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Radioclare’s TAC log 2014 (*jäŋe/*ledús) | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Radioclare Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom timeofftakeoff.com Joined 4575 days ago 689 posts - 1119 votes  Speaks: English*, German, Esperanto Studies: Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian | Message 305 of 522 10 September 2014 at 10:23pm | IP Logged |
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Greetings from Montenegro :)
I haven't done any more reading/listening/watching for the Super Challenge since my last post, but I have had lots of fun actually using whatever we want to call the language they speak in Montenegro, which is probably more important. Being here and in Serbia has been amazing. I feel like I've spent so many months trying to learn this language that no one else is terribly interested in and struggling to find things to read/watch in it, so then arriving in Serbia and being surrounded by the language was almost overwhelming. It was as if the whole of Niš was a language-learning theme park for me, with all the TV stations in Serbian, the songs in the radio playing in Serbian, the shops selling books in Serbian and best of all everyone speaking Serbian :) It feels like that sometimes when you go to an Esperanto event and suddenly everyone around you is speaking this crazy minority language which you spend your entire life trying to justify your interest in to people who think it's a waste of time; quite emotional. For me the most interesting thing in Serbia was the crazy juxtaposition of alphabets. In Niš at least there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to it which I could discern. I thought perhaps older things would be written in Cyrillic and newer signs etc in the Latin alphabet, but that wasn't noticeably the case. A policeman might be driving a car which said 'полиција' and wearing a shirt that said 'policija'. The bus station in Niš - perhaps to be more friendly to tourists - had all its signs in Latin letters, though the smaller bus stations I visited were all in Cyrillic. Menus mostly seemed to be Cyrillic, but adverts mainly seemed to be Latin. I thought it was wonderful and I have got so much better at reading Cyrillic now. I tend to find that people are quite dismissive about learning a new alphabet and say that it doesn't take long to learn the letters. No, it doesn't take long to recognise a few new letters and learn their sounds. But I have found it does take a long time to recognise the shape of words and know instantly what they are, without having to sound each letter out like a five year old. I think the time it takes to achieve that is underrated. In Montenegro, on the other hand, there is a clearer pattern that only older signs etc are in Cyrillic. Although Montenegro is messing with my head because I keep seeing things in Cyrillic, trying to read them, feeling disheartened because I don't understand them properly... and then realising it was something written in Russian for the predominantly Russian tourists here :D I have had some really long conversations with my landlady in Serbian today, which has been good. I chickened out of phoning a random person in Podgorica about my bus tickets and asked her to make the call for me, but I still had to explain to her what the problem was, what I wanted her to ask etc in Serbian and it went really well. There's a chance I might be able to meet up with a Serbian Esperantist friend when I get to Belgrade, so I'm hoping I will be able to practise my language skills on him as well. Another 11 hour bus journey tomorrow, so I should get some SC listening done. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6589 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 306 of 522 10 September 2014 at 10:48pm | IP Logged |
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As for the alphabets, I think that's because normally you practise the new alphabet all the time when reading in your new language. BCSM is more of an exception :)
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| Radioclare Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom timeofftakeoff.com Joined 4575 days ago 689 posts - 1119 votes Speaks: English*, German, Esperanto Studies: Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian | Message 307 of 522 10 September 2014 at 10:54pm | IP Logged |
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That is true :) And I could definitely have been a lot more diligent in practising the
alphabet and not focussing just on 'Croatian' vocabulary from the start! When I was failing to learn Russian a few years ago I found the alphabet really difficult too though. I was so frustrated because I had been studying for months and then when I got to Kiev my boyfriend (who had just looked at the alphabet on the train on the way there!) was able to decipher signs and menus better than me. So sometimes I think there is just something wrong with my brain which means I am worse at this than other people :D 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Radioclare Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom timeofftakeoff.com Joined 4575 days ago 689 posts - 1119 votes Speaks: English*, German, Esperanto Studies: Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian | Message 308 of 522 12 September 2014 at 6:29pm | IP Logged |
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I'm in Belgrade :) This makes me so excited I may actually burst. The journey to get
here was hellish, involving me getting sworn at in Serbian for (politely!) questioning why someone else was sitting in the seats I'd reserved in the bus, a crazy taxi driver who reversed backwards down a main road when he missed his turning because he was too busy telling me what was wrong with Montenegrins, and sitting outside the apartment I'd booked for over an hour because no one was there to meet me as planned and for some reason my mobile was refusing to connect to a Serbian network. There were some redeeming features, like the old lady who lives in the same apartment block and eventually managed to get hold of the apartment's owner on the phone for me, and a lovely waiter who let us order pljeskavice even though it was 10pm and the kitchen was supposed to be closing. Experiences like this always make me think how valuable it is to learn some of the local language before you travel anywhere; the bus driver, the taxi driver, the nice old lady and the lovely waiter didn't speak any English at all. The long bus journey did give me chance to do lots of listening though and over the course of the day I got credit for an entire five 'films', by finishing the 'Eye of the Needle' (really good, definitely recommend it) and starting the audiobook version of 'Fifty Shades Darker'. Belgrade itself is beautiful and seems very.... civilised? western?.... after being in Skopje. I don't know what adjective to choose as I'm not trying to be derogatory about Macedonia, which I loved. I guess it just seems like a very normal central European city, whereas Skopje felt more... eastern? exotic? edgy? ... I know what I mean in my head, but I don't think I'm finding the right words. In Belgrade I think I would feel happy walking around on my own in the dark. In Skopje I'm not sure I would feel comfortable walking around in my own in the daylight. I am already planning a holiday in my head where I fly to Ljubljana and then travel to Zagreb and Belgrade by train, flying back from Belgrade. I think it would be interesting to go directly from Zagreb to Belgrade and see how different the two cities feel, but my impression right now is that there are many similarities. I had some fairly strong negative reactions from people in the UK when I said I was coming to Serbia and Belgrade - and I guess back in 1999 I would never have dreamed in a million years that I'd come here either, much less that I would be able to speak some of the language - but I'm very glad that I have. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7148 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish | Message 309 of 522 12 September 2014 at 8:10pm | IP Logged |
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It's good to see that you like Belgrade. When I was there last year I felt a bit as I did when I went to Bratislava just after Slovakia had joined the EU. The center and touristy parts don't feel unfamiliar at all to my western wiring but go onto the side streets further from the center and things are a bit more run-down but nothing really extraordinary.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Radioclare Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom timeofftakeoff.com Joined 4575 days ago 689 posts - 1119 votes Speaks: English*, German, Esperanto Studies: Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian | Message 310 of 522 12 September 2014 at 10:23pm | IP Logged |
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Yes, actually it does remind me a bit of Bratislava: both cities have some really
beautiful parts, some really ugly concrete parts, and you have to be careful not to trip over the pavements ;) And in Bratislava ironically the times I have felt most unsafe walking around on my own have been when I've had the misfortune to encounter extremely drunken English stag parties outside some of the less classy bars which are now in the old town! Having just got back from walking around Belgrade in the dark I can confirm that it is a town with a really nice atmosphere at night; most people are just out drinking coffee (and chain-smoking!), which is infinitely preferable to the drunken antics which will be taking place in most English cities on a Friday night. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5254 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 311 of 522 12 September 2014 at 11:13pm | IP Logged |
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Radioclare, I just wanted you to know that I enjoy reading your log. This is what language-learning is all about!
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| PeterMollenburg Senior Member AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5468 days ago 821 posts - 1273 votes Speaks: English* Studies: FrenchB1 | Message 312 of 522 13 September 2014 at 5:16am | IP Logged |
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I second that!
I've not read your log before but I read the first page of your log for 2014 then jumped to the last. It's nice to see how far you've come and congratulations on sticking at it! It seems like you're really having an adventure there in Eastern Europe. I've always been interested in that geographical region, not so much the language as time can only allow for so much language study. If I had the time I would learn the language too, but we all now about time vs language learning. It's a shame regarding the negative comments of ppl back home. I feel many western cultures hold opinions that are parroted to them via their media. If there was more positive media about this part of the world back in the UK i'd bet the public sentiment would be different. It's a shame we are influenced so much and can't think for ourselves. Anwyay, it's interesting reading your adventures, and I thought I'd just like to share that :) Enjoy the rest of your trip in your giant language learning playground! PM 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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