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Chci mluvit česky-I want to speak Czech | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| tajosto Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4655 days ago 54 posts - 64 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Czech | Message 25 of 60 10 December 2012 at 8:41pm | IP Logged | ||
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@hribecek
@Majka I live in Vrazne, near Jevicko and Moravska Trebova. You are definitely right, about the advantages of the countryside—I just really need to get past some of my personal and cultural hang-ups, to start to socialize with people in the village. The village is actually so small that we don't have a pub, and, as far as I can tell, the chapel is only open for holidays. I do think that finding some pretext for socializing, though places or events, would help me. However, until I find those opportunities, I'll have focus on online language exchange. Also, I may have to just refuse to speak English with my roomates in order to get some Czech practice in! ;-) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Theodisce Octoglot Senior Member Poland Joined 5884 days ago 127 posts - 167 votes Speaks: Polish*, Latin, Ancient Greek, Russian, Czech, French, English, German Studies: Italian, Spanish, Slovak, Ukrainian, Serbo-Croatian, Greek, Portuguese | Message 26 of 60 11 December 2012 at 6:19am | IP Logged | ||
Seems like my idea of attending Hussite liturgy immediately after getting to Czech Republic is being reinforced : ) Thanks! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Majka Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic kofoholici.wordpress Joined 4655 days ago 307 posts - 755 votes Speaks: Czech*, German, English Studies: French Studies: Russian | Message 27 of 60 11 December 2012 at 10:42am | IP Logged | ||
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tajosto,
I have looked up where you live - and if you are mobile, your best bet is to look up activities in Jevíčko. Depending on the roads, it is reachable even on foot, even if slightly far for it (well, it's a good way to replace fitness center). And there is lot to do - look at www.jevicko.cz and look up the parts "O městě" - "Přijďte", "Sport", "Knihovna", "Rodinné centrum Palouček". Depending on your interests and free time, either volunteering in the Family center or taking part in the sport activities (the bike club looks nice, there are tourists, even if they are active senior people). I would even try to meet people through volunteering to help them translate their web pages if you think to be up to it. Don't miss the library - they are even organizing language courses, it might be a good idea to look up language exchange partner there, they have an "Advanced English" class. You can contact them through the library e-mail address. And don't miss the "Zpravodaj", it has a ton of local trivia and events. And this Sunday, at 15:15 you can hear Christmas corals by the chapel locally :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tajosto Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4655 days ago 54 posts - 64 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Czech | Message 28 of 60 13 December 2012 at 5:53pm | IP Logged | ||
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@Majka: Thank you for spending the time to find all the great info! I will definitely check this out, though
probably after the holidays are over. I finally have found a language learning website that fits to my learning style and interests AND has Czech lessons!! www.pronunciator.com The reason I like this site is that it offers many sentences with both audio and images, and also provides grammatically different versions of sentences on the same topic. So, for example: Já s tebou souhlasím. Ona s tebou nesouhlasí. Souhlasili jste se mnou? This is just what I have been looking for, a resource with hundreds of audio sentences that demonstrate grammar through the material without dry explanation (which, unfortunately, mostly just bores me to tears). This site also lets you record yourself speaking the sentences, and will compare it with their recording, and somehow coach you to better pronunciation. I haven't really had a chance to try this out yet, but will be interested to see how it works. Already, though, my boyfriend told me my pronunciation when "shadowing" these lessons is very good, so I do have high hopes right now for this website. :-) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tajosto Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4655 days ago 54 posts - 64 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Czech | Message 29 of 60 03 January 2013 at 7:12pm | IP Logged | ||
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Holidays plus being sick plus computer problems put quite a dent in my Czech study time, but now I'm getting back
into a regular routine. I'm still really enjoying Pronunciator. I skipped the early vocabulary lessons, and started with Simple Verbs, which contain complete sentences rather than individual words. I'm still developing the method I use with Pronunciator, but so far, I listen to the sentence (which is repeated twice, with a picture). I then repeat the sentence twice myself, immediately after. Then, I write the sentence in my notebook using the Scriptorium method. Pronunciator includes a range of quizzes, but so far I am only doing the listening comprehension and reading comprehension sections. I need to get my computer set up properly to do the pronunciation comparison, but hopefully will do that soon. Today, I added another part to learning the Pronunciator lessons: I spent half an hour rearranging the various sentences I learned today to create new variations. I've read about this method a number of times, and I'm glad I finally tried it. It helped me solidify what I learned today, and brought up specific grammar questions I'll have to look into. So I plan to continue with that method. I'm also need to figure out a way to record the Pronunciator audio clips so that I can add them to Anki. My one complaint so far about Pronunciator is that they don't seem to have a good method for reviewing old material, some kind of SRS system. And although they provide an audio file you can download for each lesson, it has all of the audio clips together in one file as part of a guided audio lesson. So, I'd have to chop up the audio file in order to put it in Anki, which sounds like WAY too much work. I'm going to try to record the audio directly from the streaming clips within the lessons. Even if the sound quality isn't perfect, it should suffice for review. These days I'm mostly watching "Avatar-Legenda o Aangovi" and a little "Dora-pruzkumice", and listening to the second Harry Potter audio book. And now my confession: my guilty pleasure, which I'm totally embarrassed about, is that I bought myself the Twilight teen novel as a graphic novel in Czech. It is terrible trash, really bad, but (sadly) I already know the story so it's much easier for me to understand than most of my other Czech books. And it keeps me doing Czech stuff much longer than otherwise! ;-) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| hribecek Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5347 days ago 1243 posts - 1458 votes Speaks: English*, Czech, Spanish Studies: Italian, Polish, Slovak, Hungarian, Toki Pona, Russian | Message 30 of 60 04 January 2013 at 2:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hi Tajosto
Look at your Christmas laziness as refreshing yourself ready for the big Czech push this year. Regarding Twilight, I also read the 4 books last Summer and enjoyed them. I'd never heard of them before I started reading them and so obviously hadn't seen or heard of the films, so I wasn't prejudiced before I started. I found that they grabbed my interest and made me want to keep turning the pages, which is the perfect formula for reading in a foreign language. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tajosto Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4655 days ago 54 posts - 64 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Czech | Message 31 of 60 15 January 2013 at 5:43pm | IP Logged | ||
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@hribecek: Thanks for clearing my conscience about Twilight! ;-)
I am finding the graphic novels incredibly helpful for keeping my brain processing Czech in the evenings. I only wish I could find more graphic novels telling a story I already know. It's pretty much the perfect reading format for me right now. A friend of mine is going to bring me some of his old comics, so that should be fun, too. I recently discovered that Pronunciator's different sections actually use corresponding words. So, Unit 113 in "Essential Verbs" will contain really simple sentences with one verb, like "Já povídám". Then, Unit 213 in "Simple Sentences" will use the same verb in longer sentences, like "Já si povídám se svým kamarádem." So I am now doing both units together, and it's really helpful, the second unit building on to the first unit. I have the system set up to repeat every sentence 3 times, and then I repeat in myself, at least once. They also repeat it a few times during the quizzes, so then I "shadow" it that time. I find the repetition and the rhythm of the similar sentences to be really helpful. And, the quite basic, but sometimes amusing, graphic help keep my attention. Now, I just *really* have to find some time to somehow transfer Pronunciator audio to Anki!! Very necessary! My other recent discovery is www.serialycz.cz. The shows are a mix of English language with Czech subtitles, or some shows have Czech dubbing. I'm mostly trying to stick with Czech dubbing, but if I feel really lazy, and watch English with CZ subtitles, I still find it helpful to keep my mind doing Czech. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tajosto Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4655 days ago 54 posts - 64 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Czech | Message 32 of 60 21 January 2013 at 4:37pm | IP Logged | ||
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I've been very consistent with doing 1 or 2 Pronunciator lessons everyday, plus watching an episode or 2 of some
cartoon in Czech, and usually some reading at bedtime. I *finally* found the time to figure out Anki2, and created 3 Pronunciator units of cards. So that's a big relief! I was able to recreate the Pronunciator experience in the SRS environment, complete with audio, images, and text. One of my roommates is trying more often to speak Czech with me in everyday situations (mainly the kitchen), which is helpful, but a little frustrating because it's so little Czech compared to so much English. I definitely need to focus on learning daily living phrases, so that I can convince my roommates to use more Czech and much less English. Right now, my vocabulary is so scattered and inconsistent that it's definitely a hardship for other people to use Czech with me in everyday life. :-/ 1 person has voted this message useful |
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