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Gary’s 2015 TACtivation: FR, IT

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Cavesa
Triglot
Senior Member
Czech Republic
Joined 5011 days ago

3277 posts - 6779 votes 
Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1
Studies: Spanish, German, Italian

 
 Message 137 of 187
27 May 2015 at 5:36pm | IP Logged 
Thanks a lot for your bilingual posts, they are awesome! I wish I weren't lazy to do the
same.
2 persons have voted this message useful



garyb
Triglot
Senior Member
ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5209 days ago

1468 posts - 2413 votes 
Speaks: English*, Italian, French
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 138 of 187
01 June 2015 at 12:16pm | IP Logged 
Le priorità
Priorities

È l'inizio del mese di giugno, e finalmente ho deciso di saltare la sfida di iTalki per via delle priorità. In questo momento ci sono delle cose più importanti e vorrei sfruttare al meglio il mio tempo libero.

- La salute: dovrei trovare più tempo per il riposo, il sonno e la meditazione (che di recente mi aiuta molto), e evitare lo stress. Lo so che un po' di stress può far bene, ti spinge a raggiungere i tuoi scopi, ma adesso non credo che sia il caso. Ho già sfiorato l'esaurimento troppe volte negli ultimi anni.

- La musica mi è sempre più importante e vorrei avere abbastanza tempo da dedicare sia al mio gruppo che al mio sviluppo personale come musicista.

- Ho ricevuto i libri di cui parlavo e questo mese voglio iniziare per bene questo mio progetto della voce, il che richiederà qualche ora a settimana, le ore che altrimenti avrei usato per le lezioni.

Forse la prossima volta!

It's the beginning of June, and in the end I decided to give the iTalki challenge a miss because of priorities. At the moment there are more important things and I'd like to put my free time to the best use.

- Health: I should find more time for rest, sleep, and meditation (which recently is helping me a lot), and avoid stress. I know that a bit of stress can be good, it pushes you to achieve your goals, but I don't think now is the right time. I've already come close to burn-out too many times in the last few years.

- Music is more and more important to me and I'd like to have enough time to dedicate both to my band and to my personal development as a musician.

- I've received the books that I was talking about and this month I'd like to properly start this voice project of mine, which will require a few hours per week, the hours that I otherwise would have used for the lessons.

Maybe next time!


Emk ha spiegato bene un dilemma del francese che più o meno condividiamo. In breve, pensiamo di prendere lezioni per parlare meglio (lui nel contesto professionale, io in quello sociale), eppure se avessimo le occasioni di usare la lingua in quelli contesti non avremmo bisogno di lezioni! Mi viene di domandarmi se imparo francese perché voglio parlare con francofoni oppure se cerco di parlare con francofoni proprio perché imparo francese. Comunque per il momento mi accontento di usare il francese come lingua "passiva" mentre concentro sull'italiano parlato.

Emk explained a French dilemma well that we more or less share. In brief, we're thinking about taking lessons to speak better (him in a professional context, me in a social one), yet if we had the opportunities to use the language in those contexts we wouldn't need the lesssons! I find myself wondering whether I'm learning French because I want to speak with Francophones or I'm trying to speak with Francophones because I'm learning French. Anyway for the moment I'm happy enough to use French as a "passive" language while I concentrate on spoken Italian.

Ho registrato qualche minuto di conversazione, e la cosa principale che ho notato è semplicemente che devo rallentare un po'! Se non pronuncio bene qualche suono o qualche consonante doppia, è perché faccio troppa fretta. È un'abitudine che va cambiata.

I recorded a few minutes of conversation, and the main thing I noticed is simply that I need to slow down a little! If I don't pronounce some sounds or double consonants well, it's because I rush too much. It's a habit that needs to change.

Media

French: As well as more H, I've watched a few epiodes of Workingirls which was mentioned by Elenia and Sillygoose. Definitely seems inspired by British "awkward comedy". It's good fun, not too challenging, and a very convenient episode length. Also started Fais pas ci, fais pas ça season 3.

Italian: watched Brutti, sporchi e cattivi. It's funny at times and sad at times, and has plenty Roman accent/dialect.
1 person has voted this message useful



Sarnek
Diglot
Senior Member
Italy
Joined 4217 days ago

308 posts - 414 votes 
Speaks: Italian*, English
Studies: German, Swedish

 
 Message 139 of 187
01 June 2015 at 12:41pm | IP Logged 
Hey garyb. I wish you the best of luck with your projects!
Let me know if you want your texts to be corrected.
2 persons have voted this message useful



Elenia
Diglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
lilyonlife.blog
Joined 3858 days ago

239 posts - 327 votes 
Speaks: English*, French
Studies: German, Swedish, Esperanto

 
 Message 140 of 187
01 June 2015 at 1:25pm | IP Logged 
I know what you mean about stress. I adamantly refuse to stress out about anything,
because I find stress paralysing rather than inspiring. While I'm generally good at
not being stressed about things, it does sometimes crash down on me so that I can't do
anything. I think the choice to focus on your health and your voice project rather
than participate in the italki challenge is a good one, and one that will still
benefit your languages.

I saw your comment on emk's log as well, and I agree completely. I've put French aside
for now, although I will probably be speaking/interacting with it a bit in the next
couple of weeks. I'm happy to read things that interest me in French, if they are
there, but I don't want to work on or work at it in any capacity. I'm giving myself a
break, and then I will try again to see if I can find motivation to improve. Just like
you, I think that motivation should wanting to talk to native speakers, not just using
them as a way to practice.

Finally, Workingirls! How are you finding it? I guess you're understanding a
lot more than I do! But even when you don't understand a lot/everything, it is easy to
follow, especially because most of the jokes are visual.

Good luck with everything!
2 persons have voted this message useful



garyb
Triglot
Senior Member
ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5209 days ago

1468 posts - 2413 votes 
Speaks: English*, Italian, French
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 141 of 187
01 June 2015 at 4:35pm | IP Logged 
Sarnek wrote:
Hey garyb. I wish you the best of luck with your projects!
Let me know if you want your texts to be corrected.


Thanks! Corrections are always very welcome for anything I write :)

Elenia wrote:
I know what you mean about stress. I adamantly refuse to stress out about anything,
because I find stress paralysing rather than inspiring. While I'm generally good at
not being stressed about things, it does sometimes crash down on me so that I can't do
anything. I think the choice to focus on your health and your voice project rather
than participate in the italki challenge is a good one, and one that will still
benefit your languages.


It's a good philosophy. I'm the kind of person who stresses over everything, and while it can help in the short term (I work well under pressure as they say) it's unhealthy in the long run and it's why I get burnt out. So I'm trying to change that, to be a less stressful person and get motivation from more positive and sustainable sources. Especially for hobbies that I'm supposed to just be doing for fun. Yeah, once I'm healthier and less tired I'll have more time and energy for languages, and the voice project should lay a better foundation for future speaking, so I don't mind sacrificing some practice in the meantime.

Elenia wrote:
I saw your comment on emk's log as well, and I agree completely. I've put French aside
for now, although I will probably be speaking/interacting with it a bit in the next
couple of weeks. I'm happy to read things that interest me in French, if they are
there, but I don't want to work on or work at it in any capacity. I'm giving myself a
break, and then I will try again to see if I can find motivation to improve. Just like
you, I think that motivation should wanting to talk to native speakers, not just using
them as a way to practice.


I took a break from French for a few months last year for quite the same reasons and it did me some good. Now I'm not having a full break, but it's a lower priority and Italian is my "main" language. As I say I'm mostly just doing passive activities, and if I can speak it I will but I won't go out of my way. I'm still in two minds about whether to get in touch with the Belgian I mentioned a couple of weeks ago about a language exchange. Similar dilemma really, on one hand I feel I should take advantage of this rare opportunity, but on the other, the fact that it's rare makes me question my motivation. I just read that you're going to France soon, so that'll be a use for it :).

Elenia wrote:
Finally, Workingirls! How are you finding it? I guess you're understanding a
lot more than I do! But even when you don't understand a lot/everything, it is easy to
follow, especially because most of the jokes are visual.


I'm enjoying it, even if it's a bit cringey at times - that kind of humour can be hard to get right. I've seen five episodes so far and I've understood just fine, maybe missed a few words here and there but I can't really remember. As you say it's very visual and unsubtle which helps.
1 person has voted this message useful



Sarnek
Diglot
Senior Member
Italy
Joined 4217 days ago

308 posts - 414 votes 
Speaks: Italian*, English
Studies: German, Swedish

 
 Message 142 of 187
01 June 2015 at 5:07pm | IP Logged 
È l'inizio del mese di giugno, e alla fine (finalmente means you are happy that the time has come... I don't know if that's what you meant) ho deciso di saltare la sfida di iTalki per via delle
priorità. In questo momento ci sono delle cose più
importanti e vorrei sfruttare al meglio il mio tempo libero.

- La salute: dovrei trovare più tempo per riposare, dormire e meditare (what you wrote here wasn't wrong, it just sounds better this way) (che di recente mi aiuta
molto), ed evitare lo stress. Lo so che un po' di stress può far bene, spinge a raggiungere i propri (same here) scopi, ma adesso non credo sia il caso. Ho già sfiorato l'esaurimento
troppe volte negli ultimi anni.

[...]

Emk ha spiegato bene un dilemma del francese che più o meno condividiamo. In breve, pensiamo di prendere
lezioni per parlare meglio (lui nel contesto professionale, io in quello sociale), eppure se avessimo le occasioni di usare la lingua in quei contesti non avremmo bisogno di lezioni! Mi viene
da domandarmi se imparo il francese perché voglio parlare con francofoni oppure se cerco di parlare con francofoni proprio perché imparo il francese. Comunque per il momento mi
accontento di usare il francese come lingua "passiva" mentre mi concentro sull'italiano parlato.


Ho registrato qualche minuto di conversazione, e la cosa principale che ho notato è semplicemente che devo rallentare un po'! Se non pronuncio bene qualche suono o qualche consonante doppia, è perché
ho troppa fretta (alternatively, perché faccio troppo di fretta). È un'abitudine che va cambiata.


Edited by Sarnek on 01 June 2015 at 5:10pm

2 persons have voted this message useful



Elenia
Diglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
lilyonlife.blog
Joined 3858 days ago

239 posts - 327 votes 
Speaks: English*, French
Studies: German, Swedish, Esperanto

 
 Message 143 of 187
01 June 2015 at 10:21pm | IP Logged 
garyb wrote:
It's a good philosophy. I'm the kind of person who stresses over everything, and while it can help in the short term (I work well under pressure as they say) it's unhealthy in the long run and it's why I get burnt out. So I'm trying to change that, to be a less stressful person and get motivation from more positive and sustainable sources. Especially for hobbies that I'm supposed to just be doing for fun. Yeah, once I'm healthier and less tired I'll have more time and energy for languages, and the voice project should lay a better foundation for future speaking, so I don't mind sacrificing some practice in the meantime.

I took a break from French for a few months last year for quite the same reasons and it did me some good. Now I'm not having a full break, but it's a lower priority and Italian is my "main" language. As I say I'm mostly just doing passive activities, and if I can speak it I will but I won't go out of my way. I'm still in two minds about whether to get in touch with the Belgian I mentioned a couple of weeks ago about a language exchange. Similar dilemma really, on one hand I feel I should take advantage of this rare opportunity, but on the other, the fact that it's rare makes me question my motivation. I just read that you're going to France soon, so that'll be a use for it :).

I'm enjoying it, even if it's a bit cringey at times - that kind of humour can be hard to get right. I've seen five episodes so far and I've understood just fine, maybe missed a few words here and there but I can't really remember. As you say it's very visual and unsubtle which helps.


I hope you can find a balance that works for you, I think you are on the way. It can be really easy for a hobby as mentally demanding as language learning to become hard work and a source of stress in itself. Even when the things we are doing are fun in themselves, they can often turn into work. I realise most when reading or watching something in another language. Even while reading The Hobbit, I am aware that I should be learning from it. It's all about letting the thing that genuinely interest you and pull you in do just that, without pushing the learning aspect to far, I guess. In that vein, perhaps you should try to contact the Belgian. If you felt you actually enjoyed speaking with him, then go for it, but if, as you say, you just feel like you should take this as another opportunity to practice, it is fine to let it slip. (I still have regrets over never getting the contact details of a French guy I had a very interesting conversation with at a language exchange! Don't want you to suffer the same way...)

I know what you mean about Workingirls. It's quite hit or miss humour, and as it goes on it seems to miss more than it hits. I don't know whether this is objective, or if it results from too much time spent watching the series out of a sense of obligation. It does have it's moments, though, so I haven't dropped it completely.
2 persons have voted this message useful



garyb
Triglot
Senior Member
ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5209 days ago

1468 posts - 2413 votes 
Speaks: English*, Italian, French
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 144 of 187
01 June 2015 at 10:38pm | IP Logged 
Grazie mille Sarnek!

Output challenge video!

This month's challenge is to make a diary. For the sake of finally uploading something for the Output Challenge, I made a video where I talk about my day and about the voice/accent books I received.

Here's the video. It has both English and Italian subtitles - it's the first and the last time I use YouTube's painful subtitle editor. I made some mistakes of course, but I think it's not bad considering it was completely spontaneous, I suppose it's a fair representation of how I speak. My delivery's not the most exciting ever, but hey, I had never done a vlog before.

No, I won't publish one every day, as it's time-consuming, especially the subtitles. But I might put up a few more.


2 persons have voted this message useful



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