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Slow Learning: FR, HI, ancGR TAC 2015

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plumbem!
Groupie
United States
Joined 3634 days ago

44 posts - 72 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Dutch, French

 
 Message 121 of 164
03 January 2015 at 2:11pm | IP Logged 
Hello! And thanks for the support! To answer your question, I am in the south of France
WWOOFing (working on organic farms in exchange for room and board)

I will be following your log here and hope we both have a good year. Some thoughts:

1)After seeing a few people posting about it, I am kind of getting interested in the super
challenge now...

2)I have access to Hugo advanced French too, so I'd be interested to see how you find it

3)A MOOC is a great idea too, I should look into that.

4) I would one day like to pick up a little ancient Greek for reading purposes and am curious
if its given you any cool insights into French etymology. Its already amazing the synergies
one finds between French and English but they are a bit closer. Its nice too see the
diversity you've got going.
4 persons have voted this message useful



Jeffers
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 4910 days ago

2151 posts - 3960 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German

 
 Message 122 of 164
03 January 2015 at 4:49pm | IP Logged 
plumbem! wrote:
1)After seeing a few people posting about it, I am kind of getting interested in the super challenge now...


The Super Challenge has definitely been the driving factor in keeping me going with all 3 of the languages I'm actively learning. I know I won't complete my Hindi and Ancient Greek challenges this time, but just trying has made me work more on them then I otherwise would have. But just wait till next time, when I finish four full challenges! (Yeah, right!)
1 person has voted this message useful



liam.pike1
Groupie
Australia
Joined 3755 days ago

84 posts - 122 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish, Esperanto, French

 
 Message 123 of 164
04 January 2015 at 8:43am | IP Logged 
Bonjour teammate!

Thanks again for leading the French team... I really look forward to the year ahead!
Your log will probably be the one which I'll check up on most regularly.

Also, something random: I happened to read a couple of pages back that you have the old Teach Yourself Beginner's German, and that you plan to check it out soon... I just so happened to be flicking through my parents' old version last night! (well, this morning actually hehe)

Au revoir
2 persons have voted this message useful



PeterMollenburg
Senior Member
AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5477 days ago

821 posts - 1273 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: FrenchB1

 
 Message 124 of 164
06 January 2015 at 11:59pm | IP Logged 
Salut copain ! Ça va ? Je voudrais tout simplement de te dire... 'bonne chance pour cette année hein !'

Pour moi, quand je vois tes objectifs pour cette année je veux tout simplement que tu puisses gérer tous tes
langues en même temps. Et je dis ça avec optimisme parce que je sais que c'est possible et je te souhaite
bonne chance en les gérant ensemble. Moi aussi j'aimerais étudier l'allemand, mais pas encore. Alors bonne
chance avec tous tes langues, mais le français (bien sûr) et l'allemand m'intéresseront plus cette année :)

--------------------------------------------------

Hey mate! How's things ? I simply wanted to say to you 'good luck for this year hey!'

For me, when I look at your goals for this year I simply want that you be able to manage all your languages at
the same time. And i say that optimistically as I know it is possible and I wish you good luck in managing
them all together. I also would like to study German, but not yet. So, good luck with all your languages, but
French (of course) and German will interest me more this year.
2 persons have voted this message useful



Jeffers
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 4910 days ago

2151 posts - 3960 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German

 
 Message 125 of 164
07 January 2015 at 8:27am | IP Logged 
Thanks. The balance has always been elusive, but I'll keep looking for it.
1 person has voted this message useful



Light
Newbie
Canada
Joined 4426 days ago

30 posts - 42 votes
Speaks: English*
Studies: French

 
 Message 126 of 164
10 January 2015 at 1:08am | IP Logged 
Jeffers wrote:
My purpose in writing first is that when I speak, I spend too much time thinking of what I want to say and how I would go about saying it. I am a bit of a perfectionist like that. Some people say, just go for it and speak, but I am just not that kind of person, and I can get tongue-tied even in my own language. Writing will enable me to take the time to think about what I want to say, and how to say it correctly.


I'm very much the same way, and will probably follow a similar path.

Do you agree that we are naturally repetitive with the way we use language? I think to some extent it is inherent in the language, but also that we each have our own voice. A lot of the words we use is just fluff and filler that helps us get to our point eventually. While we can write in a concise manner I believe it's good to learn some of that fluff as it makes it easier to speak. In speaking, it's not about getting your point across as much as it is moving up that hill to finally get there.
1 person has voted this message useful



Jeffers
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 4910 days ago

2151 posts - 3960 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German

 
 Message 127 of 164
10 January 2015 at 7:02pm | IP Logged 
First update of the year!

French reading

My most proud moment: finishing Les orpaillerus, by Thierry Jonquet. This novel is the first fully adult book I've read in French (considering Le Petit Nicolas books as children's books for adults). It totalled about 400 pages, and every page had an average of maybe 10 words or phrases I didn't know. I used my kindle dictionary while reading, but there was still almost one word on each page that even the dictionary couldn't look up. It was difficult, but satisfying, and overall it was an enjoyable experience. The story begins with a dead body discovered in an abandoned apartment, rolled up in a carpet and with a hand cut off. The police are soon on to something bigger than a simple murder. The story has its twists and turns, but nothing incredibly surprising. However, "nothing surprising" also means a more believable policier, focused more on the characters than on unbelievable twists.

I was thinking of following this up with Moloch, a darker novel by the same author, with the same characters. However, I'll give myself a break for a little while and read some easier books. I've started La planète des singes, which I read in the English translation a year or two ago. It's my second "grown up" French novel, but it's a lot easier to read than Les orpailleurs was. I also plan to get another Petit Nicolas book, since there are still 2 or 3 available on Kindle I haven't read, and they are always a lot of fun.

French watching

On New Year's day I watched the last 3 episodes of La commanderie, a so-so series which takes place in medieval France. The series was promising to begin with, but got a bit stupid near the end. It was watchable, but it's not surprising they didn't make a second series.

Another series I've been enjoying lately is Candice Renoir. It's more of a fun policier about a mother divorcing her husband, who has gone back to the police after being a housewife for 10 years. My wife rarely watches shows with subtitles, but after watching an episode with me, she's been watching the rest of the series with me.

I'm looking forward to watching the first two episodes of Engrenages, saison 5 on BBC tonight. I liked series 1-4, with a few reservations. I hope this series is at least as good as the others.

French listening
I'm continuing to enjoy Au coeur de l'histoire, and have listened to two interesting podcasts (one of them twice). Generally speaking, I get a lot more out of these podcasts the second time round.

French courses
I've done a bit of Lingvist and a bit of Duolingo most days since the beginning of the year. I've also listened to a few chapters of Pimsleur IIIb, and done some work in FSI unit 8.

Hindi and Ancient Greek
कुछ नहीं and τίποτε (nothing and nothing).

Edited by Jeffers on 10 January 2015 at 7:04pm

2 persons have voted this message useful



Iolanthe
Diglot
Senior Member
Netherlands
Joined 5642 days ago

410 posts - 482 votes 
Speaks: English*, DutchC1
Studies: Turkish, French

 
 Message 128 of 164
10 January 2015 at 7:50pm | IP Logged 
Congratulations on reading your first adult book! I remember when I reached that point in
Dutch I went on a tadoku reading binge and after that my listening comprehension started
to improve dramatically. It's a pretty important milestone.

And I'd never heard of 'La commanderie' but I might give it a go even if you found the
ending disappointing since I love historical fiction. Do you know of any other historical
series ('Un village français' aside)?


2 persons have voted this message useful



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