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TAC 2009 - DaraghM | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| glossa.passion Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6323 days ago 267 posts - 349 votes  1 sounds Speaks: German*, EnglishC1, Danish Studies: Spanish, Dutch | Message 41 of 177 29 January 2009 at 5:39pm | IP Logged | ||
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Congratulations! Really inspiring read :-) Wish you all the best for your further Spanish studies at Cervantes and please keep posting.
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| DaraghM Diglot Senior Member Ireland Joined 6153 days ago 1947 posts - 2923 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Russian, Hungarian | Message 42 of 177 30 January 2009 at 5:11am | IP Logged | ||
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29/01/09
Thanks for your replies. I will admit I was having a lot of doubts about self study, and that I'd get stumped on some basic aspect of the test. When I informed my partner about my placement she was very surprised, happy and just a fraction jealous. She had signed up to Cervantes at the very start of their course, and I'd leapt passed her by about five levels. However, as a native English speaker, she still speaks fluent French, a lot of German, and some Chinese. In terms of language skills, I'm nowhere near her. Spanish (Active ~1 hour, Passive ~0 hours) As part of my course requirment, I'd to purchase "Aula 3", the all Spanish book at the B1 level. The level I was assessed at "Threshold 2", means they must've covered some of this book in "Threshold 1". I love the format and contents of the book. Each unit is broken into a discussion part, a grammar section, and a reading and comprehension part. Compared to all my other language material, it's very glossy with full colour through out. The use of different background colours is used very effectively to highlight vocabulary and grammar points. I didn't have much time to study yesterday, as I was going to a restaurant for dinner that evening. If I was on François's other site, I would blog about the food, but here I'll stick to languages. Aula 3 kept grabbing my attention while I was meant to be getting ready, and I spent over an hour reading the grammar sections, cultural notes before doing some of the exercises in my head. My evening classes don't start till mid February so I should resist temptation, and not go through the book. Hungarian (Active ~15 minutes, Passive ~0 hours) They say, "The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away". This quote, which isn't actually in the bible, certainly applied to my language studies. While my Spanish felt like it was coming along, my Hungarian hit a brickwall. I tried completing the Assimil lesson 38, but I really struggled. I'd to check back for vocabulary, verb and case endings. It really felt as if my Hungarian had evaporated, and brought the euphoria from the Spanish placement, back down to earth. I think the cure is to increase my Hungarian study significantly over the next couple of weeks. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| zenmonkey Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6554 days ago 803 posts - 1119 votes 1 sounds Speaks: EnglishC2*, Spanish*, French, German Studies: Italian, Modern Hebrew | Message 43 of 177 01 February 2009 at 5:44pm | IP Logged | ||
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I've liked reading your last entries, Daragh. Congratulations on the confirmation that your methods work - keep at it. I enjoy reading your log!
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| DaraghM Diglot Senior Member Ireland Joined 6153 days ago 1947 posts - 2923 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Russian, Hungarian | Message 44 of 177 02 February 2009 at 4:35am | IP Logged | ||
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Weekend Summary 30/01/09 - 01/02/09
Hungarian (Active ~1.5 hours, Passive ~3 hours) I'm finding the Hungarian really hard going now. I spent a very distracted couple of hours writing out Assimil lecke 40, and listening to it over the weekend. I still have the exercises to complete on lecke 39. I think part of my problem, is that I haven't mastered the tenses and cases completely, before they introduce new ones. Lecke 40 is itself quite interesting, and gives a very brief synopsis of Hungarian history. The words which did stick were, világháboru - World War fürdő - baths fejedelem - reigning prince szocialista - socialist század - century érkezett - arrived legfejlettebb - most developed elején (at the beginning) - I'm guessing this from context. I'm a bit confused by the Hungarian given for "occupied", as in, Az országot később törökök foglalták el. - The country was later occupied by Turks. Why is it "foglalták el" ? Is this a reversal of the postpositions, and if so, why is it reversed here ? Edited by DaraghM on 02 February 2009 at 4:56am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Neutrin0 Tetraglot Newbie France Joined 5832 days ago 7 posts - 7 votes Speaks: Kabyle, French*, English, Spanish Studies: Japanese, German, Italian | Message 45 of 177 02 February 2009 at 6:56am | IP Logged | ||
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edit Edited by Neutrin0 on 02 February 2009 at 7:02am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| DaraghM Diglot Senior Member Ireland Joined 6153 days ago 1947 posts - 2923 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Russian, Hungarian | Message 46 of 177 03 February 2009 at 4:05am | IP Logged | ||
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02/02/09
Hungarian (Active ~2 hours, Passive ~1.25 hours) While my Hungarian Assimil is progressing slowly, and at a steady pace, there is something threatening on the horizon. That something is the active wave, which I feel completely unprepared for. Even though I've ten lessons before it begins, I know my ability to produce Hungarian from scratch is lacking. Last night, I completed lecke 39, and scripted out lecke 41. I took my time with lesson 41, unlike lesson 40. It makes a big difference. When I was writing out 40 over the weekend, I was rushed, and didn't get time to check all the vocabulary and grammar. This really slowed by understanding. Lecke 41 is titled, "Egy furcsa álom" - "A strange dream", and a very odd lesson it is. It introduces two key features of Hungarian grammar. The first is comparisons of the sort "So ..like" using "Olyan ..mint" for things, and "Úgy ..mint" for actions. This took a bit of analysing as "Olyan" is used in sentences like, "Olyanok voltak a házak, mint a torták" - The houses were (so) like cakes. While "Úgy" is used for, "En is úgy néztem ki, mint egy narancs" - I looked like an orange. The second feature that is introduced is the unreal past, which I think behaves identically to the past conditional.The unreal past is formed with the verb "volna" and the past tense of the verb. E.g. "szerettem volna" - I would've liked. I'll need to do a bit more reading in my grammar book, to ensure I'm not misunderstanding some of the concepts. I also worked on FSI Basic Hungarian Unit 2 tape 2. As Assimil keeps on introducing new tenses each lesson, without a detailed mastery of each, I need to flesh out my practice in greater detail. This tape has a couple of drills on the Hungarian present tense, and the accusative case. I find overlearning the FSI material is really beneficial, and I'll do so with this tape. I need all the help I can get approaching the active wave. In the distance, over the "active" hill, I can hear the war drums beating, the tightening of bow strings and the sharpening of steel. The battle is looming. Edited by DaraghM on 03 February 2009 at 4:15am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tricoteuse Pentaglot Senior Member Norway littlang.blogspot.co Joined 6680 days ago 745 posts - 845 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Norwegian, EnglishC1, Russian, French Studies: Ukrainian, Bulgarian | Message 47 of 177 03 February 2009 at 4:27am | IP Logged | ||
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I always fail miserably at the exercises, if that is any comfort :D
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| DaraghM Diglot Senior Member Ireland Joined 6153 days ago 1947 posts - 2923 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Russian, Hungarian | Message 48 of 177 03 February 2009 at 5:34am | IP Logged | ||
It is actually. Thanks. :-) With a lot of the exercises, I kick myself afterward and know I should've got it, had I thought it through. However, I do remember a few that seemed impossible given what was taught previously. I have to admit that I've a number of reservations concerning the pace of this course, and the lack of explanations. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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