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Small Expectations | ||
Tags: Georgian | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| zecchino1991 Senior Member United States facebook.com/amyybur Joined 5261 days ago 778 posts - 885 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, Modern Hebrew, Russian, Arabic (Written), Romanian, Icelandic, Georgian | Message 345 of 431 26 April 2012 at 5:17pm | IP Logged | |||||
Oh! My friend's dad works for Kol Israel. I'll go check that out. :) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| TixhiiDon Tetraglot Senior Member Japan Joined 5467 days ago 772 posts - 1474 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese, German, Russian Studies: Georgian | Message 346 of 431 27 April 2012 at 12:32am | IP Logged | |||||
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ამჯერადაც დიდი მადლობა გასწორებებისათვის, Murdoc. Why do I keep forgetting to put
direct objects in the dative?? It's one of the simplest things (one of the only simple things, in fact!) in Georgian grammar. As I wrote in Georgian in my last post, I've been spending the last couple of evenings immersed in the language, which is a good thing indeed. I've done lots of listening, lots of reading, and a bit of writing. Today I have my conversation class with Medea, so I will have been able to cover all four skills. The conversation class, by the way, has been revitalized by a shift in time and place. We now meet in the afternoon, when I'm still fresh and not zombiefied by a day's translating, and in a cute little cafe in Shimokitazawa, one of my favourite areas of Tokyo. It also helps that Shimokitazawa is just a short journey from my house by bike or bus, depending on the weather. It's a bit further and less convenient for Medea, admittedly, but we met literally 30 seconds from her flat for the first year and a half so I reckon a bit of give and take is in order, right? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| TixhiiDon Tetraglot Senior Member Japan Joined 5467 days ago 772 posts - 1474 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese, German, Russian Studies: Georgian | Message 347 of 431 11 May 2012 at 2:15pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I'm so frustrated with my spoken Georgian. It's truly pathetic, and seems to be
getting worse, not even just stagnating. I had my conversation class with Medea today, and for a period of about 15 minutes I was too depressed to even try. To be honest, I was on the verge of quitting there and then. What made me so annoyed was the following sentence: "Everyone whose caricature is drawn and published in the magazine gets killed". I started, stumbled a bit, realized I wasn't pronouncing "caricature" correctly (it's კარიკატურა, but I was throwing in ხs here there and everywhere), and then my mind went completely blank. In the end I got so pissed off I just sat there looking miserable, like some sullen teenager. I've been thinking about the sentence all day and I still can't work out how it would be in Georgian. But it wasn't just that sentence. Nothing but the simplest Georgian comes out of my mouth with any fluency. I just can't seem to reproduce the rhythm and structure of Georgian sentences. All I ever do is translate English or Japanese directly into very unnatural-sounding Georgian. That's when I do actually manage to form a sentence from beginning to end! Most of the time I kind of fizzle out pathetically midway and wait for Medea to complete my thought for me. I can think of plenty of reasons for this. 1) I live in Japan and only practice speaking Georgian for one hour a week. 2) My teacher, like so many native speakers of all languages, has no idea how to talk to a beginner or how to structure a conversation so that I learn something from it. 3) I've become lazy and don't do any systematic study anymore. 4) Apart from Japanese, which I learned through immersion, speaking has always been my weak point in all of my languages. 5) I'm getting older and the ol' brain cells are dying off. 6) Georgian is ridiculously difficult and irregular. Not much I can do about the last three, but I could certainly rectify the first three, if I were motivated to do so. At the moment, though, I just feel like having a nice wallow in self-pity. Poor me... Edited by TixhiiDon on 11 May 2012 at 2:16pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| liddytime Pentaglot Senior Member United States mainlymagyar.wordpre Joined 6232 days ago 693 posts - 1328 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Galician Studies: Hungarian, Vietnamese, Modern Hebrew, Norwegian, Persian, Arabic (Written) | Message 348 of 431 11 May 2012 at 3:48pm | IP Logged | |||||
Holy cow! That's a mouthful! I can hardly say that in English! Cut yourself a little slack. Look back 6 months and see how far you've come. Georgian is not Spanish (as I'm finding out myself over the past several weeks!) and everyone's language progress has their "hares" and their "tortoises". Besides, you can't quit. There are too many of us living vicariously through your log! 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| zecchino1991 Senior Member United States facebook.com/amyybur Joined 5261 days ago 778 posts - 885 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, Modern Hebrew, Russian, Arabic (Written), Romanian, Icelandic, Georgian | Message 349 of 431 11 May 2012 at 7:15pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I agree, that's a very complicated sentence! And you're right, it is hard to make
sentences in Georgian... I think it's just so different, that's all. You have to put the words together in a completely different way, it's like a puzzle. But I think you just have to get used to it. I have the same problem, actually. Speaking is not my strong point either. I think I have problems putting sentences together in English, let alone Georgian! Well anyway, don't give up!! (not that it sounds like you were planning to in the first place...;). You've come farther than anyone else here who's studying Georgian, you're like our resident Georgian learning expert! You're the wisest of us all haha. :) Edited by zecchino1991 on 11 May 2012 at 7:16pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Expugnator Hexaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5169 days ago 3335 posts - 4349 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian | Message 350 of 431 11 May 2012 at 7:41pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Tixhiidon, those ups and downs in concentration are normal. It doesn't mean you're forgetting stuff, after all you've been practicing Georgian ininterruptly. You just need time to accomodate this in your brain so you can have access to your memories. It's like you downloaded a whole load of word files and haven't sorted them out yet. You need to take a break of a few days from those specific words so they can emerge to your consciousness.
You could try reviewing an easier book, reading a text that would bring you just two or three more new words, so as to get you motivated. For me it's the opposite, I can make sentences even with few words, grammarwise speaking, but I have a hard time memorizing groups of words. I try to think in Georgian and do side-by-side translations source to target. Tschenkeli's Einführung in die Georgische Sprachen would be a great source, but you could try any other books or subjects, just choose one subject you'd like to practice, pick your own English sentences and try to translate them in English. What about song's lyrics? Pick the earwormish pop song airing in aand try to translate it into Georgian. Post it here for Murdoc to correct and us to laugh =D I've learned a lot just by that in French, German, Italian and when I start doing this unnoticedly in Georgian, I'll know I'm on the right track =D 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| TixhiiDon Tetraglot Senior Member Japan Joined 5467 days ago 772 posts - 1474 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese, German, Russian Studies: Georgian | Message 351 of 431 12 May 2012 at 12:48am | IP Logged | |||||
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I just had a light bulb moment, here at 7:30am on Saturday morning.
It is, of course, ყველას, ვისი კარიკატურა დახათული და გამოქვეყნებულია ჯურნალში, კლავენ. Or thereabouts. What was driving me crazy was that I couldn't figure out how to start the sentence, but of course ყველას is governed by კლავენ and ვისი is connected only to the two participles. Damn, damn, and damn again. Anyway, thanks for the messages of support, guys. Just what I was after in my foul mood. I suppose I'll keep muddling along with good old ქართული. I'm in too deep to quit now, and I'm already scheming to figure out a way I can justify leaving my lovely new puppy in boarding kennels and sneak off to Tbilisi for a third time. Maybe not this year, but definitely next! By the way, there are some brilliant vox pop videos on YouTube. Great listening practice and a nice way to see a bit of beautiful Tbilisi and its good-looking inhabitants. For example, check out this one about whether this girl broke Georgian tradition by kissing Enrique Iglesias on stage, this one testing Georgians' general knowledge, and this one discussing whether it's ever OK to cheat. Edited by TixhiiDon on 12 May 2012 at 12:57am 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Murdoc Triglot Senior Member Georgia Joined 5257 days ago 113 posts - 208 votes Speaks: Georgian*, English, Russian | Message 352 of 431 12 May 2012 at 4:50pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Tixhiidon,
That really is a ridiculously complicated sentence and you still got it right in the end, so nothing to worry about. Just a little correction, I don't know the reason why but it would be better to say: ყველას, ვისი კარიკატურაც also,
დახატული
ჟურნალში ... Unfortunately speaking skills take lots of practice and patience. But I strongly believe you will be able to tackle it one day. არ დანებდე! 4 persons have voted this message useful |
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