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| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4772 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes  Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 105 of 133 26 September 2012 at 12:30am | IP Logged |
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23:29 24/09/2012 Monday
Dansk >10 words from back of TYSCD, plus some of the dialogues on CD1. Deutsch Took delivery of 2 of the 2nd-hand Fontane books I'd ordered: "Vor dem Sturm" (Dritter Band), and "Schach von Wuthenow". Old but in good condition, and like my copy of "Unwiederbringlich", issued by "Ullstein", so the covers have a similar look and feel, although with different illustrations; I rather like that. I think these are both early works, and are not long (especially "Schach von Wuthenow"), although I think "Vor dem Sturm" has 4 volumes in all. I think it wasn't clear when I ordered it how many volumes (or which) were included. Abe's books listings are sometimes a bit erratic, I find. Still, inexpensive. They make the profit on the "postage" since the actual postage was a fraction of what they charge for it. I'm not complaining; they would be hard to obtain, otherwise. I think I still have at least 2 on order, and supposedly shipped, but from somewhere not known for its fast postal service. Edited by montmorency on 26 September 2012 at 12:31am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4772 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 106 of 133 26 September 2012 at 1:03pm | IP Logged |
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23:17 25/09/2012 2012-09-25 Tuesday
Dansk tirsdag CCdays=43 >10 words from back of TYSCD. Deutsch Dienstag Looked through and read parts of my two new Fontane acquisitions. As previously mentioned, it's very often the notes, etc. I find most interesting. I always read the copious letters that he wrote (as all authors of the time seem to have done), which talk about the various stages of development or correction to the novel in question, which he seemed keen to share with his family or publisher. "Scandinavian" Watched Lilyhammer. I recognised a few words and phrases, but a disappointing few, really. And that was just the English... :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4772 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 107 of 133 27 September 2012 at 1:04pm | IP Logged |
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11:48 26/09/2012 2012-09-26 Wednesday
Dansk onsdag CCdays=43 CN= >10 words from back of TYSCD; approaching the end now. I'd like to get it completed, but I am trying to avoid rushing it. Computer issues are still a distraction. Listened to about half of CD1. George the robot and Alison the croaker. In the story, she develops a bad cold, and they have to call in the quack. It's painful to listen to her in several senses. Now, did they take advantage of the actress really being ill and change the story accordingly? Seems unlikely, but then so is the alternative in a way: that they deliberately chose a story line which would involve the actress croaking for about ½ of the dialogues? It would be fun to find a copy of just the right age, perhaps just before they introduced CDs, and see what the dialogues contain. Deutsch Mittwoch Read/re-read chapter 4 of Frau Jenny Treibel. I think I'm getting some of the satire, although some probably goes over my head. I'm reading it in normal book form, but it would be interesting to dig out one of the various e-book versions I have (somewhere), and try out the TransOver hover translator. This is only usable from a browser, i.e. Chrome, so it will have to be an html version, or possibly a pdf. (Calibre is supposed to be able to convert most things to most other things, so that might be doable). I did try a couple of epub reader extensions for Chrome, but while they were not too bad as readers, with one of them TransOver wouldn't work at all, and with the other, it didn't seem to work very well. It would be good if FBReader had some sort of dictionary extension, but I can't see that happening any time soon (if at all), since any development seems to be going into portable device versions, and not PC versions. (hmm...wonder if it might happen for Calibre...?). 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4772 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 108 of 133 29 September 2012 at 12:57am | IP Logged |
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12:02 27/09/2012 2012-09-27 Thursday
Dansk torsdag CCdays=45 CN= >10 words from back of TYSCD Deutsch Donnerstag Read parts of ch4/5 plus notes of "Frau Jenny Treibel". This is the way she looks in the picture that came with my audiobook version: 
Pretty self-satisfied looking, isn't she? Actually, that's not the way I saw her, but of course, I've no doubt missed all sorts of subtleties that a native-speaking reader would pick up on, especially one knowledgeable about the social mores of that time and place. Plus I'm prejudiced in favour of the name "Jenny" for reasons that don't belong here (but see poem passim. :) Edited by montmorency on 29 September 2012 at 1:04am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4772 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 109 of 133 29 September 2012 at 6:26pm | IP Logged |
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23:54 28/09/2012 2012-09-28 Friday
Dansk fredag CCdays=45 CN= >10 words from back of TYSCD Deutsch Freitag Read chapter 5 of Frau Jenny Treibel. It looks like Corinne, neice (I think) of the eponymous Frau Treibel, is the true "heroine" of this novel, or at least the fulcrum around which most of the interesting things happen. She has set her cap (lovely expression I think, which nobody uses any more, but I shall**), she has set her cap at one cousin (the son of Frau Jenny), possibly because he is rich, and is being criticised (and probably pursued) for so doing by another cousin. It is interesting that in the social mores of the times, cousins, even first cousins, were considered quite acceptable as marriage partners, and indeed it seemed to be almost routine. For example, although she didn't marry him, Vetter Briest seems to have been considered a possible alternative (possibly the only alternative) to Instetten, in "Effi Briest". I think this reflects partly the lack of mobility - social and physical - of the times, and also the severely restricted choices open, especially to young women. Corrine at one point claims to be (relatively) "emanzipitiert". Well, maybe, but not by our standards. There were also probably material considerations - keeping wealth and property within the extended family, perhaps. But...we will see how it plays out. Although it is fiction, Fontane is very unlikely to have been inaccurate in this reflection of Prussian society of the time. He researched his books carefully, and often based them on real life, as we have previously noted, although I don't know if this one is. I think the character of Commerzienrat Treibel is based on a real person, although not necessarily the story. The locations are based on reality, but of course with the usual literary licence allowed. For example, the house in which Frau Jenny lives is based on a real one, and the street is (or was) a real one, but that house was actually in another street. And similar changes. But it's as accurate as it needs to be. **Another nice old expression, which I only ever heard in the north of England, and that a long time ago, was to "give someone the glad eye". It is interesting that "glad" (and variations) is a Danish word. Coincidence? I think not. General For some time I've been unhappy about what my profile caused to be shown in the left-hand panel by my postings. Although I learned French for a long time, and Spanish for several years, and could hold convesations with natives in both at one time, I haven't kept either of them up in recent years. I am persuaded by several interesting threads on here over the past few months that it is probably wiser to be too modest, rather than too over-stated about ones languages, and I was unhappy to be shown as "speaks" for French, or even "studying" Spanish, which I am not actively doing. So I have juggled my profile, which means that neither is shown at all in the left hand panel, but they are in my profile if anyone cares to look. I would say I did achieve "basic fluency" in both at one time, but I wouldn't claim it now. Pity, but there it is, and I am not inclined to start working on them at the moment. I prefer to be both accurate and honest where possible. Of course, it is not always possible, or desirable, to be completely honest. For example, to the question: "Does my bum look big in this?", the only possible answer is of course "No". (And a hot tip from your Old Uncle Monty to young lads, especially Spinal Tap fans: it does not help if you qualify your answer, for example: "Yes it does....but babe, I like big bums!". (Shamelessly plundered from my monograph: "Old Uncle Monty's Life Lessons for Lads", ©1979, published by Len's Garage Ltd, Leyton E10, on recycled newspaper, plenty of copies left). Well, dragging myself back from Memory Lane, it would be nice if the left-hand panel could also make some mention of languages you have studied, but are not active in at the moment, and you don't consider it accurate to put in "speaks". Actually, I don't consider my speaking ability in German to be all that great, but my overall ability is certainly higher than in French or German. I don't get many conversation opportunities, although I should probably make a bit more effort to try shadowing again. And reading out loud and recording myself. Edited by montmorency on 30 September 2012 at 5:26pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4772 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 110 of 133 30 September 2012 at 3:53pm | IP Logged |
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16:18 29/09/2012 2012-09-29 Saturday
Dansk lørdag CCDays=47 CN= >10 words from the back of TYSCD. Deutsch Samstag|Sonnabend Read chapter 6 of Frau Jenny Treibel. I was reading this without the acoustic aid of the audiobook, but I was still quite often hearing the voice of Gert Westphal in my head. If I can remember accurately his pronunciation, then all well and good. :) This relates somewhat to the discussion going on about whether an adult learner can achieve native pronunciation (and more widely, proficiency. Fascinating topic, which I might return to. Edited by montmorency on 14 October 2012 at 10:09pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4772 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 111 of 133 02 October 2012 at 12:43am | IP Logged |
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14:44 30/09/2012 2012-09-30 Sunday
Dansk søndag CCDays=48 CN= >10 words from the back of TYSCD. Seemed to be in a good frame of mind for vocabulary learning today. Should have finished the vocab at the end of the book soon. Will aim to do more later today, and maybe finish it tomorrow morning. Then it will be about a week of consolidating the grammar in the book, plus probably vocab revision. Deutsch Sonntag Read some notes and some more of Frau Jenny Treibel. Concentrating on the vocab today. ~Later: On a roll with the vocab. Even Harry-Palmer-ing. HTLAL 15:18 30/09/2012 hmmmm, has the forum gone down? Can't even see the main website (which wasn't affected by the script-kiddie-attack of recent memory. Well, if it hasn't broken again this time, we can take this is a kind of warning that it probably could at any time. 15:23 30/09/2012 Website seemed to come back, but not the forum, I'm getting those annoying Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server error '80004005' Timeout expired /forum/default.asp, line 317 ...messages. 15:25 30/09/2012 Forum kind of came back, but it's slow, or stopped again. I think it's broken, or breakin. 15:34 30/09/2012 These sort of messages are seeming to be quite persistent: Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server error '80004005' Timeout expired /forum/default.asp, line 268 15:35 30/09/2012 Got the top page of the forum to load completely....ok, and active topics is ok. 15:37 30/09/2012 Panic over. Maybe. Edited by montmorency on 14 October 2012 at 10:10pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4772 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 112 of 133 03 October 2012 at 3:29pm | IP Logged |
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23:24 01/10/2012 2012-10-01 Monday
Dansk mandag CCdays=49 CN= >10 words from the vocabulary at the end of TYSCD. Alnost there. Harry Palmer. Deutsch Montag Read some of Frau Jenny Treibel, concentrating on vocabulary. Evening class started. Gott sei Dank. I couldn't get in last year; it was full! Good sign really; healthy number this year (11). I realise how much I have been missing (i.e. needing) speaking practice. Reading and listening is not enough. On the other hand, once you get your mouth in gear, I do get the impression that eventually it unlocks words you have internalised over the previous weeks, and eventually they come out. DE: Wir haben einige Seiten von "Die Verwandlung" von Frans Kafka gelesen. Sie ist eine sehr merkwürdische aber eine ganz interessante Geschichte. Im Anfang ist die Vokabeln etwas schwierig, aber später wird sie leichter. Komisches Wort: (der) Ungeziefer: vermin(!). Nächste Woche: etwas Poesie. hmmm. Wir haben aber nur 90 Minuten. In der Vergangenheit hatten die Klassen 2 Stunden gedauert. Warum es verändert hat, weiss ich nicht. 21:23 02/10/2012 2012-10-02 Tuesday Dansk tirsdag CCDays=50 Finally finished the vocabulary at the end of the book. I think I'm going to call this goal achieved now. I'm not saying I know all the words in the book, but I've made an honest attempt at learning every word in the book (with repetitions of course, using mainly word lists). May I ask you to record my 1st goal achieved please Serpent? I will start a new goal, which will be to consolidated the grammar by revising just the grammar in 2 units per day, so if I don't stop, it should take 9 days. I'll be doing vocab revision as well, but I won't make that part of the new goal. This thread has been very useful for me, since consistency was something I really lacked, and I've done something positive about that, even if my goal was relatively modest (I'm a lightweight compared with the author of Svenska7000. Deutsch Dienstag Received the last 2 Fontane books I was expecting. Delivery time was "leisurely", but worth waiting for: "Grete Minde" and "Unterm Birnbaum". They seem to be brand new and in perfect condition, which considering the very cheap price I paid for them, is very good. They are really "Erzählungen", rather than "Novellen" or "Romans". They were written in around 1878-9 and 1885 (I think) respectively, before he started writing what became the classic novels he is famous for. The language doesn't seem too difficult, and they are not long. It occurs to me that they would be good as a follow on for any beginners who want to read some native material, and have gone through some "Easy Readers", and want a fully fledged real book, so long as they are happy to read a "classic" and don't insist only on modern, everyday German. (You can read that, as well, of course). I bought those via abebooks.co.uk from the DEA store in Italy. Very cheap + postage free. But expect a long delivery time. They have the usual notes and a page by page guide (fairly brief). Published by Hamburger Leseheft Verlag. An excellent buy, though I say so myself. And if one were only going to read one "classic" German author, (not of course that one should be so restrictive!), then let it be Fontane. (Just as if one were only going to read one "classic" English author, then (for prose) it probably should be Dickens. Quite a lot of vocabulary studying as well. Seemed to be going well. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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