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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4525 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes  Studies: German | Message 249 of 295 01 April 2015 at 11:57pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Thanks! I haven't done any tests, so my level is mostly guesswork. I think for comprehension it's somewhere in the B2+/C1- range. A few months ago I counted up the number of words I knew in a series of standard novels and estimated that I knew about 98% of the words present, which would indicate that my vocabulary (v. roughly) is somewhere around 7000-8000 words. 98% is good, but it still means that I don't know about five words per page. So long as a book isn't too poetic I can read it now without a dictionary - though using a pop-up dictionary on a Kindle can make things easier. I can read newspapers, but it's not super pleasant. I have to force myself a bit. Watching movies is not difficult anymore. There are certain situations where my understanding drops, but most cases my understanding is >99%. The hardest thing for me to understand is native German programming, partly because accents vary a bit, and local expressions can be used. Austrian actors who speak Hochdeutsch are quite difficult for me to understand, for instance. On the other hand, I recently was attending a birth preparation course with my wife, and had no trouble following things (though of course there are gaps for specific low frequency words). At this point I know I'll learn German just from interacting with it without any other aids (like a dictionary). All I need to do is read and listen. I still have lots of gaps, but I know they will fill in just from using the language. The biggest problem I have speaking is that while the meaning of a great many phrases I hear are quite transparent to me, I don't automatically come up with the same formulations when I speak. So my spoken language must is somewhat stilted/unnatural/ungrammatical. I assume this is largely a matter of exposure - but you need a lot of it to start sounding really natural (think years). I mostly only speak German with my wife, which is semi-helpful. She understands me very well and so even if my German is pretty bad, she still understands what I am getting at, so it's hard to improve in that situation. If I was forced to talk to a lot of strangers for a few months I am sure my spoken German would improve quite rapidly. Still when I hang-out with other Germans I can make myself understood quite well on a lot of different topics. Edited by patrickwilken on 02 April 2015 at 12:02am 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| BAnna Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4614 days ago 409 posts - 616 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish Studies: Russian, Turkish | Message 250 of 295 02 April 2015 at 2:27am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Great work as usual! Your log is always a pleasure to read.
Hope all goes well with the birth of your daughter. Welcome to her in case I miss your big announcement since it's rather infrequent that I come onto the forum these days. I've been hearing about the crazy weather in Germany, hope that improves soon. The Swiss and Austrian variations of Hochdeutsch definitely take some getting used to, though I'm rather thankful for all the varieties of accent/dialect because it doesn't make my own strangely-accented German seem so bad. The best compliment I ever received from a German was that I sound like a foreigner, but not an American. Of course, that probably says more about the lack of skills of my fellow countrymen rather than my own ability to mimic a German accent. I read the book of "Als wir traümten" and it was great. I'll have to check out the movie if we ever get it over here. I speak Spanish with my husband, and just as you say, he understands me quite well even if I mangle things, so it's good to make the effort with strangers in order to get a more accurate picture of the gaps. Cheers! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4525 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 251 of 295 02 April 2015 at 12:57pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
I was once asked if I was Norwegian so I guess that's something!
If you read the book you'll probably like the movie. It was filmed entirely in Leipzig, and I pretty sure the author was extensively involved in the production. You might like this interview that was recently published with the author: Leipzig: Wo gibt’s das noch? Edited by patrickwilken on 02 April 2015 at 12:58pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4525 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 252 of 295 01 May 2015 at 6:55pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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April 2015
In April I read 432 pages and watched 38 films. My daughter was born on April 4, and so last few weeks have been pretty busy with non-German learning. :) I have managed to find an hour or two in the evenings to watch a film or show before bed, but not much more. I did manage to read one (bad scifi) novel last week. Surprisingly I am finding the newspaper Die Zeit relatively easy to read now days so I have started reading an article or two on mornings my daughter decides to sleep in. I currently need to read 732 pages a month to meet my 10000 page goal this year, which seems doable so long as I pick straightforward books to read. I have an interview for a possible admin position at the University of Leipzig later this month. It will depend a bit on my level of German so it should be an interesting practical test. We'll see. 
Books 56. Redshirts. John Scalzi. 432 Seiten. Ebook. Highly over-rated scifi. 2/10. Movies 880. Pusher II: Respect (2004). Mubi. 9/10. 879. Pusher (1996). Mubi. 8/10. 873-878. Daredevil - Season 1 - 13 Episodes (2015). Netflix. 7/10. 863-872. Fringe Season 3 - 22 Episodes (2010). Netflix. 6/10. 862. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997). Mubi. 5/109 861. Drug War (Du zhan - 2012). Mubi. It probably loses some of it's power when dubbed. 6/10. 860. The American (2010). Netflix. Nice to be able to watch this with +99% understanding. 8/10. 855-859. Better Call Saul - Season 1 - 10 Episodes. Netflix. 6/10. 845-854. Fringe Season 2 - 22 Episodes (2009). Netflix. 8/10. 844. Midnight in Paris (2011). Netflix. 6/10. 843. Dune (1984). Netflix. Campy Lynch fun. 7/10. 842. Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn (2012). Netflix. 3/10. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5001 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 253 of 295 02 May 2015 at 3:32pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Congratulations! Those are some awesome news! I wish lots of health, love and patience to
you and your whole family, you are certainly gonna need it all. I am surprised you manage to find "that much" free time with a newborn in the house. Well, I remembered they are not that bad in the first weeks, they still sleep a lot. But right after those... So, a common htlal question: What languages are you gonna teach your daughter? :-D 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4525 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 254 of 295 03 May 2015 at 1:09pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Cavesa, Thanks! You can check out a couple of photographs here: Morgens First 1/2 hour after birth
Actually we are pretty lucky. It is a bit tiring, but so long as you can sleep in in 4 hour periods things are pretty good. In the evenings I just watch a show or movie before bed. Actually, was a major motivation to improve my German over the last six months. I want to be able to talk to my daughter in her first language! So whatever happens I need to find time to keep improving my German.
We'll she'll obviously learn German as her first language, followed by English. At this point we are just going to use both languages in the house and see how it goes. I'll read books to her in English and my wife in German (we've already started to collect some really great German children's books). I have a certain desire to learn Spanish in a couple of years when my German is a bit stronger. It's definitely our favorite country to visit in Europe so perhaps we'll try to learn Spanish as a family at some point. Kristina already is intermediate in Italian so it should be relatively easy for her to pick-up. But let's get the first two languages under way first. Ultimately, Lucy will decide which languages she wants anyway... ;) Edited by patrickwilken on 03 May 2015 at 1:14pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Clarity Groupie United States Joined 3514 days ago 85 posts - 107 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 255 of 295 03 May 2015 at 8:00pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Congratulations PatrickWilken and welcome to the world, Baby Lucy! Thanks for those links to pictures of her. She is precious! Given the resources at her fingertips, she could probably sign up for the polyglot conference by the age of five. ;)
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| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4525 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 256 of 295 03 May 2015 at 10:00pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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One thing we are thinking of doing is trying to teach her baby sign language, which while it sounds a bit crazy is meant to be quite effective for children from about nine months onwards. Basically will give her a way of communicating more clearly with us before her vocal language skills develop better.
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