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Gary’s 2015 TACtivation: FR, IT | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| suzukaze Triglot Senior Member Italy bit.ly/1bGm459 Joined 4594 days ago 186 posts - 254 votes  Speaks: Italian*, English, Spanish Studies: German, French, Swedish, Japanese | Message 177 of 187 06 July 2015 at 7:21pm | IP Logged |
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Some corrections:
TEXT #1 • Siccome avevo mal di denti […] • dente del giudizio […] il dente colpito, or more simply estrarlo/toglierlo • Per fortuna […] avevo un problema […] l'ho scampata bella! TEXT #2 • […] o (almeno) lo erano dato che i loro ultimi album non hanno molto […] ma s'ispirano […]. I'd add a period here and start a new sentence: Lo si vede bene in questo pezzo: ci sono elementi […] (molto is used correctly, but it's best to avoid repeating it) • […] e cromatiche […] • […] una parte al pianoforte. Ieri ho provato a impararla, ma la mia […] Great job as usual :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| garyb Triglot Senior Member ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5199 days ago 1468 posts - 2413 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, French Studies: Spanish | Message 178 of 187 09 July 2015 at 12:47pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks suzukaze. That's another mistake I seem to make a lot, using pluperfect instead of imperfect. I get it right in the present (sono qui da otto anni) but in the past (ero lì da otto anni) I sometimes slip up try to use an English-style construction like "I had been there...", especially in slightly more complex sentences like ones you corrected. Always good to have these things pointed out :). And I've met very few Romance language speakers who get this right in English!
Some more Italian, especially since I missed last week: Libri: Finalmente ho finito "La carte et le territoire". Mi è piaciuto, non ho molto da dire che non ho già detto, è meno pesante rispetto alle sue altre opere e mi ha fatto ridere con le sue osservazioni della società e la sua trama quasi assurda in cui l'autore stesso è presente come personaggio. Houellebecq è noto per essere introverso e depresso, e sul libro questi tratti sono esagerati con un effetto comico fino al ridicolo. Poi ho iniziato "Testimone inconsapevole" di Gianrico Carofiglio, un giallo Italiano che mi ha consigliato Robierre. Finora mi piace: malgrado gli argomenti seri della criminalità e di un avvocato depresso, mi sembra un libro abbastanza leggero e di facile lettura: stile semplice, capitoli corti, e un bel po' di umorismo. Books: I finally finished "La carte et le territoire". I liked it, I don't have much to say that I've not already said, it's less heavy than his other works and it made me laugh with its observations of society and its almost absurd plot in which the author himself is present as a character. Houellebecq is known for being introverted and depressive, and in the book these traits are exaggerated with a comic effect to the point of being ridiculous. Then I started "Testimone inconsapevole" by Gianrico Carofiglio, an Italian crime novel that Robierre recommended to me. So far I like it: despite the serious subjects of crime and a depressed lawyer, it seems like quite a light and easy to read book: simple style, short chapters, and a good bit of humour. Film: Ho guardato "Oui, mais...", un film sulla psicoterapia, un argomento che mi interessa, e la vita di un'adolescente. Mentre la trama è piuttosto banale e la recitazione non ottima, parla bene dell'argomento, mostrando terapie moderne e mettendo in discussione gli stereotipi basati sulla psicoanalisi freudiana all'antica. Il nome del film fa riferimento a un "gioco psicologico" di cui ha scritto Eric Berne, fondatore dell'analisi transazionale. Quel film mi ha dato voglia di guardare di nuovo "Tutta colpa di Freud", un film comico Italiano abbastanza simpatico. I watched "Yes, but...", a film about psychotherapy, a topic that interests me, and the life of a teenage girl. While the plot is fairly banal and the acting not great, it talks about the subject well, showing modern therapies and challenging the stereotypes based on old-fashioned Freudian psychoanalysis. The name of the film refers to a "psychological game" that Eric Berne, founder of transactional analysis, wrote about. That film put me in the mood for rewatching "Tutta colpa di Freud", quite a nice Italian comedy film. Gli Italiani: L'altro giorno ho ricevuto qualche commento del tipo "è strano sentirti parlare Italiano, mi fa ridere", e ero con tre Italiani di cui una parlava Italiano con gli altri però si rifiutava con me. In passato queste cose mi avrebbero scoraggiato ma questa volta sinceramente me ne fregavo! I commenti così non è necessariamente dispregiativo; in realtà credo che non fossero abituati a sentirmi parlare Italiano o a sentirlo parlare da uno scozzese in generale, e non vuol dire che io facessi qualcosa di sbagliato. E forse con quella che non lo parlava con me, era una semplice questione di abitudine, lei parla benissimo inglese ed è abituata a usarlo con stranieri. E anche se queste azioni erano con cattive intenzioni... chi se ne frega! Faccio dei progressi anche con questo aspetto sociale/mentale della lingua, di cui ho già parlato nel messaggio sull'ansia e sul perfezionismo. Se continuo così magari un giorno sarò una persona abbastanza forte per affrontare anche i francofoni ;). The Italians: The other day I received some comments along the lines of "it's strange hearing you speak Italian, it's funny", and I was with three Italians, one of whom spoke Italian with the others but refused with me. In the past these things would have discouraged me but this time I really didn't give a damn! Comments like that aren't necessarily disparaging; in reality they weren't used to hearing me speak Italian or to hearing it spoken by a Scot in general, and it doesn't mean that I was doing something wrong. And maybe with the one who didn't speak it with me, it was a simple question of habit, she speaks English really well and is used to using it with foreigners. And even if these actions were with bad intentions... who cares! I'm also making progress even with this social/mental aspect of the language, that I already talked about in the post on anxiety and perfectionism. If I keep going like this maybe one day I'll be a strong enough person to deal with French speakers too ;). EDIT: fixed mistakes, including changing "francesi" to "francofoni", I've had my share of problems with Belgians and Canadians too! Edited by garyb on 09 July 2015 at 1:02pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| garyb Triglot Senior Member ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5199 days ago 1468 posts - 2413 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, French Studies: Spanish | Message 179 of 187 15 July 2015 at 11:40am | IP Logged |
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Not had much language time in the last week, been busy with work and music. However, some travel plans are starting to come together! None are definite yet, but they're beginning to take shape.
In September I'm going to London, also known as "la sesta città Italiana", the sixth Italian city, as there are more Italians there than in Genova. I plan to see some friends, including Italians. I'm starting to think about Italian adventure, 2015 edition. This would be sometime in September/October/November. Current plan is to visit friends in Turin; it might just be a long weekend there or I might make it a longer trip and visit other places and people too. Veneto is also on my mind as I know a few people there. Spain might also happen. For now it's just an idea and it depends on various things. If it does then I'll obviously spend a bit of time refreshing and activating my Spanish. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Elenia Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom lilyonlife.blog Joined 3848 days ago 239 posts - 327 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Swedish, Esperanto | Message 180 of 187 16 July 2015 at 1:14am | IP Logged |
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Enjoy your trip! I've been noticing more and more Italians in London recently, although they still don't hold a candle to London's French population! Maybe I'm looking in the wrong areas...
2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| 1e4e6 Octoglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4282 days ago 1013 posts - 1588 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, Italian Studies: German, Danish, Russian, Catalan | Message 181 of 187 16 July 2015 at 3:13am | IP Logged |
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Have you been to Manchester? I think that I met more Spaniards in Manchester than
Italians or French, although there are both there too. There also seem to be a lot of Latin Americans, like Brazilians and Argentinians (not referring to just Kun Agüero, Zabaleta, or Demichelis in Man City). 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| garyb Triglot Senior Member ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5199 days ago 1468 posts - 2413 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, French Studies: Spanish | Message 182 of 187 16 July 2015 at 10:27am | IP Logged |
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1e4e6: Funny you should mention Manchester, I'm probably going to go down there for a weekend quite soon to visit my brother who has just moved there for a work project. Up here in Edinburgh it's similar, the Spaniards vastly outnumber any other expat population except perhaps Polish. Another reason to regret choosing French over Spanish. I've met a few Latin Americans too but not many.
Elenia: I've also heard there are lots of French people in London. The French people up here are usually here for short periods of study or work placement, while the Spanish and Italians tend to be here more indefinitely/permanently. Is it the same in London or are more French there for the long term? Edit: I was reading the Language Learning With No Internet thread and it reminded me that London has some specialised bookshops where I might find some interesting stuff. Could be a good opportunity to do some shopping and stock up on some target language books! Edited by garyb on 16 July 2015 at 11:26am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Elenia Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom lilyonlife.blog Joined 3848 days ago 239 posts - 327 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Swedish, Esperanto | Message 183 of 187 17 July 2015 at 9:00am | IP Logged |
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I think the French people in London are usually there more permanently. I get the impression that there are pockets of people who have completed their degrees and so on, and have moved to London to find employment opportunities that aren't as easily available to them as in France. I believe that there is also a large pocket of francophones in South Kensington, but I don't know for sure. Of course, there are lots of students and tourists, too!
Hope you enjoy the bookshops! You've reminded me that I need to make a few pilgrimages myself. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| 1e4e6 Octoglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4282 days ago 1013 posts - 1588 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, Italian Studies: German, Danish, Russian, Catalan | Message 184 of 187 17 July 2015 at 9:48am | IP Logged |
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If you are going to Manchester, check out Deansgate. It has La Viña and La Tasca, the
Spanish restaurants, 2 blocks away from the Instituto Cervantes. A lot of Spaniards in the area. The waitstaff in both restaurants have a lot of Spaniards (and a Brazilian who spoke Spanish)--I loved that area. There was also a Chilean restaurant nearby Albert Square, but I think that it closed down unfortunately. I think that they relocated somewhere a bit up north of the centre somewhere. There is also a big Waterstones nearby on Deansgate--several floors, and fairly good language section compared to other Waterstones. I bought myself a Lidel Portuguese B1- B2 grammar book in 2012. If you are focussed on Italian, I am sure that there is even more. I assume that you are going by train--once you get off at Manchester Piccadilly, it is near the two universities, Uni of Manchester and MMU. Right between both is Oxford Road, you can find Blackwells. It has an absolutely massive amount of language learning materials on the first floor. Just walk up the stairs and you see literally bookshelves of everything--German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Catalan, Dutch, Italian, Mandarin. The foreign language section is opposite the engineering and biological sciences sections if I remember correctly. I have not been there in a couple of years, but I still remember it as if it were yesterday. I think that I spent a lot of money on that section. I went there on my birthday two years ago if that means anything... Edited by 1e4e6 on 17 July 2015 at 9:51am 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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