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Lazy learning - books and films | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Tamise Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom jllrr.wordpress.com/ Joined 5053 days ago 115 posts - 161 votes  Speaks: English*, German, Dutch Studies: French, Japanese, Spanish | Message 1 of 10 01 January 2014 at 12:37pm | IP Logged |
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After the success of the Super Challenge, I've decided to try to set monthly goals for reading and watching in the languages I'm studying. I'll undoubtedly sign up for the Super Challenge when it starts again, but also want to continue with languages I won't do in the Super Challenge.
I plan to have goals for each active language each month, but will focus more on three languages each month and set higher goals for them. At the moment, I'll set goals for the following six languages: English German Dutch Japanese French Spanish I expect to have goals for other languages during the year (probably Afrikaans, Serbian/Croatian and possibly Swedish), but aim to keep up the six above consistently over the year. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Tamise Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom jllrr.wordpress.com/ Joined 5053 days ago 115 posts - 161 votes Speaks: English*, German, Dutch Studies: French, Japanese, Spanish | Message 2 of 10 01 January 2014 at 1:12pm | IP Logged |
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January Goals
Dutch: 100 pages and 3 films Japanese (focus): 800 pages and 5 films French: 100 pages and 2 films German (focus): 700 pages and 5 films Spanish (focus): 200 pages and 5 films English: 100 pages and 5 films Total: 2000 pages and 25 films Currently reading: Dutch: Vermogen en Wijsheid (Robin Hobb) - 28 pages in at start of month Japanese: Manga: Major vol 61 (Takuya Mitsuda) - starting now French: Un crime en Hollande (Georges Simenon) - 113 pages in at start of month German: Schade, dass du nicht tot bist (Rita Mae Brown) - starting now Spanish: El Valle de los Lobos (Laura Gallego Garcia) - 194 pages in at start of month English: Rivers of London (Ben Aaronovitch) - starting now General: The three focus languages are the ones I'll count for Tadoku. I pretty much always do Japanese and have been seriously neglecting my German, so those two were obvious choices. I'll also do Spanish as I don't want to lose the little bit of momentum I have from the Super Challenge. Because I'm nowhere near as good at Spanish, the goal is much smaller than for the other two. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Tamise Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom jllrr.wordpress.com/ Joined 5053 days ago 115 posts - 161 votes Speaks: English*, German, Dutch Studies: French, Japanese, Spanish | Message 3 of 10 01 February 2014 at 11:51am | IP Logged |
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January Results
Dutch: 81/100 pages, 2.5/3 films Japanese: 768/800 pages, 4.75/5 films French 104/100 pages, 1.68/2 films German: 702/700 pages, 5/5 films Spanish: 145.8/200 pages, 5/5 films English: 119/100 pages, 10/10 films Overall: 1919.8/2000 pages, 28.93/30 films Dutch I didn't make either of the Dutch goals. Partly this was because the next chapter in the book I was reading was considerably longer than the 19 pages I had to read. I also think a goal of 100 pages isn't really enough to be motivating for me - I'm going to have a 200 page minimum goal for my core languages from now on. I finished watching Lijn 32. This was a really interesting story about an explosion on a bus in Amsterdam and the tensions between the different communities in Amsterdam and the Netherlands. Japanese I was very close to both goals here and would probably have made them if I hadn't been feeling ill yesterday. For the reading, I mostly read Manga - and mostly the baseball series Major. I love these, and they're an easy read, but I'm not far off reaching the end of the series, so will probably try to spread them out a bit. I've also read just of 300 pages of actual books, a children's novel called アゲハが消えた日 about a boy who can remember the future. A lot of this was quite confusing, but I'm not sure how much that was my reading level and how much was because the story was confusing. It seemed quite a heavy plot for the suggested age group as it covers mental illness and nuclear war, but is one I'll go back to read as my Japanese improves. The second book I've been reading is a translation of Little Women - I know the story here, so it's a bit easier to keep up, though some of the formal language is a bit more difficult. I mainly been watching anime, including one animated film. All fun, but nothing truly stand out at the moment. French I finished the Maigret I was reading, Un crime en Hollande - this was good, but felt fairly claustrophobic at times (which it's meant to). I've now moved on to the next Maigret in the series. I've been watching the American series Castle dubbed into French - it's a pretty good dub as far as I can tell, and the stories are fun. I have more trouble with spoken the written French at the moment, so hope to read a book whilst listening to the audiobook once I finish the Maigret. I've also been watching Kaamelott. I recently got a book with the scripts of the first 50 episodes, so might go back to watch with the book. German I finished both goals here which was nice as I've been neglecting German for a while. I did spend a fair about of time staring at the word "wie" trying to figure out how it could possibly make sense and then realised I was think of the Dutch meaning rather than the German meaning. I think the massive German input it helping to separate the two in my brain. I read two translated books: Schade, dass du nicht tot bist (Wish you were here) and Mord im Spiegel (The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side) and am now reading a German book, Dreiländermord, about a series of deaths in the German-Dutch-Belgian border area. I've been watching the series Türkisch für Anfänger and also Der Letzte Zeuge both of which a very enjoyable. Spanish I missed the Spanish reading goal by a fair bit. Mostly this was because I lost momentum with what I was reading. I finished El Valle de los Lobos, and felt that I was suddenly getting a lot more out of it, then moved on to a parallel text book of Spanish legends. I'd really enjoyed two other books in the series on South American legends in general and one of Mexican legends, but the Spanish one doesn't seem as interesting - partly because they're all much shorter. I aim to finish the book this month, and will then switch to books. I don't have many books in Spanish that I can read at the moment, so will need to find some more children's books - recommendations welcome! Again, I've been watched dubbed American shows, this time The Mentalist. I've been watching with Dutch subs, but feel I'm getting more of the Spanish now and will probably watch the next series I pick up without subs. English I've been reading Rivers of London, a cross between a police procedural and a fantasy novel with magic. It's good fun and very well written. I also ended up learning a new word: lig - which is a apparently a verb meaning to get things for free. Sponge or freeload are given as possible other words. I ended up upping my English film allowance as I got hooked on an Australian series Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. Set in 1920s Melbourne, this was good fun and also an nice look at a time period I'm very familiar with in an area I'm not. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Tamise Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom jllrr.wordpress.com/ Joined 5053 days ago 115 posts - 161 votes Speaks: English*, German, Dutch Studies: French, Japanese, Spanish | Message 4 of 10 01 February 2014 at 12:11pm | IP Logged |
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February Goals
Dutch: 200 pages and 4 films Japanese: 900 pages and 6 films French: 300 pages and 4 films German: 200 pages and 2 films Spanish: 200 pages and 3 films English: 200 pages and 9 films Other: 2 Serbian films Total: 2000 pages and 30 films Currently reading: Dutch: Vermogen en Wijsheid (Robin Hobb) - 109 pages in at start of month Japanese: Manga: Major vol 70 (Takuya Mitsuda) - 96 pages in at start of month & Little Women (Louisa May Allcot) - 160 pages in at start of month French: Au Rendez-Vous des Terre-Neuvas (Georges Simenon) - 58 pages in at start of month German: Dreiländermord (Kurt Lehmkuhl) - 164 pages in at start of month Spanish: Stories from Spain (eds: Genevieve Barlow and William N. Stivers) - 28 pages in at start of month English: Rivers of London (Ben Aaronovitch) - 119 pages in at start of month General: I'm aiming to do the 6 Week Challenge in Serbian, so will try to watch some Serbian tv. Other than that, I've upped all the book targets to at least 200 pages in an effort to keep momentum going a bit better. The Japanese goal has gone up, and will go up again for March and April, as I'm going to Japan in late March for a month and want to get a lot of practice in. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Tamise Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom jllrr.wordpress.com/ Joined 5053 days ago 115 posts - 161 votes Speaks: English*, German, Dutch Studies: French, Japanese, Spanish | Message 5 of 10 11 May 2014 at 1:03pm | IP Logged |
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Now the the Super Challenge is back running, I hope to be able to log in here more often, though it probably won't work! I've kept watching and reading in the last few months, reading almost 2000 pages in Japanese since January - almost 40 books in the new SC counting.
I'm doing the SC in Japanese - which was a no brainer - and also French as I think I could make real progress in this method for French. I'll continue to set goals in Dutch, German, Spanish and English as well as other languages as we go on, but don't want them in the SC as they are a bit of a secondary focus - and certainly I couldn't count English as it's my native language. I did notice with the SC last time that I read very little in English for almost two years, so I really want to make sure I do. Next I'll post May goals and my current progress towards them. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Tamise Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom jllrr.wordpress.com/ Joined 5053 days ago 115 posts - 161 votes Speaks: English*, German, Dutch Studies: French, Japanese, Spanish | Message 6 of 10 11 May 2014 at 1:07pm | IP Logged |
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May Goals
Dutch: 250 pages and 3 films Japanese: 500 pages and 6 films French: 250 pages and 5 films German: 200 pages and 3 films Spanish: 50 pages and 2 films English: 250 pages and 6 films Total: 1500 pages and 25 films The main thing here is that I've dropped the overall reading goal to 1500 pages and films to 25 as it was too much before - though this may have been because the Japanese goal was very high. I've also dropped the Spanish reading goal as it's unrealistic at my current level to read that much. My current plan is to watch a tv show in Spanish and then read bit afterwards. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Tamise Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom jllrr.wordpress.com/ Joined 5053 days ago 115 posts - 161 votes Speaks: English*, German, Dutch Studies: French, Japanese, Spanish | Message 7 of 10 11 May 2014 at 1:31pm | IP Logged |
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11/05/14 Update
Dutch 40/250 pages, 3/3 films I'm still reading Vermogen en Wijsheid - it's pretty long, so it will be at least the month after next before I finish it. I've not read much in Dutch for the last two months, so pleased to see it didn't take too long to get back into the swing of it. I got hold of DVDs for Keyzer & de Boer Advocaten recently, so have been watching those again - I'd watched before via Uitzending Gemist. I've been having a bit of a rough time recently, so ending up watching a glut of these as a distraction. All well and good, but no more Dutch films unless I complete all the other film targets this month! Japanese 218.4/500 pages, 4/6 films When I was in Japan, I got a whole bunch of new books, so have been reading those - a couple of manga series and a series for kids called Thriller Restaurant which is a collection of horror stories for kids. Definitely recommended based on the first volume. As the stories in each volume have similar themes, it's probably good for vocab learning. I've been rewatching the series Kasouken no onna - a detective series focusing on a female forensic scientist. I really enjoy it as it manages to be serious as well as funny. Also an anime series Baccano! which I've not seen before - enjoying it so far, but the storyline is non-linear, so it's a bit difficult to keep up with what's going on. French 218/250 pages, 2/5 films Just finished reading Le crime de l'Orient Express. I hadn't intended to finish it so soon, but spent a lazy morning in bed finishing it off. I've read it before, but not recently, so interesting to see how it compares to the recent TV adaptation - pretty different in many ways. I'm now going back to Le club des incorrigibles optimistes which I'm reading whilst listening to the audio version. Watching dubs of Castle - I'm about to run out, and will aim for a film or two. German 11/100 pages, 0/3 films Not much to report here - I'm reading Tod eines Lehrers, but haven't got far enough into it to form an opinion. Not sure what I plan on watching yet - probably a Krimi TV series. Spanish 4/50 pages, 0/2 films Not much here either. I'm reading El sobrino del mago, but fairly slowly. I'll continue with dubs of The Mentalist. English 109/250 pages, 1/6 films I'm reading Hallowed Murder by Ellen Hart. It was written in the early 90s and some of the attitudes are pretty dated which makes for an uncomfortable read (the main character is lesbian, so the homophobic attitudes of some of the other characters is wearing). For films - an episode of the David Suchet Poirot and one of the new Holmes adaptation Elementary. I wasn't keen when I heard about this - set in modern day New York, Watson is a woman - but it's good so far and presents a nice contrast to the recent BBC adoption. No one will replace Jeremy Brett in my affections as Holmes, but it's interesting to see such different takes on the character and stories. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Tamise Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom jllrr.wordpress.com/ Joined 5053 days ago 115 posts - 161 votes Speaks: English*, German, Dutch Studies: French, Japanese, Spanish | Message 8 of 10 18 May 2014 at 11:46am | IP Logged |
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18/05/14 Update
Dutch 150/250 pages, 3/3 films Continuing with Vermogen en Wijsheid. Japanese 309/500 pages, 4/6 films As usual, mostly manga. All fun, but the standout is Silver Spoon, a slice of life manga about a high school student who decides to go to an agricultural school when he fails to get in to the school he wants to go to. I grew up in farm country (though not on one) and it's really fun to see the city kid adjust to country life. I've now read all the volumes of this that I brought back with me, so will have to see about getting more - it's an ongoing series. I've not watched anything in Japanese this week, though aim to today - probably Baccano! French 242/250 pages, 3/5 films Continuing with Le club des incorrigibles optimistes - I'm enjoying it so far, and think reading with the exact audiobook is a useful exercise. I think I meet the goal on the next chapter, but will probably do a bit more than that just to keep up momentum. It's a pretty long book, so I'll probably switch to something else for the start of June and go back to this after. That's me watched up to the end of season 2 of Castle dubs, so need to find something else to watch now. German 109/100 pages, 0/3 films Finally getting in to Tod eines Lehrers. It seems good so far, but has oddly detailed descriptions of appearances and seems pretty longwinded in places. Still haven't watched anything - need to get on to that. Spanish 31/50 pages, 1/2 films Continuing with El sobrino del mago and dubs of The Mentalist. I think the strategy of watching something in Spanish and then immediately reading is working for me - I managed a full chapter of my book at once yesterday which is real progress for me. English 250/250 pages, 5/6 films Hallowed Murder got worse - and the culprit ended up being someone who'd only really had a minor role up to that point which felt like a bit of a cheat. I've moved on to a non-fiction Introducing Linguistics - A Graphic Guide. I've never really read much about linguistics, so it's interesting if only at an introductory level. There are some recommended follow up books in the back, so I'll probably try to get hold of at least one of them. I've been continuing to watch Elementary which has been good fun. Edited by Tamise on 18 May 2014 at 11:46am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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