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20 in 20 - learning log of the deranged | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5957 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes  Studies: French | Message 114 of 138 01 May 2011 at 8:19pm | IP Logged |
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Hey Jinx,
That would be neat, but I don't believe we will be heading out that way - likely heading mostly south from Paris through the Loire Valley and then down to southern France and back up through Lyon is the rough idea so far, though we are still sorting things out), but many thanks for the offer! Once we have figured out which two weeks we will be in Paris, I will post and if you happen to be out that way that would be really cool to meet (I will be the frightened, confused looking person with a 13 year daughter who is desparately trying to pretend we are not related. About the woman from Michel Thomas, I occasionally have nightmares of running into her and engaging in a conversation, during which she winds up giving me the same exasperated sigh of disappointment MT used to give her. Then I wake up screaming. Edited by Spanky on 01 May 2011 at 8:27pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5957 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes Studies: French | Message 115 of 138 01 May 2011 at 8:25pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks Kuikentje,
Normandy does look really nice - my guess is that we will not be heading out that way, but many thanks for the suggestion and I welcome as many suggestions as possible, as we have not been out to Europe before and we are still sorting out places to visit. Regrettably, as much as I like gardens, I am a menace at gardening. On quiet days, I can almost hear plants crying out in fear on the rare occasions they see my approaching, and plants have been known to fall over sideways just to spite my occasional efforts at growing anything. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5957 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes Studies: French | Message 116 of 138 30 June 2011 at 8:59am | IP Logged |
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To excerpt and paraphrase Yeats somewhat:
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. A shape with lion body and the head of a man, A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds. And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Paris, France (including Eurodisney) to be born? In other words, Spanky's big French vacation is about to happen: on July 2nd we zoom out from Vancouver, brief stop-over in Montreal and then to the in-laws' couch in Paris for a couple of weeks, then rent a Ferrari or something similar (Citroens are just like Ferraris, right?) for a wild ride down through Lyon to Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, Carcassone, Bordeux and then back, if I have not by then worn out our welcome, to a comfy couch in Paris again, leaving (either with relief at exiting that country where everyone speaks a strange language, or with a broken heart at having to leave such a charming place) on July 25th back to the homeland. I have been working on some set phrases in French which may come of use - such as the French equivalents of the following: "where may a fellow like me find a bathroom around here" (for anywhere), "what's she all smiley about" (for the Louvre, when looking at Ms. Mona Lisa) and "That ticking noise? That is probably only an alarm clock my friend" (when speaking with customs officials and airport security when trying to get on the planes). Mostly I expect to be saying a lot of the following, in English, to myself: "why did I not study French harder when I had a chance." Edited by Spanky on 30 June 2011 at 9:01am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5957 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes Studies: French | Message 117 of 138 27 July 2011 at 8:36pm | IP Logged |
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Back now from our little jaunt to France. Had a thrilling time. Even though our hosts were all either completely or functionally bilingual, I spoke mostly English in the apartment, but I tried speaking French everywhere else – on the streets, in stores and restaurants, on public transportation, even with those folks carrying automatic weapons at the airport. I found pretty much everyone, whether in Paris, the Loire valley or the south of France, very accommodating and supportive about my low level of French. As it was pretty easy to identify me as a non-native speaker, many of the conversations became a mix of French and English, but I got lots of practice in and hopefully improved a bit.
Loved Paris despite some of its challenges, and loved even more the rest of the country that we saw. Already desperately miss the breads. Still can’t believe what a blood sport driving a car in Paris can be, though the highways were great. Thrilled to have seen a tiny bit of the Tour de France, though I missed all the crashy parts. Note to family: if I ever go missing for an extended period of time, look for me in Avignon or perhaps Saint-Emilion. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5957 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes Studies: French | Message 118 of 138 05 December 2011 at 8:09am | IP Logged |
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I would love to be able to report that despite my absence from posting updates in this
log over the last few months, I have been busy with some interesting language studies, but nope. Hoping to pick things up again soon, make the 2012 calendar year my German year and poke around a bit more with French. In the best of all possible worlds, I would like to pick up and finish the Heisig's Remembering the Kanji project by the end of 2012. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5957 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes Studies: French | Message 119 of 138 30 December 2011 at 7:22pm | IP Logged |
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I have now joined, for the first time ever, a TAC team - the Freutsch folks, all of who are stronger, faster and more aerodynamic than me, so at least for perhaps two months I will have the very considerable benefit of access to lots of folks who can correct and improve my struggling French and my (at present) non-existent German.
I figure after a couple of months, they will all come to their collective senses and throw me to the wolves to fend for myself (lord knows I would do the same), but until then, I am looking forward to an accelerated learning opportunity and (though I have said this plenty of times previously) to a revival of the 20 in 20 project. I know just enough French at present to satisy the 20-in-20 protocol (enough to order a coffee, a beer and un jambon-beurre) and I am hoping, by the end of 2012, to have learned enough German to understand exactly why I am being thrown out of the local Oktoberfest next October. Japanese is still slated for my third FL after French and German, and I figure that if I learn 6 kanji per day over 2012, I will get through Heisig's Remembering the Kanji by year's end, and have at least the characters in my back pocket when I start studying Japanese in 2013. I previously worked through about 200 of the kanji, so the first month will mostly be reviewing kanji previously studied (and hopefully still mostly remembered). Edited by Spanky on 30 December 2011 at 7:50pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Jinx Triglot Senior Member Germany reverbnation.co Joined 5694 days ago 1085 posts - 1879 votes Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Catalan, Dutch, Esperanto, Croatian, Serbian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Italian, Spanish, Yiddish | Message 120 of 138 12 January 2012 at 3:12pm | IP Logged |
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Hi Spanky,
sehr schön, dass du auch dabei bist! Ich freue mich schon total auf dieses Jahr. :) (It's awesome that you're on the team! I am so looking forward to this year.) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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