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Adventures in German and beyond... | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| pandorasighs Diglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 4053 days ago 15 posts - 18 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish | Message 17 of 23 31 January 2014 at 12:11pm | IP Logged | ||
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I borrowed some new reading material (and dvds) from the Goethe-Institut library yesterday, having searched the internet for suggested reading material.
did deutsch-institut have a useful page with suggested reading by level: did deutsch-instut suggested reading for learners. I chose 'C2' and 'B2' volumes: Nullzeit by Juli Zeh Die Nacht, Die Lichter by Clemens Meyer I also borrowed Homo Faber again with a view to looking up some vocabulary. I've also found these links very useful when I'm pondering over what I might like/be able to read next: big list-Simple but interesting German literature Intermediate German Novels I'm due to start my new C2.1 classes at the Goethe-Institut on Wednesday. Since there's no prescribed books I'm quite curious as to what the structure and content of the course will be. However, this is the class that students enroll in to sit the C1 examination (if they wish), since at my particular institute we haven't theoretically built up enough instruction hours by the end of the C1 level classes/texts to sit the exam (so say GI!). However since I would like to sit that C1 exam sometime this year, finances granting, it should be a useful course regardless of content. Edited by pandorasighs on 03 February 2014 at 5:25pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| pandorasighs Diglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 4053 days ago 15 posts - 18 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish | Message 18 of 23 03 February 2014 at 5:22pm | IP Logged | ||
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Plans for this week:
-Revise Kapitel 9 'Kunst' of Em Neu Abschlusskurs 2008. I've already begun with a couple of written exercises describing paintings, which I enjoy. I found revising Kapitel 10 'Globalisierung' very useful in terms of producing written pieces (Home and Homesickness, historical travel) and revising the Passive through using the workbook. -Continue reading Die Nacht, Die Lichter by Clemens Meyer. This is a collection of short stories, very accessible in terms of language. I'd agree with did deutch-insitut's assesment that it's an ideal volume for B2, but also B1 skills in my opinion. -Modalverben: Complete the modal verb exercises in both Em Neu Abschlusskurs and Em Uebungsgrammatik. -Classes: My C2.1 course has been cancelled due to lack of participants so I'm going to attend a C2 Modern German Literature class instead, which should be a stretch, if very interesting. Hopefully I can manage to practice for the C1 exam on my own. -Watch Heimat Episode 2 and a documentary on the Bauhaus, which I borrowed from the library. I don't have much time to watch tv and movies this week which is a shame, but watched 'Jerichow' (Christian Petzold) at the weekend, which I really enjoyed, despite it's frequently grim tone. I probably really enjoyed it partially due to my ability to understand most of it! Ah yes, I almost forgot about Spanish! My goal is to work through Chapters 3 and 4 of Colloquial Spanish this week and another 2 or 3 conversations in my TY audio course. Edited by pandorasighs on 03 February 2014 at 5:24pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4475 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes  Studies: German | Message 19 of 23 03 February 2014 at 7:28pm | IP Logged | ||
This blog by Katy Derbyshire, a translator in Berlin, who is really passionate about contemporary German literature might be of interest: http://lovegermanbooks.blogspot.de/ 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| pandorasighs Diglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 4053 days ago 15 posts - 18 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish | Message 20 of 23 04 February 2014 at 2:34pm | IP Logged | ||
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That's very helpful, thank you!
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| Suzie Diglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 4171 days ago 155 posts - 226 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Dutch | Message 21 of 23 09 February 2014 at 3:39pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hi Pandorasighs,
I am really impressed by your reading choices, and I will keep following your progress - your log makes me want to access more German literature myself...! We had Homo Faber in class at school, and I vaguely remember it was one of those less boring books. I like your approach to tackle grammar. This very moment I am procrastinating to do the very same in French... 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| pandorasighs Diglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 4053 days ago 15 posts - 18 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish | Message 22 of 23 11 February 2014 at 12:16pm | IP Logged | ||
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() Edited by pandorasighs on 11 February 2014 at 12:21pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| pandorasighs Diglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 4053 days ago 15 posts - 18 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish | Message 23 of 23 11 February 2014 at 12:20pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thank you Suzie!
I didn't make much progress with my grammar in the past week, since work was very busy. (I'm also trying to improve my fitness - it takes time - and somehow listening to language recordings while exercising simply doesn't work as well as music :-) ) So this week I will continue with Modalverbs, Past Perfect and Future Perfect exercises. Everything I read enforces grammar practice and I hope that as I become more aware of sentence construction, I will be able to replicate what I see. Reading has been much more successful. I commute to work (anthing from 3 or 4 hours per day), so I have plenty of time to read. I am continuing with Clemens Meyer's Die Nacht, Die Lichter , which I continue to enjoy. Following on from patrickwilken's suggestion to follow Kay Derbyshire's German books blog, I found a quirky interview with Clemens Meyer(unfortunately in English!) on her 'Going Dutch with German Writers' blog here. I enjoyed my first literature class very much, despite being the most evidently inexperienced person in the group! Again while I understand most of the conservations, words fail me on many occasions! It involved reading an article discussing young German writers from Die Zeit, watching some literary based media and some general discussion. The class have previously been reading Die Ausgewanderten by WG Sebald. My task is to start on the third installament in the book, which I've been reading for 3 days - very challenging for me with regard to vocabulary and long, complex syntax. However, I understand the story which is the main thing, and I'm enjoying it so far. Next on the list will be Christian Kracht's Imperium. Writing has been successful...I've mainly been writing little pieces on art and novel descriptions this week to keep me on my toes. Other than that I watched a few documentaries about music festivals I've visited, or would like to visit in Germany, but not much else besides. It always amazes me that while I may understand one person perfectly, another will be an utter enigma to me. This week I must increase my viewing and listening or ideally buy a tablet for the commute! Edited by pandorasighs on 11 February 2014 at 1:15pm 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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