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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| dearwanderlust Newbie United States youtube.com/dearwandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5269 days ago 38 posts - 39 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 9 of 48 25 January 2012 at 10:35pm | IP Logged |
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Hello Romantics team member! Wow, what an interesting and exciting group of languages you are studying! Quite impressive! I really look forward to reading your language logs.
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| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4887 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes  Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 10 of 48 25 January 2012 at 10:43pm | IP Logged |
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You read "Proust" with ease - wow! How long did it take to reach that level? I read
most of Lost Time, in English, and the language was beautiful. I'd imagine that it must be more so in French. And, should we even ask about "Girls of Riyadh?" 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4887 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 11 of 48 25 January 2012 at 10:50pm | IP Logged |
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You read "Proust" with ease - wow! How long did it take to reach that level? I read
most of Lost Time, in English, and the language was beautiful. I'd imagine that it must be more so in French. And, should we even ask about "Girls of Riyadh?" 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Quabazaa Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5607 days ago 414 posts - 543 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German, French Studies: Japanese, Korean, Maori, Scottish Gaelic, Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Written) | Message 12 of 48 26 January 2012 at 1:40am | IP Logged |
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Hi dearwanderlust! :)
Kanewai - I think I meant relatively easy compared to what it was only a year ago for me. And I only read the first chapter! It's hard to say how long I took to get to that level, I took one year of French in high school, did nothing much with it for almost 10 years but tried to at least maintain what I had even if I wasn't studying. After becoming fluent in Spanish, plus the dabbling (my mum is a French teacher so we always had French movies etc) I find I can understand the majority of things I read or hear. Put that down to years of passive learning, I don't know. Now I've done a year of sporadic study on it including a few breif trips in Frnech-speaking areas and this year I want to do focused study each day. My speaking is my weak point though, that's for sure. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| PaulLambeth Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5371 days ago 244 posts - 315 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Icelandic, Hindi, Irish | Message 13 of 48 26 January 2012 at 5:53am | IP Logged |
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Hi fellow odd-languages team member!
Reading your Gàidhlig, I can pick up a few of the phrases but the main issue I think is that Colloquial and the book I'm reading for Irish Gaelic are taking totally different approaches. Important things like "is" (to be, but for permanent things, I think) and "agam" (to me - ag + mé in Irish) haven't been approached yet 9 lessons into this, and I've only learnt them from other sources. But I'm covering a lot more different, and I'm sure just as important, ground. Just checking, is "tha" the verb "to be", present tense? If so, the Irish form is "tá", pronounced "taw" (long back o sound). And "mi", if that's "I", is "mé", pronounced like the word "may". How's tha pronounced? It'll be interesting to see the similarities between Gaeilge and Gàidhlig when I start getting more of the vital basics down. I have a book on Gàidhlig at home, and my home university is in Scotland, so I'd be happy to learn Gàidhlig through the differences. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Quabazaa Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5607 days ago 414 posts - 543 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German, French Studies: Japanese, Korean, Maori, Scottish Gaelic, Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Written) | Message 14 of 48 27 January 2012 at 11:52am | IP Logged |
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Hi Paul, ceud mìle fàilte!
Ooh it is interesting to learn a bit about Irish, I will definitely be completing my Gàidhlig before any thoughts of dabbling in Irish, hehe, unless I happen to actually visit the country. tha is pronounced like "ha" So "tha mi" is "ha mi" and "tha thu" is said "ha u". Usually "th" is pronounced like h so I'm not sure why tha thu = ha u. Something I have yet to learn no doubt :) Some of those phrases I wrote aren't even in Colloquial yet, but things I wanted to learn how to say :) I'm only up to lesson 2! Edited by Quabazaa on 30 January 2012 at 12:11pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Luso Hexaglot Senior Member Portugal Joined 6059 days ago 819 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, French, EnglishC2, GermanB1, Italian, Spanish Studies: Sanskrit, Arabic (classical) | Message 15 of 48 29 January 2012 at 4:31am | IP Logged |
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Hi there "down under", Quabazaa.
Thought I could repay the visit you made to my log. Right off the bat, I see you rate your knowledge of French at B2 to C1, and you say you read Proust (just some bits, but it's impressive nevertheless). I'm not good at giving advice as far as French literature is concerned, having started studying the language very young, but I read somewhere that Simenon is a good writer for intermediate-level students. I don't know whether you're a crime thriller's fan, but who knows? It could be a good way of improving your French. I also have one question: you say your German level is B2, which I can also say is mine. Are you able to read books in German? If so, which types? I'm curious because I have some problems doing it (for lack of vocabulary). Your input would be appreciated. By the way, all the best to you. Edited by Luso on 29 January 2012 at 4:32am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Quabazaa Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5607 days ago 414 posts - 543 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German, French Studies: Japanese, Korean, Maori, Scottish Gaelic, Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Written) | Message 16 of 48 29 January 2012 at 4:08pm | IP Logged |
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Hi Luso, thanks very much for recommending Simenon! I will read anything and
everything, plus crime thrillers usually suck you in and make you want to keep reading, a good quality if you are still learning. Do let me know if you think of anything else I might like. As for German, I do read books but I usually have a dictionary nearby to check the meaning of new words or ones I'm uncertain about. I find the structure of German quite unintuitive as well. What are your problems with German? Do you not wish to use a dictionary at all? I don't mind if I need to look up a word every few pages. The things I have read in the last year include children's books such as Momo by Michael Ende and Tintenherz by Cornelia Funke. I thoroughly enjoyed them both so even though they were written for children I highly recommend them, especially if you happen to like fantasy and want an easier read (Good for listening practise as audiobooks! That's what I used them for.) I read "Der Tod in Venedig" by Thomas Mann last year and found it quite a challenge, I had to read it twice to feel I had got it. Lots of long sentences! I really like Briefe an einen jungen Dichter by Rainer Maria Rilke. I read it a while ago so it should be relatively easy. I also read a collection of stories by Heinrich Böll and am now reading Lenz by Peter Schneider, which seems about the right level for me and both are very interesting. The books on my pile to read next and which I believe will be a suitable level are the following: Schon bist du ein Verfassungsfeind by Peter Lenz Nachdenken Über Christa T. by Christa Wolf Das Schloß by Kafka Der Zauberberg; Doktor Faustus by Thomas Mann (will read him last and see if it feels any easier) These were all books my mother still had from her German courses at uni 30 years ago and were ones she thought would be good for me to read. So hope that helps! It would also be a good idea to look at German Lit courses and see what they are reading. I am taking mine from 30 years ago because they were easily available to me. For more modern writers I like this site which has excerpts read by the authors so you can have a listen and see if anything in particular catches your attention. If you like Neil Gaiman I am told Christoph Marzi is a must, an author I have been meaning to read for a while. If you like Krimis the most famous German-speaking authors seem to be Jörg Juretzka, Bernhard Schlink, Jacques Berndorf, Wolf Haas and Friedrich Ani. I imagine they'd be a good level for B2 as well. Viel Spaß! :) (Edit: another site which might be helpful for ideas of things to read. Edited by Quabazaa on 31 January 2012 at 2:55am 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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