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Ancient Greek, Sanskrit and some Hittite | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| aljosa Diglot Newbie Slovenia Joined 6197 days ago 14 posts - 16 votes Speaks: Slovenian*, English Studies: German, Sanskrit, Ancient Greek | Message 10 of 15 17 January 2008 at 2:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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A small update and Something New (tm).
I didn't study any Ancient Greek on Tuesday and yesterday because of that exam. When I came out of the classroom I went to the library and then home. I spent the next 6 hours in the laziest possible ways (I was not capable of much more, after all, I hadn't slept the previous night and I haven' done that in a very long time now). Then I had a long nap, extending to this morning. And then I mostly rested this day, recovering from the violations of modal logic. I'll get to studying in the next hour or so. Iversen, I'll try to do what you suggest in this session already and will report back on the results. Leserables, I checked your site and I think it's going to be useful to my studies - I'll start working on the materials today. Now for that other thing. Something New a short play Characters: Aljoša - a somewhat lazy language enthusiast German - a language Idea - a metaphysical sensation (It's 3 am. Aljoša is sitting in his room, reading an English grammar, chain-smoking and drinking coffee.) Aljoša: Oh! Oh! Oh! What be the use of this pain! This terrifying ordeal! This terrifying test of my ability! None! None, I tell ye! (Aljoša takes a look towards the book-pile in the room. There is a somewhat mystical glow around Steppenwolf. Aljoša picks up the book. Idea runs through the room. Aljoša smiles.) (Enter German.) German: Guten Abend! Aljoša: Oh, no, please, don't get all German on me. German: Was? Aljoša: Bitte. Kein Deutsch. Bitte. German: (Smiles.) All right. Aljoša: Do you know why I have summoned you here? German: I have a fairly good idea. But, please, go ahead, tell me. Aljoša: Because I want to study you! Yes! I want to know you! German: Funny, I thought you hated me. Aljoša: No, no, you've got it all wrong. I may have disliked you in the past, yes, but not anymore. You can blame the school. The annoying grammar studying before exams (points to the English grammar) and no vocabulary at all. No one liked you. Those who knew it, knew it. Those who didn't - well, could recite the Adjektiv Deklination. For the next 24 hours. How could I have liked you? German: I see. But why this sudden change of heart? Aljoša: Well, you might know I've been thinking about liking you for quite some time now. It all started when I heard your voice. When I became exposed to all these wonderful languages I suddenly started to like it. I wished I could speak with such a voice. Not to mention I could do it every week if I wanted to, I'd just have to take a trip to Austria. Or have a conversation with my grandmother (I'm sure you know she is fluent). German: Um, yes, I know. Aljoša: And then I thought that you are very useful. So much linguistic literature is written in you. And, oh, let us not forget the literature. It's simply... beautiful. *sob* German: Don't get all mushy. Aljoša: Uh-huh. German: Continue, please. Aljoša: Well, I can't think of any more reasons. But could there be more? Most of my friends have a very nice relationship with you. I don't. They often remind me of that. I would like to show them I am an adaptable man, that I can love you too. German: Sounds reasonable. Aljoša: So what choice do I have left? German: (Thinks for a second.) Those are very convincing arguments. But you are too emotional. Now, since your intelligence is too absorbed in there (points to the English grammar), I will have to act on its behalf. Aljoša: Well, all right. German: You know perfectly well that Ancient Greek is your primary language at the moment. What makes you think you can handle both of us? Now, I don't mind polygamy, but I've always thought you were a more monogamous type. Aljoša: Well, Ancient Greek is a professional concern. I have deadlines to follow, so I know better than to just leave it. And while I really really like it, it pains me that the only foreign language I can fluenty converse in is English (don't dare to mention Serbo-Croatian now!). That will not change once I can read Plato in the original. But you, you offer me communication. I will easily force myself to work with both you - in fact, it will be a pleasure. And, while I barely know Ancient Greek, I can already understand a bit of you. Like the good people on the how-to-learn-any-language forum - you know them, don't you? German: Of course, I'm friends with quite a few. Aljoša: Well, as they point out, it's unwise to begin two languages at the same time. But I am not beginning with you. We will merely expand our relationship. German: That's quite true. But you know very well that Ancient Greek isn't the only other language. Aljoša: Indeed. But I have just recently decided to put Sanskrit on hold. Two beginning level dead languages are a nightmare. I can just study them. I cannot listen to them. I cannot watch TV in them. If I don't study you painstakingly I can at least get some passive exposure, right? German: Right, right. (With a diabolic smile.) Ignoring Hittite, are we? Aljoša: Of course not. But... puh-lease. Be serious. Those fifty words won't be hard. And that incredibly easy grammar we're doing? And the autopsy method of translation? I'd have to be brain-dead not to manage that. And lest we forget, isn't our primary grammar of Hittite written in German? German: All right, you've got me. But how do you intend to study me? You must have a new approach. If you do not, you will surely hate me. Aljoša: That is easy. I will refrain from doing any grammar. And vocabulary studies for the most part too. I will just try to read, read and read even more. And listen. In fact, I will find some audiobooks as soon as we finish this conversation. German: Sounds reasonable. Just one more thing. Why now? Why today? Why while studying this terrible thing? Aljoša: Because of love. When did Idea cross the room? When I laid my eyes upon this masterpiece that is Steppenwolf. I read it one page at a time so that it would last longer. It was the book of me. And when I forgot it at home two months ago, I, incredibly!, started to forget about it. But this week I took it with me. And I realy saw it just today. Can this description of my soul be any better than it already is? It can, it can! But only with you. (Takes a deep breath.) German: Hm? Aljoša: (Gets on his knees and takes out a ring.) German, will you be my second language? German: (Taking the ring, gleefuly.) Ja, ja, ich will! (The curtain falls.) That says it all. :) Edited by aljosa on 17 January 2008 at 3:09pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6646 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes  Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 11 of 15 18 January 2008 at 4:14am | IP Logged | ||
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And now, what would that look like in Ancient Greek?
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| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6540 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 12 of 15 18 January 2008 at 4:43am | IP Logged | ||
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*applause*
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| bluejay390 Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6221 days ago 227 posts - 259 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Malay, Italian | Message 13 of 15 18 January 2008 at 5:41am | IP Logged | ||
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Haha. That made me smile. :) What a lovely way to start the morning. Good luck with German!
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| aljosa Diglot Newbie Slovenia Joined 6197 days ago 14 posts - 16 votes Speaks: Slovenian*, English Studies: German, Sanskrit, Ancient Greek | Message 14 of 15 25 January 2008 at 5:36pm | IP Logged | ||
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I fell into a burning ring of... laziness. Huh.
I could have seen this coming. That exam made me drop my Greek studies for two days. And the never-ending circle began. "Oh, I haven't studied for two days, what is another day?" It continued for the whole week. To make things worse, I can't seem to fall asleep at night, so when I'm tossing and turning in the bed for up to two hours, I feel terribly guilty for wasting this precious time. But, fortunately, today/yesterday I got back on track. I made the grammar charts, I made a stack of flashcards and now I'm back to my usual routine, enjoying it even more than before. Now I know I can't permit myself to stop the studies for even a day. With the charts (which I'm expanding whenever the need arises) my grammar is improving. The pronunciation no longer poses a problem (I have still been reading the earlier lessons once every two days this week). I think I know what the best approach for vocabulary-acquisition will be. First, I will follow Iversen's method to get very familiar with the vocabulary. Then, I will make flashcards for later revision. In the last two days I've had full retention in both directions. I'm slowly going to bed now, but I can't wait for tomorrow when I'll be able to continue. Another problem has appeared, though. (As if that is a surprise.) Prepositions and conjunctions. Now, I know the most basic ones, but I'm keeping a separate pile of flashcards for those, but I just can't seem to be able to memorise them. There are about fifty different prepositions now (or, rather - 20 prepositions, each of them binding with two or three cases; that completely changes it's meaning, of course). I suppose I'll just try to revise them more often and hope they will eventually get ingrained in my mind. I've been a little more productive with German. I have acquired audiobooks of Siddhartha, Der Steppenwolf and In der Strafkolonie. I've been listening-reading Siddhartha (the speaker has the clearest voice) for about two hours a day in the past few days. Currently, I understand about 40-50% of the text and my comprehension seems to be improving with each chapter, so I will continue until I am satisfied or have gone mad from too many repetitions. Next week will be quite full though, as I have to complete that dreaded Sanskrit-grammar lecture that has to be handed in the next week. Also, an exam approaches, this time Old English literature (Beowulf and that). Still, I am determined not to allow myself to put a halt on anything anymore. Oh, one more thing. My English accent. In my younger and more vulnerable years my education caused my American accent. Not to offend anyone speaking that variety of English, I simply find RP... well, nicer. Since I've begun studying English at the university I've been trying to get accustomed to speaking RP. After a year and a half, the results are really beginning to show and I've gotten quite a few compliments from native speakers of rhotic dialects ("You could really pretend you're British, you know." and that). I like that, but I am not satisfied. I know that my accent has room for improvement and when I'm nervous I automatically go back to General American. This last happened when I had a presentation of Plan 9 from Outer Space in my language classes. First I tried to be non-rhotic, but it sounded awful without the pitch accent, so I went back to the good ol' rhotic ways. Among friends I'm always RP (and a beer or two make me practically the Queen of England). So I want to get this settled. Now, I know that practice makes perfect and that immersion would cure this in a heartbeat, but I don't have the time to go to England anytime soon. I am going to Ireland in 10 days (yipee!) though, and that will make me practice 24/7. If there is no improvement, however, I've thought about extensive shadowing (Patrick Stewart sounds quite nice to me, especially with his slightly trilled r's). It certainly won't hurt my not-so-perfect dental fricatives. Any opinions on this? Can it help me improve? Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. This concludes this week's report. I will report at least once before I set sail, so cheers. Oh...
Iambic. :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| burntgorilla Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6387 days ago 202 posts - 206 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Danish | Message 15 of 15 07 February 2008 at 1:28pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well, the Irish accent is totally different to English RP, so going there won't really help you too much. Unless you mean having to speak it for 10 days, of course.
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