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Bookworm’s adventures-TAC15 | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| 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 33 of 217 24 February 2015 at 5:19am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Well, it's true that the brain will want to re-use the old neural connections. You just need to keep them in use and form new ones. Maybe it's a good idea to learn Italian passively at first and activate when you are ready?
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| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4525 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 34 of 217 24 February 2015 at 11:11am | IP Logged | ||||||||
I tried learning Arabic at university. It's a beautiful language, but ultimately it was too little gain for too much work for me. For me there has to be a rich living culture that I want to access. For me there just wasn't enough there in Arabic. I think there probably is in Chinese or Japanese. It's really a question of preference. I would say the same about lots of other languages (Hungarian, Finnish, Russian etc), which obviously lots of other people enjoy and value. I am nearly fifty. So if I learnt Chinese I would be quite old by the time I could really use it. Whereas if I was in my 20s-30s I could imagine really using the language a lot in my life. Edited by patrickwilken on 24 February 2015 at 11:13am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| mrwarper Diglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member Spain forum_posts.asp?TID=Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5218 days ago 1493 posts - 2500 votes Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2 Studies: German, Russian, Japanese | Message 35 of 217 24 February 2015 at 12:44pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Same here, as I discovered at gary's log -- I won't be posting for much longer if I'm to keep lagging behind :)
Is that the guy who wrote The Witcher / Last Wish stuff? Maybe it's the translations but it fell flat for me :( Anyway, I wanted to comment...
I guess I lack the enthusiasm of my earlier youth (implying I was once enthusiastic, ha!), but a test is a test and it only tells so much, so you would possibly be better off keeping that in mind. My C2 was split into five sections, which you theoretically had to pass independently. Both my brother and I discovered in utter shock that we flunked the written composition part, for somewhat different yet totally wrong reasons, and we both passed. We did from good to perfect scores in all the other parts so I guess examiners considered it would be better to just swallow the absurdity of their correction criteria and give us a lower score rather than going through a formal challenge, appeal, etc. which would have been but inevitable. In the end they managed to piss us off little enough that we archived the damned piece of paper and never looked back. My brother's case was somewhat ironical / a waste of time and money because in order to enroll in a university in the US he had to sit another test anyway (which gave him a more realistic score, but that's another story). Bottom line is, don't pay too much heed to test scores -- it's totally undeserved for the most part. Edited by mrwarper on 24 February 2015 at 12:45pm 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 36 of 217 24 February 2015 at 1:36pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I've just caught up with the last couple of pages. Good to hear that the exam seems to have gone well, although you'll wait for the definitive result. I couldn't even imagine doing a C-level French exam.
Regarding Spanish and Italian, I don't think interference is the major issue: you get it a lot at the start, and then as the weaker language improves, it happens less. I still sometimes mix up French and Italian structures and words, but for me the good (being able to speak both of them fairly well) outweighs the bad (making a few mistakes in both due to interference). A much bigger problem is just making time for both. Taking Spanish from intermediate to advanced is a huge commitment of time and effort, and learning Italian on top of that while also maintaining French would be a very big ask. I'm sure you already know that I tried to add in Spanish on top of Italian and French and it was a failure, and even with just these two I'm struggling. That's just me though, and some people here do manage to juggle multiple languages well. If you can do a C2 exam without living in the country then maybe this next project is also within your capabilities :). I can't really give advice because everyone's situation is different, I can only describe my own experiences. People mention the similarities between Spanish and Italian, but don't underestimate those with French. In a lot of ways, Italian works more like French than Spanish, so your French level would give at least as much of a boost as your Spanish. My experience is that these related-language discounts mostly apply at the beginner stage, so it could be worth taking the low-hanging fruit and spending some time learning the basics - reaching a decent passive level and being able to express yourself inelegantly wouldn't take long - and then afterwards re-evaluating your priorities. I agree with Peter, it would be an experiment, only one way to find out! 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5001 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 37 of 217 04 March 2015 at 1:31pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I'm an idiot, I didn't find the time to back up the log!!!! I am hyperbusy this week,
I nearly don't get to the computer and now two pages are gone. There was a Super Challenge count, which I have elsewhere at least (it was very impractical to count it from two logs) What was lost: Lots of good advice concerning Italian. I am likely to take it on in a few months. Notes about the bits of my Spanish and German studies. :-( mrwarper told us so... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| mrwarper Diglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member Spain forum_posts.asp?TID=Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5218 days ago 1493 posts - 2500 votes Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2 Studies: German, Russian, Japanese | Message 38 of 217 04 March 2015 at 1:41pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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As much as I might like saying 'I told you so', I think I can tell you something better this time: I have everything backed up -- well, up to yesterday at 15:22 in your case :) Edited by mrwarper on 04 March 2015 at 1:42pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5001 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 39 of 217 06 March 2015 at 1:43am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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You are awesome! And I know you told us all so :-)
I'll send you an email adress, if you'd be so kind to send me a copy so that I can put it here. Other news: No German today or yesterday, I am having quite a busy week. Really, I am extremely looking forward to the next one as the usual load and schedule should look marvelously relaxed compared to the chaos, lack of time and a huge amount of news, both good and bad, I've been experiencing this week. German is on the "to do asap" list. (By the way, have you seen the Pink Panther's To Do list? :-) ) Spanish: I am continuing with my SC efforts, or rather: I keep having fun as much as time allows while improving my Spanish slowly. -I have pinned down my trouble with El palacio de la medianoche. My comprehension is significantly lower when it comes to rather descriptive parts. I don't like lengthy descriptions in general and I lack the vocabulary in this case. And I am learning it slowly as it is just boring me. And, unlike many people, I am not that fond of India. Not that I have anything against India, just the stories located there and the culture doesn't appeal to me as much as many others. (For exemple, I've never really considered learning Hindi, Sanskrit or any other Indian language). But the story is finally captivating. And the book is not heavy, which is always a plus as I am an avid public transport reader. -I am still watching Isabel (I've watched 11 episodes so far) and I love the series more and more. And,truth be told, I hadn't been taught that much at school about this part of the Spanish history (I suppose the Spaniards aren't taught much about Charles IV. either). And I love it! My progress is slow these days, almost impossible to notice. However, I learnt a few words and understand more details than I used to. But there are still bits here and there where I am not entirely sure. I need a new French series to maintain the language as well. Another wanderlust trigger that could be added to the list created during the Week That Never Was :-) People around me who know/study many more languages than I do :-D 1 person has 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 40 of 217 06 March 2015 at 2:59am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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If you want a good series, I recommend
Top Chef España It is more intense than any of the Anglophone cooking programmes, and they actually can be as exciting as Boca Juniors-River Plate, Argentina-Brasil or Real Madrid-FC Barcelona superclásicos, or an India-Pakistan cricket match, Norway-Sweden hockey match, or Australia-New Zealand rugby match. I would put it as intense as a drama like El tiempo entre costuras. Also, as someone who can barely cook, I learnt quite a lot of cooking terminology. Edited by 1e4e6 on 06 March 2015 at 3:00am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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