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Trans-Siberian Express | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5558 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes  Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 25 of 55 17 June 2011 at 5:28pm | IP Logged | ||
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@Buttons
Sounds like you had a good time in Malaga! And don't worry about your colleagues' lack of faith in language learning, you're living breathing (and probably suntanned) proof that they've got it all wrong. Enthusiasm and adventure always speak louder than words. :) I'm very impressed that you've ridden the Trans-Siberian Express for real...that must be some story...you really have traveled all over! I'd love to hear more about it some time. @Medialis Сделка! Be warned though, it could take me quite a while with Russian (lol). ;) Мастер и Маргарита is one of my favourite novels of all time - as you say, a true masterpiece - браво! I'm looking forward to learning how you got on with your first real stress test, and it'd also be interesting to hear how close you are now to being able to read Russian novels like these on their own? Edited by Teango on 17 June 2011 at 11:10pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Vos Diglot Senior Member Australia Joined 5568 days ago 766 posts - 1020 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Dutch, Polish | Message 26 of 55 18 June 2011 at 4:17am | IP Logged | ||
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Fantastic log idea Teango, looking forward to following your travels and linguistic endeavors across that
unfathomably vast land. Enjoy it all! ...and just quickly, I'm not sure if it's already been mentioned, but is this simply an adventure that you've wanted to do for some time? Or are there other reasons behind this peregrination? Take care and have fun! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5558 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 27 of 55 18 June 2011 at 9:59pm | IP Logged | ||
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@Vos
Cheers! I would love to ride the Express for real like Buttons and stop off at various cities along the way - I've heard Lake Baikal is especially beautiful in summer! So for the time being, I'll just have to use my imagination and be content with using it as a fun learning analogy. Let's just call it preparation for the real deal someday. :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5558 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 28 of 55 20 June 2011 at 8:38pm | IP Logged | ||
Over the Volga and onto the Vyatka river, my next stop is Kirov. Initially known as Khlynov, and later changed to Vyatka by Catherine the Great in 1781, the city was once again renamed (along with Kirovohrad, Kirovakan, and Kirovabad) in honour of the popular Soviet leader Sergey Kirov who opposed Stalin and was consequently assassinated in 1934.
[A procession in Ки́ров (Kirov): "Billy Elliot took the wrong turn and ended up at a completely different ballet school."] What a Smarties tube of colourful mini-successes I have to pour out on the table this week! Firstly, I've studied over 150 hours of Russian this year (  ), with the result that my listening, speaking and reading skills have all levelled up a notch to B1 (as assessed by a Russian native speaker). Secondly, I've read and listened to my first Harry Potter book in Russian (which has been on my shelf for ages and has finally found a purpose beyond collecting dust). And as my order for the full Harry Potter collection in Russian has finally arrived in the post, it looks like I'll also be reserving a seat on the Hogwart's Express (which I've ridden in real life, but sadly not as a wizard)...
Other noteworthy mentions include joining the next round of the "Read More or Die" Tadoku Challenge (starting on 1st July), completing the first season of "Лунтик" (all 80 episodes), and finally but not least, I've had my first ever dream in Russian! As for the listening and reading sessions, I find it takes me several pages to really get into the swing of things at the beginning (approx. 5-10 minutes of audio), but then something clicks back into place in my head, and it's as though I zoom out from the text a bit, put on some imaginary cosy reading slippers, and take in the meaning of whole sentences from a distance along with the flow of the narrator, rather than individual words and phrases nose-to-print. I certainly don't understand all the details yet, not by a long chalk, but I do find that the more I relax and let go of what I don't know, the more I pick up and comprehend. 
[Kirov on the map: "With the Kremlin behind him, Uli Ulitka started to gather speed..."] Today's reading test results: 84% (+3%) [first 100 words taken from "Дневной Дозор", Часть третья, Глава 3, стр. 580) Distance from the next station, Perm: 479 km. Edited by Teango on 20 June 2011 at 8:42pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| M. Medialis Diglot TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member Sweden Joined 6359 days ago 397 posts - 508 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Russian, Japanese, French | Message 29 of 55 20 June 2011 at 11:34pm | IP Logged | ||
Yes!! The LR magic! :D And soon you'll say bewilderedly: "I have no idea what he just said, but I understood 100 % of it." :) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Vos Diglot Senior Member Australia Joined 5568 days ago 766 posts - 1020 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Dutch, Polish | Message 30 of 55 21 June 2011 at 3:46am | IP Logged | ||
Oh dear, my defective mind. For some reason when I read your opening post I came to the conclusion that you were actually doing the trip as well, which is why I was rather confused at thinking how you could possibly spend 1 minute of reading and listening for every kilometre of the trip before reaching the final station, unless the train went quite slow and you read a lot during the stops... If only the internet came in book form, than I would actually read it properly instead of habitually and unconsciously skimming over it. Nonetheless, this log is fantastic! Enjoy the Russian, and by the end of this long voyage it will be unrecognisable from what it was at the beginning. A more mature and fleshed out being it will be. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5558 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 32 of 55 22 June 2011 at 4:42pm | IP Logged | ||
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@Medialis
Haha...I'd be over the moon if I could understand 100% of anything in Russian, even in Luntik. ;) @Vos No worries...I do the same sometimes too. And thanks for your vote of confidence in my little odyssey, I'm hoping I'll make noticeable progress along the way but without the stress of a ticking deadline in the background this time. Hence it should, with any luck, turn out to be a more fun and chilled out experience overall. @Buttons That's still one step up on me; so far I've been to St Petersburg, Gatchina and Novgorod, but no farther east yet. I really wanted to go and visit Moscow during my last visit but unfortunately fell ill. So I'm looking forward to trying again when I next fly over to Mother Russia. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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