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Super Challenge Registration/ Update 2012

 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log Post Reply
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geoffw
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4685 days ago

1134 posts - 1865 votes 
Speaks: English*, German, Yiddish
Studies: Modern Hebrew, French, Dutch, Italian, Russian

 
 Message 449 of 656
08 July 2012 at 2:38pm | IP Logged 
UPDATE - Added Dutch Book Entries 9-11

BOOKS (French)

1. Le Petit Prince

FILMS, ETC. (French)

1. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
2. Despicable Me

BOOKS (Dutch)

1-5. Harry Potter en de Vuurbeker
6-8. De Gave (Odd Thomas, by Dean Koontz)
9-11. Harry Potter en de Steen der Wijzen

FILMS, ETC. (Dutch)

1-4. Naar Het Middlepunt Der Aarde (audiobook)
5-9. Naar Het Middlepunt Der Aarde (audiobook, again)

Just started reading the sixth HP book in Dutch yesterday.

I am not entered in any Super Challenge for German, but I also am still reporting for my log:

BOOKS (German)

1-3. Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen
4-9: Das Lied von Eis und Feuer 01: Die Herren von Winterfell

FILMS, ETC. (German)

1-6: Das Lied von Eis und Feuer audiobook 1
1 person has voted this message useful



patrickwilken
Senior Member
Germany
radiant-flux.net
Joined 4530 days ago

1546 posts - 3200 votes 
Studies: German

 
 Message 450 of 656
08 July 2012 at 9:27pm | IP Logged 
Language: German

Challenge: Super Challenge (100 books & films)

Level: A1+/A2-

Comments: I'd like to make a late entry to the super challenge. I am married to a German, and have lived on and off in Germany (Berlin/Magdeburg) for a few years, but never managed to get my language skills up past a basic level. I did complete A1-B1 Goethe course, but a lot of it didn't stick and B1 to be honest was a bit of a wash-out.

I am currently living in London, but it looks like we'll be moving back to Germany sometime next year; perhaps as early as January. In addition, my wife and I would like to have a child in the next couple of years, and the shame of not being able to speak German properly is a huge motivator for me.

I have spent the last month intensively studying German on my own and slowly working through my previous A1-B1 course books; at about one lesson per week I should finish B1 by the end of the year. In addition to the course work, I have been slowly translating my first German graphic novel (Berlin: Steinerne Stadt, by Jason Lutes), which covers the period in Berlin between 1928-1933. I am reading this slowly and adding each sentence into Anki. I find my reading skills really lacking at the moment, so I going to go slowly for the moment, and hopefully I'll be able to pick up sufficient steam later on to complete this part of the challenge. If anyone has any advice to give, I'd gratefully accept it.

In an effort to get by listening/vocabulary up I have been watching a lot of movies/tv in the past month, which I'll count towards the super challenge since they were all watched in the month of June. All movies (except for the first one) were watched without subtitles. Without subtitles I obviously have to listen much more actively. I am amazed at how much more I understand now, then I did a month ago.


MOVIES:

11. Soul Kitchen (2009) Sweet film, about the trials and tribulations of a Greek guy trying to run a restaurant in Hamburg. I really like Fatih Akin's films - it's very interesting to get a Turkish/migrant perspective on Germany, and plan to work through his other films for this challenge. I had difficultly following the language though. Might be worth re-watching when I have a bit more German under my belt.

10. Lammbock (2001) x2. Classic German stoner comedy. I really liked the chemistry between the lead actors Lucas Gregorowicz and Moritz Bleibtreu who run a pizza business, and who deliver dope on the side. It's very funny trying to understand the logic of stoner monologues in a language you are not comfortable in. I generally don't rewatch films, but I did with this one because my wife hadn't seen it, we wanted something to watch one night. I was amazed at how much more I understood the second time around, so perhaps I should rewatch films more often.

8-9. South Park Season 1, Episodes 1-13. Since each episode is only a little over 20 minutes I am going to count these as two long movies. I got these early on and at first did not understand very much, but as time has gone on it's been getting a lot better. Got to say these guys speak fast, but it's fun trying to keep up. Learning an interesting vocabulary too.

7. Dr. Who S1E01-S1E02

6. Inception (2010) - One of my favourite films. A bit challenging to listen to, but I thought overall the dubbing was excellent. The only problem I had was with the Michael Caine character; the voice used just doesn't fit the actor I know.

5. Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance (2011). OK. This is a bit embarrassing. Nicholas Cage in a bad film set in Eastern Europe. Didn't understand much, but don't think knowing more dialogue would help the film much anyway. Chosen in part on the basis that films in which the action occurs visually are easier to understand, than where the action occurs in the language. I made the mistake of trying to watch Mad Men sometime ago and really was completely lost, whereas Lost was fine (predominant words: island, others, monster, run).

4. Sonnenallee (1999) - By the same director as Herr Lehmann (Leander Haußmann). Film set in a (semi-fictional) border crossing in East Berlin. The language was too difficult here for me to follow. Somewhat interesting, but not a film I would really want to go back too. I liked that they tried to show the East German side of things more positively, but it was too implausible in the end.

3. Herr Lehmann (2003)- Later film by Leander Haußmann, set in Kreuzberg shortly before the Wall fell. Great to get a sense of Berlin from the before the Wall fell, and especially Kreuzberg. I liked the film and would recommend it. When my German is a bit better I intend to read the book of the same title; which I have heard it's a lot better than the film.

2. Lola Rennt (1998) - Amazed at how much I could follow. This was the first film I watched where I started thinking I really could get by without subtitles. Definitely recommend it.

1. Bedways (2010) - German - with subtitles. Arty low-budget film about making an arty low-budget film about sex/relationships, mostly filmed in an alt-bau in Berlin. Think 9 Songs and the like. I liked it, but it's probably not for everyone. Not kid friendly from the sex.


Edited by patrickwilken on 08 July 2012 at 9:36pm

2 persons have voted this message useful



Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6594 days ago

9753 posts - 15779 votes 
4 sounds
Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish

 
 Message 451 of 656
08 July 2012 at 10:22pm | IP Logged 
A few milestones :))))))

-I'm 50% done with Polish
-There are no zeroes left in my part of the table
-My total count is over 100, which could equal a half challenge... I know I'd not have completed anything yet even if I had concentrated on just one language, though. (The total count is 114)

Next goal: going above 10 in each part...with German reading having a lower priority, others hopefully before the end of the summer. As of now Polish, Italian and Danish "movies" have a 10+ count, as well as Polish books.

...being 20% done with Italian seems like a nice goal as well.......

Edited by Serpent on 08 July 2012 at 10:28pm

3 persons have voted this message useful



geoffw
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4685 days ago

1134 posts - 1865 votes 
Speaks: English*, German, Yiddish
Studies: Modern Hebrew, French, Dutch, Italian, Russian

 
 Message 452 of 656
09 July 2012 at 1:06am | IP Logged 
UPDATE - Added French Film Entries 3-4

BOOKS (French)

1. ...

FILMS, ETC. (French)

3. Star Wars
4. The Producers

BOOKS (Dutch)

11. ...

FILMS, ETC. (Dutch)

9. ...

Just started reading the sixth HP book in Dutch yesterday, and also got the first Hunger Games in Dutch.

I am not entered in any Super Challenge for German, but I also am still reporting for my log:

BOOKS (German)

9. ...

FILMS, ETC. (German)

6. ...
1 person has voted this message useful





jeff_lindqvist
Diglot
Moderator
SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 6906 days ago

4250 posts - 5711 votes 
Speaks: Swedish*, English
Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French
Personal Language Map

 
 Message 453 of 656
09 July 2012 at 1:10am | IP Logged 
Books read in June
#17 精卫填海 (Jiannian Feng) June 4
#18 愚公移山 (Jiannian Feng) June 8
#19 Pang nainai he ta de san zhi xiao maomi (Yanrong He) June 8
#20 过候山 June 17
#21 多才多藝的格麗施 (Mary Hoffman) June 25
#22 阿罗有枝彩色笔 (Crockett Johnson) June 26
#23 你认识长袜子皮皮马?(Astrid Lindgren) June 28

More info in my Mandarin log
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Anya
Pentaglot
Senior Member
France
Joined 5790 days ago

636 posts - 708 votes 
Speaks: Russian*, FrenchC1, English, Italian, Spanish
Studies: German, Japanese, Hungarian, Sanskrit, Portuguese, Turkish, Mandarin
Studies: Ancient Greek, Hindi

 
 Message 454 of 656
09 July 2012 at 4:15pm | IP Logged 
Update: Japanese
Books: 130 pages
- “Assimil” (1/2 page counted) 75 pages
- grammar (1/2 page counted) 55 pages

films: 95 minutes
- “Idiot”

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wv girl
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5236 days ago

174 posts - 330 votes 
Speaks: English*, French
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 455 of 656
09 July 2012 at 9:56pm | IP Logged 
Finally finished all 476 pages of La Piramide Roja! It's certainly getting easier to
read. I can tell my vocabulary is improving. A week in Florida did wonders for my
reading time. Also gave me the opportunity to visit a bookstore with a better Spanish
section, so I picked up my next books. Although I did listen to some Spanish on TV,
I'm not going to count it ... I was in & out & with others in the room, I couldn't hog
the TV to complete a whole show.


Libros: (7/50)
1. La Casa en Mango St. (112)
2. No Bajes al Sotano (121)
3. La Piramide Roja (476)



Edited by wv girl on 10 July 2012 at 7:22pm

1 person has voted this message useful



microsnout
TAC 2010 Winner
Senior Member
Canada
microsnout.wordpress
Joined 5468 days ago

277 posts - 553 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: French

 
 Message 456 of 656
11 July 2012 at 7:22am | IP Logged 
Update #19

78/100 Films

Movies
"Continental, un film sans fusil" (2007)
"Aurore" (2005)

"À vos marques, Party!" (2007)
"Le Vendeur" (2011)
"Bon Cop Bad Cop" (2006)
"Funkytown" (2011)
"20h17 Rue Darling" (2003)
"Polytechnique" (2009)
"Starbuck" (2011)
"Les doigts croches" (2009)
"La grande séduction" (2003)
"Le bonheur de Pierre" (2009)
"Le dîner de cons" (1998)

TV Series
"Apparences" (10 episodes of 45 min)
"19-2", Season 1 (10 Episodes of 45 min)
"30 Vies", Season 1-2 (120 episodes of 22 min)
"Toute la vérité", Seasons 1-3 (50 episodes of 45 min)

****

Continental, un film sans fusil
I have never understood so much and yet so little at the same time. So much of the dialog but so little of what the point of this movie was and what the plot was. A sleeping man on a bus wakes up to find nobody else on the bus which is parked on a country road. He wanders off into the woods and is reported missing. The film then follows four people who's lives intertwine and are somewhat related to the missing guy. Given the number of awards the film has won and the number of good reviews I may need to revisit it someday to see if I appreciate it more. This is an example of one of the reviews on imdb.com: "Just a few words to say of much I love this film!! I recently watched it for a second time and I liked it even more!! The acting is excellent, the writing is flawless and the directing is very sober. One of the best French Canadian films... ever!!"


Aurore
The true story of Aurore Gagnon, a 10 year old girl who died in 1920 in the small village of Ste. Philomène de Fortierville from blood poisoning as a result of extensive physical abuse inflicted mostly by her step-mother and her father to a lesser extent. From wikipedia: "The story of l'enfant martyre received great attention in the media and Aurore became an icon of Quebec sociological and popular culture." The film also shows the extreme influence of the Catholic Church on Québec society during that period. It is one of the few films I have with French subtitles which means I would normally watch it without then with them but I turned on the subtitles a bit past the half way point because I knew I would never want to watch the second half of this movie again despite great reviews. The step-mother ends up spending 15 years in Kingston Penitentiary, the father serves 5 years elsewhere and the priest blows himself up with dynamite out of guilt.

Edited by microsnout on 11 July 2012 at 7:24am



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