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TAC’13 Pax Team (ita+cat) / Assimil Exp. | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Flarioca Heptaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5874 days ago 635 posts - 816 votes  Speaks: Portuguese*, Esperanto, French, EnglishC2, Spanish, German, Italian Studies: Catalan, Mandarin | Message 105 of 261 04 September 2012 at 4:27pm | IP Logged | |||||
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German Monthly Report
I'm gradually moving from systematic study to systematic use of German. I'll however continue to do some grammar exercises until the beginning of the Assimil Experiment. There is also a nice Conversation Group in our local Goethe-Institut, with weekly encouters, where we listen and read also, but mostly talk. It is supervised by a native speaker but in a very relaxed way. At least for the next two years, no more Anki decks, Assimil, LwT or regular courses in German. Right now, I'm reading "Ostseefluch" by Eva Almstädt. I've bought this book by chance, just to discover that it is part of a crime book series centered on Lübeck, the city of my ancestors! Well, not so nice to be associated with crimes, but, as you probably know, Lübeck is also the city in "Buddenbrooks", which talks about decadence, among other things :-)) I'm trying to use dictionaries only after the end of each chapter, which forces me to guess the meaning of words more often, and come back to the text and check if the main ideas have been understood. Moreover, I've been watching lots of documentaries, have ordered some movies series with German audio and will start to read Lübeck history books, my main goal at the beginning of this journey. Of course, this journey is not at all finished, but the same applies to every other language I've studied, even Portuguese, as it has been ad nauseam discussed on many threads here in HTLAL. As anyone can see, my approach has been changing many times throughout this year. No regreat at all! You must do whatever you feel that works better. To be able to adapt and change goals, procedures and methods seems essential to progress. Of course, one must also, at least for a while, adhere to something and, for instance, the "Perfectionnement Allemand" helped me a lot. It is not clear that I'll achieve a global C1 level this year, but it seems that my reading and listening skills are at least very close to this level. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| ummagumma Senior Member IrelandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5248 days ago 217 posts - 241 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 106 of 261 04 September 2012 at 11:05pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Fair point on writing these posts in English. Glad you don't mind me using either
language. Just wanted to check! I see you have made a lot of effort in your German studies and are already at a very good level. Have you considered doing a Goethe-Institute exam in order to test your level of German? Or does this not align with your priorities/motivations? I have flirted with the idea myself but ultimately I didn't think I would benefit enough by taking the exams. I am curious though to benchmark my German language level. Edited by ummagumma on 04 September 2012 at 11:06pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Flarioca Heptaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5874 days ago 635 posts - 816 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Esperanto, French, EnglishC2, Spanish, German, Italian Studies: Catalan, Mandarin | Message 107 of 261 05 September 2012 at 2:48am | IP Logged | |||||
Thanks! I did this two week course "Sprache und Kultur" in Goethe-Institut. I was in a B2 level class and it was very good, which means that maybe even my present speaking level is also about this.
I'm considering to try the TesDaF. This is what seems to allow me a better evaluation of my four skills, writing and speaking possibly only B2.1 (TDN 3), but reading and listening B2.2/C1.1 (TDN 4) or even C1.2 (TDN 5). Unfortunatelly, there is only one center here in Brazil that will offer this test this semester and it is more than 1.000 km away from where I live. Let's see. Edited by Flarioca on 05 September 2012 at 3:26am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Flarioca Heptaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5874 days ago 635 posts - 816 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Esperanto, French, EnglishC2, Spanish, German, Italian Studies: Catalan, Mandarin | Message 108 of 261 06 September 2012 at 4:23pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I was looking for some good way (ok, it must be admitted, a magic way) to better understand and memorize "die Verbergänzung" (verbal complements) and met this very good summary of German Grammar. Well, I'm still looking for a magic way ...
Note: In my edition of the book by Helbig and Buscha, the topic "Rektion der Verben" is on pages 52-55. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4820 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 109 of 261 06 September 2012 at 9:38pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I don't suppose it has the magic that you seek, but if you haven't already looked at it,
"Hammer Grammar" (by Martin Durrell) is very comprehensive, and (when one is not pressed for time), can be quite an interesting read. He has also co-authored a shorter, more "overviewish" book on grammar, which seems to be quite good, but I haven't got around to buying it yet. Sorry if this is old news. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Flarioca Heptaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5874 days ago 635 posts - 816 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Esperanto, French, EnglishC2, Spanish, German, Italian Studies: Catalan, Mandarin | Message 110 of 261 07 September 2012 at 3:02am | IP Logged | |||||
I have "Hammer's German Grammar and Usage" by Martin Durrell and "Using German" by Martin Durrell. Some months ago I read a little about verb valency in the first and find it really useful. On the other hand, I haven't opened the second book for a long while and looking at it now, the subject is summarized and may be a better place to restart. Now, I've read in your log that you and ummagumma became great fans of HP and LoTR, which certainly means that you are on the quest for the One Assimil, to rule all methods and learn any language up to C2 level in three months :-)) 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Flarioca Heptaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5874 days ago 635 posts - 816 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Esperanto, French, EnglishC2, Spanish, German, Italian Studies: Catalan, Mandarin | Message 111 of 261 11 September 2012 at 2:10am | IP Logged | |||||
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My blu-rays of "The Big Bang Theory - Erste Staffel" and "Game of Thrones - Erste Staffel" arrived! Both with German audio and subtitles. This means more than 20 hours of watching and rewatching.
I've already seen all episodes from the five initial seasons of TBBT (in English), but know almost nothing about GT, except that lots of people whose opinions I respect love it. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Flarioca Heptaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5874 days ago 635 posts - 816 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Esperanto, French, EnglishC2, Spanish, German, Italian Studies: Catalan, Mandarin | Message 112 of 261 14 September 2012 at 10:07pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Another very interesting etymological connection.
The very important German word drehen (turn, rotate, spin) comes from the Indoeuropean root ter-/terə-/trī-, which is also the root for a huge number of Latin words like tribulare [Portuguese atribulações (tribulations!!)], triticum [Portuguese trigo (wheat)] and tetricus [Portuguese tétrico (dreadful)]. It is also the root of tribology (Portuguese ... tribologia!). As a matter of fact, this is also the root for other German words like drechseln, drillen, drücken and drohen!! 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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