Friday, December 4, 2009

TAC - Total Anihilation Challenge!

I'm going to try to be a part of Unilang's total anihilation challenge. Essentially the TAC is simply you and your languages. You pledge yourself to study certain languages and document your progress throughout the following year.

This is EXACTLY what I want, to keep me strictly on track. It's going to be just what I wanted to help me along  on my journey through my languages. I signed up in a heart beat.

But now, I'm stuck with a problem. Which languages? Pooh, I'll definitely study Hebrew and Mandarin, but what of my other languages? I've posted previously about my language plans, and this will definitely impact it, but for the good I think.

I'm trying to decide between three other languages, two of which I will take with me into the TAC. I've narrowed it down to Levantine Arabic & MSA, Portuguese, and Finnish.

Arabic, specifically the Lebanese accent of MSA and the Levantine dialect, I've been wanting to learn for the longest time. I started it back last summer, but then I found Hebrew and fell in love. What can I say? But I still feel a strong tie to it, and most semitic languages, in all honesty. Islamic history and semitic grammar, nothing better than that! Well, except for Jewish history, that's just slightly more amazing.

Now, for Portuguese, it's a bit of a tumultuous relationship. I learned a little bit, back about a year ago this month. (Damn I'm old :P) I've been restruck with my interest, and I'd like to get back into it. Portuguese is a romance language, a family of languages that have held and always will hold my undying affection.

Finnish I've been learning for this time, along with Hebrew, but I seem to have hit a stand still. I've worked my way totally through my course, and I'm pretty happy with my level at this point, but I don't know where to go next...I plan to ask on the Finnish forum on UL and see what they have to say. Right now, I'd usually get a novel and peruse my way through it, learning vocab and usage along the way. But I've no way to get ahold of a Finnish book or periodical. I need something that I can mark in and highlight, not a PDF, although at this point I am getting a bit desperate. :P

Useful links:
Unilang's TAC
How to Learn Any Language's TAC