Pick up a StoryLearning course at a great price! shorturl.at/N270G (Still going as of the morning of December 3, US Pacific time) I spent 3 months making my latest (and best) video: th-cam.com/video/2MVomgxq0Ls/w-d-xo.html
I just turned 30 years old. I've not built any career, found a partner built a family. It's all because I didn't heed the advice in this video I wasted my 20's on ill-advised dreams, and scrolling social media. Now I've got to build a real life, and hope it isn't too late. If you're young please listen to Lamont's advice. Don't ruin your life like me. Build something while you're young, or else you'll regret it.
As a 32-year-old who has definitely felt what you’re feeling - you’re still young, friend. It’s not too late. You’re just getting started. You’re far more capable now than you were in your twenties and the fact you’re able to reflect on the mistakes of your 20’s is proof you are doing something right. Life is not a linear path. You got this.
I just entered university to get my degree in computer science, and with the encouragement of channels like this am starting to learn German. Thanks for the kind words.
I met my husband when I was almost 32, I moved to his country and started learning his native language (which is a language not in the same group as my native language) the year I turned 33 and we got married the same year. I am almost 2 years into living here and learning the language, and yes the language a struggle often, but it's also the best thing I've ever done on so many aspects. I understand more and more what people are saying and they no longer switch to English as much as they used to (even though my accent is still not the best and I still mess up some words/grammar) I would not have been able to achieve any of this in my 20s, I had a well-paying job for a some years, yes, but the only words I can attach to my 20s are dread and despair. I only in my late 20s found out that I had been mentally ill for all those years, and despite there being so many signs I didn't get any diagnosis or help until I was 27, and even after that I still had to manage my medication, therapy, work training, and the year I turned 31 I was at an abusive workplace that instead of giving me a job where I could thrive with my illness and give me the accomodations that I required, made me more sick. I was not planning on getting married ever, I've never been popular with the boys and I had a few very short and shallow flirts so I could never find comfort in dating, but when I started dating my husband, it felt like the most natural thing, and so did moving to his country and learning the language. I know that some immigrants my experience culture shocks or have homesickness, so I expected to get those things as well, but they never happened, if anything I got homesick for my new home country when I visited my family this year. I still haven't forgiven the people who overlooked the signs of me being mentally ill, and I don't know if I ever will, because it did destroy most of my 20s, but my goal with my language learning is to become fluent enough to take some sort of education in teenage/youth welfare and to help young people who struggle with whatever it may be, because I don't ever want any young person to go through what I went through. So why am I saying all this? Because a person in their 20s have only lived 2 decades of their lives and 30 is not that much older either. You could die in a traffic accident the next time you go outside, or you could be put in Guiness World Records for being the oldest living human ever. I thought my life was over in my 20s, but it really only just began in my 30s. Some of the biggest icons didn't have their success until they were over 30. So I say this with the most love and respect to anyone who's struggling with achieving their dreams: The only time it's too late, is when you're dead.
This is why you're the best learning channel on TH-cam. Not just language learning. You give real, actionable advice for working (or studying) people. I click on all your videos expecting to find something interesting and I usually leave with real and actionable motivation. I'm not sure what I'll do, but I want to do something now. Thanks, as always.
They are usually written in an easier language with fewer vocabulary, but if you aren’t interested in non-fiction it becomes harder even if the language is technically easier.
@@BrunUgle I have not read much but my son recommended a book the other day, he is bilingual and the book was in my second language (Spanish), his first, and I glanced at a few paragraphs and thought wow, this language is way more direct that the fiction I have been reading. I guess, find a subject you like and read. I like stuff like national geographic and it comes in Spanish.
I’ve never been a reader in my life, but I decided to change that. I’ve been reading more books this year than maybe the past 10 years combined. I’m reading novels in English first and then the same novels in Spanish. It’s been a really rewarding experience for me.
@ I also listen to the audiobooks of the same title in English and Spanish if I can find them. This is very helpful to get my ears used to the sound of some new vocab in Spanish before I see their text form.
Intriguing idea. I am experiencing the exact same thing. I love reading but don’t do it because I slip down the social media hole and spend time watching videos about sheep shearing, recipes I’ll never make and people I don’t even like.
Good for you. I realised today that I don’t even have a book on my Libby library app, which is pretty unusual. I guess I’ve got out of the habit of opening the app on my phone to rea. But I usually skeet the cover of completed books which record I find useful. And am reading Matilda in Spanish. Go me. Lo quiero!
Thankfully I don't waste time on social media. In fact, I've sometimes wanted to be more sociable and connected on things like forums (back in the ol' days) or facebook, twitter etc. TH-cam is somewhat of an exception for me nowadays. I come here with the intention of watching some content in a target language. I find myself 1/2 hour later watching something very random and completely English. My primary goal is to watch all 1400+ videos on ComprehensibleThai channel. I haven't progressed nearly as quickly as I would have hoped to. However, I'm 110 hours in and loving every moment.
Helps if you make another channel specifically for your TL. Then, you can plug topics your interested in into google translate and copy and paste the translation into the search bar. Then that channel will have a bunch of recommended videos in your TL
100% a problem I have. I want to focus more on French content but every time… I get stuck in the TH-cam scroll. Though I did cut out social media (except YT 😅) earlier this year and that has helped a lot. I also avoid shorts now and try to limit and focus what I watch more to my goals. As a fellow reader this is an amazing goal to set, I set myself the goal this year to read 30min minimum per day in French which I have kept to 😁 next year I’m going to up it to 45 or an hour 💪 and maybe learn how to play the Lyre.
So glad I stayed tuned for part 2. This is a great idea, and I want to try to find something similar, but not exactly the same to apply to my Spanish. Like everyone else, I often fall into the New Year's Resolution trap, where I offer up a goal that I fail to accomplish in a matter of weeks. Like you, I love reading, and I think I'll be able to devise something that will push me to use reading as a tool to push my Spanish along. Looking forward to your updates
I dont do goals. I read in Spanish because it is the language of the country where I live and I want to be better at it. I love reading and I think reading is helping me enormously. I simply do a little everyday. I know that if I remain constant I will improve little by little. It is really difficult having confidence in that concept but when I think about how well I can speak and what I already know in Spanish with ZERO help and zero classes from anyone here, that I have NO IDEA how it all got in there but it did, then the rest will follow. All I need do is participate in the language. Es increible lo que aprendí sin apoyo o ayuda de nadie especialmente considerando que enseño tambien entre este idioma seugundo.
Yeah sometimes I need goals and other times I need to NOT have goals. So far goals are working for this because I shot this about a month ago and I'm already at nearly 2 million words.
@daysandwords i get so much out of reading and rereading the same text. When my son was growing up, being a native spanish speaker and requesting I read to him in English he regularly requested the same book.
I guess it depends on the person but for me a little bit of friction was enough. I turned off my computer's internet and only turned it back on when I had a specific task that required it in mind. I spent two weeks pretty much using my computer exclusively for Anki!
Yes but my entire job is online, I can't just turn off the internet constantly. I do unplug the modem frequently but that's not a LIFE solution, that's a day solution.
Random comment: Interesting, I find non-fiction way easier in my L3 (in which I'm probably still at bit worse than you in Swedish). My current situation: about two years ago, I allowed myself to doomscroll and procrastinate as much as I want, as long as I'm immersing in L3 (which was at A2-ish at that time). I intentionally spent several hours on that language per day, both in passive immersion and some other, more deliberate learning / practicing activities. And it worked really well. Extraordinarily well. Nothing I did in the past 20 years came so easy to me as learning that language. But now two things happened -- first, I stopped improving, so I hit the limits of my learning strategies, and second (unrelated to all this) I need to get my sh*t together and find a way to earn money again, which means I really need to solve the distraction / dopamine problem. Fast. So, while I'll not join the reading challenge for now, thanks for the video and the app recommendation.
I have a similar experience, I used to be on the internet a lot before language learning as well but I consume way more audiovisual content now and have had to pull back on things like always having a podcast on because it had significant drawbacks. Out of curiosity, what is it that tells you you're not improving? It's hard to actually feel progress and I don't have a lot of insight about my own results (I just assume I'm improving but idk by how much) so I'm wondering how other people evaluate themselves.
I love this idea and think I'll do something similar, but keep it to my TL. Im going to look at my Lingq stats and see what is an achievable but motivation goal to work towards in 2025. (I do better with a timeline!)
It's complicated. I stopped using social media, except youtube(it's more like a TV replacement) and linkedin. Now I have created an instagram account because I am too disconnected with everyone, specially now that I have moved to a city I'm finding really hard to interact with local people. Right now I'm really bored with social media, specially the ones that show a lot of the boring stuff local people like watching instead of the things I actually like watching. So my strategy right now is just posting some stuff on instagram in case someone wants to know me. I guess what cured my addiction is feeling like garbage on facebook, without getting any interaction with my "friends", spending hours liking other people's lives while no one noticed my existence. I know this video is not really about social media scrolling but that was my experience with scrolling.
Totally. People say "It's brought nothing to our lives", but that's obviously not true, because we wouldn't have flocked to it in the billions if it were actually without value. The thing is, we didn't account for the NEGATIVE value that these things would have. So it's not easy.
Nah I like more tactile stuff for this, so I just have a sheet of graph paper up on a corkboard where one 10mm box represents 10,000 words. I work out the multiplier myself and colour it in at the end of every book, or at least after I've stopped reading. One thing I didn't say in the video was that it also counts if I don't finish the book. That way I don't have to push through bad books just to get the wordcount.
I admire the goal but I think it boils down to creating habits that last. I have a rule that I read at least 30 pages per day, but I usually get through more. At the end of each year that ends up being 40+ books per year and at say 75,000 words per book, say 3,000,000 words per year. I am in my 60’s and the compounding effect of a habit rather than a goal that can be abandoned or completed cannot be underestimated. It’s the same with money and health. I run every day and I am still running marathons in my 60’s. A lot of people aren’t. Once I have ticked off the minimum requirements for the day if I spend some time scrolling it’s no big deal - it’s scrolling before you have done anything that’s the big problem. Great video and I like your aim but I think turning it into more of a lasting behaviour/habit will have even better long-term effects. Loved the baseball video too!
Funny. this is timely. i put a limit on my phone for games apps and youtube (i can still watch youtube on my computer) i think technology is really difficult when you use it as a crutch for "boredom". I've read one book in the week I've started doing this and i painted my toe nails but i think i also need to brainstorm what arsenal of offline habits I want because once i put my phone down I don't automatically become productive. I've sometimes stared at the wall lol
for that last thing, I do post it notes on my desk to remind me of what I like doing when I'm not knees deep on a doomscrolling wave lol. staring at the wall is necessary too, though!
I think I'm going to have to use screenzen or something similar because I frequently waste my time scrolling mindlessly through facebook/youtube shorts long after I should be in bed asleep. This has to stop because I'm not getting enough sleep and as a result my morning workouts don't happen as I'd rather just set the alarm for later. It would also mean I actually read my book in bed to unwind rather than ignoring it for months at a time.
The multiplier idea is brilliant. I'm an avid reader, but I pretty much always end up going for English fiction unless I'm being very intentional about picking something else up.
My doctoral studies were in early medieval Germanic poetry, of which I'd estimate I've read close to 50,000 lines. Your video gave me the idea of setting that as a similar reading target for other ancient languages. Am gonna try it and start tracking, with maybe a very generous timeframe so I can enjoy the journey 🙂Thanks for the idea!
“A new eBay search for some item I’m never going to buy”… oh gosh if I had a dollar for each time I did that… 😅 wait maybe there is the trick! We should pay to scroll or do any mindless activity! There should be an app that blocks your phone and computer and whenever you do something mindless charges you for that
Maybe a stupid question but how do you know how many words a book has? You obviously don’t count them but I could only find page numbers for books online. I really like the idea! I get easily obsessed with metrics and at the same time I tend to forget to keep track on things and collect the data. Meaning when I collect the data, I would think more about the numbers and how many words could be doable than actually reading. But when I actually read a lot I would totally forget to care about the word count. Reading in Swedish takes forever for me. Maybe I should try non-fiction books.
There are a couple of ways. Some more well known books do actually have word counts (there is a website somewhere, maybe google "find out how many words any book has" or something), but my general way is to just assume ~350 words per page, then get the number of pages, subtract about 10% (for half pages on chapters and that kind of thing), and multiply. The 350 thing is actually pretty consistent across most books because there are a few standard print sizes and everything. But you can always just count a few lines (like 40 words over 4 lines), and then multiply by the number of lines on the page. You do need to remember to subtract though, unless the book is just a wall of text. Another way is to assume around 170-180 words a minute as the audiobook. With most narrators this is also pretty consistent. I don't worry about it down to about 5000 words per book because I figure if I'm over sometimes and under other times, after 100 million words it will have evened out.
Your multiplier is interesting. I've always heard that fiction tends to be more difficult than nonfiction because authors use more florid words and creative constructions to evoke a feelings, whereas nonfiction is a little more straightforward. Then again, it was way easier for me to read Reina Roja than Harry Potter in Spanish because RR had language I was more likely to use, as opposed to HP that said guffaw and chortle a hundred different ways and who ever uses that
Yeah you're probably right, but this is a) often in English where very little in the language itself can make it more difficult for me and b) I still just prefer fiction, so I need a multiplier on non-fiction to make it more appealing.
For the longest time I didn’t get it when people complained about spending too much time on their phones. I spend a lot of time but it’s by choice and usually it’s language learning related. You could argue I spend too much time on that. Then I finally tried Twitter. I hadn’t tried it for the longest time because I was old and just didn’t get it. But I made the effort and found a language learning community on their and just some foreigners posting about living in Japan etc. I guess this was kind of language learning repeated… but unlike TH-cam or Facebook I found I couldn’t control myself. With TH-cam it Facebook I can realize I’m spending too much time and need to put it down for the day. Not Twitter. I had to delete the app. I get my news or whatever through other apps instead. Actually Facebook changed around the pandemic and I don’t use it much anymore but I don’t have to delete it at least. It does try to spam hook me on stuff I’m not interested in (just reading posts from friends and family). But if it’s really controlling your free time like twitter was for me just delete the app.
Basically I've got a chart on my wall, and when I finish a book, or decide I'm not reading it anymore, I fill in the chart with the appropriate multiplier. It's not EXACT but it's going to balance out over a long time.
LOL no, I never ever listen at 1.0x, in English at the very least it's 1.6x and that's if I'm driving or something. When I read along with the book at the same time, it SHOULD be 3.0x but unfortunately Storytel has recently removed the function of being able to go beyong 2.0x and actually I find this quite annoying so I'm just going to have to stop using English at all, because even 2.0x is too slow if I've got the book with me.
This is why immersion sucks for me. Even if I make another account to watch purely target language content, its so much more boring than normal content. And I’m still gonna be recommended stuff from my other account, CONSTANTLY biding for my attention. Which means I am not able to have absolute attention on my immersion. So honest its just a whole painful experience
Obligatory nitpick that META as "most efficient tactic available" is a backronym (which I happen to hate) - meta is originally short for metagame, ie. the game about the game - how it's best played, _what other people play_ even if it's not the best, etc. That's why eg. competitive Magic players talk about "the meta" when they refer to the expected field of opponents at a tournament or Starcraft players choose what corners to cut when making a build order for the early and early-midgame of a match.
I don't really play games so I didn't know it's history but it always struck me as a kind of stupid... "word", maybe because when I first heard it, I was confused, thinking that it meant the normal "meta" as in, referring to the self. I just used it here to quickly get at the idea of essentially cheating my own system, but I should have known better than to use a word that I first heard Evan Edinger use in reference to getting lots of points on Duolingo haha. I've brought brainrot to my own videos.
@@daysandwords _"maybe because when I first heard it, I was confused, thinking that it meant the normal "meta" as in, referring to the self."_ This is exactly the original use - the game about the game.
Yeah I get you. What I should have said was, I couldn't see how it possibly meant that in the context that it was used, so I googled it and saw most effective tactic available and thought "That's kind of dumb to use a word that already exists, rather than make a new acronym."
I would stop scrolling, but I'm playing Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War.... and I'm still scrolling and scrolling and scrolling ..... still scrolling. The maps are great.
Why not play in your target language? Unless that’s what you mean. Games are the best. And books. I can’t do Anki for five minutes but don’t mind looking up words all day long and eventually they stick.
I'm actually doing a reading challenge starting December 1st. (Anyone can join, it's free, called Reindeer Readathon, you can find a video here on YT by Breakeven Books who hosts it!) I've used this challenge for a couple years now to try and read through English books I've been holding on to for too long and want to read then get rid of, and also incorporating language learning. It's a nice motivational boost to add the competition aspect, and it's only for one month, so it's not a long term/difficult commitment. That aside though, I do have a goal for my Japanese for next year, which is to read double the number of Japanese books I've read this year. So I'm looking at about 30 books, which for me, I think is doable. I love your idea of assigning points depending on the language and book contents though! I might have to steal that idea and implement it in my own way. Thanks as always for sharing your ideas and journey with us :D It's always very inspiring ^^
I am not costantly on my phones. large Do use Japanese, Korean (this one is Mongolian, but uses Russian Cyrillic), French, Italian, Glagolithic Russian.ButI use phones only to text/call my resident manager in my 3 storey 39 united apartment building. And my best human friend Lisa who moved to Nice CAr 95464. What I use lots is my iPad for ASMR Weekly, Miracle Forest, The Dead Of Night & many other video artists & creatives. I watch free Harry Potter excerpts on some phones.vIsit don´ t use crummy windows laptop. I read Science, Technology, Maths & CATS. About little TwitterX.
Pick up a StoryLearning course at a great price!
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(Still going as of the morning of December 3, US Pacific time)
I spent 3 months making my latest (and best) video:
th-cam.com/video/2MVomgxq0Ls/w-d-xo.html
"I have had diseases more fun than audible" is the funniest way to roast something that I've ever heard 🤣
fr, these bush mates are around the twist
sick pfp
I just turned 30 years old. I've not built any career, found a partner built a family. It's all because I didn't heed the advice in this video I wasted my 20's on ill-advised dreams, and scrolling social media. Now I've got to build a real life, and hope it isn't too late. If you're young please listen to Lamont's advice. Don't ruin your life like me. Build something while you're young, or else you'll regret it.
I too wasted my 20s, but it sounds like you're ready to take control of your life in your 30s. You got this!
As a 32-year-old who has definitely felt what you’re feeling - you’re still young, friend. It’s not too late. You’re just getting started. You’re far more capable now than you were in your twenties and the fact you’re able to reflect on the mistakes of your 20’s is proof you are doing something right. Life is not a linear path. You got this.
I just entered university to get my degree in computer science, and with the encouragement of channels like this am starting to learn German. Thanks for the kind words.
I met my husband when I was almost 32, I moved to his country and started learning his native language (which is a language not in the same group as my native language) the year I turned 33 and we got married the same year. I am almost 2 years into living here and learning the language, and yes the language a struggle often, but it's also the best thing I've ever done on so many aspects. I understand more and more what people are saying and they no longer switch to English as much as they used to (even though my accent is still not the best and I still mess up some words/grammar)
I would not have been able to achieve any of this in my 20s, I had a well-paying job for a some years, yes, but the only words I can attach to my 20s are dread and despair. I only in my late 20s found out that I had been mentally ill for all those years, and despite there being so many signs I didn't get any diagnosis or help until I was 27, and even after that I still had to manage my medication, therapy, work training, and the year I turned 31 I was at an abusive workplace that instead of giving me a job where I could thrive with my illness and give me the accomodations that I required, made me more sick.
I was not planning on getting married ever, I've never been popular with the boys and I had a few very short and shallow flirts so I could never find comfort in dating, but when I started dating my husband, it felt like the most natural thing, and so did moving to his country and learning the language. I know that some immigrants my experience culture shocks or have homesickness, so I expected to get those things as well, but they never happened, if anything I got homesick for my new home country when I visited my family this year.
I still haven't forgiven the people who overlooked the signs of me being mentally ill, and I don't know if I ever will, because it did destroy most of my 20s, but my goal with my language learning is to become fluent enough to take some sort of education in teenage/youth welfare and to help young people who struggle with whatever it may be, because I don't ever want any young person to go through what I went through.
So why am I saying all this? Because a person in their 20s have only lived 2 decades of their lives and 30 is not that much older either. You could die in a traffic accident the next time you go outside, or you could be put in Guiness World Records for being the oldest living human ever. I thought my life was over in my 20s, but it really only just began in my 30s. Some of the biggest icons didn't have their success until they were over 30.
So I say this with the most love and respect to anyone who's struggling with achieving their dreams: The only time it's too late, is when you're dead.
I’m the same age and in the exact same position as you. Partner and family but no career
This is why you're the best learning channel on TH-cam. Not just language learning. You give real, actionable advice for working (or studying) people. I click on all your videos expecting to find something interesting and I usually leave with real and actionable motivation. I'm not sure what I'll do, but I want to do something now. Thanks, as always.
If you haven't installed screenzen, I would do that for starters.
I find reading nonfiction in a foreign language much easier than reading fiction. 🤔
They are usually written in an easier language with fewer vocabulary, but if you aren’t interested in non-fiction it becomes harder even if the language is technically easier.
@@BrunUgle I have not read much but my son recommended a book the other day, he is bilingual and the book was in my second language (Spanish), his first, and I glanced at a few paragraphs and thought wow, this language is way more direct that the fiction I have been reading. I guess, find a subject you like and read. I like stuff like national geographic and it comes in Spanish.
Yeah I know it's technically easier but I'd still PREFER fiction so non-fiction needs the positive multiplier.
@@daysandwords it makes sense.
Nice. Good luck chap! Sounds like a great idea
I’ve never been a reader in my life, but I decided to change that. I’ve been reading more books this year than maybe the past 10 years combined. I’m reading novels in English first and then the same novels in Spanish. It’s been a really rewarding experience for me.
It totally is!
Bootstrapping from something I've read in English or Swedish first is one of my favourite things to do.
@ I also listen to the audiobooks of the same title in English and Spanish if I can find them. This is very helpful to get my ears used to the sound of some new vocab in Spanish before I see their text form.
Needed this one today. I’ve been FACE FIRST in my phone this week. For no reason. Incredible video as always.
Thanks Michael!
Intriguing idea. I am experiencing the exact same thing. I love reading but don’t do it because I slip down the social media hole and spend time watching videos about sheep shearing, recipes I’ll never make and people I don’t even like.
Good for you.
I realised today that I don’t even have a book on my Libby library app, which is pretty unusual. I guess I’ve got out of the habit of opening the app on my phone to rea. But I usually skeet the cover of completed books which record I find useful.
And am reading Matilda in Spanish. Go me.
Lo quiero!
Impressive challenge, good luck!
Thankfully I don't waste time on social media. In fact, I've sometimes wanted to be more sociable and connected on things like forums (back in the ol' days) or facebook, twitter etc.
TH-cam is somewhat of an exception for me nowadays. I come here with the intention of watching some content in a target language. I find myself 1/2 hour later watching something very random and completely English.
My primary goal is to watch all 1400+ videos on ComprehensibleThai channel. I haven't progressed nearly as quickly as I would have hoped to. However, I'm 110 hours in and loving every moment.
Helps if you make another channel specifically for your TL. Then, you can plug topics your interested in into google translate and copy and paste the translation into the search bar. Then that channel will have a bunch of recommended videos in your TL
An interesting idea…. I need to read more in Spanish this coming year and push myself further.
100% a problem I have. I want to focus more on French content but every time… I get stuck in the TH-cam scroll. Though I did cut out social media (except YT 😅) earlier this year and that has helped a lot. I also avoid shorts now and try to limit and focus what I watch more to my goals.
As a fellow reader this is an amazing goal to set, I set myself the goal this year to read 30min minimum per day in French which I have kept to 😁 next year I’m going to up it to 45 or an hour 💪 and maybe learn how to play the Lyre.
I think ~1 million words before 2025 is a reasonable goal for myself. Will try and give update.
So glad I stayed tuned for part 2. This is a great idea, and I want to try to find something similar, but not exactly the same to apply to my Spanish. Like everyone else, I often fall into the New Year's Resolution trap, where I offer up a goal that I fail to accomplish in a matter of weeks. Like you, I love reading, and I think I'll be able to devise something that will push me to use reading as a tool to push my Spanish along. Looking forward to your updates
I dont do goals. I read in Spanish because it is the language of the country where I live and I want to be better at it. I love reading and I think reading is helping me enormously. I simply do a little everyday. I know that if I remain constant I will improve little by little. It is really difficult having confidence in that concept but when I think about how well I can speak and what I already know in Spanish with ZERO help and zero classes from anyone here, that I have NO IDEA how it all got in there but it did, then the rest will follow. All I need do is participate in the language.
Es increible lo que aprendí sin apoyo o ayuda de nadie especialmente considerando que enseño tambien entre este idioma seugundo.
Yeah sometimes I need goals and other times I need to NOT have goals.
So far goals are working for this because I shot this about a month ago and I'm already at nearly 2 million words.
@daysandwords i get so much out of reading and rereading the same text. When my son was growing up, being a native spanish speaker and requesting I read to him in English he regularly requested the same book.
scroll in your target language
Wow, just checked your channel and boom! New video.
4 new videos, depending on when you last checked.
@daysandwords i had checked about 40 seconds earlier
@daysandwords but yeah, you've been uploading a lot of videos lately
Haha well if I'd posted 4 new videos in the last 40 seconds, that would be a worry. "Stop scrolling! Oh look 4 new videos!"
I guess it depends on the person but for me a little bit of friction was enough. I turned off my computer's internet and only turned it back on when I had a specific task that required it in mind. I spent two weeks pretty much using my computer exclusively for Anki!
Yes but my entire job is online, I can't just turn off the internet constantly.
I do unplug the modem frequently but that's not a LIFE solution, that's a day solution.
Post- Spanish civil war poetry for me this weekend. Does bingeing on a Spanish series count?😂 Without subtitles.
Thanks for the tips.
Random comment: Interesting, I find non-fiction way easier in my L3 (in which I'm probably still at bit worse than you in Swedish).
My current situation: about two years ago, I allowed myself to doomscroll and procrastinate as much as I want, as long as I'm immersing in L3 (which was at A2-ish at that time). I intentionally spent several hours on that language per day, both in passive immersion and some other, more deliberate learning / practicing activities. And it worked really well. Extraordinarily well. Nothing I did in the past 20 years came so easy to me as learning that language.
But now two things happened -- first, I stopped improving, so I hit the limits of my learning strategies, and second (unrelated to all this) I need to get my sh*t together and find a way to earn money again, which means I really need to solve the distraction / dopamine problem. Fast.
So, while I'll not join the reading challenge for now, thanks for the video and the app recommendation.
I have a similar experience, I used to be on the internet a lot before language learning as well but I consume way more audiovisual content now and have had to pull back on things like always having a podcast on because it had significant drawbacks.
Out of curiosity, what is it that tells you you're not improving? It's hard to actually feel progress and I don't have a lot of insight about my own results (I just assume I'm improving but idk by how much) so I'm wondering how other people evaluate themselves.
I love this idea and think I'll do something similar, but keep it to my TL. Im going to look at my Lingq stats and see what is an achievable but motivation goal to work towards in 2025. (I do better with a timeline!)
It's complicated. I stopped using social media, except youtube(it's more like a TV replacement) and linkedin. Now I have created an instagram account because I am too disconnected with everyone, specially now that I have moved to a city I'm finding really hard to interact with local people. Right now I'm really bored with social media, specially the ones that show a lot of the boring stuff local people like watching instead of the things I actually like watching. So my strategy right now is just posting some stuff on instagram in case someone wants to know me. I guess what cured my addiction is feeling like garbage on facebook, without getting any interaction with my "friends", spending hours liking other people's lives while no one noticed my existence. I know this video is not really about social media scrolling but that was my experience with scrolling.
Totally.
People say "It's brought nothing to our lives", but that's obviously not true, because we wouldn't have flocked to it in the billions if it were actually without value.
The thing is, we didn't account for the NEGATIVE value that these things would have.
So it's not easy.
Amazing idea - I love! Just wondering how you're going to be tracking your progress? Maybe an Excel spreadsheet with the modifiers built in?
Nah I like more tactile stuff for this, so I just have a sheet of graph paper up on a corkboard where one 10mm box represents 10,000 words.
I work out the multiplier myself and colour it in at the end of every book, or at least after I've stopped reading.
One thing I didn't say in the video was that it also counts if I don't finish the book. That way I don't have to push through bad books just to get the wordcount.
I admire the goal but I think it boils down to creating habits that last. I have a rule that I read at least 30 pages per day, but I usually get through more. At the end of each year that ends up being 40+ books per year and at say 75,000 words per book, say 3,000,000 words per year. I am in my 60’s and the compounding effect of a habit rather than a goal that can be abandoned or completed cannot be underestimated. It’s the same with money and health. I run every day and I am still running marathons in my 60’s. A lot of people aren’t. Once I have ticked off the minimum requirements for the day if I spend some time scrolling it’s no big deal - it’s scrolling before you have done anything that’s the big problem. Great video and I like your aim but I think turning it into more of a lasting behaviour/habit will have even better long-term effects. Loved the baseball video too!
I'm gonna count reading this comment at a 200x multiplier.
100 million isn't enough for me. I think I'll do 1 billion. But I'll make everything at LEAST a 1,000,000x multiplier 🤔
Funny. this is timely. i put a limit on my phone for games apps and youtube (i can still watch youtube on my computer)
i think technology is really difficult when you use it as a crutch for "boredom". I've read one book in the week I've started doing this and i painted my toe nails but i think i also need to brainstorm what arsenal of offline habits I want because once i put my phone down I don't automatically become productive. I've sometimes stared at the wall lol
for that last thing, I do post it notes on my desk to remind me of what I like doing when I'm not knees deep on a doomscrolling wave lol. staring at the wall is necessary too, though!
Great video, and I love the suggestion. Thanks!
I think I'm going to have to use screenzen or something similar because I frequently waste my time scrolling mindlessly through facebook/youtube shorts long after I should be in bed asleep. This has to stop because I'm not getting enough sleep and as a result my morning workouts don't happen as I'd rather just set the alarm for later. It would also mean I actually read my book in bed to unwind rather than ignoring it for months at a time.
Screenzen has honestly changed my life.
The multiplier idea is brilliant. I'm an avid reader, but I pretty much always end up going for English fiction unless I'm being very intentional about picking something else up.
My doctoral studies were in early medieval Germanic poetry, of which I'd estimate I've read close to 50,000 lines. Your video gave me the idea of setting that as a similar reading target for other ancient languages. Am gonna try it and start tracking, with maybe a very generous timeframe so I can enjoy the journey 🙂Thanks for the idea!
“A new eBay search for some item I’m never going to buy”… oh gosh if I had a dollar for each time I did that… 😅 wait maybe there is the trick! We should pay to scroll or do any mindless activity! There should be an app that blocks your phone and computer and whenever you do something mindless charges you for that
Maybe a stupid question but how do you know how many words a book has? You obviously don’t count them but I could only find page numbers for books online.
I really like the idea! I get easily obsessed with metrics and at the same time I tend to forget to keep track on things and collect the data. Meaning when I collect the data, I would think more about the numbers and how many words could be doable than actually reading. But when I actually read a lot I would totally forget to care about the word count.
Reading in Swedish takes forever for me. Maybe I should try non-fiction books.
There are a couple of ways.
Some more well known books do actually have word counts (there is a website somewhere, maybe google "find out how many words any book has" or something), but my general way is to just assume ~350 words per page, then get the number of pages, subtract about 10% (for half pages on chapters and that kind of thing), and multiply.
The 350 thing is actually pretty consistent across most books because there are a few standard print sizes and everything. But you can always just count a few lines (like 40 words over 4 lines), and then multiply by the number of lines on the page.
You do need to remember to subtract though, unless the book is just a wall of text.
Another way is to assume around 170-180 words a minute as the audiobook. With most narrators this is also pretty consistent.
I don't worry about it down to about 5000 words per book because I figure if I'm over sometimes and under other times, after 100 million words it will have evened out.
@@daysandwords Thanks for the really helpful explanation.
Your multiplier is interesting. I've always heard that fiction tends to be more difficult than nonfiction because authors use more florid words and creative constructions to evoke a feelings, whereas nonfiction is a little more straightforward. Then again, it was way easier for me to read Reina Roja than Harry Potter in Spanish because RR had language I was more likely to use, as opposed to HP that said guffaw and chortle a hundred different ways and who ever uses that
Yeah you're probably right, but this is a) often in English where very little in the language itself can make it more difficult for me and b) I still just prefer fiction, so I need a multiplier on non-fiction to make it more appealing.
For the longest time I didn’t get it when people complained about spending too much time on their phones. I spend a lot of time but it’s by choice and usually it’s language learning related. You could argue I spend too much time on that. Then I finally tried Twitter. I hadn’t tried it for the longest time because I was old and just didn’t get it. But I made the effort and found a language learning community on their and just some foreigners posting about living in Japan etc. I guess this was kind of language learning repeated… but unlike TH-cam or Facebook I found I couldn’t control myself. With TH-cam it Facebook I can realize I’m spending too much time and need to put it down for the day. Not Twitter.
I had to delete the app. I get my news or whatever through other apps instead. Actually Facebook changed around the pandemic and I don’t use it much anymore but I don’t have to delete it at least. It does try to spam hook me on stuff I’m not interested in (just reading posts from friends and family). But if it’s really controlling your free time like twitter was for me just delete the app.
What Was The Advice?
Wow, been a new video like everyday for the last week!
It's easier to make 5 or 6 at a time for 2 months than to make 1 every 2 weeks.
That sounds so interesting ! I'm curious though how you're gonna track it all
Basically I've got a chart on my wall, and when I finish a book, or decide I'm not reading it anymore, I fill in the chart with the appropriate multiplier.
It's not EXACT but it's going to balance out over a long time.
@daysandwords okayy! I might try it too, I want to read more in Korean and Italian and it might be the way to go about it :)
I began the books "Dormir en una mar de estrellas" and "Los juegos del hambre." BEGAN... that is all.
😂Story of my life, I feel seen😂
Don't forget, reading via listening often is at a much slower pace than normal reading, so maybe the multiplier should cancel out back to 1
LOL no, I never ever listen at 1.0x, in English at the very least it's 1.6x and that's if I'm driving or something.
When I read along with the book at the same time, it SHOULD be 3.0x but unfortunately Storytel has recently removed the function of being able to go beyong 2.0x and actually I find this quite annoying so I'm just going to have to stop using English at all, because even 2.0x is too slow if I've got the book with me.
That's huge.
This is why immersion sucks for me.
Even if I make another account to watch purely target language content, its so much more boring than normal content. And I’m still gonna be recommended stuff from my other account, CONSTANTLY biding for my attention.
Which means I am not able to have absolute attention on my immersion. So honest its just a whole painful experience
Obligatory nitpick that META as "most efficient tactic available" is a backronym (which I happen to hate) - meta is originally short for metagame, ie. the game about the game - how it's best played, _what other people play_ even if it's not the best, etc. That's why eg. competitive Magic players talk about "the meta" when they refer to the expected field of opponents at a tournament or Starcraft players choose what corners to cut when making a build order for the early and early-midgame of a match.
I don't really play games so I didn't know it's history but it always struck me as a kind of stupid... "word", maybe because when I first heard it, I was confused, thinking that it meant the normal "meta" as in, referring to the self.
I just used it here to quickly get at the idea of essentially cheating my own system, but I should have known better than to use a word that I first heard Evan Edinger use in reference to getting lots of points on Duolingo haha. I've brought brainrot to my own videos.
@@daysandwords _"maybe because when I first heard it, I was confused, thinking that it meant the normal "meta" as in, referring to the self."_
This is exactly the original use - the game about the game.
Yeah I get you.
What I should have said was, I couldn't see how it possibly meant that in the context that it was used, so I googled it and saw most effective tactic available and thought "That's kind of dumb to use a word that already exists, rather than make a new acronym."
man this is a terrible addiction i need to get rid of too.
ScreenZen!
I read an interesting article a few days ago calling phone addiction a data/information obesity epidemic ; that analogy is so true!
Thanks for advice I will update this comment with a update in a month
Yeah I actually filmed this a while ago.
I've been working a lot but still managed about 1.6 million words since filming this.
@ Great Progress
i found this video scrolling.
I find reading non-fiction in my target language much easier than fiction
So do I but I never want to read it.
I would stop scrolling, but I'm playing Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War.... and I'm still scrolling
and scrolling
and scrolling
..... still scrolling.
The maps are great.
Why not play in your target language? Unless that’s what you mean. Games are the best. And books. I can’t do Anki for five minutes but don’t mind looking up words all day long and eventually they stick.
I'm actually doing a reading challenge starting December 1st. (Anyone can join, it's free, called Reindeer Readathon, you can find a video here on YT by Breakeven Books who hosts it!) I've used this challenge for a couple years now to try and read through English books I've been holding on to for too long and want to read then get rid of, and also incorporating language learning. It's a nice motivational boost to add the competition aspect, and it's only for one month, so it's not a long term/difficult commitment.
That aside though, I do have a goal for my Japanese for next year, which is to read double the number of Japanese books I've read this year. So I'm looking at about 30 books, which for me, I think is doable. I love your idea of assigning points depending on the language and book contents though! I might have to steal that idea and implement it in my own way. Thanks as always for sharing your ideas and journey with us :D It's always very inspiring ^^
Thanks!
Yeah I finally read some of the English books I've been holding on to for too long too haha.
(*^-゜)vThanks!
I am not costantly on my phones. large Do use Japanese, Korean (this one is Mongolian, but uses Russian Cyrillic), French, Italian, Glagolithic Russian.ButI use phones only to text/call my resident manager in my 3 storey 39 united apartment building. And my best human friend Lisa who moved to Nice CAr 95464.
What I use lots is my iPad for ASMR Weekly, Miracle Forest, The Dead Of Night & many other video artists & creatives. I watch free Harry Potter excerpts on some phones.vIsit don´ t use crummy windows laptop. I read Science, Technology, Maths & CATS. About little TwitterX.