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Icelandic - countdown to pillaging | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5955 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes  Studies: French | Message 25 of 33 17 April 2015 at 6:27am | IP Logged | ||
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By my calculations, I have a little over 1800 hours left before arriving in Reykjavík,
and I keep foolishly wasting up to 5 hours each day on sleep. Also, my employer has this bizarre perspective that some part of many days of the week are owed to it, so there goes 10 hours and a pound of flesh (and a small bit of my soul) per day, 5 or 6 days per week. Now with Season 5 underway, throw in a solid hour of violence and naked shenanigans on Game of Thrones per week, and I am right up against it in terms of remaining study time. So … yikes! Also, yeah! cause I like a challenge (no matter how badly challenges seem to have overcome me in the past). On the basis of some positive reviews on htlal and elsewhere (Splog’s youtube review, Stelle’s learning blog), I ordered and today received a copy of Boris Shekhtman’s How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately, now in its 3rd edition. I assumed from the title that there would be several chapters dealing explicitly with why the Icelanders choose to torture anyone trying to learn their language with all the vowel shifts and shifting declension patterns, but nope, nada. I had hoped I could just Boris the crap out of Icelandic and look like a superstar without actually learning the language itself, but now that I have acquired and read the book, I see that is not the case. Nice book in any event. I don’t really have enough Icelandic yet to effectively use Shekhtman’s suggested conversation tools at present (not enough material to make a single island, not even a wobbly stepping-stone) so instead I will try to grow into Icelandic over the next 1800 hours* bearing in mind the conversation strategies suggested in this book. (*1800 hours, minus sleep, minus work, minus watching to see who the dragons wind up eating on Game of Thrones) Edited by Spanky on 17 April 2015 at 8:41am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Clarity Groupie United States Joined 3521 days ago 85 posts - 107 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 26 of 33 17 April 2015 at 6:18pm | IP Logged | ||
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Okay, I know this has nothing to do with language learning, but you are hilarious! I just read your entire log and laughed at loud several times.
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| Elenia Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom lilyonlife.blog Joined 3855 days ago 239 posts - 327 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Swedish, Esperanto | Message 27 of 33 17 April 2015 at 6:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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Seconded! Good luck with Icelandic. Also, interesting to see that I could sort of almost
understand the reported 'Is it possible to learn Icelandic' bus conversation. I may follow in your footsteps yet! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5955 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes Studies: French | Message 28 of 33 26 May 2015 at 5:55am | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks Clarity and Elenia, very kind! I mostly write just to amuse myself (and to cover up the fact that I am not actually getting much studying done), but it is always a such bonus to find out others might from time to time enjoy some of my nonsense as well.
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| Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5955 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes Studies: French | Message 29 of 33 26 May 2015 at 5:56am | IP Logged | ||
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Down to only 5 weeks remaining before zooming out to Iceland. Up till now, my strategy has largely been to rest up and save my mental energy for a final 5 week intense sprint of learning right at the end, so here I am.
I have worked up and am several days into a completely unrealistic schedule for getting through the Alaric Hall audio material and related memrise course, the Hilmisdottir, Beginning Icelandic book and CDs and related memrise course, several of the Icelandic Online courses (starting now with the Bjargir course and hoping to get through the Náttura and Menning courses and related memrise courses) and, time and brain-power permitting, the more challenging Viltu læra íslensku video materials. Edited by Spanky on 26 May 2015 at 5:59am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5955 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes Studies: French | Message 30 of 33 28 June 2015 at 8:29pm | IP Logged | ||
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Flying off to Iceland shortly. I did not make it through nearly as much Icelandic materials as I had hoped, but definitely made it through enough to make the trip interesting from a language perspective. And I am completely prepared for pillaging and ransacking, so that is good.
I wholeheartedly recommend pairing Memrise courses with whatever core learning materials you might choose to use (there are for example specific Memrise courses for the Alaric Hall audio materials, for many of the text-based Icelandic courses and for each of the Icelandic Online series - though not all with an audio component). It is a really effective way of reinforcing and ensuring regular review. I did have a chance of carefully getting up to speed on the attached briefing, in case it becomes necessary to figure out where James may be hiding (SPOILER ALERT: he is hiding behind a tree) Hvar er James? Edited by Spanky on 28 June 2015 at 8:31pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5955 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes Studies: French | Message 31 of 33 13 July 2015 at 8:02pm | IP Logged | ||
Back from 10 awesome days in Iceland. I am delighted to report the following with respect to this hopelessly-misguided language learning project: I … continued bravely to study this beautiful language leading up to our vacation and while I did not learn as much íslenska as I had hoped, I managed to pester a number of Icelanders as to pronunciation issues and simple phrasing, and generally received quite pleasant responses to my efforts and inquiries. My pronunciation of individual words (including the devilish "ll") was apparently quite good and I was thrilled to receive some very positive comments in that regard, but I was not at all sufficiently advanced to be able to engage in conversational exchanges. I managed to give a few Icelanders headaches when they tried to figure out what I was trying to say on occasions when I tried beyond simple greetings, etc., and got a couple of pleasant "simmer down buddy" looks from airline attendants and restaurant staff when I tried ordering coffee and juice in Icelandic). Having heard non-stop Icelandic during the trip, I am even more keen on continuing with studying the language for my eventual return at some point (I deferred the parade until that time). Edited by Spanky on 13 July 2015 at 8:12pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Elenia Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom lilyonlife.blog Joined 3855 days ago 239 posts - 327 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Swedish, Esperanto | Message 32 of 33 14 July 2015 at 9:40am | IP Logged | ||
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Well done! Looking forward to 'Pillaging Two: The Further Adventures' ;)
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