u/CaroleKann

I have been living with my now-ex gf for a year. We decided to break up this weekend and I will be the one moving out, while she remains in our shared apartment.

I went out looking for apartments and, for a number of reasons, I feel like the best option for me is a different unit within the same building. I know living in the same building might be uncomfortable on occasion if we were to run into each other, but there are very good reasons why I feel like staying in the building is best for me:

This building is a 5-10 minute walk to work.
The apartment in this building is $130 per month cheaper than the next alternative.
Moving would be so much cheaper/easier within this building.
Of all the apartment units I have toured, this is the one that I like the most and the one I can see myself living in.

I looked at another apartment complex also, and it would be fine, but it has some drawbacks:

They currently have a waitlist for parking, so I would have to pay $60 per month to park in an unsecured city lot a couple blocks away.
Their cheapest apartment would work out to be $130 more per month.
My commute (walking) to work would be 20-25 minutes.
I have previously lived in this complex and it's fine, but the available units would be a slight downgrade from the one I previously had, in terms of natural lighting and view.

My ex has said it would be difficult for her if I stayed in the same building. I don't want to cause any issues, but I also want to do what's best for me. The unit that I'm looking at is on a different floor on the opposite side of the building of a massive apartment complex. If we ever ran into each other, it would likely only be passing in our cars in the parking garage. If I were to move to the apartment that is further away though, she would see me walking to work almost every day.

Edit: Any stalking, or otherwise creepy ex behavior is out of the question for me, nor do I think she has any reason to be afraid that I would do that.

It took 157 days, but I hit level 3 this afternoon. I'm satisfied with my rate of almost one hour per day, especially since I took almost the entire month of February off.

Background

I knew zero French 157 days ago, but I had 560 hours of Spanish CI under my belt. That number has since increased to 810 hours.

What Have I Been Watching/Listening To?

One of the biggest challenges has been finding good content. Personally, one thing that keeps me going is the convenience of having one platform that I can open and press play. That's what made Dreaming Spanish so useful for me, but French is lagging in this aspect. I think I finally have a system figured out though. I'm cycling through subscriptions to Immersion.co, Alice Ayel, and Dreaming French. I'll subscribe to one while I wait for the other to build up their catalog of videos at my level. These three platforms have made up the majority of my hours, but I have also watched all of the videos from French Happens on YouTube and listened to the first 20 episodes of InnerFrench Podcast, which are easier than the rest of the episodes. I have also dabbled with Un Petit Caoua, Little Talks in Slow French, and LanguaTalk French. Podcasts are still a challenge though, so I prefer to get my input via videos.

What's My Level of French Right Now?

It's still bad, but improvements have been noticeable. I'm watching Intermediate videos on Immersion.co, and Alice Ayel's Teen stage. Neither of these would have been accessible to me at 50 hours. In my last update, I said I was on the cusp of unlocking podcasts. That was true, but podcasts are more a thing I can do if I lay on the couch, close my eyes and focus intently. I can't listen to podcasts while I shower, work or do household chores.

Something I have been thinking about lately is how vague the roadmap really is. For example, I started Dreaming Spanish with a pretty solid foundation of Spanish already under my belt, but by the time I got to level 3, I felt like the description matched my skill level. I could understand content that was adapted for learners. With French, I started from zero, but I still feel like the level 3 description more-or-less matches my skill level. However, my Spanish at level 3 was miles better than my French is currently. With Spanish, there was much less ambiguity in my understanding. I understood the meaning, of course, but I also understood most of the words, even the small ones. With French, I follow the meanings, but a lot of those small connector words don't quite make sense to me yet. do, at level 3, I might have understood 95% of the individual words used in a sentence in Spanish, which of course means I was understanding the meaning of what was being said. In French, I might only be able to understand 70% of the individual words, but I understand enough of the key words to not lose any of the meaning of the sentence.

This isn't a criticism of the roadmap at all, but it is my observation that one's own interpretation of their skill level can be wildly different from someone else's, even though they might be at the exact same skill level.

Does the "Spanish Boost" Exist?

I would say now that is almost certainly does, although it remains to be seen exactly to what degree my 800 hours of Spanish will benefit me. I don't think the 2x multiplier will apply to me, not that I would expect it to. I'm starting to notice now that certain grammatical structures are the same in French and Spanish. Something like "Il ma donné" is the same as "Él me dio", so I don't have to think about who is giving what to who, in that example. I'm sure there are more similarities that I haven't discovered yet.

Does This Method Work?

Does it work? I have no doubt that I will have a good level of French using this method after 1,500 hours.

Is this method the most efficient way to learn a language? That's where I'm more skeptical. I find it hard to believe that my French wouldn't improve faster if I added vocabulary flash cards to my routine, for example. For now, I'm sticking with a mostly purist approach. Although I will confess that I occasionally look up words. This wasn't possible 100 hours ago because French spelling was so different that even if I heard a word, I wouldn't know how to type it into Google Translate to see what it means. I've gotten better at that, plus Alice Ayel's videos have transcripts, so I'm able to look up words. For now, my definition of a purist approach is CI only until ~1,000 hours, then adding reading and speaking, and not studying grammar/vocabulary.

Final Thoughts

Progress is steady, and I'm starting to get more enjoyment out of the process. It's gradually starting to feel less like a chore. I'm very eager to keep improving and hopefully unlocking even more content that interests me. Things on my radar are the Escargot podcast and French Gaming with Felix. I would also love to be able to listen to the rest of InnerFrench, but for now it's just out of reach.

See you all at 300 hours!

WIBTAH if I move into an apartment within the same building as my recent ex?

Is this hazardous AQI an error? Most other AQI websites seem to have AQIs in the Good or Fair range.