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Kanewai 2015: Team Caesar | ||
Tags: Super Challenge | Catalan | Ancient Greek | Turkish | Polyglot | Arabic | Total Annihilation Challenge (TAC) | Italian | Japanese | French | Spanish | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4895 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes  Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 97 of 331 07 December 2012 at 12:12pm | IP Logged | |||||
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More Romantic thoughts ...
- I said I didn't notice any interference, but I did notice that when I studied Italian it seemed to replace my Spanish completely. When I went back to Spanish I picked up where I left off, but my Italian disappeared. I never got them confused, but I couldn't maintain both at the same time. - Italian, Portuguese, and Catalan are still on my 'short term' list. Meaning, they're languages I would study for three to six months if I had a trip coming up, but I'm not aiming for long-term study. Arabic also, unless someone comes out with a brilliant new or revised course. - It's great using French as a base for other, more exotic languages (Greek and Arabic). I find I don't translate the text so much as internalize it for what it is. Even doing Spanish with a French base (Michel Thomas) was a pretty amazing mental experience. - For French, the hard parts came early, with the pronunciation and the pronouns. The move from A2 to B1 took a lot of work, but wasn't as hard. Spanish, however, seems to have started more easily, and gotten hard later. There seem to be more and more phrases in Spanish that don't translate logically into English. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Kerrie Senior Member United States justpaste.it/Kerrie2 Joined 5401 days ago 1232 posts - 1740 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 98 of 331 10 December 2012 at 10:07pm | IP Logged | |||||
Cristina, you just made me scare my kids. They are not used to me bursting out in snorts of laughter. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5340 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 99 of 331 10 December 2012 at 11:14pm | IP Logged | |||||
Just passing it forward :-) 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4895 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 100 of 331 18 December 2012 at 10:30pm | IP Logged | |||||
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PAX 2013!
Over the past two years I've spent roughly 12 months focusing intensively on French, and 9 months on Spanish. This year will be less intense. I'll keep moving forward in both, but at a more relaxed and manageable pace. I hope. Right now I envision alternating them: a few weeks with one, a few with another. For French this will be easy; I know enough that I can maintain through passive reading. For Spanish this will be more challenging, as I'm not at the point where I can enjoy native literature yet. French Finish French Grammar in Context (Margaret Judd, 2008) Finish French Basic Course, Volume II (Foreign Service Institute) (Lesson 19-24 remaining) Super Challenge Films: 65 to go Super Challenge Books: Finish Les Misérables, Victor Hugo (Three books to go) Start A la recherche du temps perdu, Marcel Proust (1913-1927) La condition humaine, André Malraux (1933) Vendredi ou les limbes du pacifique, Michel Tournier (1967) Mémoires d'Hadrien, Marguerite Yourcenar (1951) Notre Dame des Fleurs, Jean Genet (1944) Spanish I have a lot more traditional coursework to do for Spanish ... Finish active wave of Assimil Spanish FSI Spanish Basic, Volume 3 (Lessons 31-45). Maybe start Vol. 4 Assimil Perfectionnement Espagnol (French Base) Ancient Greek Finish Assimil Le Grec ancien And if I like it, continue with one of the books that walks you through Homer. Edited by kanewai on 18 December 2012 at 10:31pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Kerrie Senior Member United States justpaste.it/Kerrie2 Joined 5401 days ago 1232 posts - 1740 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 101 of 331 18 December 2012 at 10:46pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I am so glad you're on my team again this year. :) Isn't it crazy to see how far you've come from a year ago? Did you think, a year ago, that you'd have read 3,800 pages in French? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4895 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 102 of 331 24 December 2012 at 9:29pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I spent last weekend with friends in a North Shore beach house, but tried to carve out time each morning for my studies. And I had the same conversation a lot of you have had:
- You must have a talent for languages. - No. It's more about commitment. I failed my University French course. - No. You're a natural. I tried. I can't do it. - What did you try? - Pimsleur Japanese from the library. - Um, that's only eight lessons ... it's not enough ... - No, I just don't have the aptitude for it. Otherwise, it's been a slow season for language learning. I'll be in London next week. It'll be cold (for me) - maybe I can find a pub with a fire to curl up in front of with my language books ... Le Grec ancien This is getting frustrating. I listened to a couple old lessons this morning, and understood almost nothing. The Assimil method is just not sticking. I think I might need to spend the next week doing some old fashioned studying - writing out conjugations and declensions, and then memorizing them. I'm ready for gods and monsters and epic cycles of murder and revenge, not school boy stories about Kattalus and Aristippus and nude oil wrestling. Though ... the last part wasn't too bad. French Finished 403 pages of Germinal, but stilll have 173 to go. This is an amazing book, but it is taking forever to read. The fourth part centered around a riot by the striking miners. It was an intense section, as the action switched back and forth between the bourgeoise trying to keep to their social schedule of lunches and dinners, and the workers rampaging through the countryside. It was realistic, almost like a news account. At the riot's peak some women take revenge on a rapist, and the scene is so graphic that the English translator just skips over it. Funny that the French could write about things in 1885 that modern translators won't touch. I want to read more Zola; I just wish his books weren't so damn long! I've had less luck with my flics this past week. In Angel-A (Luc Besson, 2007) a suicidal con-artist is rescued by a sassy, chain-smoking, sexually insatiable angel. It was fun for twenty minutes, then the characters became tiring. It ended with a sappy message about loving yourself that felt like it belonged in a different movie. Like maybe My Little Pony. François Truffaut's La nuit Américaine (Day for Night) was supposed to be his "love letter to the movies." I was bored - I felt like I'd seen all this before. And then there was Journal d'un curé de campagne (Diary of a Country Priest,Robert Bresson, 1951). A sad priest is assigned to a vicious little village. He swoons a lot, and says things in voice-over like "No one knows how much I suffer" and "Why? Why do they torment me like this?" Meanwhile, little old ladies poison his tea for fun. Everyone should watch this. It is the Frenchiest thing I have ever seen. I am convinced this is the direct inspiration for Henri le chat noir (the third most influential cat of 2012). Seriously. Watch the preview, then watch Henri in The Worst Noël. Finally: squee! Guess what I have tickets for this Thursday! Les Misérables (Official London Trailer 2012). I read the book in English in high school, I've read 2/5 of it so far in French, and I know the soundtrack by heart, but I've never seen it on stage. It's time! I might put a pause on Germinal to see how far I can get in the third book of Les Mis before Thursday. Reading these books in French is a much more intense and immersive experience than reading them in English. A lot of this is due to the fact that I have to slow down, and really work my way through the books rather than speeding through them. Spanish Still on hold. I haven't had the time or energy to study three at once. Edited by kanewai on 24 December 2012 at 9:46pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5562 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 103 of 331 25 December 2012 at 1:21am | IP Logged | |||||
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Hope you have a good time in London braddah! Last time I was in the West End, I watched "Phantom of the Opera" at Her Majesty's Theatre, and it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I've never seen "Les Mis" but it's definitely on my bucket list.
I'll be spending Christmas on Oahu this year, and am just about to head out and treat the misses and I to some ono spicy ahi poke and shave ice, then check out the gingerbread house in town to get into the festive spirit. I'm missing the snow and hot Glühwein of course, but have substituted a tinstle-bedecked pineapple for the traditional baubled Weihnachtsbaum. ;) Mele kalikimaka and safe journey! Edited by Teango on 25 December 2012 at 1:22am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5340 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 104 of 331 25 December 2012 at 2:07am | IP Logged | |||||
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I am sure you will have a great time! I saw les Miserables in New York in the late 80ies, and just loved it, I
think the only musical which has made more of an impression on me was Phantom of the Opera. I love your reviews of the films you have seen and the books you have read by the way! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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