Okay, let's forget about the fact that you most likely have no idea how to read the Bangla script. Let's also forget about the fact that there's no way you would use Bangla in everyday life.
You now have the ability to study Bangla along with me!
Since I have nothing exciting to write about--seriously, my life is boring--I thought I would type off a bit about my work on SuperMemo.net.
I first discovered SuperMemo when I was doing a research paper senior year in college about the Ubermann sleep schedule, that is, sleeping for thirty minutes every four hours with a grand total of three hours of sleep every 24 hours. You gain five hours! Turns out it's pretty much a crock, but competitive sailors, like the man who came up with SuperMemo, use sleep schedules like this to maximize time awake and therefore win races.
Anyway, that's off topic. SuperMemo is an online program (or a software program, purchasable for only $50) that uses some sort of complex algorithm to maximize learning by controlling how long you go between question repetitions. Make sense? No? Oh well.
All I know is that I learned all the capitals of the world this summer by using this delightful program.
There's an option online to create your own course, and since there was--surprise, surprise--no Bengali Vocabulary course, I decided to create my own. It's been tedious. It's been hair-pulling. Crabbiness has abounded. But in the end, it's a pretty intuitive program, so I've slowly begun to put in the vocabulary that I know.
Here's the site if you want to check it out. My course is under "Other Languages". It's alright.
Though, at this point, I've had no desire to learn Bangla, I'm glad to hear that you find the program useful, and are motivated to contribute to the community.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested to see how well you progress.
Also, in your post, you mention that Piotr Wozniak, the creator of SuperMemo used the Uberman sleep schedule to maximize awake time. In fact, he wrote a long article denouncing any form of constrained polyphasic sleep patterns (http://www.supermemo.com/articles/polyphasic.htm). Rather, he uses what he termed "free-running sleep", a method where you sleep only when you feel tired, instead of relying on external cues, like time of day, for instance. Interesting, but like the Uberman schedule, it can be implemented by only a sliver of the population.
ReplyDeleteHi! I randomly found you on Twitter and would love to correspond about learning Bangla! I also am learning although I'm not lucky enough to be in Kolkata. Do get in touch on Twitter (@triliana) -- I am always looking for people to practice with!
ReplyDelete