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TAC 2013 German French Irish Dutch...

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12 messages over 2 pages: 1
Laurae
Diglot
Groupie
Germany
Joined 5043 days ago

51 posts - 67 votes 
Speaks: English*, German
Studies: French, Dutch

 
 Message 9 of 12
03 September 2013 at 1:30pm | IP Logged 
Since I last posted, all of two months ago, I haven't made much progress. While I've been consistent with my German studies, I haven't achieved very much in terms of application! Originally this was my German Irish Italian log, but things have changed: my focus is now German, French and Dutch.

German

I will start level C1.2 classes this month which is motivating in itself.
I'm reading and attempting to translate 'Das Parfum' at the moment, while using Upgrade Your German as a revision text, as well as revising extracts of my C1.2 and B2 coursebooks. I also view the Video-Thema and Alltagsdeutsch sections of Deutsche Welle on a fairly regular basis as well as watching ZDF programmes such as my favourite guilty pleasure 'Wild Germany'. I also watch at least one or two German movies a week and listen to quite a few German bands and singers on an irregular basis, as well as reading simple novels and texts.

Irish and Italian

This learning log demonstartes a rather unfortunate lack of application in my other languages. As aforementioned, Italian and Irish have long since stalled. I haven't revised either since February and March respectively, though I was awarded a Certificate in Professional Irish (approximately B1/lower B2 standard) this summer following a course and examination which I undertook for work purposes.

French

I truly enjoyed studying Italian, but as I've mentioned before, French is taking priority for at least the next 1-2 years. Unfortunately I don't enjoy French as much my other languages, but I've decided to persist. I ordered Assimil New French with Ease last week in order to kickstart my conversational and aural French. I've been working on and off with 'Grammaire Progressive du Francais. Niveau Intermediaire' and have been reading Hachette readers at A2/B1 level during the summer, as well as watching 'Les Revenants'.I also signed up to Yabla French this week. I've used the German and Italian versions in the past, and found them useful. Furthermore, I ordered a copy of 'Upgrade Your French' I'm quite determined to conquer my love-hate relationship with French; I've been trying to revive my school French for over 10 years now, and so far, I've merely managed to barely maintain the level, without making any significant progress.

Dutch

I can't resist it. I promised myself not to take up another language, only to abandon it, so I'll see how things go. The aim is to learn Dutch for just 10 hours a month over 2 years to see what can be achieved. I'm curious as to how difficult I will find it, in light of being a native English speaker and slightly competent German speaker.
I bought Living Language Dutch (since I want to try out the Living Language course) and also the first Routledge Colloquial Course.

So, a break-down of hours and level up to the end of August(I only include movies, TV and novels, if I feel I'm actively engaging by taking notes and looking up vocabulary etc.):

German: 176 hours
B2/C1; my reading and writing tend towards the latter; my conversation is poor.

French: 7 hours
B1 for reading; A2 for writing and conversation.

Italian: 16.5 hours
A1

Irish: 78 hours
B1

Dutch:
New

Another language which I abandoned a couple of years ago was Russian; I really enjoyed it but it took up more time than I was willing to commit. I was an A1-low A2 standard at that time, following classes and self-study. However now I am quite sure that I'd test at A0! Perhaps I will resume studies in a few years. I fear I will lose most of my Italian ability too, but feel that it's necessary to prioritise.

Current Goals:

German: Goethe-Zertifikat C1 in June 2014
French: DELF B2 in January 2015
Dutch: B1 by end of 2014
(Irish: Resume study in 2014)
(Italian: Resume in 2015 (!))
(Russian: Resume at some/any juncture in the future)



Edited by Laurae on 05 September 2013 at 1:15pm

1 person has voted this message useful



Laurae
Diglot
Groupie
Germany
Joined 5043 days ago

51 posts - 67 votes 
Speaks: English*, German
Studies: French, Dutch

 
 Message 10 of 12
12 September 2013 at 12:36pm | IP Logged 
Resources for September

German

Coursebooks:
Em.. Kursbuch C1/2: Wortschatz/Lektion 1 'Karriere'
Upgrade Your German

Novels/Plays:
Das Parfum Patrick Sueskind
Emilia Galotti Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Der Golem Gustav Meyrink (A huge challenge with regard to vocabulary)

Films:
Geschwister
Kriegerin
Goethe!

Deutsche Welle Podcasts

French

Coursebooks:
Assimil French with Ease
Upgrade Your French

Other:
Therese Raquin Emile Zola - La Spiga Graded Reader B1/2 (I find this very challenging)

Yabla French

Dutch

Coursebooks:
Living Language Dutch

Other:
Dutch 101 Podcasts
Laura Speaks Dutch Podcasts



Edited by Laurae on 12 September 2013 at 12:37pm

1 person has voted this message useful



Hekje
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4708 days ago

842 posts - 1330 votes 
Speaks: English*, Dutch
Studies: French, Indonesian

 
 Message 11 of 12
12 September 2013 at 3:37pm | IP Logged 
Veel succes met je Nederlands! :)
2 persons have voted this message useful



Teango
Triglot
Winner TAC 2010 & 2012
Senior Member
United States
teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5561 days ago

2210 posts - 3734 votes 
Speaks: English*, German, Russian
Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona

 
 Message 12 of 12
12 September 2013 at 7:17pm | IP Logged 
Congratulations on passing that Certificate in Professional Irish! Will you be working in Irish later this year?

And what do you think of "Das Parfum" so far? There's a lot of unusual (olfactory) vocabulary in the novel, but I found the story very engaging when I read it. I can still hear Hans Korte's narration of Grenouille ringing in my ears from time to time. :)


1 person has voted this message useful



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