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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| 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 81 of 129 18 May 2015 at 9:27pm | IP Logged |
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Told you, Elenia...Keep working and you will see other videos become easier as well :D
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| Elenia Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom lilyonlife.blog Joined 3854 days ago 239 posts - 327 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Swedish, Esperanto | Message 82 of 129 20 May 2015 at 10:34am | IP Logged |
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@Expugnator - yeah, this is the only option! All of my French series seem to fall under 'speed speech' of 'mumbling'. Speed speech I'm used to as I speak very quickly myself and also as I've been exposed to quite a lot of speed speech in the past, mostly through french Youtubers. Mumbling is something new for me. During my first semester at uni in France, I had to quit a class because in addition to being boring and yet challenging, the teacher spoke really quickly, really quietly, and she mumbled. To make matters worse, the students would talk at a normal level while she was speaking. Although that would have probably been a great opportunity to improve my comprehension, it would have affected my grade far too much to continue on.
As a loosely related side note, watching Workingirls has reminded me just how difficult I find it to understand older people speaking French. The first time I truly realised this was when my (ex-)roommate and I were trying to find a clinic where she could get her blood test. My roommate had misheard the address, and we ended up going to the end of the town trying to find the clinic, and had to ask the bus driver for help. The bus driver was an elderly man, and when he spoke I don't think I understood a single word he said. This is, of course, due to the fact that speech changes as one gets older, and I sometimes even find it difficult to understand my own grandmother. But it also reminds me of a comic episode in the film Hot Fuzz, where Simon Pegg plays a London police officer forced to transfer to a small village in the West Country. (I'm referring only to the first minute of the clip). --- I didn't get much done yesterday, as I went to lunch with a friend and then went to spend the rest of my day with my cousin and my aunt. While at my aunt's house, however, I gave such an effective speech on the subject 'I can't learn languages/you have to be immersed' topic that this aunt gave that speech to another aunt of mine very soon afterwards, and left with a view to start learning Latin. A job well done, I would say. i read two pages if French in the evening, but didn't have my laptop with me, so I decided to stop as I wouldn't have been able to input the genders in to anki. In hindsight, I should have made a note of the words as I read, and inputted them later, but I didn't think of that at the time. The French book I picked up is one I bought way back when in first year, but which I never finished reading. It is Chagrin d'école by Daniel Pennac, and it's quite an engaging non-fiction read. Other than that, it has been anki and duo as usual. I will be meeting up with my German friend today for the first time in ages. Ideally, I would like to practice German on her, but I don't think it will be possible given the amount of German I have forgotten. Maybe something along the lines of 'ich lese ein Artikel...' I can't even continue on from there (and I am sure something isn't correct in that short stub of a sentence). I did, however, read something aloud in German to my boyfriend last night. I am very glad that he is willing to let me read aloud to him, considering that he doesn't understand spoken German and that I start laughing whenever I make any mistakes. The only real use I get from it, however, is from trying out how I think the words sound. He can't correct my pronunciation like my friend could, but then again, he can't be bored about the article topic (charcoal) like my friend would either. You win some, you lose some. I have also done something that is probably unwise. Having discovered MOOCs on this forum, I have signed up for four courses (all in English). One of these courses, beginning on the first of June, is a six week intro to Dutch. Oh, dear. And I was being so good about holding it off! This probably just be me getting my toes wet, so hopefully it won't be enough to derail my Swedish or further derail my German. Hopefully. I have also joined the output challenge with Swedish... wish me luck! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Sarnek Diglot Senior Member Italy Joined 4213 days ago 308 posts - 414 votes Speaks: Italian*, English Studies: German, Swedish | Message 83 of 129 20 May 2015 at 10:40am | IP Logged |
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Good luck!
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| Elenia Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom lilyonlife.blog Joined 3854 days ago 239 posts - 327 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Swedish, Esperanto | Message 84 of 129 20 May 2015 at 12:11pm | IP Logged |
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Thank you!
--- I also just remembered, that I did do something relevant yesterday. I listened to forty minutes of Låt den rätta komma in, while reading along. That was 'Platsen' (a section which I know very well thanks to constant readings and rereadings) and the first 'day' of the book. I also did a lot of singing in Swedish, something which you will be able to see/hear me do if I ever actual post my output challenge recordings. I also started an effort to create a poetic translation of Rött och Guld by Loke Nyberg. Edited by Elenia on 20 May 2015 at 12:13pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Elenia Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom lilyonlife.blog Joined 3854 days ago 239 posts - 327 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Swedish, Esperanto | Message 85 of 129 21 May 2015 at 1:36pm | IP Logged |
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I have been most awful. When I was out yesterday I bought not one, not two, not three, not four but FIVE books. They were all so cheap, I just couldn't help myself!
Two of these were TY books, one for Catalan, one for Dutch. So that decides the wanderlust issue, at least. I'm unsure whether I should hold off on Catalan until August (it would be really cool to start from nothing and see where I get to during the 6 week challenge), or to just dive straight in. Dutch, I'd like to flick through before the Introduction to Dutch course starts. The books were only 2.99 each! And it seems like I will use them, so really not a bad buy. --- I didn't get much done yesterday, as I spent more time with my friend than I had planned. I did manage to read my quota of French, however, from Chagrin d'école by Daniel Pennac. To be honest, I don't particularly agree with some of his ideas/beliefs, but he is an interesting writer nonetheless, and it's an easy read so I'll continue on with it. I finally made note of some genders while reading - got down about 40 words in all. I could (and probably should) have taken note of more, but I opted to just carry on reading instead. Otherwise, I listened and transcribed the lyrics of the latest Loke Nyberg song on my to-learn list. The song is För fallna Anglar (For Fallen Angels), which I thought wouldn't be too hard before I started. Turns out I was mistaken. I was judging difficulty by my experience of transcribing the lyrics to Blasfemi (by the same), which went stunningly well, and the fact that the song is quite clear and not to fast. But it would seem my problem is simply vocabulary. There are places when he says something so quickly that I don't even trust my phonetic transcription. I'm starting to think I would have had more luch with ADHD, which is a MUCH quicker song, but which I think would pose less challenges in terms of vocabulary. Oh well, the more effort I put into it, the more rewarding it will be to know all the words and sing along to it. Finally, I managed to get a sentence out in German as my friend and I ate dinner. It was an awful sentence, and I had to keep on asking her what a word was, but I said it! So yay! The sentence was something along the lines of 'I am reading an article about charcoal. It is very interesting to me because the name of the article is 'Charcoal: the new remedy?' and my grandmother always uses charcoal when she is sick' or something like that. At was expected, my friend laughed at me and asked why I was even reading that in the first place (to which I responded: 'didn't you understand? My grandmother...') She asked why I didn't read children's books instead - simple, I don't have any - and offered to buy me some when she goes back home next week. I told her she doesn't need to, but she can be quite stubborn on certain points. I have to tidy my room, so I may listen to an FSI lesson as I do that. I also have to cook now, so perhaps another chance for FSI... 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Elenia Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom lilyonlife.blog Joined 3854 days ago 239 posts - 327 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Swedish, Esperanto | Message 86 of 129 23 May 2015 at 2:36am | IP Logged |
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This week's progress has been a lot less than last week. I was busier than I expected to be (whereas last week, I cancelled a lot of my plans), and much of my time was spent in ways different to what I laid out in my plan. So far, I have read the forty pages (and more) of French, watched two episodes of Workingirls, read roughly half of the new article on Spectrum.de, done about forty minutes of Swedish watching and listened to 59 minutes and 41 seconds of Låt den rätta komma in. I also did 31 words of the translation, but as I forgot to save the file before restarting my computer, I have lost all of it :( So I won't count it.
Put like that, it doesn't seem quite so bad? But I know that I won't really have time to complete most of these things, other than the workingirls epsiodes. The Swedish watching was all I Mumindalen, rather than the things I had planned out. I watched that because I was morose and needed to comfort myself in some way, and The Moomins were exactly the dose of cute I needed. I watched two episodes without subtitles, and I am proud to say that I understood quite a lot more than usual. This is probably because the stories are quite simple, and the speech is clear. Whatever it is, it made watching a rewarding and confidence inspiring exercise. Other than that, I have spent a lot of time working on För Fallna Änglar, and am happy to report that I transcribed all of the lyrics, then corrected them and translated the things I didn't know. This will count for the writing portion of the output challenge (although I will have to check how I'm allowed to count that...) and when I can remember all of the words, I will sing it and record myself. Gird your loins, all ye faithful. This endeaour took quite a lot of time that could have been spent otherwise, but I don't regret it. It's a good aural exercise, and it's nice to see how much I can actually pick up on. Of course, I have to go very slowly, pausing sometimes on every other line, rewinding, listening again and again... but this all helps the song stick in my head better. It also helps me understand other Loke songs better, which in turn should help with comprehension of non-Loke songs... --- I'll set revised goals for the rest of the week:
Watch the remaining four episodes of Workingirls Finish the new Spektrum.de article Work on being able to sing För Fallna Änglar Anything else I manage outside of that will be bonus, me thinks. I will also try to update my log tomorrow with the lyrics. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Elenia Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom lilyonlife.blog Joined 3854 days ago 239 posts - 327 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Swedish, Esperanto | Message 87 of 129 25 May 2015 at 1:54am | IP Logged |
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Here are the lyrics:
Det är tunga tysta myrer/(myrar), taggtrod(taggrtåd,) stol(stål) och byra(burar), high security och kropps visitation(kroppsvisitation). Jag är kamera övervakad(kameraövervakad), varandra/varendra(varenda) rörelse övervakad(bevakad), det(när) är(jag) visar gilltig(giltig) legitimation. Jag (blev)/blir åter visiterad och(-) sedan escorterad(eskorterad) till ett litet rum som stinkar(stinker) svett och rök. On(Och) är(när) alla intryck blandas är det knappt att jag kan andas då (är)/er (jag)är enda(ändå) bara på besök. Det finns spåga barotanter (spågubbar och tanter), profeter, klarvoyanter(klärvoajanter), men när är(det) geller(gäller) konst för män(konstformen) att spö(spå) Et(är) ingen mera(mer) kompetens(kompetent) men/(med) sina hundra tref procent/träffprocent), ett(än) domaren alla/(allra) framstid(främst i) detta skro/skrö(skrå). Han är(har) förut sett(förutsett) i/ett(ditt) ödell(öde) liksom hedat(hejdat) (livets)/libets flöder(flöde,) din framtid ligger ut starkad/uttarkad(utstakad) och klar. Så jag vänder över/upp(på) min blick, mot den vackra år som gick och den fantastiska människa du var. Om(Och) mitt hjärta borjar/bor jag(börja) själva(skälva), för jag minns dig som en elva(älva), du skrattade och(åt) dal(allt) to(och) ingenting. Med dig var inget farligt, inte en(ens) sak kött/sa skit(särskilt) allvarligt, du snubblar(snubblade) rund(runt), du danser dig(dansade) i ring. Det var gratis (karameller)/karamella, det var vildar/vilder(vilda) karusellar, det var en färjgrand(färggran) cirkus utan norra(några) kvav. Det var en barriär och då barns fard(bergochdalbansfärd,) där(du) i om fann/famn det(omfamnade) vore du vard(vår värld) ett annat(utan att) nånsin(någonsin) tar(ta) betal(betalt) för det du gav. Vi danser(dansade) oss genom(igenom) morgen(åren) men en natt som förra våren, so vakar/vak att/vaknar(vaknade jag av) att du stod bredvid min säng, Och jag kan inget lova, men du varker/varkan du(verkade ännu) (sova)/sover fast du sjunger(sjöng) (en)/de lerende/leevende/besynne refrain(besynnerligäng): Om en plats för fallna änglar där man lever på kredit. Om(Har) man en gång varit där så vill man åyervänder(återvända) dit. Där man glömmer var man kommer från(kom ifrån), man glömmer vem man är. Man glömmer vart man är på väg men(med) allt är(det) innebär. Där läker klippte(klippta) vinga, där gör man vad man vill, Där kom(kan) man aldrig åldras. För där står tiden stil(still). Men rest av(resten) utan(utav) världen blir betyd en ?(betydelselöst) grå. Du måste [har?] varit där för att förstår(förstå). Det var efter det (som) det händer, det var alls(som) som(om) allting vända, jag såg ett stind(stygn) av sorg varje gång du log. Tid har det(hade) du(vi) gått(gott) om, men du hade alltid bråttom, och ingenting du fick var nånsin nu/ny(nog). Inget tyckets längre du gav(duga), det var här du börjar(började) ljuga till och med mot(emot) dem du håll(höll) i dina armar. Och alls(en) kärlek som(kärlekssång) du känt öss(skänktes) över träffades(överträffades) och dränktes, som(av) en klåda i dina/(ditt) bröst och dinat armar(dina tarmar). Och i stadens spår(vrår) och sprikor(sprickor) fann du andra famn/famna och(fallna) flickor, de sjung(sjöng) på samma melodi som du. Med samma avkastade gloria och tråsiga(trasiga) (historia)/historier, om första fars(fosterfarsor, och(BUP och) LDU(LBU). Och du ringde [dem] mitt i natten med en röst som under vatten, du skrattade [och] du grät på samma gång. Bär/Ber(Bad) dem(om) förlåtase(förlåtelse och) tröst med en sömnde skriken(sönderskriken) röst, och du sjöng den/(din) för bannat den/förbannande(förbannade) sång: ... Och jag lyfter blicken åter, jag inser att jag gråter i dessa/instängde(instängd) i ett svetstinkande(svettstinkande) rum. Men det är vred det(vrede) som jag känner, den rasa(rasar) röd/röden och (och den) bränner: hur kan en vuxen manniska(människa) har var(vara) så dum(?). Fyra/vi är et(För jag är) trott(trött) på dessa tårar, och ett(jag är) trott(trött) på dessa dårar, som bestamt(bestämt) att deras smartar(smärta) är unik. Den jävla läng tan(längtan om) att förfalla (få falla), den bor ju i oss alla, det skiljer mest nysanser i vårt skrik. Jag också jag har denna iver, rad(och) den rasa(rasar) och den rida(river), amma raferi(raseri) och samma frustration. Men genom alla dessa år har jag valt ett annat spår, för du har viat mig den resans slutstation. Ja, jag har haft din(min) före bilden(förebild en) fallna/(fallen) angeln(ängel) står(stolt) och vild, som visats(visat) vägen genom skrikan(skriken), genom gråten. Nu när ditt höra(hår) myssigt(har mist sin) lysser(lyster) ska jag kalla dig för syster, du ska vara ej vet(evigt) älskad och förlåten. Det fallar(faller) tunga tysta skyra(skurar) över tunga tysta myrar, men det är inte dem(de) som har dig fången, Det är ingen tagtodde(taggtråd och) metal(metall), det är ditt eget(egna) fria fall, det är den förbannande(förbannade) sången:... All of this is apparently 687 words... wow! I've got a complicated looking system going on here, I will try to explain it. The first thing to explain is how I transcribe. I try to pause and rewind a little every time I am not sure of a word, and pause every few seconds to give myself time, which means the process can take hours. Sometimes, I rewind too much, or I listen from the start, and so give myself a chance to correct myself or change what I have written. Where I have tried to correct myself, or rather, where I have written down alternative transcriptions can be seen with a forward slash ( / ), which will show in what order I have written the words. So between 'myrer' and 'myrar' in the first line, 'myrer' was the first try. Once the entire song is transcribed, I find a source against which I correct my own efforts. I usually listen to the song again as I make corrections, as it is very useful to compare what I am hearing against what I have written and what is actually there. I do this in a different colour on my written notes, making annotations, almost. But that was far too complicated to replicate here, either by bolding or by italicising, or underlining. So, I have put the corrections in brackets ( ... ). So, to turn again to the example of 'myrer/(myrar)', 'myrar' is in brackets because that turned out to be correct. When I haven't managed to hit upon the correct response, the correction immediately follows the erroneous word or phrase: 'taggtrod(taggtråd)'. I'm really not sure how much of this would count for the writing portion of the output challenge. Do I count my mistakes? Do I count the corrections? I should check... I didn't manage to do anything more than reading today (and typing up this!), as I met a friend for lunch and then had a goals meeting with my cousins. I am not feeling too bad about this however, and I shall pick up the mantel once again after my exam on Tuesday. EDIT: I notice that each of these songs often have similar or the same vocabulary being reused. This album in particular (11:11) contains songs which are all stories, which is already useful for remembering lyrics and vocabulary, but that vocab is repeated increases the usefulness of these songs hundredfold. I am thinking of it as the musical equivalent of reading a series of books like the Discworld books, where the stories aren't the same and may have different characters, but which are nonetheless linked by Pratchett's distinctive voice... Edited by Elenia on 25 May 2015 at 2:01am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Elenia Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom lilyonlife.blog Joined 3854 days ago 239 posts - 327 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Swedish, Esperanto | Message 88 of 129 28 May 2015 at 2:02am | IP Logged |
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Would any readers/casual perusers of my log be able to point me in the direction of Teach
Yourself audio? Specifically for the Dutch and Catalan courses. I can only seem to find CDs, but I don't have anything to play them on, and so would need an MP3 version. Do Teach Yourself offer this at all? Or will I have to take out my ship and my bottle of rum - something I am very wary of doing. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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