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Sg1’s TAC2013 Pax Log | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| sillygoose1 Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 4638 days ago 566 posts - 814 votes  Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: German, Latin | Message 41 of 57 09 October 2013 at 8:46pm | IP Logged |
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It's been awhile!
French: I made a lot of progress if I do say so myself. I've been working on French everyday since my last post in early May. I've watched many shows, movies, and L/Red many books. Just about everything is comprehensible to me now. I can watch shows with 80-95% comprehension. There was one show however called "Maison Close" which was sort of tough because of the old words and how they filmed it. Probably also because I was using English subs which took away from my concentration. After I finish the rest of Les Revenants, Kaamelott, & Bref, I'm going to take a break from watching for a bit in favor of more reading I think. Maybe a movie here or there. Now that I've reached a very comfortable level in comprehension, I'm satisfied for the moment. My goal by the end of the year is to read: Le Horla Les Particules Elementaires La Vampire Les Chants de Maldoror L'Iliade & l'Odyssee Spanish: I started to watch a show called Los Serrano & 7 vidas. The first episode of both I didn't catch much, but by the time I got to the second season, magic started happening. I realized how many gaps I had in my vocab, so I went back to L/R for a bit. Right now I'm working through Ficciones by Borges which is perplexing on its own, but harder for me due to all of the literary & specific vocab. Los Serrano/7 vidas started to get a little boring but I may tough it out until at least season 5. There's a huge gap between those sitcoms and a show like Fisica o Quimica which I want to watch, but is apparently the Spanish version of Skins. Books goals for the end of the year: La Eneida Leyendas Novelas Cortas La Condenada La Corte de Carlos IV I'm still aiming for a C1 level. Italian: Virtually untouched since May. If anything, I've forgotten most of what I studied. Fortunately, the internet is a great supplier of materials and Italian is close to French & Spanish. I'm still familiar with the grammar, so the hard part is getting vocab. More book goals!: La Contessa Di Karolystria Il ritratto del diavolo Cuore Aiming for B2 for the end of the year. It'll be a pinch, but hey it's still a goal to shoot for. German: Slogging through a reader, then Der Kleine Prinz. I couldn't do Perfectionnement anymore because it was way too tough. This is a language I really want to know, but hate learning it. And yet, I keep coming back to it. If I can get through Der Kleine Prinz, my reader, and Harry Potter 4 by next semester, that's a success to me. I'm hoping to reach A2 by December. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| sillygoose1 Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 4638 days ago 566 posts - 814 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: German, Latin | Message 42 of 57 10 October 2013 at 5:34pm | IP Logged |
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French:
Knocked out a few chapters of Les particules elementaires. Great story so far. I really wish modern French literature was as well put out & as good as this book. I looked up some terms which I'd long forgotten so that was good for me. Spanish: La Corte de Carlos IV. Well, it's one of those books that have all of those little words that make you feel like you're missing something big, but they have nothing to do with anything. I found myself looking up quite a few terms in the first chapter. It's written well, and although I'm progressing slowly, I'm enjoying it so far. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| sillygoose1 Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 4638 days ago 566 posts - 814 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: German, Latin | Message 43 of 57 14 October 2013 at 11:40pm | IP Logged |
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French:
Still going through Les particules elementaires. Awesome book. Once you read it, you no longer start to doubt why it was so controversial. But I'll be damned if I don't feel anything for the characters or the story. I picked up one of his newer books, La possibilite d'une ile, and a book of his poems. I'm really excited to get around to more authors soon as well. Spanish: Finished La corte de carlos iv. Realism isn't my thing. I'm going to start Contra El Viento del Norte by Daniel Glattauer, a German author, soon. I'm still going through 2666 by Roberto Bolano. I've been at it for a few months now with a large pause in between. I'm learning a lot of new vocab, and he is one of the best writers I've ever read. I have some of his others works like Putas Asesinas, and The Savage Detectives, which unfortunately I only found in English. Italian: Nothing yet German: Finished my reader, went back to Perfectionnement, and it's easier than before. Finished a lesson. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| sillygoose1 Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 4638 days ago 566 posts - 814 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: German, Latin | Message 44 of 57 15 October 2013 at 9:36pm | IP Logged |
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French:
Les particules starts to get really tough when it deals with science, but I don't really understand that in English either. I'm almost halfway through. Every page has maybe 1-2 unknown words. I give in and look them up anyway, regardless of breaking the flow or not. You never know when you may need one of those words. Picked up more books, although without audio. Basically some books to read for fun after I'm done with my audiobooks. I looked up books that had won prizes in the recent years in France and I decided on them. I have loads of books, movies, and series, so I need to resist to not get anything else! Always difficult to do. Spanish: Finished a chapter of Contra el viento del norte. It's a rather easy book that's helping me plug in some vocab gaps and get listening practice. The lack of subject pronouns really throws me off sometimes, especially because "I", "You", and "That" have the same conjugation in the present and imperfect tenses. Nothing too serious though. I've internalized more vocab that kept giving me trouble a few days ago, even after coming across them constantly. Progress is being made for sure! Italian: Oh Italian, I'll get to you after my French & Spanish audiobooks. German: Lesson 25 done. Words aren't sticking, but that's ok. The main learning comes through books, conversation, and tv. Thinking about starting some Russian & Japanese soon. We'll see. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Valy Newbie France Joined 4350 days ago 39 posts - 47 votes Speaks: French* Studies: English, German, Spanish, Mandarin | Message 45 of 57 16 October 2013 at 7:38am | IP Logged |
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Very interesting log !
Could you explain how you L-Red books for your French studies. Do you think this is what helped you most to come close to a 90% comprehension ? What is for you the most effective to increase your listening comprehension when you're already at an advanced level ? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| sillygoose1 Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 4638 days ago 566 posts - 814 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: German, Latin | Message 46 of 57 16 October 2013 at 2:08pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks!
I don't use parallel texts at all. I just use the foreign text and audio. I try to link every sentence in my head at the pace of the audio. Sometimes I get clustered and have to pause to re-read a sentence. But this also happens in English if it's a complex book. I think it's the best way to gain vocab definitely, but only by reading different books. I don't think it would be as effective if you're just using Harry Potter and nothing else. You need older books, children's books, mystery, philosophy, police, etc. Once I feel comfortable reading, I watch tv shows and movies without subs. This is what really raises your comprehension I believe. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Valy Newbie France Joined 4350 days ago 39 posts - 47 votes Speaks: French* Studies: English, German, Spanish, Mandarin | Message 47 of 57 16 October 2013 at 2:17pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks !
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| sillygoose1 Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 4638 days ago 566 posts - 814 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: German, Latin | Message 48 of 57 20 October 2013 at 8:02pm | IP Logged |
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French:
Made a lot of progress in les particules. I have about 1/3 left to go. Started watching Les Ch'tis a ibiza. The accent was different but not too bad. I'm still getting used to it. I'm thinking about taking this show up to season 3. I think there are Northern French & Belgians, so I'll be able to get accustomed to those accents by the end of the series. Belgian gave me a few problems in the past. I also have Un village francais lined up with French subs. Yay! Spanish: Working through Camera Cafe. It takes me back to when I started it for French. Not really understanding everything, but after a few weeks, it all becomes clear. I'm also working through a book/audiobook called Dime quien soy which is a very thick novel. There isn't too much unknown vocab which is good. I need to find a book that challenges my vocab level. I didn't look through the Millennium trilogy that I have for Spanish, but there should be some challenging vocab in there. I think I'll have to drop either German or Italian. Since my goal is always C1+, I don't know if I'll be able to take a fourth language to that level anymore. :( 1 person has voted this message useful |
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