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German: massive input in Berlin | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4534 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes  Studies: German | Message 89 of 295 02 February 2014 at 12:25am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Anna thanks for dropping by. :)
I often think that people exaggerate the advantages of learning when you are living in your L2 country, but it definitely is useful to be able to go to a video store, of the local library (I can borrow up to +20 DVDs from the library at one go here), or go the cinema to see a film. I have paid a monthly pass to the Yorck arthouse cinema group here in Berlin and try to get to the cinema 2-3 times a week. Most of the films are dubbed, but catch most of the German films that have come out. By far the best German film I've seen in the last 12 months is 'Oh, Boy' so if you get a chance to see it do. It's not super-deep or heavy, but it's got a nice pace and really captures Berlin well. I am holding off seeing the German classics until I am closer to C1, because I want to understand the subtlety of the films better. I am really looking forward to getting into Fassbinder, for instance. What is a bit annoying is that I'll be in Australia during the Berlin Biennale. Still can't complain about the weather.
I think that might be true. The two Murakami's I've read in German were good easy reads (Norwegian Wood is definitely worth a look if you haven't read it), but having said that I found Keroauc and the two Nesbø's straightforward too (the Harry Hole krimis are good). Though Murakami was a bit easier than the other two authors - the sentences are just more straightforward somehow.
I usually watch it with my wife on TV (who's an addict) or with her in a bar so I don't get a chance to use subtitles. There are in fact more than 60 bars in Berlin who show it live on Sunday evenings. Some even offer discounts on the appropriate regional beers. Edited by patrickwilken on 02 February 2014 at 12:29am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4534 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 90 of 295 02 February 2014 at 2:38pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I have been checking out this free open-source grammar checker that Doitsujin suggested: https://www.languagetool.org/.
It seems quite useful when writing German. It can be added as it both as an extension to LibreOffice and to Firefox. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| g-bod Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5983 days ago 1485 posts - 2002 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, German | Message 91 of 295 02 February 2014 at 4:03pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
I think in general translation from one language to another can lead to a certain amount of simplification. However, I think Murakami's writing style in Japanese is also very straight forward. I was put off reading him for a long time because I thought as it is "literature" it was bound to be difficult, but actually it's very accessible. I haven't read "Kitchen" yet in Japanese, but it's on my bookshelf looking at me, so I really ought to give it a go! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4534 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 92 of 295 03 February 2014 at 10:39am | IP Logged | ||||||||
I am not sure about the 'simplification' of text as it is translated. I think that really depends on the translator. What I found interesting with Murakami is that some of his books were translated into German from English, not Japanese, as it's cheaper to find English-German translators. After some criticism over the apparently bad job of translating the sex scenes (!) in the first German translation of 'South of the Border, West of the Sun' Murakami is now only be translated directly from Japanese. 
I don't know how much that holds for other books though. If anyone knows the current situation regarding translations in Germany I would be really interested to know. I am quite happy to read a direct translation, but even a good translation-of-a-translation seems to be getting too far away from the original author's voice. I do agree that reading translations in German can be easier, because the sentence structure of English (and Japanese?) tends to be shorter than the famously long German style, which makes a big difference when your vocabulary is still not sufficiently developed. Edited by patrickwilken on 03 February 2014 at 4:03pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6910 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 93 of 295 03 February 2014 at 1:53pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Fixed Murakami link
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| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4534 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 94 of 295 03 February 2014 at 4:03pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Thanks. I've fixed the original link now. To stop this blog getting cluttered with meta-posts, if you see a typo please feel free to PM me direct and I'll fix things immediately. Edited by patrickwilken on 03 February 2014 at 4:33pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4534 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 95 of 295 03 February 2014 at 7:49pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Germans love their crime novels, so if you are looking for something to read could do worse than check out the Deutscher Krimi Preis 2014.
The first prize winner, M, by Frederich Ani, involving a missing person's case in Munich looks like a fun read: 
It can be bought direct from the publishers, here: http://www.droemer-knaur.de/buch/7780528/m Edited by patrickwilken on 03 February 2014 at 7:52pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4534 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 96 of 295 04 February 2014 at 11:15am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Why I hate learning grammar explicitly:
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