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Trans-Siberian Express | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5559 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes  Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 41 of 55 30 July 2011 at 11:15pm | IP Logged |
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@Medialis
Spasibo, bratan! :) I'm hoping to crank the old language learning engine back into life on Monday, once I've got up bright and early to clear a backlog of work first. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5559 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 43 of 55 01 August 2011 at 3:24pm | IP Logged |
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@Buttons
Haha...no phrasebooks on the beach yesterday. However you'll love this... It took a few hours to get to Poole, and initially it was relatively hot and sunny whilst travelling on the train, but as soon as I reached the beach (ironically in a bus full of Germans)...I was greeted by dark clouds, cold winds and even a spot or two of rain later on. People ducked into the cafe to grumble over their fish and chips, whilst others started to head back to the car. But did this phase me? Not on your nelly! Like a boy scout, I came prepared this time, and swiftly pulled out the rain-proofs from amongst my past-their-use-by-date suntan lotions and dog-chewed frisbee (lol). And it certainly didn't stop me swimming in the sea either whilst tourists stopped and stared at the half-crazed Brit bobbing up and down on the cold crashing waves like a pale distant buoy. Ah...the pure bliss of British weather! ;) @Medialis As promised, I drew the kanji for "moon" and "water" in the sand. Although I've got a strong hunch that the people next to me probably thought I was doing some kind of beach magick and trying to summon a manatee... Edited by Teango on 01 August 2011 at 3:32pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| M. Medialis Diglot TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member Sweden Joined 6360 days ago 397 posts - 508 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Russian, Japanese, French | Message 44 of 55 02 August 2011 at 1:17am | IP Logged |
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@Teango: You're my hero! Of course, a true boy scout can't let petty details like rain and cold winds ruin his sunny beach day. :)
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| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5559 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 46 of 55 28 September 2011 at 8:07pm | IP Logged |
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PERM (1436 KM) and YEKATERINBURG (1816 KM)
I seem to have fallen into a long stupor after several virtual vodka parties with Hagrid and Harry, and neglected you, my dear Trans-Siberian readers. So today I present not one, but two, fascinating cities on my route: Perm (Пермь) and Yekaterinburg (Екатеринбу́рг). Perm, which was renamed Molotov (Мо́лотов) after Vyacheslav Molotov between 1940 and 1957, sits on the bank of the Kama river (claimed to be one of the most picturesque rivers in Russia) and is home to almost a million people. In the shadow of the Ural mountains, the area boasts a large network of smaller rivers and tributaries and is a major access route for shipping, whilst the city itself has a long history of being a centre of excellence for science, engineering and manufacturing. And whilst this may not be the birthplace of post-Soviet coiffures, which would have made a dreadful pun anyway, it is a fast-growing cultural centre that is sometimes considered an avant-garde counterpart to St Petersburg! 
[ P is for post-modern Perm (П): This local landmark is affectionately known as "Big Red" apparently! ] Yekaterinburg was initially named after Empress Catherine I (Yekaterina), the wife of Tsar Peter the Great, but was later renamed to Sverdlovsk (Свердло́вск) between 1924 and 1991 after the Bolshevik party leader Yakov Sverdlov. Home to Boris Yeltsin, and with a solid reputation as the leading educational and scientific centre in the Urals, it is the 4th largest city in Russia (with approximately 1.4 million inhabitants). Most notably, this is also the city where most of the Russian royal family (the Romanovs) breathed their very last at the hands of the Bolsheviks in the grounds of Ipatiev House (which was sadly later demolished by Yeltsin in 1977). Yekaterinburg is also well-known for producing lots of famous Russian bands and features as a major centre for Russian rock music along with St. Petersburg. 
[ Already proud of Russia's first ever monument to The Beatles, Yekaterinburg has since added Michael Jackson to their pantheon of pop. Cha'mone! ] It's been a few months and 100 hours of study since my last update here, but they haven't flown by completely without progress. During this period, I've managed to move my reading skills up another notch (rising from 84% to 91% in reading tests), polish off a second novel, and can now comfortably take part in basic conversations. 
[ Uli enjoys sticking his head out the train window to catch the wind in his feelers and peruse the odd black-market DVD... ] Most recent reading test results: 91% (+7%) [first 100 words taken from "Дневной Дозор", Part 3, Chapter 5, p. 609) Distance from the next station, Tyumen: 220 km. Edited by Teango on 09 October 2011 at 5:57am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| M. Medialis Diglot TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member Sweden Joined 6360 days ago 397 posts - 508 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Russian, Japanese, French | Message 47 of 55 30 September 2011 at 1:40pm | IP Logged |
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Hey, now I also want to visit Perm! :)
Your adventurous red snail has managed to get really far now. And I enthusiastically note that a train ride from Kirev to Yekaterinburg can give you an impressive 7 % reading improvement. We're lucky that Russia is so darn big, so that you can rush through the landscape knowing that you still have many cool places left to visit. (guess that's part of my temperament, I sometimes tend to read books slowly because I don't want them to end :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5559 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 48 of 55 30 September 2011 at 2:32pm | IP Logged |
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@Medialis
Being a complete geography dunce, I really enjoy learning about new Russian cities along the way. And as you've rightly pointed out, Russia is a BIG country - so there's bags of adventure still ahead. Looking forward to hitting that next time zone and hopefully climbing up another per cent! :) Edited by Teango on 30 September 2011 at 2:34pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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