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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Julie Heptaglot Senior Member PolandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6901 days ago 1251 posts - 1733 votes  5 sounds Speaks: Polish*, EnglishB2, GermanC2, SpanishB2, Dutch, Swedish, French | Message 89 of 140 02 February 2013 at 11:36pm | IP Logged | |||||
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@Jeff, thank you for your corrections! I still struggle a lot with vara vs. bli, and kommer att vs. ska and this helped.
@Amerykanka, once again thank you for your corrections. I hate English decimal points: I know the rule but I still make the mistake over and over again if I don't pay special attention (ironically, while writing this I realized I had done this mistake in my log update below - fortunately, I caught this on time :)). Your corrections work :). revise, revision - this seems to be a UK vs. US difference (Merriam-Webster, Wiktionary). Still, I'm aiming at American English :).
No, we never do that. We never put a comma between the date and the year either (like in January 1st, 2013 - this is probably how I come up with my strange punctuation idea :)). A year ago or so I read about all the date conventions and differences between American and British English, and I've been mixing everything up ever since :). Thanks for the compliments about my English; maybe I will feel more secure about it at some point :). I'm too much of a perfectionist, re-reading everything I write even in my native language. (About what I'm reading: see the post below.) Edited by Julie on 02 February 2013 at 11:38pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Julie Heptaglot Senior Member PolandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6901 days ago 1251 posts - 1733 votes 5 sounds Speaks: Polish*, EnglishB2, GermanC2, SpanishB2, Dutch, Swedish, French | Message 90 of 140 02 February 2013 at 11:41pm | IP Logged | |||||
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The last weeks were kind of crazy, which prevented me from updating my log and limited my language learning time. Hopefully, the next month will be better. And here is my update:
Languages in January: 10.01.2013 - 02.02.2013 Swedish - I finished watching "Mysteriet på Greveholm - Grevens återkomst" and even re-watched the first four or five episodes (I plan to watch the other episodes again sometime in the future). It gets a bit too childish for my taste towards the end but all in all, it was great and seems to have helped me with my listening comprehension and vocabulary. And... I've just found out that "Grevens återkomst" was a sequel of the original Mysteriet på Greveholm Julkalendar series - it's available on YouTube and I'm definitely going to watch it. There are only English subtitles, though (if you find Swedish subtitles/script somewhere, please let me know). Here an article about the sequel: click. - I've started watching "Kent Agent och den hemliga kraften" (6 episodes so far, if I'm not mistaken; available till tomorrow). I'm going to watch the remaining episodes but I wouldn't really recommend it. This is much more 'childish' than "Mysteriet på Greveholm" and not all that suitable for language learners: lots of scenes with no dialog whatsoever which means quite a time waste, and the scenes with dialogs are as not easy to understand and as useful vocabulary-wise as in "Mysteriet...". On the positive side, the series is made in the convention of old spy movies, which is fun to watch (although it got boring after one or two episodes). - now I'm watching "Fjällbackamorden – I betraktarens öga" (I got too tired after 18 minutes, but I'm determined to watch it till the end). At some moments, it's quite hard to follow, which may mean that I'm not ready yet for non-children movies... well, we'll see. The movie is not available on SVTPlay anymore but I had downloaded it before it expired. I think downloading streamed movies is legal if it's for your personal use only (correct me if I'm wrong) so I'm going to share my method. I use this program, which allows you to download materials from SVTPlay and a number of other Swedish websites. Most importantly, you can download not only videos but also subtitles in .srt format (which could be used to add easily whole sentences to Anki or to print out the dialogs). In the case of my slow Internet connection, this allows me to generally watch videos in a better quality. And, most importantly, I'll be able to go back to a few movies in order to check my progress and review some vocabulary. - I've started reading "Twilight" ("Om jag kunde drömma") - ca. 36 pages so far (I read it on my ebook reader). If you can stomach the story, give it a try - it seems really great for extensive reading. I am truly surprised how many words I can figure out based on the context or because of cognates, and I'm actually able to read it without a dictionary, despite my A1 Swedish. Plus, the author was nice enough to have described many beginner topics (talking about weather, your room, what people look like etc.) on the first few pages :). - I watched 2.5 episodes of the Swedish "X-Factor". I have to admit I'm generally quite found of talent shows (that's my guilty pleasure) and they proved very useful for my language studies (e.g. my German improved a lot this way). Such shows can be used at beginner's level. I'm not able to understand a lot in Swedish, especially without subtitles - but I can watch many people introducing themselves, talking about where they are from and how old they are etc., saying 'hello' in many different ways etc. As such shows tend to be very repetitive, some vocabulary just sticks. For more advanced language learners, they're good because they feature people talking in a non-standard way, e.g. using various dialects or just a sloppy colloquial language. I also find this kind of TV useful as something to watch in the background while doing SRS repetitions :) (if I'm using Anki or similar software at home, I usually just HAVE to watch something, and talent shows don't require a lot of attention). In the beginning, it was a good multi-tasking / language-switching training as well (e.g. watching German TV while learning French vocabulary). Not everyone can stomach this kind of TV but if you're as resistant to stupidity as I am, you may wanna give it a try :). I also wrote a few posts here on the forum :), attended Swedish classes (now I have a semester break), listened to my favorite Swedish album (Cornelis vs. Riedel, try the songs: Ta hit ett Piano on YT, A la Taube), read/skimmed articles in Swedish on the Internet (I often take a look at Swedish Wikipedia articles), did Anki repetitions (I'm still behind but have less to catch up on), reviewed the material for my classes... and probably did some other stuff I don't remember. I could have done more (especially more 'formal' learning: Assimil and Edgard courses) but I think it's not that bad, considering how busy I was. French Mostly usual stuff: - RFI podcasts (once again, I recommend "Accents d'Europe"). - LOTS of vocab repetitions with "Profesor Pierre: Słownictwo". - TV5 Monde - I happened to watch a few interesting reportages recently, e.g. "Ma Terre" - the episode about music. I really should consult the channel guide in advance instead of turning the TV on at random times, hoping something interesting is on. - TV shows - I've started watching "90210 Beverly Hills : Nouvelle Génération" with French dubbing (3 episodes, so far). This is a bit harder than "Roswell" and "Pretty Little Liars" that I watched before because I don't know the original version. Funnily enough, I realized I tend to have the biggest problems with understanding "French-pronounced" American English proper names. At one point, I didn't understand quite an important sentence in the end of the episode - I looked for the transcript and, to my suprise, the key words I didn't understand where "Kansas" and the name of one of the protagonists :). - I'm reading "Hunger Games : L'Embrasement", which is the second part of the "Hunger Games" trilogy by Suzanne Collins. I read the first book last year and I think it's a good language learning material. It seems to be optimal for my level of French (I learned new words but didn't have to look up a lot; most of them were clear because of the context) but I'm sure it would be just as enjoyable for an intermediate learner (who will for sure appreciate the narration in present tense - no Passé simple :)). The first book was a real page-turner, just look at my old 6WC stats: the green peak is when I got really invested in the story :)). The book wasn't difficult but I think it helped me quite a lot to improve my reading pace and, generally, the facility of reading. At some point, I forgot it was in French and reading became as natural as in my more advanced languages... this was a truly nice experience :). English Amerykanka asked me which book I'm reading in English now*. It's "The Spellman Files" by Lisa Lutz and I'm slowly coming to the end. Nothing special in my opinion, despite all the great Amazon reviews. It's like the author is trying very hard to be hilarious, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. The idea for the story was nice and quite original but if I wasn't interested in solving the main mystery, I would have given up on that a hundred pages ago ;). (*) Which tenses should actually be used in this sentence? I'm going to look for other books in English; I hardly read in English anything other than press articles, research and texts on the Internet. Reading fiction would help me to deal with some of my usual grammar struggles such as the use of tenses, and to expand my vocabulary. I just have to find something I'd be crazy about :). (Any recommendations are always appreciated. Sometimes one recommendation may work better than hours of the Internet research, just like a randomly found book may be more interesting than what you choose after hours spent in a bookstore). German I went to Germany for a weekend and got to speak some German :). Other than that, I didn't do a lot which makes me really angry at myself. I read a few articles from "Die Zeit" (including reading aloud a bit), watched German TV, listened to a few dradio.de podcasts, managed to practice interpreting into German once (that's the main reason why I'm so angry), wrote a few e-mails, read German here and there on the Internet as usually, and tried a shadowing-like activity (shadowing an unknown YouTube lecture + leaving out sentences/words when the speaker was too fast, while trying to still make sense). Not even half as much as I wanted to do. Edited by Julie on 03 February 2013 at 2:15am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Kerrie Senior Member United States justpaste.it/Kerrie2 Joined 5393 days ago 1232 posts - 1740 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 91 of 140 03 February 2013 at 12:47am | IP Logged | |||||
The way you wrote it is fine, unless you are finished reading the book now. They you would say: Amerykanka asked me which book I was reading. I read the first few Twilight books many years ago, but never finished them. They're nice for a quick easy read. I've noticed a lot of really popular books have a lower reading standard. The language is much simpler, and there's not as much variety in the writing (with vocabulary). That's a major generalization, but I've found it to be telling. It makes them really good for low-intermediate level language learners. :) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Amerykanka Hexaglot Senior Member United States Joined 5169 days ago 657 posts - 890 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Polish, Latin, Ancient Greek, Russian | Message 92 of 140 04 February 2013 at 3:17am | IP Logged | |||||
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About the revise/revision thing - I wondered if perhaps it was a valid usage in other Anglophone countries.
But I can definitely assure you that it sounds odd (and people might even misunderstand you) if you say it that way in the US.
What kind of books do you like to read? I know a lot about classics and young adult/teen literature, so if you are interested in those genres I could definitely give you some recommendations. I noticed that you are reading Catching Fire in French - if you are interested, Suzanne Collins also wrote another series for young adults, although that might be too easy for you in English. I'm not sure what level of difficulty you are looking for. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Kerrie Senior Member United States justpaste.it/Kerrie2 Joined 5393 days ago 1232 posts - 1740 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 93 of 140 05 February 2013 at 1:35am | IP Logged | |||||
I really like Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. (I think in the UK it's called Cross-Stitch.) There are seven books so far, and they're all huge. She uses a lot of vocabulary. It's an adventure/historical fiction/romance book about a woman who steps back into time (on accident, of course), and ends up creating a new life in the eighteenth century (out of necessity). It's a real page turner, and it has a really diverse plot and some really great characters. It's classified as a romance book, (and there are plenty of adult scenes, although they are tastefully written), and ultimately it is a love story, but the story is chock full of adventures.. check it out. :) Edited by Kerrie on 05 February 2013 at 1:52am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6595 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 94 of 140 06 February 2013 at 12:01am | IP Logged | |||||
it's such a pet peeve for me when people don't change yesterday to 'the day before', unless they're talking about yesterday. but i might like my neat table for the consequence of tenses a bit too much XD 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Julie Heptaglot Senior Member PolandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6901 days ago 1251 posts - 1733 votes 5 sounds Speaks: Polish*, EnglishB2, GermanC2, SpanishB2, Dutch, Swedish, French | Message 95 of 140 06 February 2013 at 1:29am | IP Logged | |||||
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Thank you everyone for helping me with English tenses! @Serpent, I hate this use of the word 'yesterday' (and 'tomorrow'), too - also in Polish. For instance, the only context the sentence "Powiedziała, że możemy się jutro spotkać" is correct for me is when she has said this today and we can really meet tomorrow :).
@Amerykanka, the problem is I don't know what I'm looking for, which obviously doesn't make it any easier to find :). I generally don't look for 'serious' literature (not for language reasons, it's just that I'd like to read more 'for fun') or for classics (I had to read a lot of them at the university and I need a break... if classics don't feel like classics, they are fine, though... I hope you know what I mean.). Young adult literature is fine, if it's interesting/entertaining. Suzanne Collins is probably quite easy but this should not be a problem as such. I'm looking rather for an interesting story and a writing style I'd enjoy than for any specific level of difficulty. I think I can deal with most English-language popular literature, unless the language is very old-fashioned/heavily stylized or the book requires deep knowledge of culture, especially British one. It may be easier to say what I'm not looking for. I'm generally not very found of science-fiction, fantasy and historical novels, which doesn't mean I haven't enjoyed some books in each of these genres :). I don't like stupid romance stories either (good romance stories are not bad, though), although for some reason (maybe it's nostalgia ;)) I generally get more stupidity-resistent in the case of teen literature. I don't know if that's helpful :). As I mentioned, the truth is I have no idea what I'm looking for, although I should be able to recognize it when I find it :). @Kerrie - thank you for your recommendation, I'll definitely check it out. I'm not a fan of historical fiction but this doesn't sound like novel of this kind. As we're talking about literature: today I've finally gotten "Expedition zu den Polen: Eine Reise mit dem Berlin-Warszawa-Express" (Expedition to Poles: Travelling by Berlin-Warsaw express train) by Steffen Möller. Having a look at one's own country from the point of view of a foreigner is usually interesting, and I can't count how many times I've taken this train so far, so I hope I'll enjoy the book. Plus, I like the author (who used to be very popular in Poland as an actor/entertainer/TV moderator/whatever). Edited by Julie on 06 February 2013 at 1:30am 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Amerykanka Hexaglot Senior Member United States Joined 5169 days ago 657 posts - 890 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Polish, Latin, Ancient Greek, Russian | Message 96 of 140 09 February 2013 at 3:18pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Hmm. I will keep my eye out for books to recommend to you. Right now I can't think of anything in particular
that you might like (especially since I often read fantasy and historical fiction), but I'm sure that I will have some ideas eventually. If you are interested in the series by Suzanne Collins, the first book is Gregor the Overlander. I really enjoyed this series and I still reread it from time to time, although it is definitely aimed more at preteens/early teens than The Hunger Games is. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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