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Geoffw in TAC2015: RU, HE and Friends | ||
Tags: Football/Soccer | Yiddish | Hebrew | Dutch | Total Annihilation Challenge (TAC) | Russian | German | French | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| geoffw Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4689 days ago 1134 posts - 1865 votes  Speaks: English*, German, Yiddish Studies: Modern Hebrew, French, Dutch, Italian, Russian | Message 105 of 251 12 August 2013 at 6:25pm | IP Logged | ||
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SUPER CHALLENGE UPDATE - Added Dutch book entries
Another Dutch book complete. Yes, I did, at times, enjoy the Da Vinci Code, though I also am quite sympathetic to the point of view that this book is garbage, as well. Either way, it was engaging enough for me to finish and it helped me improve my reading skills and vocabulary. If you imagine it being aimed at a 12-year old audience (think Hardy Boys novels, if you're familiar), it becomes really quite a fun read. This weekend I also happened to catch an acquaintance speaking Dutch to his kid. Apparently, he's from the Netherlands! (This now makes three random Dutch-speaker encounters I've had in the US this past year.) We had a brief discussion in Dutch and English--which is probably my first "real conversation" experience in Dutch. Considering that it was unplanned, I'm satisfied with the results. We had somewhat common childhood experiences--I used to watch Dutch TV with German subtitles, whereas he used to watch German TV with Dutch subtitles. I'm now significantly deep into Harry Potter 7 in Dutch, as well. French practice continues, but mainly in the form of news articles online and brief TV sessions here and there. I've made some progress in The Two Towers, but that's long enough that I won't likely finish too soon. Ligue 1 is back! Here's hoping for more exciting PSG matches, and perhaps some more classic Ibrahimovic moments (before he's shipped off? Are they still looking to get rid of him? I still don't understand the logic behind that nonsense.) BOOKS (Italian): 3. ... FILMS, ETC. (Italian): 31. ... BOOKS (French): 18. ... FILMS, ETC. (French): 50. COMPLETE BOOKS (Dutch): 29-33. De Da Vinci Code FILMS, ETC. (Dutch): 50. COMPLETE I am not entered in any Super Challenge for German, but I also am still reporting for my log: BOOKS (German): 25. ... FILMS, ETC. (German): 75. Tagesschau (90 minutes) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| geoffw Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4689 days ago 1134 posts - 1865 votes Speaks: English*, German, Yiddish Studies: Modern Hebrew, French, Dutch, Italian, Russian | Message 106 of 251 12 August 2013 at 6:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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In other news, life threw me a curveball and I'm set to move to a new job now. During the interview it came up that
I speak German, and so several minutes were spent chatting in German. I'm happy to report that the interviewer (who also is a non-native speaker) "blinked" first and switched back to English. Later, at a social event with my soon-to-be colleagues, I met the other person at the company who speaks German. I think he meets the "near-native" test, perhaps. He's married to a German woman and speaks it at home with her and their kid. He gets a lot of business from Germany, and appears to have seen me as a possible asset to this business model. After speaking less than a minute with me, he offered to make German our default language of interaction, specifically so that I could continue to practice and improve my speaking. While a bit intimidating, I'll take that as a vote of confidence and an opportunity for growth. Naturally, I agreed. Exciting! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| geoffw Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4689 days ago 1134 posts - 1865 votes Speaks: English*, German, Yiddish Studies: Modern Hebrew, French, Dutch, Italian, Russian | Message 107 of 251 21 August 2013 at 4:27am | IP Logged | ||
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SUPER CHALLENGE UPDATE - Added Dutch book entries
Another big Dutch book complete. Having read Harry Potter so much recently I wasn't sure I'd still enjoy it, but I hadn't read number 7 except a long time ago in English, and I managed to really get into it. I'm starting to believe I might actually finish one of my challenges after all. Less than a thousand pages of Dutch to go, and I've got over a third of a year left... BOOKS (Italian): 3. ... FILMS, ETC. (Italian): 31. ... BOOKS (French): 18. ... FILMS, ETC. (French): 50. COMPLETE BOOKS (Dutch): 34-40. Harry Potter en de Relieken van de Dood FILMS, ETC. (Dutch): 50. COMPLETE I am not entered in any Super Challenge for German, but I also am still reporting for my log: BOOKS (German): 25. ... FILMS, ETC. (German): 75. ... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Hekje Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4704 days ago 842 posts - 1330 votes Speaks: English*, Dutch Studies: French, Indonesian | Message 108 of 251 21 August 2013 at 8:30pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hi geoffw! Nice log. I'm curious - why are you learning Dutch? It's not the typical pick
for a fellow American and I see you've been sticking with it for some time. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| geoffw Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4689 days ago 1134 posts - 1865 votes Speaks: English*, German, Yiddish Studies: Modern Hebrew, French, Dutch, Italian, Russian | Message 109 of 251 21 August 2013 at 10:16pm | IP Logged | ||
I often ask myself the same thing. As I said in one of my early posts, I started studying it on a whim. I've done that with many other languages, as well, but this is by far the longest I've stuck with one. I'm sure part of it is that it was so easy to make quick progress as a German and English speaker. It's harder to get discouraged. But I also found myself developing this emotional attachment to Dutch. I don't necessarily find it more "beautiful" than other languages or more part of my own background and culture, either, but I just can't seem to stay away from it for too long. By contrast, for some reason, I simply cannot make myself stay interested in Italian, despite easy gains there. Having just finished HP7 (just HP2 and 5 left to read in Dutch!), let's just say that "the wand chooses the wizard." BTW, I was lucky enough to have a Skype chat with Fasulye a few days ago, and in addition to speaking German, we had what I'm calling my first real Dutch conversation. As expected, I could understand every word she said, but my complete lack of speaking experience was very evident. I guess you have to start somewhere! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Hekje Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4704 days ago 842 posts - 1330 votes Speaks: English*, Dutch Studies: French, Indonesian | Message 110 of 251 22 August 2013 at 2:23am | IP Logged | ||
Ah yeah, I missed that. That's pretty funny and cool that you ended up studying it so serendipitously. I might be biased, but I also feel that Dutch has a weird X factor that draws me to it. Congratulations on your first real Dutch conversation over Skype! Hopefully the first of many to come. :-) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| geoffw Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4689 days ago 1134 posts - 1865 votes Speaks: English*, German, Yiddish Studies: Modern Hebrew, French, Dutch, Italian, Russian | Message 111 of 251 22 August 2013 at 3:33am | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks! Yes, it does all seem rather odd and serendipitous. I've never even been to the Benelux. Between
that, the whole "they all speak perfect English" thing, and the difficulty and cost of getting access to native materials, it's hard to understand why I've remained so motivated. Mystical, almost. At one point I actually announced in my log that I was quitting Dutch, but it didn't last. Het is toch allemaal onbegrijpelijk, niet waar? Leuk dat je mijn log aan het lezen bent, en nogmaals bedankt. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Hekje Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4704 days ago 842 posts - 1330 votes Speaks: English*, Dutch Studies: French, Indonesian | Message 112 of 251 22 August 2013 at 6:12am | IP Logged | ||
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Wauw! Denk je dat je ooit naar Nederland zal komen? Als je wel bij Nederland op bezoek
komt zal iedereen héél erg onder de indruk raken. Ze zouden toch niet weten wat ze ermee moesten doen. Verder - geen dank, ik lees je logboek graag. Ik vind het altijd heel erg leuk om een medestudent tegen te komen (en weet echt niet hoe ik je logboek heb gemist!). 1 person has voted this message useful |
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