Update: WebDev & Other Projects

I returned to India in early April, and since then I've been working to sort out my daily tasks and my larger projects.

Web Development

Due to the fact that I was working for a full month when I returned home, I put my web development skills on the back-burner, and only approached it again in June.

I've been working on a personal web page, using bootstrap and JavaScript. Unfortunately my navigation bar has been giving me headaches, in part because I chose to use a vertical menu rather than horizontal. Through using a Start Bootstrap sidebar theme I almost corrected this issue, but now the alignment for all three sections is completely destroyed, my modals aren't working and all buttons styles are missing. In addition, I still have some edits on the nav bar for it too look and act well, so I'm debating on whether I should just continue working on the old version.

Beyond this, I've picked out a color scheme and written content, so once the main layout is fixed, I'll be almost done and can move on to another project.

After this personal site is finished, I want to tinker with created a Blogger layout (for this blog), and apply what I learn from that to Joomla and Wordpress.

Writing and Art

While the web development work is more technical and career oriented, I've also started working on some creative projects - albeit at a snail's pace. The pace from stems from the fact that I have about three story ideas, one of which I want to turn into a comic. I've done research on two of those ideas, and I am in the story-board stage of the comic. 

I haven't started actually drawing yet, however, as I'm instead brushing up on my general drawing skills and learning how to use Clip Studio Pro. 

Due to the fact I have so much going on, I'm not completely sure how to handle or proceed with these stories, and I expect it will be a long time before I finish even one of them. My plan is to focus on finishing the storyboard for the comic, but also continue researching and outlining my other novel. The third idea will probably have to wait.

Generally I am only setting aside about an hour a week for actual work, but I tend to write down notes in the evenings when I'm relaxing.

Language

I know I've written on my German and Hindi progress separately, so I won't discuss too much here. My Hindi is gradually improving. I've been focusing on speaking and writing diary entries. It's still a struggle to recall the words quickly (and in the right order), but once I get in the groove of speaking confidently, I'm sure it'll become much easier.

Eventually I'd like to start sneaking one or two Marathi and Bengali phrases per day into my Hindi studies, just so I can communicate better with locals/family.

My German progress is also going well. I'm focusing on writing. I've generated a short idea that's turning into a novella, and I try to use new vocabulary from my readings as I write. I still need speaking practice though. 

I think I've got subjunctive down - at least in writing, but I admit I don't feel the need to use it much. 

Overall

I guess I've hit an overall learning plateau, which is why I'm focusing more on projects and output. While sometimes I get frustrated at the slow pace, I know that once I cross a certain barrier in all of these topics, things will pick up. 

In addition, I've been reading about two chapters a day in the Jewish Study Bible. I probably won't finish for several months, if not a year, but it's an interesting read and there's quite a lot of detail in the footnotes about cultural and historical events, so I'm learning a bit. 

I suppose my current progress can be summed up as:

Slow and steady wins the race.