To the ten languages that I've been practicing every day (German, French, Latin, Italian, Dutch, Norwegian, Russian, Hebrew, Greek, and one from a cycle of what's left*), I'm now adding Esperanto. If I were to follow my original plan and add the next language I started learning on Duolingo, I would be adding Spanish (which, actually, I started before Norwegian), but frankly, I don't like Spanish enough to practice it every day. Besides, I feel like I've been neglecting Esperanto a bit, and this may help redress that.
Along with Duolingo, I use a few other resources:
- Since August 2014, I've been working my way through Wheelock's Latin again. (It was my Latin textbook in college, from fall 2011 to spring 2012.) I've been going extremely slowly (with the hope that this will result in better learning), and I'm currently working through the practice sentences in chapter XVIII.
- Since March 2015, I've been translating a German novel from 1916 at the rate of a sentence or so a day. Last month, I passed page 100 (of 417).
- In October 2016, I started following along with The Daily Dose of Hebrew and The Daily Dose of Greek. Since May 2017, I've been copying out the Greek verses, and I started doing the same thing with the Hebrew verses in July 2019. Since last October, I've also been working my way through Mark via the archives, and to "celebrate" completing the Hebrew skill tree on Duolingo earlier this month, I started doing the same with Ruth. In March, The Daily Dose of Latin launched, and I've been following along with that series too. All together, then, I'm currently going through Deuteronomy, Ruth, Mark, and (in both Greek and Latin) John. (The "weekend edition" of The Daily Dose of Hebrew is going through Jeremiah, and while I've been following along, I haven't been copying out the verses.)
- Since around November 2016, I've been following along in the lectionary in various languages. For the first three years, I used my German New Testament (with the Psalms and Proverbs), and for the last year or so (since the lectionary started over), I've been using my French New Testament (and whatever Psalms are available in Liturgies et cantiques Luthériens). Because I don't have a German or French Old Testament, I follow along in the Latin Vulgate for those readings. Recently, I've made it part of my routine to read the translation in all three of these (when possible) after copying out the verses from the Daily Doses. When the lectionary starts over again, I'll be focusing on the Latin Vulgate, and after that - if I can acquire a copy - an Italian translation (I'm going in the order I started learning the languages).
- Near the beginning of the year, The Daily Dose of Hebrew introduced me to Aleph with Beth, a series of Hebrew video lessons. At first, I watched the videos sporadically, but I've been more consistent since September. (I'm about thirty lessons behind, but I watch the next one in sequence whenever a new lesson is uploaded.)
I started learning languages because I felt stupid for not understanding German and then French and then Latin and then Italian. From there, it developed into something I simply had an interest in, but now there's a more important reason for me to study. Even before I graduated university, I was considering going back to school because the degree that I "earned" was a useless joke from a terrible institution. (I transferred universities half way through my junior year because I couldn't stand dorm life, but now I feel that I would have been much better just dropping out.) Over the last few years especially, I've felt a growing urge to go back to the university I originally enrolled in, and the Theological Languages major that it offers (which focuses on Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and German) seems a far better fit for me than a degree in English was. With my present circumstances, going back to school is impossible (I simply can't afford it, especially because it involves moving to an-other state), but as I work towards that goal, I'm trying to learn as much as I can on my own so that if/when I eventually start classes, they'll be that much easier.
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*Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hawaiian, Hungarian, Irish, Navajo, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Scottish Gaelic, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, and Welsh
