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Rdearman Super Challenge Log | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| rdearman Senior Member United Kingdom rdearman.orgRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5228 days ago 881 posts - 1812 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French, Mandarin | Message 49 of 158 21 August 2014 at 3:57pm | IP Logged | ||
Yes, I have tried to sit downstairs with my wife and read a book in French while she watches TV in order to at least "be present". But the problem is I need to concentrate and the noise from the TV means I can't read. So if I go upstairs where it is quiet then I'm just ignoring everyone. The reading speed increase is helping, because I can at least get through a lot more during my lunchtime readings, and I'm not bothered about ignoring my colleagues. :) Thanks again for the Esperanto books. I'm surprised you didn't do Esperanto in the new "The most comfortable languages to learn" thread. I think I will take up the Esperanto thing, but I probably need more motivation. Someone to talk to, or some event where I need to use it. I did consider doing Toki Pona since it is only 120 words! I've also been looking at trying to "Gamify" my life, so I can create some more well-rounded life goals. edit: added URL for Toki Pona Edited by rdearman on 21 August 2014 at 3:58pm 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 50 of 158 21 August 2014 at 6:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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It sounds a bit childish but if my boyfriend leaves the house for any reason part of me thinks "Yay, I can start playing Croatian stuff really loudly!" He is going away on a family trip for a few days in mid-October and when he told me I think he thought I was going to be annoyed (because he's my chef and taxi service) but really I was just thinking "Ooh, guilt-free Super Challenge time!" :)
I started writing an Esperanto post for the thread last night and got to the stage where I just needed to add a few links to it, but then my power ran out. I might try again tonight. I have never learned Toki Pona but I know quite a lot of Esperantists who speak it; it is always cropping up in my Twitter feed. Arika Okrent's book 'In the land of invented languages' is a good read if you are interested in conlangs (I'm not, but I enjoyed it anyway). You sound like you have enough on your plate learning Mandarin at the moment but Esperanto might be a good language for a 6WC at some point. You can get quite far in six weeks; it's enough time to decide whether it's something you're interested in continuing with or not. Our next event in the UK is in October in London but it's a series of discussion circles so not the best choice for a beginner. We run occasional post-beginner weekend residential courses in Staffordshire, but the next one isn't until March so probably too far away to be motivating. I will only post on your log in Esperanto if that helps ;) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| rdearman Senior Member United Kingdom rdearman.orgRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5228 days ago 881 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French, Mandarin | Message 51 of 158 21 August 2014 at 9:12pm | IP Logged | ||
errr.... no thanks. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| rdearman Senior Member United Kingdom rdearman.orgRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5228 days ago 881 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French, Mandarin | Message 52 of 158 28 August 2014 at 2:30pm | IP Logged | ||
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--- Weekly Update ---
Still plugging away with the Super Challenge, but the universe is not helping me at the moment. All my work colleagues are out this week leaving me to hold down the fort by myself. So I can't even get away at lunch to read. But I've still managed to find some time here and there. The flashcards are helping my French reading, so I'm thinking of adding Italian words with the definition in Italian of the 1000 most common words. Of course with all the Mandarin flashcards and the French cards this might actually make my brain explode, so I might park that idea for now. --- SC Statistics --- French : 22.3 books : 60.3 films Italian : 13.3 books : 63 films Reading Averages Change French: 1.194 books per week --> 1.238 books per week (slight increase) Italian: 0.741 books per week --> 0.738 books per week (slight decrease) So at my current rate I will be successful in French with 109.02 books and fail in Italian by 34.97 books. French I'm cruising through my French novel "Le Fléau", I've become accustomed to the style and the words used. This means really in French I can zip through a lot more pages than the equivalent time spent in Italian. FILMS All the "films" this week have actually been audio books. I've got a couple of Sherlock Holmes audiobooks loaded on the mobile phone and I listen when I can't do anything else. I did watch a few minutes of some YouTube channels in French but no films. Audio books & YouTube: "Rencontre à Montréal" "La Ligue des Rouquins" BOOKS Reading only one book now in French which is "Le Fléau" by Stephen King, but I'm now on the second volume (a three volume set) and working away. I'd say I'm just short of halfway through this second volume already, but still have 3-4 SC books in this volume. Books I am reading are: "Le Fléau" - Stephen King Italian Inspector Montalbano on BBC Four still going on Saturday's, but I'll need to start something else soon only 2-3 episodes left this season. Still reading "Doppio Misto" this week. I really want to put this book behind me soon. I have some Hardy Boys books in Italian I want to start because I think they will be a better level for me. If I can just get a familiar style in a long book or series of books I think I can go much faster. Still dipping in and out of the LWT to read a few pages of "Io Sono Leggenda". FILMS "Inspector Montalbano" BOOKS "Io Sono Leggenda" "Doppio Misto" - Claudio Bisio & Sandra Bonzi Conclusion Bit depressing to know as it stands I'm going to fail the Italian portion of the challenge. I have definitely got to up my game but finding any time to read is difficult. I find it really frustrating when a friend of mine calls me from Naples and we natter away for over an hour and I only have two or three words which they have to give me. But it takes ages to read a couple of pages of a book! Ggggrrrrr. As for writing, well that is just hopeless. It seems with languages as with all things you get good at what you do repeatedly. Good luck to everyone in the super challenge, and anyone learning a language. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4820 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 53 of 158 28 August 2014 at 9:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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Have you thought of trying the Inspector Montalbano books, if you can get hold of them?
Could be interesting. There are (at least some) English translations as well. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| rdearman Senior Member United Kingdom rdearman.orgRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5228 days ago 881 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French, Mandarin | Message 54 of 158 28 August 2014 at 10:33pm | IP Logged | ||
I have the whole series in Italian and I started to read the first one, but brother it is a HARD SLOG! It was so difficult on the first page I decided to park them until the end of this year. I'm hoping with enough exposure to some young adult books I can get enough vocabulary under my belt to start again. My tutor, who has read them, told me to wait before I start them. There are apparently a lot of Sicilian slang and dialect not used normally on the mainland. But I do want to read them, I love the TV show. I actually preferred the "Young Montalbano" series. That one is really good, don't know if the BBC will show it again though. Oh! Thanks for reading my log BTW. :) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4881 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 55 of 158 29 August 2014 at 1:06am | IP Logged | ||
It's too early to admit defeat!!! Or even ponder it. Thirteen books isn't too bad for only four months. A lot of people are moving rapidly through the challenge this year, but realistically you only need to have 20 films and 20 books so far to be on pace. Since our reading speed will pick up as we learn, there's still plenty of time left to make up the deficit. I can empathize, though ... there seems to be a big jump between the easier Italian books in translation and the native literature (which is still hard to impossible for me). I got a big jump by reading one of the Harry Potter books (700 pages!), and others have recommended the Percy Jackson series. The only native book I've finished was Pinocchio, which I can also recommend. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| rdearman Senior Member United Kingdom rdearman.orgRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5228 days ago 881 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French, Mandarin | Message 56 of 158 29 August 2014 at 11:20am | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks for the encouragement! I think perhaps bad book selection at the start has hindered my Italian reading a bit. But I'm not going to give up, I'll go down swinging!
I'll have a look at the Percy Jackson series. If I try read Harry Potter again I think I'd kill myself. I've already read it in English & French. :) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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