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Emme’s Small Steps - Team Sleipnir TAC’15 | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Emme Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 5345 days ago 980 posts - 1594 votes  Speaks: Italian*, English, German Studies: Russian, Swedish, French | Message 281 of 360 31 January 2014 at 7:26pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
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@Sarnek
Thanks! I know the TY series pretty well, especially Vera Croghan’s Teach Yourself Swedish which was a fundamental textbook in my early stages of learning Swedish (at the time there weren’t many Swedish textbooks around, at least not many that I knew of and TY Swedish was relatively easy to find even in Italian bookshops). I’ve never actually finished it, mainly because I’m only now overcoming my difficulties in completing language textbooks.
Of course I am! A little! ;-) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| Emme Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 5345 days ago 980 posts - 1594 votes Speaks: Italian*, English, German Studies: Russian, Swedish, French | Message 282 of 360 31 January 2014 at 7:28pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
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We’ve already reached the end of January and so an update on the TAC seems in order.
Spanish As far as active studying is concerned, I must confess that I worked almost exclusively on Assimil Spanish and not really intensively either (of course, I’m not taking into account the hours I spent listening to the CD tracks or even shadowing them while out walking. As usual I can’t bring myself to consider these occasions as real study, even though I know that in the long run I will profit from them). Swedish I did very little Swedish, mainly because I opted to prioritize watching SVTPlay Film & Drama rather than studying. Just like last year, over the holidays SVT published quite a lot of videos which are all now expiring. I wish they were better spread out over the months rather than all concentrated in late December through January, but as the saying goes, beggars can’t be choosers and we must already be grateful that there are a few series that we get to watch even from abroad. English The good news is that I’ve got back into reading English novels. I know this may sound fairly irrelevant, but for me it’s important, especially after a pretty dire 2013 on the reading front. I’m on my sixth novel since the beginning of the year, and I think this bodes well for the upcoming Super Challenge, though I haven’t quite decided my target language(s) yet. Here’s what I’ve been reading: Nick Hornby, A Long Way Down Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl Edward St Aubyn, Never Mind Emma Donoghue, Room JD Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye (still a few chapters to read) These titles give a fairly accurate idea of the kind of novels I usually read: the staple are contemporary literary novels, with some classics, mainstream and genre novels thrown in for good measure. Apart from reading novels, I’ve worked on my pronunciation, but not with the consistency I hope to maintain in the coming months. Russian With all these languages vying for my attention, not surprisingly Russian ended up being somewhat neglected, but never as much as German. I had promised myself that I would keep going with my mini-SuperChallenge until April but actually I barely listened to a couple of radio dramas in the past four weeks. For the more general aspirations I confessed at the beginning of the TAC, namely spending less time on HTLAL and setting SMART goals, I succeeded only in the former. Now I must find the fine balance between not wasting time on the forum and yet still enjoying the stimulating and inspiring social aspect of the TAC to maximize my learning outcome. Tomorrow the February 6wc will begin, and I will take part with Spanish as my TL. The past few challenges worked great for me because they spurred me to go the extra mile and find time to study when I never thought it possible. I hope the 6wc will work its magic again this time around. Minutes studied in January 2014: Spanish: 540 Swedish: 210 Russian: 180 English: 140 Latin: 125 Edited by Emme on 31 January 2014 at 7:32pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| dampingwire Bilingual Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4663 days ago 1185 posts - 1513 votes Speaks: English*, Italian*, French Studies: Japanese | Message 283 of 360 31 January 2014 at 8:05pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
I'm guessing that either you don't count reading as studying or you are an incredibly voracious reader. Actually, with nearly six novels completed in 30 days on top of your other language activities, you're clearly a voracious reader. At this rate that'll be 60 novels this year. If this is just a warm-up for the 6WC, I have to ask, where on earth are you going to find enough material :-) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| Expugnator Hexaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5164 days ago 3335 posts - 4349 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian | Message 284 of 360 31 January 2014 at 8:40pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
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Well-done, Emme! You mind if I also comment on language by language? :D
Regarding Spanish, when I start studying a language with huge vocabulary discount and a megaton of resources, I usually eat up the beginner's textbooks voraciously. For example, when I restarted French in 2012, I was already at a B1 passivel level. So, I went quickly through New French with Ease. I actually did 7 lessons a day, mostly skimming. Notes were the most annoying part because they kept reminding me of details I figured myself or simply already knew. I'm doing the same with German now, even if the vocabulary discount is much lower. I know that if I move the textbook speed I will get terribly bored. So, especially at this stage, it's important to actually finish those textbooks, bury the beginner's stage and start working on intermediate resources that will give important insights into usage and sociolinguistics, as well as at native resources, of course. You'll need them both: the resource that goes deeper into grammar and the native material that creates volume, synergy and gives cultural insights. I think you're right with regards to Swedish. I'm basically doing the same with Norwegian. Maybe trying to squish some pages from a novel now and then. I think you already write well, don't you? I've only read 2 novels in English so far, maybe a couple more. I envy you, I can't help but find it boring. If I'm supposed to learn more specialized vocabulary, I prefer to do it in French, German on Russian. I do read novels in English when I do parallel reading for Georgian, for example (read The Lord of the Flies and found the writing style particularly boring, from a stylistical point of view actually). Don't give up on Russian. Keep doing bits at a time. Maybe between one Swedish series and one English book you could read some paragraphs of Russian news =D I'm suffering too, I know the feeling. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| Emme Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 5345 days ago 980 posts - 1594 votes Speaks: Italian*, English, German Studies: Russian, Swedish, French | Message 285 of 360 31 January 2014 at 10:20pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
You’re right. I only log the minutes spent on intensive textbook studying, the one you usually do sitting at your desk, so to say: extensive activities like reading novels with no dictionary or watching TV are part of my daily routine, but I can’t bother to measure them too. Well, I make the effort during the 6wc, but otherwise it drives me crazy to always check the clock! ;-)
Actually, I’m a “binge reader”: when I start I can’t stop and I generally read a novel in a couple of days. But when I finally stop I can spend months without picking up a book, which sadly is what happened last year. That’s why I’m happy I started off 2014 on the right foot as far as reading is concerned.
I’m not worried about that: I’ve still got maybe 80-100 unread novels (two-deep) on my shelves so I wouldn’t mind getting round to reading them all at last. But no matter how many I read, my to-be-read pile keeps growing as I read fascinating reviews and track several of the books that catch my imagination down. Plus I use the library a lot. So finding materials for the Super Challenge in English won’t be much of a problem (the case will be very different if I chose another target language). Finding the time and the stamina will be a much bigger problem, to be honest.
Remember, though, that English literature was my major at university and I really like it. Moreover I have already a couple of hundreds novels behind my back so I can navigate the language, the contents and the context almost like a native. Isn’t that what people at C1/C2 are supposed to do?
Oh, I’m not giving up on Russian! We’ll keep suffering together! ;-) EDIT: typos. Edited by Emme on 31 January 2014 at 10:21pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| Emme Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 5345 days ago 980 posts - 1594 votes Speaks: Italian*, English, German Studies: Russian, Swedish, French | Message 286 of 360 15 February 2014 at 10:39pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
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The 6wc is not going too well. There’s been a change in my schedule at work and I haven’t yet found my bearings in my new daily routines. I’m not sure whether the change is temporary or permanent: either way I’m sure things will get better when I get used to it or I go back to the old schedule. Ok, enough complaining!
I’ve been meaning to post a review of Assimil Spanish for some time now, but the post languished half written on my desktop for a while before I finally finished it today. It’s not really a review, to be honest, but a series of observations I jotted down on the eve of the start of the second wave. Assimil Spanish: first impressions First of all, let’s make clear which edition I’m using, so whoever reads this can easily find out which of the several generations of Assimil I’m referring to. Francisco Javier Antón Martinez, Il nuovo spagnolo senza sforzo, adapted for Italian speakers by Ana Maria Bussi (1989), pp. 477. Comprising: - 109 lessons - an appendix on Latin American Spanish - an appendix on grammar. Leccion 1 Un encuentro — ¡Buenos días! Pablo. — ¡Ana! ¿Qué tal estás? — Bien. Tú, en cambio, tienes mala cara. [...] Leccion 50 Un largo fin de semana — Dentro de dos semanas, tendré un puente de cinco días. — Eso, más que un puente parece un acueducto. ¿Estás seguro? — Sí. Nos hemos arreglado entre los compañeros de trabajo. [...] Some observations: Many of the lessons encountered so far have been devoid of the usual humour that characterises Assimil. Moreover, in more than one occasion, lessons were built with disjointed sentences chosen to show a specific aspect of the language or the vocabulary of a specific topic rather than to tell a story. At first, I thought it depended on the author’s trying to avoid introducing difficult grammar points or vocabulary too early, but since the model continues (Examples: lesson 32 – geography; lesson 33 – the months; lessons 34 – the colours etc.) that doesn’t seem to be the case. I’m not saying that this is necessarily a bad thing, only not what you’d expect from an Assimil course. The notes for each lessons are proving rather insubstantial. Granted, the original course was devised with a francophone audience in mind and that may make a huge difference. Maybe the things about Spanish that the lessons are supposed to show the French are too similar to what happens in Italian to deserve an explanation, but far too many lessons seem to be a lost opportunity to teach the learner anything, as they offer just a couple of very unremarkable observations. The most egregious example of this phenomenon is lesson 34 which contains one single note explaining why they chose to translate the title of Edith Piaf’s famous song literally as “La vida en rosa” rather than with the more Spanish-sounding “La vida de color de rosa”. I’ve noticed a few typos and mistakes especially in the exercises, but they seem to have occurred in the adaptation for Italians rather than in the original. The audio tracks on the CD are not of the excellent standard I’m used to when using Assimil: in particular, during dialogues with two or more speakers, it seems that some voices are recorded or edited or whatever (I don’t know the technical aspects of recording) so that they don’t sound loud enough compared to the others. Ok, these were just a few preliminary notes about Assimil Spanish. As I continue working through the textbook I will certainly jot down new observations that will end up in a much more in-depth review of the course I’ll try to post later this year. Edited by Emme on 15 February 2014 at 10:43pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| Emme Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 5345 days ago 980 posts - 1594 votes Speaks: Italian*, English, German Studies: Russian, Swedish, French | Message 287 of 360 27 February 2014 at 7:34pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
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Team Катюша February challenge was finding a Russian song and learn it. As I wrote earlier this month on the team thread, I’m really ignorant about Russian music, so only a couple of titles came to mind when I read about the challenge. One of these titles was Очи чёрные and when I realized that Wikipedia had both the lyrics and the translation I thought this was going to be easy. How naïve of me!
Sure, the lyrics and translation are online, but finding a sung version (on Youtube) which matched the text I had was a whole other story. First of all, Wikipedia offers two different versions and online there’s at least one more (see third text below). And to make things even worse, some performers mix and match the sections as they see fit so a poor learner like me has a hard time even figuring out which words one’s hearing, let alone singing along. Anyway, here’s a couple of videos: they aren’t necessarily the performances I like best, but those that were easier to follow thanks to the lyrics I found online. Translating the song by myself was out of the question as the level of the language is beyond what I can understand reasonably easily right now, so I relied on the translations I found online (that’s why the third version has no translation). Очи чёрные – 1 Очи чёрные, очи жгучие, Очи страстные и прекрасные, Как люблю я вас, как боюсь я вас, Знать увидел вас я не в добрый час. Очи чёрные, очи пламенны И мaнят они в страны дальные, Где царит любовь, где царит покой, Где страданья нет, где вражды запрет. Очи чёрные, очи жгучие, Очи страстные и прекрасные, Как люблю я вас, как боюсь я вас, Знать увидел вас я не в добрый час. Не встречал бы вас, не страдал бы так, Я бы прожил жизнь улыбаючись, Вы сгубили меня очи чёрные Унесли на век моё счастье. Очи чёрные, очи жгучие, Очи страстные и прекрасные, Как люблю я вас, как боюсь я вас, Знать увидел вас я не в добрый час. Dark eyes, burning eyes Passionate and splendid eyes How I love you, How I fear you Verily, I saw you at a sinister hour Dark eyes, flaming eyes They implore me into faraway lands Where love reigns, where peace reigns Where there is no suffering, where war is forbidden Dark eyes, burning eyes Passionate and splendid eyes I love you so, I fear you so Verily, I saw you at a sinister hour If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't be suffering so I would have lived my life smiling You have ruined me, dark eyes You have taken my happiness away forever Dark eyes, burning eyes Passionate and splendid eyes I love you so, I fear you so Verily, I saw you at a sinister hour Очи чёрные – 2 1. Очи чёрные, очи страстные Очи жгучие и прекрасные Как люблю я вас, как боюсь я вас Знать, увидел вас я в недобрый час 2. Ох, недаром вы глубины темней! Вижу траур в вас по душе моей, Вижу пламя в вас я победное: Сожжено на нём сердце бедное. 3. Но не грустен я, не печален я, Утешительна мне судьба моя: Всё, что лучшего в жизни Бог дал нам, В жертву отдал я огневым глазам! 1. Dark and burning eyes, Dark as midnight skies Full of passion flame, full of lovely game Oh how I'm in love with you, oh how afraid I am of you. Days when I met you made me sad and blue. 2. Oh, not for nothing are you darker than the deep! I see mourning for my soul in you, I see a triumphant flame in you: A poor heart immolated in it. 3. But I am not sad, I am not sorrowful, My fate is soothing to me: All that is best in life that God gave us, In sacrifice I returned to the fiery eyes! Очи чёрные – 3 Очи чёрные, очи страстные! Очи жгучие и прекрасные! Как люблю я вас! Как боюсь я вас! Знать, увидел вас я в недобрый час! Часто снились мне в полуночной тьме Очи чёрные, непокорные! А проснулся я - ночь кругом темна, И здесь некому пожалеть меня. Не встречал бы вас, не страдал бы так, Я бы прожил жизнь улыбаючись. Вы сгубили меня, очи чёрные, Унесли навек моё счастье. Очи чёрные, очи страстные! Очи жгучие и прекрасные! Как люблю я вас! Как боюсь я вас! Знать, увидел вас я в недобрый час! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| Emme Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 5345 days ago 980 posts - 1594 votes Speaks: Italian*, English, German Studies: Russian, Swedish, French | Message 288 of 360 27 February 2014 at 7:57pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
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While I’m at it, after posting about Team Катюша's challenge, I’ll repost here my entries for the monthly challenges for Team Lobo and Team Asgard as well, so that this personal log can really reflect and show my progress (or lack thereof) in my TLs month after month.
Team Lobo’s challenge was the same as Team Катюша’s (song + translation). Thank you, mrwarper for your help with the translation of the second section. Malagueña Salerosa Que bonitos ojos tienes Debajo de esas dos cejas Debajo de esas dos cejas Que bonitos ojos tienes Ellos me quieren mirar Pero si tu nos los dejas Pero si tu nos los dejas Ni siquiera parpadear Chorus: Malagueña salerosa Besar tus labios quisiera Besar tus labios quisiera Malagueña salerosa Y decirte niña hermosa Que eres linda y hechicera Que eres linda y hechicera Como el candor de una rosa Si por pobre me desprecias Yo te concedo razón Yo te concedo razón Si por pobre me desprecias Yo no te ofrezco riquezas Te ofrezco mi corazón Te ofrezco mi corazón A cambio de mi pobreza Chorus Graceful Malagueñan What beautiful eyes you have, beneath those two eyebrows beneath those two eyebrows what beautiful eyes you have! They want to look at me But you don't let them But you don't let them You don't even let them blink I’d like to kiss your lips I’d like to kiss your lips Graceful Malagueñan And tell you, beautiful girl, That you're pretty and bewitching That you're pretty and bewitching Like the candor of a rose If you scorn me for being poor I concede that you are right I concede that you are right If you scorn me for being poor I don't offer you riches I offer you my heart I offer you my heart In exchange for my poverty Team Asgard’s challenge was about our favourite TL word, in my case “jordgubbe” (strawberry). jord = earth / land gubbe = old man  Mitt favorit ord på svenska är jordgubbe. Tack vare den nordiska forktron, vi alla vet att det bor många olika väsen ut i naturen i Skandinavien: trollar, tomtar, skogsrået, lyktgubbar osv. Varje gång jag hör ordet “jordgubbe” jag föreställer mig ett väsen som bor på jordgubbsland. Om “tomten var en slags skuggbonde med övernaturliga krafter som såg till att gården har lycka med sig”, jordgubben (väsen) ser till att jordgubbarna (frukt) blir mogna och läckra. ;-)  My favourite word in Swedish is “jordgubbe” (strawberry). Thanks to Nordic folklore, we all know that in Scandinavia many different creatures live out in nature: trolls, tomtes, fairies, will-o'-the-wisps etc. Every time I hear the word “jordgubbe” I imagine a creature that lives in strawberry beds. If a tomte was a kind of fay serf with supernatural powers who saw to it that a farm was fortunate, “jordgubbar” see to it that strawberries get ripe and delicious. ;-) Edited by Emme on 27 February 2014 at 7:58pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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