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Tarvos - TAC 2015 Pushkin/Scan | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4705 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes  Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 865 of 1511 19 September 2013 at 5:35pm | IP Logged | ||
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Russian
I forgot something; the next parts of my travelogue! So I'm writing up the next couple days here. Day 10: Sleep is for the Strong (30.07.2013) I woke up much too late (guess that sleep was somewhat necessary to catch up on). Yesterday Anya asked me at least twice to just speak English if I don't or can't speak Russian properly. I refused on principle. After I'd woken up, I took a shower - not that it matters, you will get hot and sweaty up here. I thus decided to go outside. I walked for about three hours and saw many memorials; also for foreigners that died during the Bolshevik revolution. Tomsk in general is excellent for strolls; it is a very green city. Not much of that old Soviet stuff here. Beautiful wooden houses, pretty architechture abounds. The views you can find here of the Tom river are absolutely stunning. The only thing Russia in general needs to learn is footpath maintenance. All the sidewalks are filled with potholes and other nasty contraptions. All in all my first impression of Tomsk, that if you want a quiet provincial town to live in, this is your best bet in Russia. Also, pancakes seem to serve both the sweet and savoury function. Another thing that the Netherlands shares with Russian culture, I guess. On an unrelated side note; you cannot find a MacDonalds here (or so Nastya told me). A good thing, it would clash with all the little reminders of old Soviet times that are rife here in Tomsk, such as little signs on street poles. Day 11: Russian Beer Factory (31.07.2013) I woke up moderately on time this morning, and luckily for me that was a good idea as I could spend most of the day outside. I explored some other areas of Tomsk today, I even saw a little park with wooden figurines of animals, lions, snakes, bears, owls, cats, all of that. I am more and more strengthened in my belief that if Tomsk was not under Russian rule it would be the perfect place to live in. But maybe some bone-headed Western government would seize the opportunity to destroy all that makes the city what it is. Once I'd done all of that and actually eaten something (I should start monitoring my food habits here - they are suffering under the influence of travel), Anya returned from work. After sitting around for a while pretending to be a rockstar (I gave Anya one of my picks that had somehow managed to lodge itself in my luggage) we went to the пивозавод which produces good beer. One strange thing about Russian beer sales is that it comes in plastic bottles (?), and I'm not sure that is conducive to good taste, but my guess is that it's cheaper. I met Anya's friend Natasha in a pub near the factory and we had lots of fun. I should have eaten more though because my alcohol tolerance is becoming lower than zero. Anya took me by the hand and led me home. I then fell asleep quickly. Day 12: Clothing Needs Washing (01.08.2013) Today was a mildly less interesting day. I did not go out so much - although I did take a short walk and went to a laundry service. Something which you don't often get the chance to do properly when travelling but at least it has happened and I now do not have to worry about clean clothes. I also tried to reheat some of yesterday's food and as it turns out I somehow managed to burn my finger on a match. That was annoying as the match flared up, so I can't actually blame myself for being clumsy. The evening was decidedly more interesting. Before we went to walk along the riverbank, Anya made me do one of those things that never happens. I have revised my opinion on music I just used not to like. I have never appreciated VNV Nation before (oh god the memories) but "Illusion" has just made my opinion that I previously held obselete. There is a power in this song that I oould not have held for possible five years ago... Something deep down inside me is forcing a change. Maybe the looming horizons of the unknown are changing my perspective on life. We ended up seeing the Chekhov statue subtly mocking the old fook; Nemo Tomsk impune lacessit! This city is wonderful! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Via Diva Diglot Senior Member Russian Federation last.fm/user/viadivaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4232 days ago 1109 posts - 1427 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: German, Italian, French, Swedish, Esperanto, Czech, Greek | Message 866 of 1511 19 September 2013 at 5:44pm | IP Logged | ||
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You can't find MacDonalds here in Omsk as well :)
But we have KFC :D 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4705 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 867 of 1511 22 September 2013 at 3:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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Novosibirsk also has KFC. But I like the fastfood restaurants in a pinch, actually. They
don't cost me an arm and a leg for food and the toilets are a guaranteed clean refuge, which is something you don't always get to count on. 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 868 of 1511 23 September 2013 at 2:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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This September many on team MIR have decided to branch out in new directions on their language journey: Fabricio with Arabic, Josquin with Mandarin and you with Korean.
I just wanted to wish you joy and success on this new adventure! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4705 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 869 of 1511 24 September 2013 at 9:52am | IP Logged | ||
Thanks! Korean I've been going through the level one TTMIK podcasts, and have now done the first 17. This includes present and past tense formation, but I'm starting to think the difficulty of Korean is probably not in the tenses. The tenses are just done using markers. It is probably in knowing which politeness suffix and tense suffix goes where when you tack all of that information on to the verb. What I also like about Korean is that all the changes that you do that seem to have some sort of irregularity always seem to have a basis in a good phonetical phenomenon. It makes sense what they do because yeah, it is easier to pronounce it that way. I'm excited for next week's class because that will be the first time I speak Korean, ever. We'll see how well I do! French I had an hour of French class yesterday. I'm getting quite happy with my French, it's never been this good. What I also like is that it is consistently this good and that there are very few lapses back into "wtfdom" or "what is going on here". In most of my better languages I always get a few moments where I still have to ask myself what is going on, but never in French. Apparently my diction and speech is very clear if I make an effort not to speak too fast (which hurts my diction more than my actual accent). Other Languages I haven't actually studied other languages, but I have regular correspondence in many. Lately I've been doing a lot of back-and-forth with a girl in Russian, and she compared me to van Gogh!!! (what the hell, world?) Apparently my Russian is also considered милый. But it's become very easy and second nature to do email back and forth in Russian without trouble these days. I do have the feeling I finally speak the language, although I'd like to improve plenty aspects, such as more correct grammatical structures. It's just a language I'm comfortable and have practice in. And one I can function in socially as well. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4705 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 870 of 1511 24 September 2013 at 2:20pm | IP Logged | ||
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In the interest of promoting multilingualism among any nascent and budding folk music
lovers or punk rockers here at HTLAL: Frank Turner (an Englishman!) has translated his song Eulogy into more than one language and has been playing it in foreign languages AND SINGING IT (even though he doesn't speak some of the languages) in those languages. I believe he has substantial experience with French, and his version of Eulogy in French (éloge) can be found here: Frank Turner - Éloge (Eulogy) There is, however, also a very good attempt at Dutch which is pretty close! Turner does not speak our language, but it's pretty honoring that someone who plays Wembley and the Olympics has the humility to try it in front of a 1000-man Dutch audience: Frank Turner - Grafrede (Eulogy) Note also that he changed the cultural references in his own song to cultural references understood by a foreign audience, or rhyming them (pas tout le monde peut chanter comme Johnny Holiday instead of not everyone can be Freddie Mercury). Don't be put off by a few grammar mistakes or incorrect pronunciation. It is laudable that even in the modern age, there are artists humble enough to perform this stuff on stage. It takes guts. Edited by tarvos on 24 September 2013 at 2:22pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Hekje Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4701 days ago 842 posts - 1330 votes Speaks: English*, Dutch Studies: French, Indonesian | Message 871 of 1511 24 September 2013 at 4:17pm | IP Logged | ||
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Wow, "Grafrede" really put a huge smile on my face! That has totally made my morning. And his pronunciation is
great, I feel, considering that he doesn't even speak the language. Cool find. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4705 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 872 of 1511 24 September 2013 at 4:35pm | IP Logged | ||
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I completely agree with respect to the pronunciation. Artists that tour abroad and sing
in English (even though we're very used to it) should do this stuff more. I remember I was actually at a Frank Turner show, and the support act was an Australian of partially Dutch heritage who partly addressed us in Dutch. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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