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Solfrid Cristin TAC 2012 Team Sputnik | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5332 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes  Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 73 of 270 17 February 2012 at 11:27pm | IP Logged |
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@ Thanks teango, tarvos and Fabriziocarrero
@ Tecktight: I am glad you enjoy my posts. I assume that just reading how many hours I had studied would not be very readable. And I am happy to serve as inspiration. This 6WC has really brought my competitive side into overdrive, and I am enjoying finding time where there is none. THIRD WEEK OF FEBRUARY, THIRD WEEK OF THE 6WC I have to start telling you a cute story. I am listening to Pimsleur every morning, and my kitten Angel is often with me. This morning my husband came into the bathroom a few seconds after I had left, and observed the kitten lying in the wash basin, in a very cool, laid back posture, listening to my Russian tapes. He couldn't help but laugh, saying "Leave it to you to find a kitten who enjoys his Russian lessons". The taxi for the airport picks us up in 5 hours, so I had better make a very quick update. This has again been a very productive week. If I could only manage to study this much on a regular basis, I would really get somewhere. Of course I would have no friends, family or social life, and I would not know if a nuclear bomb hit London, but that is another matter. I have made great plans for the holiday. IPod with Sosedi and Assimil on the plane, train and bus, TY Russian grammar book at takeoff and landing when no electronic equipment is allowed, Russian grammar exercises when I am lying on my stomach sunbathing, and CD player with Michel Thomas and Pimsleur when I am lying on my back. And Spanish conversation with every camarero, bartender or receptionist I see, whether he is handsome or not. If I could catch any Russian tourists, I would be in Nirvana, but probably there will just be other boring Scandinavians at the hotel. I was considering sedating my husband in the morning so that I would get a couple of hours study time , but then I remembered, that as long as he goes to bed happy, he can sleep until 3 in the afternoon, so that probably won’t be necessary. Have a great week, everyone!! Studies this week: Russian: 29,20 minutes German: 2 hours 30 minutes English : 18 Hours 15 minutes Spanish: 1 hour 25 minutes Total this year: Russian: 102 h 45 min German: 16 h 05 minutes Greek: 2h 10 min Spanish: 10 h 20 English: 50 h 05 minutes French: 40 minutes Italian: 3h 30 minutes Icelandic:20 minutes Mandarin: 45 minutes Ukrainian: 30 minutes Arabic: 1 hour and 5 minutes 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| fabriciocarraro Hexaglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member Brazil russoparabrasileirosRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4713 days ago 989 posts - 1454 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, EnglishB2, Italian, Spanish, Russian, French Studies: Dutch, German, Japanese | Message 74 of 270 18 February 2012 at 4:01am | IP Logged |
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Wow, it seems that you've figured all out! I wish you a great trip and lots of studies, Cristina! =)
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| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5332 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 75 of 270 28 February 2012 at 10:36pm | IP Logged |
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FORTH WEEK OF FEBRUARY FORTH WEEK OF THE 6WC
The good news: I have done tons of studies over the last week. The bad news: It literally made me sick. Saturday I came back from my holiday on the Canary Island, and I had really worked my tail off, putting as much Russian, and languages in general into my schedule as was humanly possible. I got up a couple of hours before everyone else and did Russian, I had my iPod on with Russian when doing what little housework there was to be done, I read Russian while sunbathing, and my only breaks were when we were out walking or shopping, and even then I would ususally end up talking to masses of Spaniards, and going through the story of how I learned Spanish for the umpteenth time. It is the only thing my husband understands in Spanish, because he has heard it so often. Even sleepless night were spent on Russian, and on the flights to and fro I did not even take time off to read the newspaaper. Several of those around me asked me what I was doing, since I hardly had time to eat. We came home on Saturday close to midnight, and I decided to see how I was doing in the 6WC. I realized that I was only 35 minutes away from being second, and I thought, hey, 35 minutes, I can do that! And had I not gotten up early that day, travelled for 12 hours and studied insane amounts of Russian already, and most importantly, had it not already been 00.45 in the morning, it might have been a good idea. As it was, I was done at around 01. 30 in the morning, and got up again 5 hours later, with a head ache, to do a couple of more hours of Russian. When I had finished that I tried to find some pain killers, realized I was out of them, and a few hour later I had a full migraine attack. After that, a 24 hours break was simply a neccesity, so yesterday I just did my Russian classes, and only today I was back to my regular routine. I'll sum up the week's study time tomorrow, but for today, I just take things slowly. Edited by Solfrid Cristin on 11 March 2012 at 8:34pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6595 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 76 of 270 29 February 2012 at 12:41am | IP Logged |
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Ohhh good to know you do that too! XDDD
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| Kerrie Senior Member United States justpaste.it/Kerrie2 Joined 5393 days ago 1232 posts - 1740 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 77 of 270 29 February 2012 at 1:15am | IP Logged |
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I hope you feel better soon, Cristina!
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| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5332 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 78 of 270 11 March 2012 at 10:21pm | IP Logged |
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@Serpent and @Kerrie: Thanks for your kind thoughts!
FIRST TWO WEEKS OF MARCH - WEEK 5 AND 6 OG THE 6WC Well technically, it is into the 6th week of the 6WC, and I am now really longing for the challenge to come to its end. My husband is ready to divorce me after basically having seen me with my nose in a book, or listened to me repeating Russian sentences at all hours for almost 6 weeks. I considered doing a "A fish called Wanda" on him, but I am afraid that at this point, it wouldn't have worked. He has heard too much Russian already. I started looking at my numbers for the last three weeks, and then I understood both why I felt like my vacation in Spain had been an immersion camp in Russia, and why I am so tired that I am calling off parties now. I need to curb my competitive gene for the next 6W challenge. Studies 18-26th February (related to last post): Russian: 45 h 40 m English : 14 h 50 m Spanish: 5 h 55 m As stated, this was an extreme week, when I decided that I would give all I had into my studying since I was on vacation. Not really to be recommended. I did get my butt off the ground with Assimil though. I seemed to be getting nowhere with that, and had not really done much with it for ages, but that week first I revised 5 chapters which I more or less knew already, and then I was able to add almost 15 new chapters. Studies February 27th- March 4th Russian: 20h 55m English : 21 h 20 m Spanish: 25 h m My Russian numbers were more normal, as I got back into a normal working routine, but a visit from my American relatives sent my English hours way up. It was lovely seeing them again, since I had not been to the US since the mid 80ies, but you get pretty tired speaking a foreign language for hours and hours, not to mention being responsible for organizing a family convention with all the practical details and translate for less confident cousins, who do not speak English. Anyone who believes everybody speaks English in Norway is welcome to meet some of my cousins. They are great, but they are not exactly globe trotters. Studies 5th-11th of March 11, 2012 Russian: 25 h 05 m English : 37 h 45 m Spanish: 35 m A part from a royal overdose of Veronica Mars (the kids and I love it, and now my husband is hooked as well, so when it is cold outside and we are all tired, we can sweep through masses of episodes. We have done all three seasons since we got home from Spain) the week was pretty average. The only thing out of the ordinary was that I was to give a lecture on historical roses, and had to drive to Askim, which is the Norwegian counterpart to Inner Mongolia. Now normally, driving there would not have been a big deal, but on that particular day everything worked against me. We suddenly had a snowfall of almost 20 cm, I had forgotten my driving glasses, and between the dark, the snow and my lack of glasses I struggled to see the road signs, and got lost a couple of times. I also found out that I was out of petrol, and had to go to a gas station to fill her up, and when I had paid I couldn’t find the keys to the car. By the time I found them (I had left them in the car) I was really late, and then the traffic was really slow, because there was a snow plough in front of us, and just one lane in each direction, so it was not possible to bypass it. All this meant that even though I had planned to reach the place where the lecture was given half an hour before we were to start, I arrived one minute before we started. And then we could not get the projector and my PC to talk to each other. I ended up talking for 30 minutes without any visual back up until they could make them cooperate. I swear that if I had not had Michel Thomas Russian to keep me company in the car I would have gone insane. Going back it would not have mattered if I had had glasses, because all the road signs were absolutely covered in snow, so I had to guess where I was supposed to drive. Not a big success. I was so exhausted that when I got home I had to ask my husband to come and park the car, and help me down from the garage. Given that the garage is 4o meters from my front door that is not a request he has ever had before, but I was afraid that I would not physically make it out of the car, my back hurt so much. Boy was I glad to have the next day off! So the total numbers are getting quite satisfactory: Total this year: Russian: 194 h 25 min German: 16 h 05 minutes Greek: 2h 10 min Spanish: 17 h 15 English: 124 h French: 40 minutes Italian: 3h 30 minutes Icelandic:20 minutes Mandarin: 45 minutes Ukrainian: 30 minutes Arabic: 1 hour and 5 minutes Edited by Solfrid Cristin on 11 March 2012 at 10:23pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5332 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 79 of 270 17 March 2012 at 11:57pm | IP Logged |
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12th to 17th of March So in order to make my life a bit easier, I'll write my updates on Saturday evening, for the next couple of weeks, so that I can align it with the Tadoku challenge. My numbers for the past week - although a short week - reflect the fact that I was studying like mad for the first days, and then moved around like a zombie for the next ones. The numbers for the week are: Russian: 22.45 hours English: 7,45 hours Spanish: 2. 05 hours Since the Tadoko challenge starts in three minutes, I expect my numbers for German will rise significantly, as that is my main focus language for the challenge, but I am also hoping that I will be able to take the leap in Russian, and that I will get as far as Italian. I have said I will do 1000 pages of German before I start reading Italian, in order not to let myself fall into the temptation to do only Italian, but to stay focused on German. And that is when I saw that the more experienced Tadoko participants had put their total goal at a 1000 pages. OK. Here we go!! Total this year: Russian: 217 h 10 min German: 16 h 05 minutes Greek: 2h 10 min Spanish: 19 h 20 English: 131 h 05 minutes French: 40 minutes Italian: 3h 30 minutes Icelandic:20 minutes Mandarin: 45 minutes Ukrainian: 30 minutes Arabic: 1 hour and 5 minutes 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5332 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 80 of 270 25 March 2012 at 11:28pm | IP Logged |
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It has been - a busy week… I have read over 900 pages in German, and I am gaining reading speed, even though I am still nowhere near the super fast reading I can do in Norwegian, and the fairly fast reading I can do in English and Spanish. More importantly, it does not feel cumbersome to read German anymore. I have never read so much German, in such a short time before, and it really does help enormously. As I mentioned last week, I decided to enter with Italian as one of the three languages in the Tadoku challenge, and in order not to go to what I assumed would be an easier language; I decided to do at least 1000 pages German before I allowed myself to read any Italian. I am getting close to that, but I still have a couple of hundred pages left in the book I am currently reading, so I’ll just finish that before I switch.
I am glad I made that decision though, because I do not think I would have made so much progress if I had done only a couple of hundred pages and then switched. For the next Tadoku challenge I will however make sure that I have suitable material. The first book I read, was about a young widow who took her young son to the countryside, met a new man, myriads of complications ensued, and then there was a happy ending. Now I usually enjoy chick lit, but the “heroine” was so thoroughly stupid and irrational, that I felt like personally strangling her. The most commonly used word was "albern", which sums the whole book up perfectly. I picked up a few other words though: "Schnappschuss" (Snapshot?), "der Lövenanteil des Arbeit" (the biggest part/share of the work), "Korkenzieherlocken" (I do not know an English word for that, as I assume there is no such word as "Cork screw curls"? We have the same word in Norwegian though, so to us it makes perfect sense. And then at one point they said "Tausend Dank", which also makes perfect sense in Norwegian, but which I did not know you could say in German. The next book is a crime novel, and it was actually so unpleasant in the beginning, that I went to the library to get something different. The library was closed, so I stuck by it, and fortunately it has improved. It is called “Das andre Kind”, and I am hoping that I am wrong about who the murderer is. I usually prefer to be kept guessing, and if the writer is so sloppy that I managed to guess it after 1/4th of the book, I will be disappointed. Otherwise I have had two meetings with Russian girls this week, which both were very nice as far as human relations goes, but almost a total waste of time as far as language learning goes. In the first case, Nadia, I visited her for 4 hours, and the only Russian I heard was when she talked to her husband on the phone. The other one, Irina, I met up with for 5 hours, and we did possibly 40 minutes worth of Russian. I really liked both of them though, so I will keep in touch. At the very least I’ll get two new friends, and if I am lucky I will get speaking partners once I start speaking more Russian. Russians are really direct though. I have been asking my teacher at Berlitz again and again, to correct me every time that I make any mistakes with the pronunciation, and she always claims I have a very good pronunciation. Irina, however, just said: “We have a lot of work to do with your pronunciation. You do not sound Russian at all!” So my ego got severely bruised, but I am hoping that it is just she who is a perfectionist. I guess the bright side is that if my pronunciation is as bad as she says, she’ll help me fix it. She claimed that the common greeting was not pronounced “Zdrastvutje”, but “Drastvutje”. My Russian teacher said that it had to be some kind of dialect, and that she had never heard it pronounced like that, What do you guys say? I know Irina has spent a lot of time in Estonia, so perhaps she is influenced by that? My numbers this week reflect the serious commitment to German under the Tadoku challenge, I had done very little with German so far, and since it is one of my three focus languages, I am really happy that I have managed to do more. I try to note it all down on Twitter, but yesterday, when I did Spanish conversation for 90 minutes, I clean forgot to write it down, and I forget to write down a lot of the English I do during the week. When I am not in a challenge, it just slips by. I have quite enjoyed the series called “Broen” this week. It is half in Swedish and half in Danish, so it is perfect to keep me on my toes linguistically in those two languages. German: 20 hours 10 minutes Russian: 8 hours 40 minutes Spanish 2 hours .05 minutes English: 3 hours 25 minutes Swedish/Danish 6 hours. Total this year: Russian: 225 h 50 min German: 36 h 45 minutes Greek: 2h 10 min Spanish: 21 h 25 English: 134 h 30 minutes French: 40 minutes Italian: 3h 30 minutes Icelandic:20 minutes Mandarin: 45 minutes Ukrainian: 30 minutes Arabic: 1 hour and 5 minutes Swedish/Danish 10 hours Well everyone, have a great week! Edited by Solfrid Cristin on 25 March 2012 at 11:30pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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