What to do after C2

Discuss any questions in English. Practise your writing skills.

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paveltashkinov
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#1

Сообщение paveltashkinov »

Hi everyone!
Perhaps it may sound sacrilegious to some, but I don't really see C2 as some kind of pinnacle. I reached it a while ago. Since then, I seem to have somewhat improved my writing (which, in hindsight, was egregiously bad at least insofar as exam tasks are concerned). I wouldn't say that my speaking skills advanced as much as they could, but this gap can be patched up pretty swiftly with enough practice.
I feel like my passive knowledge of the language is still up to scratch, but my linguistic output leaves a bit to be desired.
After the exam, I managed to create some sort of a language bubble around me. I have at least six hours of speaking practice weekly. I keep learning some new words and expressions. I read for at least an hour every day. I am an avid writer. I dabble with poetry and short stories (not that you needed to be reminded of it).
Still, I feel frustrated. Although I am believed to have swallowed a thesaurus by many people over there, there's no ground for complacency. I still feel that my linguistic output is inadequate at times. C2 is often erroneously believed to be a be-all-and-end-all by many language learners, but that's far from being the truth. I still feel that there are some lacunae in my language. I still feel challenged. Besides, not only is it difficult to gauge any kind of progress after C2 has been reached; it also feels like you've reached a plateau and now you're crawling rather than leapfrogging towards some new level. And that's fine. I'm going to retake this exam this year or maybe next year, just to keep my language alive and kicking. I put too much time and effort into it, and it would be too profligate of me to lay it all to waste.
What do you think, folks? Your opinions are welcome.
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#2

Сообщение Eager Beaver »

[Deleted]
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#3

Сообщение Xander »

paveltashkinov пишет: 04 янв 2020, 06:01 What do you think, folks?
Can you be a little bit more specific here (question-wise)? Outline your goals?


... there's no limits to improving your or anyone else's language; great many directions to choose from; narrow down what you want, don't be vague ...
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#4

Сообщение garans »

You need to apply you skills to feel a real life satisfaction from using them, imho.
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#5

Сообщение gavenkoa »

garans пишет: 04 янв 2020, 23:29 You need to apply you skills
Or take academic path and monetize skill in local high education ))
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#6

Сообщение alanta »

Or take a break...
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#7

Сообщение tourist »

Hi Pavel,
I was about to ask you the same question Xander did
but after taking a holistic view of your writings here
it seems to me that
you're actually asking us to help you with setting up your goals.
In other words, you want us to decide what your goals should be,right?
This is a legitimate request.
But first things first,
your writing has improved significantly compared to the utter drivel
you used to post the previous (2018) year.
The thesaurus you have swallowed has been successfully digested
and smoothly excreted out of your system, albeit partially .)
And thank God for that. ))
Your poetry is still pathetic though, sorry to say .
But maybe it's just me. ))

You say you have six hours a week of conversation practice ... with who?
With a native speaker?
Because if you talk to fellow Russians it's just ... true, it's better than nothing,
but it's not what you really need at this stage.

I'm not sure I'm in a position to actually decide what is it that you really want,
but I'm willing to put myself out on a limb and suggest what you definitely do not want. )
You do not want to resit the C2 exam.
You do not want to keep writing those stupid essays in preparation for the exam.
Man, you've done that once.
You've got nothing to prove to anyone.
You are motivated enough to carry on on your own
without this artificial,stifling and meaningless (at your level) activity.
That would be scrawling up too profligate of you.[sic] )
Why waste your (and our) time?
The essay format is just tying up your hands at this stage.
It's not real English.
It's counterproductive.
It might be useful for certain purposes but not in your case.
Fuhgeddaboudit, mate. )

Now,you say your read a lot.
But it looks like you mostly read fiction (correct me if I'm wrong).
That's not a bad idea per se, but it will only get you so far in your struggle to become an authentic writer/speaker.
Rather than focusing on books, I think you should be concentrating on blogs, discussion boards
(the real discussion boards not one of those) ,online publications, news sites, reddit ...
and always read the comments: it can't get any more authentic than that.
I can't stress this often enough.

You won't learn authentic Russian by reading War and Peace or English by reading Harry freakin' Potter.
Try getting immersed into the real McCoy.
Good luck.

I wish I knew what Beaver wrote, but the witch hunters got him here
having found a legitimate excuse on this particular occasion. (

ps
if you read this,buddy
don't just put an obligatory "like".
Tell me whether you agree,whether it was helpful or whatever ..
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#8

Сообщение paveltashkinov »

tourist,
Thanks, it was really encouraging. Looks like you just put it out.
As for Reddit, well...tomorrow is my cake day there. Created an account a year ago. By and large, the best social network or image board or whatever that I've ever found. I do read the posts and comments there. I should have discovered this platform earlier.
Yes, I talk to my fellow Russians who are going to sit some exams. Besides, there are also some guy from Spain and some girl from Germany who I talk to every week who are also in the middle of preparation for C2 exams.
Speaking about my reading habits, I read all sorts of things, yet I have to say that recently I've been increasingly feeling like there was nothing worth my while, and it's kinda sad. Perhaps, it's really high time I resorted to forums.)
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#9

Сообщение zymbronia »

tourist пишет: 05 янв 2020, 01:44 I wish I knew what Beaver wrote,
Don't you want to say that he is unable to write in English?
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#10

Сообщение paveltashkinov »

zymbronia,
There seems to have been a message from him, but it was removed immediately after it had appeared. He DM'ed me shortly thereafter and suggested that I mull over an idea of creating some kind of project wherein my proficiency would be essential.
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#11

Сообщение zymbronia »

paveltashkinov, right you are, however, even some people writing here were fighting for purity of this section before and demanded to remove any message written in non-English. Do you think he couldn't write in English? Ask him what he said when Nigga or somebody else wrote in Russian here.
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#12

Сообщение Eager Beaver »

zymbronia пишет: 05 янв 2020, 08:38 Do you think he couldn't write in English? Ask him what he said when Nigga or somebody else wrote in Russian here.
I'm very interested to know what that would be because I don't remember saying anything at all. And frankly, there are only so many people on this board whose English I find not too painful to read I enjoy reading - I just can't imagine in what universe I would insist on someone writing in English against their will.

I didn't notice this topic's section (that is, a category it was posted under) until after you'd deleted my comment. As a matter of fact, I don't care much about sections (and think tags and labels are a way better choice in terms of taxonomy and search optimization), since I only use the Active filter and almost always go to new/updated threads from this view. This is even more true when I type on my phone.
Besides, I don't think there is a specific rule prohibiting the use of Russian in this section altogether. Care to point it out for me?
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#14

Сообщение Eager Beaver »

gavenkoa пишет: 04 янв 2020, 23:32 Or take academic path and monetize skill in local high education ))
Seems to me you need a different skill to make money off it in Russian education.
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#15

Сообщение gavenkoa »

Eager Beaver пишет: 05 янв 2020, 13:35 Russian education
Even though I am from Ukraine I believe the situation is the same.

But imagine yourself 50-60 years old. Isn't it more peaceful to work in university instead of factory or sales?
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#16

Сообщение Eager Beaver »

gavenkoa пишет: 05 янв 2020, 14:58 But imagine yourself 50-60 years old. Isn't it more peaceful to work in university instead of factory or sales?
I hope that at this age I'll be sitting pretty and won't have to work at all :) (but of course I will work like hell because I love what I do). If I ever decide to go into teaching, it can be for a whole bunch of reasons but definitely not because I want to get some cushy job with zero responsibility. :)
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#17

Сообщение acapnotic »

Eager Beaver пишет: 05 янв 2020, 13:02 Besides, I don't think there is a specific rule prohibiting the use of Russian in this section altogether. Care to point it out for me?
It's implied in the section's title. You can't practice English by writing in Russian, can you?
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#18

Сообщение Eager Beaver »

acapnotic пишет: 05 янв 2020, 18:05 It's implied in the section's title. You can't practice English by writing in Russian, can you?
In a similar vein, all posts that aren't thread crapping should be deleted from Флудилка.
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#19

Сообщение Xander »

Eager Beaver пишет: 05 янв 2020, 18:14 In a similar vein, all posts that aren't thread crapping should be deleted from Флудилка.
Is it false equivalence? Or another fallacy?
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#20

Сообщение mustang »

Eager Beaver пишет: 05 янв 2020, 18:14 all posts that aren't thread crapping should be deleted from Флудилка.
But the flood subforum was not created with the idea of it being a heap of meaningless threads. Yes, the chances of stumbling upon crappy threads are much higher here but you still can read well-written posts in "флудилка"(my tips on losing weight are a good example of that.:)) while the sole purpose of this subforum is to incentivize people to write in English only.
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#21

Сообщение gavenkoa »

Eager Beaver пишет: 05 янв 2020, 18:14 In a similar vein, all posts that aren't thread crapping should be deleted from Флудилка.
))

Actually old forum had a rule that only English is allowed in "practice" section. I'd like such rule as it allows to restrict flood from trolls.

There is a discussion how should the title be changed in private admin area to provide guidance. As every committee discussion it takes infinite time while actual change is a 10 sec work ))
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#22

Сообщение gavenkoa »

gavenkoa пишет: 05 янв 2020, 19:02 I'd like such rule as it allows to restrict flood from trolls.
I don't mind to have quotations from books/web or meta-discussion (explanations of mistakes) in any useful language if it benefits readers.
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#23

Сообщение alanta »

gavenkoa пишет: 05 янв 2020, 19:02 I'd like such rule as it allows to restrict flood from trolls.
How about trolls with a good level of English?
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#24

Сообщение acapnotic »

Eager Beaver пишет: 05 янв 2020, 18:14 In a similar vein, all posts that aren't thread crapping should be deleted from Флудилка.
Then maybe it should be renamed. But I don't care much about that. However, I definitely don't enjoy Russian posts in the only section where people are supposed to write in English.

Actually I was surprised to see you replying in Russian to an English post. Someone else can be uncomfortable with writing in English, but you? Think about the message you are sending to beginners: that even on your level of English it's still so difficult to use it that you prefer Russian whenever it isn't explicitly forbidden by the forum rules. ;)
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#25

Сообщение mustang »

alanta пишет: 05 янв 2020, 19:11 How about trolls with a good level of English?
What about them? Do you have someone particular in mind?
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