. I'm hanging it up for today

--- Second Day

I'm not exactly sure why they are making me do this particular exercise. It doesn't make sense to me. What in the world are they trying to teach me and why do I need to know that?! {sigh}

I'll keep at it ANYWAY. I'm going to do a very thorough job of this exercise, even though I don't have a clue WHY I'm doing it. Why do I need to know how to talk about a bunch of guys in a kitchen cooking or .... Oh well! I'm going to do it THEIR way, even though it doesn't make sense.

---

Third Day

WHAT WAS I THINKING?!!!! This is much too hard for me.
Our students often say this and many of them probably don' t say it, but they sure think it!

Spanish was easy for me.
Italian was easy for me.
I only did a little bit of German, but that wasn't hard for me.

THIS IS TOO HARD FOR ME!

This language makes you read from RIGHT to LEFT! That's impossible. NOBODY could do it. I certainly can't do it. All those squiggly marks mean SOMETHING, but I don't know what! I'll never know what. This is too hard for me! Okay, I know that even small children in Israel learn how to do this, so I SHOULD be able to learn it, over time, with lots and lots of study and practice.

All this practice doesn't make sense to me. I still don't understand the squiggly lines and what they all mean. Read them? I don't THINK so! Do you read the whole GROUP or does each squiggly line have a meaning?

{SIGH!!!} I'm just going to do it their way and hope that something 'clicks' soon. This is so depressing. I think I bit off more than I can chew, but I don't want anyone to know that I'm failing at it. They will laugh because they all thought I was crazy to start this study anyway.

I'm going to do the exercises as I have been and HOPE something sinks in, but I sure have my doubts.

---

I went back and reviewed everything. I thought that maybe I missed something that is keeping me from 'getting' it.

I did very well. I did each exercise with a high score. Not that I understand anything, but I did well on the exercises. We'll see what comes of it. I don't really see that I will ever understand how to read or speak this language. I can understand certain words when I hear the 'instructor' pronounce them, but what about those squiggly lines. Those are still impossible. My goal is to actually be able to READ those squiggly lines. That's NOT HAPPENING. It appears that it may NEVER happen.

I'm going to double my practice time and see if that helps.

Hmmm. Maybe since I got the exercises right I should now focus on the top of the screen where they show the squiggly lines. I'll analyze them and see how they change and why they change.

Wow! The endings are different when it's a female. Now that I can understand that, I can do that one exercise I was having difficulty doing.

Yep! That did it! A minor success.

---

Okay, I HAVE to figure out the system on those squiggly lines. I know I will never be able to read backwards. That's just silly to expect that I'll be able to do that.

AHA! Each squiggly line has a sound. The sounds make up a word.

OH my! I was just reading BACKWARDS! I actually read a short blurb of a sentence. When interpreted it meant, 'The little boy eats.'

Continuing on, I see how that works. I am actually reading backwards.

I'm so ENERGIZED!!! I CAN do this.

---

On I go to the next exercise.

OH NOOOOOOOO!

Why in the world do I have to learn about cars, cats, dogs, apples, etc. I won't EAT any apples if I ever go to Israel. I'll never need to have a conversation with anybody which includes the word 'car.' Dogs? I won't have mine with me and I won't talk to any I see on the streets. Besides, I'm not planning a trip to Israel so I really don't need to learn the COLORS!!!! This is impossible. I will NEVER learn those colors.

Okay, I know that one. It sounds like LeVan, my old dentist's name. White, like TEETH! I can do that one, but not the rest. Okay, that sound that is sort of like 'cobal' is blue. I can relate to that one, but none of the rest of them. What about that ochre-sounding word. Forget that one. I also don't need that one that means gold. Those are impossible.

Moving on. Glad to get away from colors and I have no idea why I had to do those exercises on people driving or in the case of children, NOT driving the car. That was just plain silly.

The exercise on some question, which I didn't understand AT all, was a waste of time for me. It didn't teach me anything. I didn't get it.

---

Back to the question exercise again. I STILL don't get it and I don't LIKE it.

I went through the motions, but not with much energy.

Moving on as fast as I can away from that one which was impossible for me. I'll NEVER get that one.

Somehow, I actually read short sentences BACKWARDS from Right to left today. I used the sounds attached to the squiggly lines. Suddenly 'squiggly lines' doesn't really describe what I'm seeing. Now, instead of squiggly lines, I see SOUNDS. Also, I didn't actively try to read from right to left. I just started doing it. I'm not sure how.

I'm celebrating my victory on this, but I'm also a little concerned.

I still can't do those very hard exercises about questions, cars, apples, cats, dogs, and books. How will I EVER learn that. It may be too much for me. I may have bitten off more than I can chew. Chew. Hmm. I think I can remember how to say ... maybe not. I can READ it, but I can't always remember how to say it unless I'm reading it. I CAN READ IT!!!

Back to reality. How helpful is it going to be to me to say

The little boy eats.
The little girl eats.
The woman eats.
The man eats.

The women eat.
The men eat.

The men COOK.

The little boy RUNS.

How helpful will any of this be. Not very. {pout} This is too hard for me.

{SIGH!} I'm going to continue with the exercises and try to do well on them and HOPE THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING! It sure doesn't make sense to me.

Today I decided to focus more attention on some of the alphabet or sounds or squiggly lines that I still don't understand. There are more that I DON'T understand than those I DO understand. That's pathetic.

Hmmm. One week ago I didn't think I could ever read from right to left. I certainly didn't understand how the squiggly lines turned into sounds which turned into words, which turned into thoughts and sentences.

I guess that's something. As I tell the students, ONWARD!

---

Bought books.
Bought flashcards.

Books not helpful.
Flashcards REALLY not helpful.

Back to the program, which uses what I call 'saturation' training as we use at The Andrews School.

{SSSSSIIIIIIIIGGGGGGHHHHH!}

I did not make much progress because my assigned exercise was those 'questions' again. I don't understand them. I will NEVER understand them.

There's a picture of a guy.
Next to that, there's a picture of the guy DOING something like eating or running, etc.

Above, at the top of the screen, there are 3 or 4 clickable sentences. I'm supposed to choose the right one. ????!!!

I made no progress (Wednesday) because I wasted time on trying to add to the program when I needed to stick with my plan, 'question' exercises and all. {PFFFFFFFLLLTT to the question screens}

REMINDER TO SELF: It is always the darkest before the dawn, so perhaps today I will get some 'light' on those question screens so I can move forward. I'll do what I tell our students to do. Go back and read what the instructors have said. The BIG DIFFERENCE is, there are no instructors to ask with Rosetta Stone. Pure saturation training the way I define it would be hitting the training from several different angles, INCLUDING instructors to pull it all together. HOWEVER, these people at Rosetta Stone are VERY successful at what they do, so I need to get back on their plan. Period.

NOTE TO SELF: Stop grumbling about the 'question' exercise and analyze it to find out how to resolve the problem! That's still ANOTHER thing that I often tell our students.

---

I read the instructions. I now understand the question exercises.

I had read the initial instructions for the whole program. I had NOT, however, read the instructions for that particular exercise.

This again is something that causes our students problems in the course.

I had to read the instructions because the screen reported my grade as having 'skipped' 22 of the items on the exercise. I hadn't intended to skip anything. When I READ THE INSTRUCTIONS, I found that I was ENTERING the information or SENDING my work in the wrong way. There was a tiny button that I hadn't even noticed. I was supposed to click that to send. I was using another one entirely and it did nothing.

Now I'm cookin!

---

I can now do all of those things they were having me do that I said were impossible. I am still a beginner-level student, but I am amazed and astonished to report that I'm getting it!

I, in my stubbornness, have still refused to follow their instructions on one part. I keep deleting my files and re-enrolling under another name so I can start from scratch and make sure I didn't miss anything important.

I wouldn't let any of you do that. I hereby announce that I am going to (try to) STOP doing that! I'm going to let these foreign language experts BE the experts and I'm going to sit back and be the student, just as I ask all of you to do. If I had done it their way, I would have been much further along on the course at this point.

{slapping hands and telling myself 'Don't do that again!'} We'll see. Sometimes I don't listen.

I did learn that I need to be obsessive about following instructions. When I do that, everything is easier. It isn't necessarily EASY, but EASIER.

I also learned that there are times when I am just too exhausted to learn. I took a three-day break from my studies (because I was on a 'mission' to help a tiny and very old church that had been robbed and was in crisis and at the point of shutting down---just about the only thing that would have brought my studies to a halt) and came back to find that I was much sharper. I made better progress. I need to encourage our students to rest from their work regularly.

---

I couldn't tell the difference in two Hebrew letters. They looked exactly identical. They were the same length. One was not thicker or thinner than the other.

Last night I finally took the time to examine them long enough to realize that one had a slight 'wave' in it. A tiny change made a major breakthrough.

One tiny breakthrough made a huge difference in my understanding. It was something so little that I hadn't bothered with it.

---

I've been so busy that I haven't had time to journal my progress.

I got to a point where evidently I reached a milestone. There was a little scenario where I was one of several people out camping. I was supposed to respond to various questions, etc. It was impossible. I couldn't do it the second time either, so I decided to just move on for now.

I went further into the program and learned more. Then I came back and wasn't able to find the parts I had trouble with earlier. I was able to do all of it. How did that happen?! {shrug}

I wonder if that happens to any of you as you work on your assignments in MT or Coding.

I am finding that I can't just 'coast' in these studies. I have to actually STUDY. Otherwise I get letters mixed up and forget what the little dots, jots, and other marks mean. I try to learn something every day that I didn't know yesterday. I'm surprised when I find how much just knowing that one thing helps me in other areas.

This isn't easy, but I love a challenge! How about you?

---

I think I've reached a point now where I don't stress myself out about learning. I've come up with a combination Rosetta Stone CD/book approach that's very effective for me.

I'm so 'engaged' in it that I forget to journal my progress. I think that's a good sign, when the studies themselves are more important than journaling about them. Maybe.

I reached a point in the book where it says, 'From here on out, your studies will be almost completely scripture.' That was a major goal for me.

I do still think, oh my, what ever made me think I could ever be good at this?! Remember when I didn't think I could learn it. I have learned a great deal. I am learning more every day. Good at it? Well, let's just say I don't think Hebrew scholars will be coming to me for my wisdom about Torah.

I overdid yesterday. I did several hours with the book and then several more with the Rosetta Stone CD. I'm in the 'geography' portion right now, what city or country is above or below or beside another country, and I don't really care. That's why I'm not doing well with that. I want to move on!



My dogs let me know that I did a little too much study yesterday. When I yelled at them this morning. "Get out of my way! Get out of my way! Get out of my way!" I 'think' I saw them look at each other and roll their eyes.

That tells me I spent too many hours in very intense studies and should have taken a break.

I'm excited about the progress I can make on it this week. I'm picking up steam.

---

UPDATE – Successful three-week trip and I was able to read, speak, and understand dramatically more than I thought I would.

SUCCESS!!!