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TAC 2013 Team Schnitzel mit pommes und 饭 | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6083 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes  1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 121 of 292 28 October 2012 at 8:36pm | IP Logged |
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Thank you reineke, it's good to see your voice :) Yes, the house-buying venture is still going on. No big deal really. It's an old house and there have been a few breaks. It won't be center of my log. I was in the US (Texas) recently and got my fill of everything that's going on there at the moment. The greatest pleasure is seeing my kids experience it for the first time. They were awed and inspired and shocked -- mostly by the food. It was great -- almost like having a second life. I bought a French verb book at the Half-Price-Book Store (I thank Amazon for its existence). I've been studying somebody elses explanation of French verbs and it's refreshing. Everything about language is refreshing because I haven't had time for it. It's been out of my life for several months but I'm still there. I've been stealing 10 minutes out of every other day.
I'm slowly catching up! (Actually I'm on the second book of "French Rescue and Maintenance" ie, 2nd year German school French) Edited by Sunja on 28 October 2012 at 8:43pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6083 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 122 of 292 03 November 2012 at 6:20pm | IP Logged |
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*sigh* okay so where am I?
I'm recovering from our annual Halloween party. It's easy having a Halloween party in my neighborhood because we're the only Americans in it. There was no competition but we still out-did and surpassed our own expectations, which is worth mention. Okay -- I haven't quite gotten back to a schedule of regular learning so I hope I can do that this weekend. I look at all of my old materials and books and notes and flashcards and I think, "no, I can't start there." Am I the only one that does that? If there's been a period of non-activity (like months) I reject everything that I'd been working on before. I'm still working in my book but that's only mechanical. I know I need plenty of input so I think that's where I'll start this evening. I know it's boring to keep reading stops and starts but I'll work hard to find a way that works. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| reineke Senior Member United States https://learnalangua Joined 6445 days ago 851 posts - 1008 votes Studies: German | Message 123 of 292 07 November 2012 at 5:38pm | IP Logged |
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I can say with great authority that I know a lot
about stops and starts. Isn't our whole existence a bit like that? Input? You mean you'll watch a movie or something? :) I don't think it matters how you start or if you switch to a different approach. The problem is if you stop altogether. Try to have fun with the different approaches. It is good you can find a French verb book exciting although I fail to understand why you need French verbs explained to you ;). Verb. It's what you do. In the end, the average language learner is a mouse gnawing at a huge wheel of cheese. You can nibble all around the edges or eat your way to the funky center. Either way, you're never quite done :) But hey it's a good thing, right? 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6083 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 124 of 292 27 November 2012 at 9:39am | IP Logged |
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Sorry I haven't been here but life has been more interesting lately ^^
As I've mentioned we've been looking to buy the old half-timber house that we've been renting out of for years and we hired a Sachverständiger (appraiser) who was here to look around yesterday. It's quite interesting to hear talk about how many years this place has actually been standing and what it used to be before they built a house on top of it. The bathroom used to be a pigsty -- which is saying quite a bit. Cows used to stand where we now sit and watch our DVDs. Half of the third floor is blocked off because it's nothing but the original barn structure, made up of oak beams and loam/straw. It's gone through two world wars and a post-war period, so there are no records of how old it is but I'd venture the Americas were still fighting a civil war when the first residents were living here (the cows)! That's pretty cool to me but the appraiser was neither enchanted nor impressed. Unless the owner is planning to give us the house for the property alone it's going to be a no-sale, I'm afraid :( Today we're going to hear the appraiser give a ballpark estimate of what the place is worth and how much renovations would cost. A more detailed (and expensive) appraisal may or may not come out of the "ballpark". I guess I'd better start digging for that buried treasure I'd always imagined being behind that old cast-iron oven door in the basement. Alas, I don't think the cows had any money either. So as far as language goes, I haven't touched my book but I have good reason. I've decided to leave the world of tutoring and I'm now about to purchase a Fernlehrgang (online course) to get myself ready for the real working world! I need some business courses to help get me back into the swing of things. Those will start in April. In the meantime, I'll try to get back to my "2nd yr. German school French book". I'm reading "Bilbo Le Hobbit" at night to get me psyched up for the film. I'm now at the part where Bilbo finds the ring. Edited by Sunja on 27 November 2012 at 9:51am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6083 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 125 of 292 27 November 2012 at 10:18am | IP Logged |
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I see there are murmerings going around about TAC 2013.
It will be interesting to see how things develop^^ 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| reineke Senior Member United States https://learnalangua Joined 6445 days ago 851 posts - 1008 votes Studies: German | Message 126 of 292 30 November 2012 at 8:10am | IP Logged |
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It's like watching paint dry and even if you find it interesting I recommend you stick to your renovation project :) I hope it revives. You recorded one sound? I am tempted to do the same. Would d'oh! qualify? We're finishing up on our renovation project on this side of the pond so I have been following your log with interest.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6083 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 127 of 292 30 November 2012 at 10:54am | IP Logged |
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I hope to find some more interesting stuff to write about because I enjoy seeing people read my log, but I'm afraid it won't be about house renovations. We've decided not to buy the house.
The appraiser was very candid and basically told us "don't buy". She said we would start renovations and by the time we'd finish it would be time renovate again (ouch). One of the biggest risks is that the third floor wasn't built according to German building regulations (=Schwarzbau), no plan, no blueprint. I imagine the top floor being like a kid with some "lincoln logs". They just started building "up" and never finished. Having half the house built without any regulation miiiight irritate those good folks at the bank who can give us money to finish it. Not good. So there's that, and then there's also problems with the old part of the house that would cost money to fix: asbestos, insects in the crossbeams (Holzwürmer), and a "mystery canal" leading from the basement out under the garden. No one knows where it is exactly, it just clogs up every six months to let us know it's there. I have to admit I was psyched about this adventure until we had the talk with the appraiser. She characterised it as "a bottomless pit" and well, I think that scared me a bit. I think I'd rather learn languages! We're going to look for another house to buy. First we'll have Christmas. ^^ 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6083 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 128 of 292 07 December 2012 at 7:19pm | IP Logged |
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French: I've been grappling with too many different things this year, trying to get a foothold in this ellusive language. As much as I want to get out of "B" I'm afraid the best I could do this year was "B1/B2 with a whooooooole lot of holes". I still have trouble speaking. Listening and reading have improved closer to B2, but if I took the DELF tomorrow I would still fail. I had a lot of interruptions this year thanks to a very long attempt (and subsequent failure) to buy a house. As it turns out it was for the best. We'll get 'em next time! Turkish: Didn't get far at all. My Turk-German student quit going to tutoring, and since he was my speaking partner I lost a lot of my motivation when he left. Japanese: Didn't get far at all. I refreshed some of my reading skills by going to Lang-8 on an almost regular basis. Passive stuff, really. Not much. German: I never did finish the Heuber book, but German is something I don't have trouble finding time for. I'm sort of permeated with it. There's more coming in year 2013... Let TAC begin! My new online course starts today! The course is in German and it's centered around basic office administration (woo-hoo!) I got my stuff in the mail today and I'm reading it as we speak. I've decided to keep a list of words here until I can figure out what to do with them (maybe learn them!) Umschlagplatz- central point Gegebenheiten - circumstances zu etwas (dativ) befähigen - enable jemandem etwas unterstellen - assign something to somebody or to untermine jmd. Handlungsvollmacht übertragen - assign/transfer somebody the power to act etwas (akk) zuwenden - devote attention to something als etwas fungieren - to act as Verlegenheitslaute - ääh :) Ortznetzkennzahl = Vorwahl = area code abgelößt- dismantled, eliminated jemanden in die Lage versetzen - to enable somebody to.. Dies versetzt uns in the Lage zu - this places us in a position to.. Behörde und seine Dienststellen - a gov. agency and sub-agencies abweisen, annehmen, - reject and accept auf Mailbox umgeleitet - rerouted to the mailbox abheben, auflegen - pick up and put down (the receiver) Makeln - toggle mit etwas einhergehen - to go along with something Arbeitsabläufe – workflow Nach einem Stichwort fragen – ask for a clue, keyword to what it could be about Schnelle Absprache – schnell confirmation, agreement Über die Zentrale vermittelt – to go through the main desk/switchboard anrichten – arrange einrichten – set up or install Polling – Sendeaufruf Arbeitsplatzausstattung – how the workplace is arranged Zusammenkunft - meeting Besetztzeichen - busy signal Brandschutzmauer - firewall Ordnerziele zuweisen - to assign folder addresses gesondert - separately (adv) freigemacht - post paid p.p. in hohen Auflagen - in large quantities, editions Angebote einholen - invite offers Benutzeroberfläche - user interface Startbildschirm - Desktop Befehlsfolgen - instruction sequence werden (mit etwas) versehen - make it visible with something Berufung einlegen - to appeal a decision Wertvorgabe einstellen - to adjust the value default zurechnen - assign Abnahme - acceptance Arbeitsauftrag -WO verscheuchen - to jinx something backshift key - Rücktaste vorwegnehmen - anticipate etwas runterrattern - to spill something verbally, non-stop, (rat-tat-tat) gunfire Here's my list of German expressions. I entertain myself by picking up new things when I'm out and about. es ballt sich viel zusammen (bei jemandem) - stuff to do starts to pile up sie sind kräftig angelaufen - something to say when one's glasses get fogged up. der Stadt auf der Tasche liegen - to milk the system or live off the state outgesourced (??) - outsourced, "rausgegeben" etwas auf die Kappe nehmen - to take the heat if something goes wrong auf dem Schlauch stehen - something to say when you don't know. (Imagine a person who is standing on the garden hose and wonders why no water is coming out) geht mir auf den Senkel - *giggle* Hessisch for "gets on my nerves" (Imagine a person standing on your shoelace/Schnürsenkel) keiner kann (ihm/ihr) (etwas) vormachen - no one can hold a candle to him/her von der Pike auf gelernt - learned something from scratch ein Arsch in der Hose haben - to have "backbone" or "guts" jemandem in den Kittel reinhauen - to let somebody have it (regional) "aus einer Mini-Fliege einen riesen Elefanten machen" - to make a mountain out of a molehill auf Anhieb - right off the bat Edited by Sunja on 02 March 2013 at 3:16pm 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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