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Romance trio (FR ES IT) + Russian 2012

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Alanjazz
Triglot
Groupie
United States
Joined 4757 days ago

65 posts - 129 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish, French
Studies: Portuguese

 
 Message 1 of 13
12 April 2012 at 6:16am | IP Logged 
Hello everyone,

I am starting a log here to keep myself motivated and organized with my language learning projects! Lately I have
been feeling overwhelmed by trying to study French, Spanish, Russian and Italian at the same time, and so I have
broken 2012 into one-month study periods where there is always a priority language that occupies most of my
efforts and a side project that occupies less. I have increased hours at work now and so will only be able to set 1-
2 hours a day to study on weekdays and 2-4 on weekends. My work hours will only continue to increase,
unfortunately... I am also creating this log so that eventually I can "finish up" (for the moment) with French or
Spanish and move on to a non-European language like Arabic or Mandarin (both of which I am really excited
about and want to start learning!)


French
Currently: B2 in all areas except for B1+/B2 in writing. I studied abroad at a language institute in France and did
an internship in Francophone Switzerland, so I had 5 months of immersion. I also have taken college classes and
worked with an independent tutor at the beginning of my studies.

Target: Finally (by mid-2013) a C2 level in all areas, but for this year I think C1 is a reasonable goal. I want to be
completely fluent in French, with knowledge that equals my abilities in English. I want to be able to read French
literature and poetry in the original with no recourse to a dictionary, understand films and understand and
meaningfully contribute to fast conversations between multiple natives or native-level speakers with ease. I am
especially interested in learning the vocabulary associated with literature, politics, and current events. I want to
have an extensive knowledge of cultural references, expressions, idioms and proverbs so as not to be lost in
interactions because of my non-nativeness.

Materials:
Listening: Skype conversations, podcasts, music, films
Speaking: Skype conversations, talking with Francophone friends, colloquial language books
Reading: French literature and poetry, news articles online, colloquial language books
Writing: lang-8.com, Skype chats


Spanish
Currently: B1 in all areas. I have not lived or studied in a Spanish-speaking country before, but I had a Spanish
girlfriend for a short period, which inspired and motivated me to start learning the language. I am primarily self-
taught, having only audited part of a college-level basic-intermediate Spanish class. I have applied to be an
English teacher in Spain for the coming school year so hopefully that will happen and I will have some immersion
experience.

Target: B2 by the end of the year, C1 would be ideal. I have the same goals in Spanish as in French, excepting
that with Spanish I also want to understand regional accents without problems. I am focusing on learning accents
from Spain, Colombia and Mexico (with French I am only focusing on the European accent.)

Materials:
Listening: Skype conversations, podcasts, music, films
Speaking: Skype conversations, talking to Spanish-speaking friends, colloquial language books
Reading: Spanish literature and poetry, news articles online, colloquial language books
Writing: lang-8.com, Skype chats


Russian
Currently: A0-A1 in all areas. I have only recently started to independently study Russian, and I am struggling to
find resources that are comprehensive enough and that will enable me to advance on my own. Any suggestions
would be helpful. I will list my resources for Russian more extensively than for French, Spanish, and Italian
because I feel that they are lacking more than those three. I think that Russian is a big leap for me as well
because it represents: learning a language that is significantly different from English in terms of vocabulary,
expressions and grammar, learning it without a local language community I can tap into, and lastly that my
desires for using the language demand a very high level of ability. I ultimately want a high enough level of
Russian to watch films without subtitles and to read original-language literature, poetry, and news articles. I am
excited about but less interested in writing than I am in reading.

Target: For 2012 I am going to say A2-B1 in all areas. It seems like a low goal to set but I think it is reasonable
given my resources and time constraints.

Materials:
Listening: Skype, Speaking Russian podcast, Apprendre le russe podcast, Russian sound system podcast
Speaking: Skype, BBC Active talk Russian
Reading: Skype, TY Russian 2010, 1996, 1986 (West, Farmer, and Frewin respectively, only the 2010 has the
CDs), Usborne's first 1000 words in Russian, Essential Russian Grammar by Kemple, Russian: A self-teaching
guide (Szczepanksa), Красная шарочка и Золушка - Шарль Перро, Винни-Рух и Пиргорой - А.А. Милн и Борис
Заходер, Сказки - А.С. Пушкин, Russian Stories, edited by Gleb Struve
Writing: lang-8.com, Skype chats


Italian
Currently: A1 in speaking, A2 in comprehension, A1 in writing.

Target: B1 at all levels. I am not sure whether or not I want to be so advanced in Italian, I think strong knowledge
of French and Spanish should suffice for Romance-language projects, as I want to learn languages from so many
other regions of the world and language families. My final goal for the moment is C1, and maybe C2 depending
on how things go.

Materials:
Listening: Weekly class, podcasts, music, Skype, Italian Demystified CD, Espresso Italian CD
Speaking: Weekly class, podcasts, Skype, colloquial language books
Reading: Weekly class, self-teaching books, a levelled reader (I really want to get more from this series from
Guerra Edizione), news articles online, colloquial language books
Writing: Weekly class, lang-8.com, Skype

Layout through September (the fractions representing how much of my time I study each language for each day):

April
French 2/3, Spanish 1/3

May
Spanish 2/3, Russian 1/3

June
Russian 2/3, Italian 1/3

July
Italian 2/3, French 1/3

August
Russian 3/4, Spanish 1/4

September
Russian 2/3, Italian 1/3

Around August and September I will know what languages I need to devote the most time to and in what areas.
Given than I have a tendency to focus on speaking and reading, I think will likely need more work in listening and
writing in all of the languages. I expect Russian to be extremely demanding throughout and to require a lot more
work than the other three, so I may dedicate most of October to it (with the rest being French, as it will have been
two months since I studied it.)

Today's (11/4/12) activities:
French: Speaking with natives on Skype from France and Algeria ~40m. Writing with a native from Morocco on
Skype ~30m.
Spanish: Listening: podcasts, Notes in Spanish Intermediate - La lluvia, La Casa Rojas - El mundo de habla
española, and Historia de España - La Guerra Fría ~40m.
Italian: Corrected my writing homework for tomorrow night's class. ~20m.

1h10m French, 40m Spanish, 20m Italian.

After posting this I will read for practice, too! Thanks so much for reading if you have gotten this far. Any
suggestions on resources, strategies or techniques would be hugely appreciated, especially in ways that I can
make the languages benefit each other (the Russian podcast that is in French is a great example.) Any French or
Spanish-language materials for Russian or Italian are very welcome! Also, I want to apologize for the hugeness of
this post, there was a lot of material to cover!

Best,
Alanjazz

Edited by Alanjazz on 12 April 2012 at 6:18am

2 persons have voted this message useful



Марк
Senior Member
Russian Federation
Joined 4998 days ago

2096 posts - 2972 votes 
Speaks: Russian*

 
 Message 2 of 13
12 April 2012 at 6:19am | IP Logged 
Russian resourses are discussed in the Advice centre now.
2 persons have voted this message useful



Alanjazz
Triglot
Groupie
United States
Joined 4757 days ago

65 posts - 129 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish, French
Studies: Portuguese

 
 Message 3 of 13
12 April 2012 at 6:23am | IP Logged 
Thanks, Марк! I will look there.
1 person has voted this message useful



Alanjazz
Triglot
Groupie
United States
Joined 4757 days ago

65 posts - 129 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish, French
Studies: Portuguese

 
 Message 4 of 13
13 April 2012 at 6:02am | IP Logged 
Peut-être que ce journal intime de ces apprentissages sera plus engageant écrit en ces langues. Aujourd'hui j'ai
eu qu'un petit peu de temps parce que j'ai beaucoup travaillé et j'ai eu la classe d'italien le soir.

En français, j'ai écouté quelques podcasts : Le Journal de 7h, de mardi, 20 mars 2012, Livre international -
Famille au sud, malbouffe au nord de Marc Dufumier, entretenu par Jean-Pierre Boris, La Revue de presse
française - la tuerie de Toulouse, 20 mars 2012, Géopolitique avec Bernard Guetta, ce qui parle de la tragédie
contemporaine en Syrie, et dernièrement Les Mots de l'actu - l'âme, avec Amar Yvan.

Au niveau de la lecture, j'ai lu quelques pages du livre, "Cassell's Colloquial French", un bouquin très utile pour
tous ceux qui veulent approfondir leurs connaissances du français parlé. Chaque expression et emploi d'un mot
donné est bien expliqué en anglais, et les auteurs ont fait très attention aux faux amis et aux équivalentes
anglaises. Au total, j'ai passé seulement une heure à l'étude du français ce soir... mais bon. Demain je ferai mieux
! S'il te plaît n'hésitez pas à me corriger ! J'apprecierai surtout les commentaires sur comment je peux franciser
mon français.

Stasera abbiamo parlato di tante cose nella classe d'italiano que sarebbe difficile dire tutto. Abbiamo cominciato
con le correzioni dei compiti. Il profesore dà molti compiti, così che già abbiamo passato la maggiorità del
tiempo li correggendo. (Dovrei dire che non abbiamo avuto clase la settimana pasata, il profesore è stato nella
Spagna durante le sue vacanze de Pasqua... che fortunato!)

Parlavammo delle nostre famiglie, e soprattutto abbiamo parlato delli articoli posessivi ed i articoli semplice, e la
lista di "kinship" che indica come se usa queste parole. Penso che l'italiano è la lingua romanza con le più di
difficoltà al livello delle preposizioni ed i articoli. Non me para che ci sono regole, solamente essezioni. So che ho
molto lavoro a fare in questa lingua e che non so come scrivere bene. Grazie per le vostre correzioni.

Al final, no sé si voy a poder leer mucho en español esta noche. Ya estoy muy cansado a causa de mi trabajo y un
poco cansado de ver palabras. Creo que he estudiado como pude hoy, y que está bien. Pasé un poco más de tres
horas estudiando idiomas, la clase inclusa, que no es tan malo... ¡Gracias de haber leído mi diario de aprentizaje!
1 person has voted this message useful



Alanjazz
Triglot
Groupie
United States
Joined 4757 days ago

65 posts - 129 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish, French
Studies: Portuguese

 
 Message 5 of 13
14 April 2012 at 6:11am | IP Logged 
Mon travail linguistique aujourd'hui a été plutôt dirigé vers le français. J'ai écouté quelques podcasts : Mots de
l'actu, Livre international, La Revue de presse française, et Géopolitique avec Bernard Guetta.

Au niveau de la lecture, j'ai decidé d'abandonner Les Fleurs du Mal de Baudelaire, parce que j'aimerais améliorer
mon vocabulaire littéraire avant de l'aborder à nouveau. Au lieu de le lire, j'ai choisi Hiroshima mon amour, de
Marguerite Duras. Il serait difficile d'expliquer pourquoi j'aime ce film tellement, je dirais que c'est peut-être la
narration d'Emmanuelle Riva qui me fait frissonner pendant le passage des images plus ecœrantes et plus belles.
Ce soir je suis allé à une librairie où j'ai acheté deux livres pour m'entrainer - Merde ! The Real French You Were
Never Taught in School, de Geneviéve, et Contes Français, édité par Wallace Fowlie. Le deuxième est un livre
bilingue qui a la version française sur chaque page à la gauche et la traduction anglaise à la droite. Voilà. J'ai jeté
un coup d'œil sur Merde ! et il paraît tout à fait génial !

He hecho muy poco hoy en español. He escuchado algunas canciones de Gondwana y Ana Tijoux y nada más.
Diría que he estudiado francés durante una hora y media. Dado que trabajé tanto hoy, ¡me cae bien!
1 person has voted this message useful



Solfrid Cristin
Heptaglot
Winner TAC 2011 & 2012
Senior Member
Norway
Joined 5276 days ago

4143 posts - 8864 votes 
Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian
Studies: Russian

 
 Message 6 of 13
14 April 2012 at 9:05am | IP Logged 
Wow! Great log! You do not only have the same languages as I do, you also have a very high level and you
not only can but you actually do write in your languages.

Complimenti!

I saw only a few minor errors, but we seem to be so close in level that I will not presume to start correcting
you. I am sure someone more qualified will come along. I will however follow your log with interest. I must
admit that I read your first post thinking " right, another one who thinks he can learn a lot of languages at
the same time and who will crash and burn". But I kept on reading, and I feel sure that you will reach your
goals! !
1 person has voted this message useful



Alanjazz
Triglot
Groupie
United States
Joined 4757 days ago

65 posts - 129 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish, French
Studies: Portuguese

 
 Message 7 of 13
17 April 2012 at 4:00am | IP Logged 
Solfrid Cristin, merci beaucoup d'avoir lu mon journal intime et écrit un commentaire ! En fait, si vous pourriez
m'expliquer les erreurs que vous avez vu ça serait bien pour mon apprentissage. Je sais que je commets des
erreurs au niveau des accords du genre et des calques de l'anglais !

C'est chouette que nous étudions les mêmes langues. J'adore ! J'aimerais dire que j'ai commencé ce journal
intime parce que je trouvais que j'étudiais trop de langues à la fois, j'essaie de me concentrer sur une langue
chaque mois avec un petit projet à côte pour me distraire un peu !

Voilà, cette fin de semaine a été sensationnelle au niveau de mon apprentissage. J'ai fini la lecture de : Merde !
The Real French You Were Never Taught in School, de Geneviève. Je suggérerais ce bouquin à tous ceux qui
veulent améliorer leur compréhension du français parlé. En plus, il est bien drôle, j'ai beaucoup rit
et j'ai voulu continuer à le lire pendant toute la journée dimanche ! Aussi, j'ai lu la première partie de Hiroshima
mon amour de Duras. La lecture est plus facile que je pensais cela allait être et donc je suis content de pouvoir
en profiter sans avoir besoin de conseiller un dictionnaire constamment (ou d'ignorer pas mal de mots inconnus
!) Dernièrement j'ai parlé avec un ami français sur Skype pendant une quarantaine de minutes. Nous avons parlé
de la politique française, nos fins de semaine, et des possibles appels à l'avenir.


Quería leer más en español recientemente pero trabajo duro y suelo estar muy cansado despues de haber
estudiado francés. En todo caso he escuchado algunos podcasts magnificos de España, Notes in Spanish
Intermediate y Historia de España. Estoy un poco triste porque pronto habré escuchado todos los podcasts de
Notes in Spanish Intermediate y Advanced... Si usted no conoce ellos vale la pena escuchar y aprovechar de la
variedad tematica. También los creadores hacen muchas entrevistas con personas de muchos lados del mundo
hispano.

Quiero comentar que el hombre que hace Historia de España lee muy rápido y no comprendo todo lo que dice a
causa de ello, y del hecho que todavía no tengo un vocabulario bastante extenso en el campo historial. Si usted
nota algún error en lo que escribí dime por favor, lo apreciaría tanto.


Adesso devo fare i miei compiti per il corso d'italiano, non c'è molte cose a scrivere, ma non he cominciato. Me
para che queste estate vado a vivere vecino di alcune persone russe, per questa ragione sono felice e penso che
vado a cambiare il mio progetto d'imparare verso un studio intenso di russo durante giugno, luglio ed agosto.
Benisimo. Scriverò più domani! Ciao!

Edited by Alanjazz on 17 April 2012 at 5:10am

1 person has voted this message useful



Alanjazz
Triglot
Groupie
United States
Joined 4757 days ago

65 posts - 129 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish, French
Studies: Portuguese

 
 Message 8 of 13
23 April 2012 at 12:47am | IP Logged 
FR
Alors, je me suis rendu compte que ça fait un par de jours que je n'ai pas écrit sur ce registre de travail.

Il y a quelques jours j'ai pu causer avec un ami français et une amie américaine qui parle très bien le français sur
Skype. L'ami français y avait partagé de l'information à propos d'une fête du nord français, dont j'ai oublié le nom
en ce moment. Voilà, évidemment on y mange beaucoup de moûles et tout le monde (ou bien pas mal de gens)
s'enivrent, et il y a une certaine espèce de marché - manège qui n'existe pas aux Etats-Unis, ni peut-être dans
les autres régions de la France.

Je continue toujours la lecture d'Hiroshima mon amour, de Marguerite Duras et aussi la lecture de Cassell's
Colloquial French, un livre qui a été très utile et que je suggèrerais fort. Je viens de finir la lecture de Micromégas,
une nouvelle de Voltaire qui est un conte philosophique. Il parle des grandes fautes de l'humanité, plus
précisamment l'orgueil, la puissance accablante de la réligion, et notre incapacité de nous rendre compte de
notre taille infiniment petite dans l'univers. C'est aussi un conte qui emploie les planètes comme les personnages pour
achever un effet d'humour.

Au niveau des podcasts, j'ai découvert hier la ravissante voix de Laetitia, qui fait deux podcasts, Thing in a French
Day et Cultivate Your French ( ô, la classe sociale qui est associée avec cette langue ! ) et aussi une émission
suisse qui parle beaucoup des arts, Radio Télévision Suisse. Aujourd'hui j'ai écouté quelques podcasts de Laetitia, une
séance du Masque et la Plume de France Inter ( une émission de radio qui est autant éblouissante pour améliorer
son français parlé que n'importé quel des livres cités auparavant ! ) Voilà, avec ce qui reste du jour je pense à
continuer avec mon project en anglais, la lecture du livre Amour et capital (Love and Capital) de Mary Gabriel,
biographie formidable des vies vécues de Karl Marx et Jenny von Westphalen, son amour et sa compagnonne. Je
ferai encore du français s'il me reste le temps.

ES
Ayer noche hablé tres horas en español con un amigo colombiano por medio de Skype. Siempre pasa
estupendamente, porque él está muy motivado para enseñarme cosas sobre su país, la historia europea y
latinoaméricana. Bueno, digo que hablé, pero el hecho es que él es el locutor a menudo, hablo mucho menos
que escucho. Me encanta charlar con él porque es muy parlanchín y me enseña tanto.

Sobre todo me gusta poder hablar con alguien conservador que es también muy educado, o sea que sabe porque
cree lo que cree, algo que no conozco tanto aquí en los EEUU (perdoname de haber entrado en la política, pero
importa bastante al aprendizaje actual.) Me ha enseñado algunas palabras muy groseras y me ha recomendado
algunos estilos de música, que aprecié mucho.

Recientemente estuve contentísimo de saber que mi podcast preferito español tiene nuevos episodios. Las
creadores de Notes in Spanish empezaron de hacer una nueva serie, Notes in Spanish Gold. Ya me encanta
porque al fin del emisión, hacen una explicación (desfortunadamente en inglés, pero bueno,) de las frases y las
expresiones que dijeron. ¡Magnifico! Además los temas me parecen muy interesantes. Hoy escuché la emisión
sobre las Zonas Azules, que son lugares donde la población tiene una alta esperanza de vida.

EN
If you are following my log, thanks for having read this far! I noticed earlier in a different thread that we are
supposed to include English translations for anything not written in English (outside the language-specific
forums.) I hope that my writing this log in the languages I am studying is not problematic or exclusive, I have
mainly not included English translations because of time restraints - I am eager to continue on studying and
already pass a fair amount of time just writing about what I did with the target languages in the target languages.

I figured that because this is such a multilingual forum/online community that people reading my log will
speak/read at least one of my target languages (which so far, are all huge population-wise.) Please feel free to
correct any of my glaring errors (or smaller ones, if you notice something that would make the writing feel more
natural!)



Edited by Alanjazz on 23 April 2012 at 1:01am



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