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Stifa’s log (Spaß @ TAC2014)

 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log Post Reply
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kujichagulia
Senior Member
Japan
Joined 4839 days ago

1031 posts - 1571 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Japanese, Portuguese

 
 Message 177 of 198
11 June 2014 at 3:07am | IP Logged 
It's strange about those Japanese copyright laws. I can buy stuff from outside Japan here in Japan through Amazon.co.jp, so why don't they return the favor?
1 person has voted this message useful



stifa
Triglot
Senior Member
Norway
lang-8.com/448715
Joined 4865 days ago

629 posts - 813 votes 
Speaks: Norwegian*, EnglishC2, German
Studies: Japanese, Spanish

 
 Message 178 of 198
11 June 2014 at 12:21pm | IP Logged 
The main difference is that you can look up verbs that appear in any other form than
the dictionary form, unless there is an infinitive version featured in the dictionary,
as it seems to go: the for it appears in (ex 迎えて)->infinitive (迎え) ->u-form (迎える).
Another thing worth noting is that it doesn't seem to get hot at all, and with 200-ish
dpi, the characters are really crisp.

The selection is much better than in the Android app, but the touch screen is a little
more awkward, but it's not bad by any means.

@kuji: I think it's simply because ebooks is to publishers the same as internet is to
Angela Merkel: ein Neuland. Also, since >99% of their potential buyers are within
Japan, publishing the books on the other Amazon pages isn't really worth the effort.
For foreign books, however, there is a market in Japan: English learners and lazy
expats.

Edited by stifa on 11 June 2014 at 12:23pm

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stifa
Triglot
Senior Member
Norway
lang-8.com/448715
Joined 4865 days ago

629 posts - 813 votes 
Speaks: Norwegian*, EnglishC2, German
Studies: Japanese, Spanish

 
 Message 179 of 198
15 June 2014 at 5:40pm | IP Logged 
15th June
After having the Kindle for a few day, I might add something to my initial
observations. Firstly, it has improved the reading experience on bus journeys and the
like considerably. It's size makes it feasible to use it on public transport while
still having a decently-sized screen.

One thing that I don't like with it is that you can't alter the font size as smoothly
as on the Windows 7 version. Also, you can't browse for foreign language books on the
Kindle store "app", which isn't that much of an issue, but still a tiny bit annoying.
Another thing that I prefer on the tablet is that you can read white text on a black
background, which in my opinion makes it much easier to read Japanese, since it's
easier for me to see the minute details of some of the more elaborate kanji. Since
German is my preferred reading language when I'm reading on public transport, I've got
my Paperwhite connected to my UK account and my Tablet to my JP account.

The battery life doesn't seem to be as great as they claim it is; for me, it equates to
about 12 hours of reading, which is less than half of what was promised. This is also,
however, a non-issue since it can last out a day or two of travelling, which makes it
much more suited for reading than my good ol' S2 or my tablet.

I'm still impressed by the way it actually looks as if the content is printed on the
screen. (And I've got mixed feelings about the 509 entries in my vocabulary builder)

Of course, a lot of this may be utterly irrelevant for you, since most of you have more
than 15% (or 20/133) vision.

----

Okay, this was more of an Kindle review than an actual log entry, but I haven't really
got anything else to mention in relation to language learning.

Also, I've finally booked my flight back to Norway: on the morning of the 30th, London-
Stockholm-Trondheim. I'm still thorn between taking the 03:30 bus to the airport on
that morning or just spending the night at the airport: with two suitcases, either
alternative would be inconvenient to some extent...
1 person has voted this message useful



stifa
Triglot
Senior Member
Norway
lang-8.com/448715
Joined 4865 days ago

629 posts - 813 votes 
Speaks: Norwegian*, EnglishC2, German
Studies: Japanese, Spanish

 
 Message 180 of 198
21 June 2014 at 5:53pm | IP Logged 
21. juni
Am Dienstag hab ich mit Zero no Tukaima (Zeros Hausgeist [oder "Familiar"]) angefangen,
und ich finde sie sehr, sehr gut lesbar. Damit ist es nicht so schlimm, es mit der
Android App zu lesen, weil ich diese miese Wörterbuch-Funktion (die neulich noch
schlimmer geworden ist; Wörter mit Furigana kann gar nich mehr nachschauen) nicht oft
braucht.

Auf der Bewerbungsgespräch haben die gesagt, ich würde die Entscheidung am Freitag
(gestern) erfahren, aber ich hab noch nichts von sie gehört. Ich hoffe es ist einfach
eine verzögerung, und nicht weil sie sich für den Anderen Bewerber entscheidet haben.

Ich hoffe dass ich es schafft... sonst muss ich mir ein neuer WG aussuchen, weil alle
meine Freunde mehr Glüch hatten als ich.
Naja, ohne einige Herausforderungen wäre das Leben zu langweilig, nich wahr? :p

Edited by stifa on 21 June 2014 at 5:56pm

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stifa
Triglot
Senior Member
Norway
lang-8.com/448715
Joined 4865 days ago

629 posts - 813 votes 
Speaks: Norwegian*, EnglishC2, German
Studies: Japanese, Spanish

 
 Message 181 of 198
23 June 2014 at 6:16pm | IP Logged 
23th June
Yesterday, I finished Eine Unbeliebte Frau, and started with the first half of the
German translation of A Storm of Swords. 700+ pages, oh yeah -- guess I won't finish
that one before Tadoku is over. :p
I think I'll write some short reviews on the books I've read at the end of the month.

Also, a week from now I'll be back home. I can't wait to leave Southdown, Bath behind.
I might be back in the UK by August though, if I actually manage to get a placement.
(Well, if I don't I'll have another two months of summer holidays, which I don't really
mind :p)

Also, I decided to try picking up Spanish again -- I've been dabbling in it on several
occations over the last few years, but never committed to it. I don't really get any
further with German, and my Japanese study consists of listening and reading. I'm not
squite sure what resources I want to use though, do anyone happen to know any good
websites with grammar explanations and good example sentences?

I'd like to get into language exchanges, but I'm not too sure about of the suitability
of my dialect, and I can't speak standard Norwegian at all without it sounding very
artificial. Not to mention that I write English a lot better than Bokmål, which is
saying quite a lot about my Bokkmål. :p
I feel like classes and travel are the most feasible solutions for active practice, but
classes + accommodation + food and drink may add up to quite a lot - my last trip to
Berlin cost me £2000-ish in total for two weeks, but it was indeed worth it.

Edited by stifa on 23 June 2014 at 6:20pm

1 person has voted this message useful



g-bod
Diglot
Senior Member
United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5974 days ago

1485 posts - 2002 votes 
Speaks: English*, Japanese
Studies: French, German

 
 Message 182 of 198
23 June 2014 at 8:14pm | IP Logged 
These days I prefer paying a tutor for one to one practice rather than doing a language exchange, since it is a much more reliable way of getting active practice. Reliable both in the sense that the tutor is more likely to turn up, and that they are more likely to give useful feedback. Plus I don't have to return the favour by giving feedback on their English, leaving me with more free time to either learn languages or go to the beach!

I would really recommend giving something like iTalki a go, especially for a language like Spanish where there are loads of potential tutors available. You could probably buy yourself regular lessons for several years on iTalki for the price you paid for two weeks in Berlin.
2 persons have voted this message useful



Sunja
Diglot
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 6077 days ago

2020 posts - 2295 votes 
1 sounds
Speaks: English*, German
Studies: French, Mandarin

 
 Message 183 of 198
23 June 2014 at 9:38pm | IP Logged 
stifa wrote:
anyone happen to know any good websites with grammar explanations and good example sentences?


http://www.quia.com/jg/507996list.html

I've been hanging on to this for a long time. It's not too much information like some of the other grammar websites which are so packed full of grammar that it's hard to get motivated.
1 person has voted this message useful



stifa
Triglot
Senior Member
Norway
lang-8.com/448715
Joined 4865 days ago

629 posts - 813 votes 
Speaks: Norwegian*, EnglishC2, German
Studies: Japanese, Spanish

 
 Message 184 of 198
23 June 2014 at 10:08pm | IP Logged 
Uhm I think I didn't make that clear enough; I wasn't really looking for stuff for
Japanese - I already have a decent grasp of the Japanese grammar, as well as being able
to read Japanese relatively comfortably - but rather for Spanish.


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