Language Learning
On Duolingo, I have completed one third of my necessary language learning or 28 sections out of 69 and I am very disappointed in myself because of it. The hardest part about learning Italian using Duolingo is that it is hard to know how to speak it. I can understand it and write it and listen to it, but speaking it is more difficult because the website does not require you to speak unless you turn on a specific setting. Despite these complications, I have created Quizlet sets for my Italian words and will quiz myself on them. Although, I have procrastinated too much and I need to get the ball rolling again. I stopped being motivated when I lost my 26 day streak, but I will start to learn again and will increase my streak. My goal is to do 4 sections per day, so by March 13th, I would be finished with all my language learning and really be able to focus on my book writing. This task will probably require lots of hard work, but I am up to the challenge.
Book Progress
I have started to create a further plot for my book. It is about a young girl named Catalina who just turned 15 and she is about to go to high school or liceo in 1940. Right before the summer ends, her parents decide to hide a family of Jews in their attic. It changes their whole lives. I haven't come up with a name for the book or a detailed plot, but the basic plot is almost finished. Basically, Catalina turns 15 and is about to go to high school when Leonardo's family comes to live with Catalina's. Catalina and Leonardo eventually fall in love and might have a great life or they may be taken to a concentration camp. I have not decided because I am not sure which I would be able to more accurately explain. I am really proud of all of my accomplishments this far. I will not stop persevering to reach my goals and I still plan to deliver a full 80-100 page book in Italian. There will also be an English translation because it's no good to write a book that can only be shared with one country's people. Plus who knows? Maybe next year it could even be used as a Holocaust book selection when it's translated into English of course. It would definitely need to be taken care of since it would be one of the only copies in the world.
Presentation Ideas
For my presentation, I was thinking that I could maybe read an excerpt from my book and then its translated version. After, I could explain how my book came to be and why I decided to learn Italian. Another way I could present it is by talking about my journey to get to writing the book and what inspired me to write it. I could also explain the basic plot of the book. I am not sure how long I have to present or how the presentation would work, but I could also combine all of these ideas into one longer presentation. I could also make a presentation or poster or something to be shown to people when they come to see our finished projects.