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6WC - Georgian | ||
Tags: Georgian | 6 Weeks Challenge (6WC) | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Zorndyke Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6807 days ago 374 posts - 382 votes  Speaks: German*, English Studies: Czech | Message 1 of 16 09 July 2007 at 11:05am | IP Logged | ||
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Actually, I had the intention to start the challenge on July 19th just when the summer holidays begin, but the marks are already definite and so school is relatively easy-going now.
Why Georgian? At the beginning I wasn't fond of Georgian at all. While it had a nice script it was just too uncommon to be useful, but not obscure enough to be one of those languages that I wanted to learn, simply because they were the summit of curiosity. I rather wanted to learn Abkhaz or even more extraordinary languages, those days. However, this has changed somehow. Now I value Georgian for its features such as its script, sound, ergativity and consonant clusters (although most of these consonants remain silent). Another point is that many people intend to learn Georgian on this board, but oddly enough they just don't do it. I think one of the main reason for this is the close fog of supposed difficulty which surrounds the language. Maybe I can pioneer a bit and show people that Georgian isn't a monster eager to devour them. Main Resources I feel somewhat "guilty" the spearhead of my challenge being a German grammar for Georgian since most people don't speak it, but I dipped into the book some months ago and although it was a dry old school grammar book, everything seemed to be very well explained and still less dry than the English grammars I found. - Einführung in die georgische Sprache, Band I: Theoretischer Teil - Einführung in die georgische Sprache, Band II: Praktischer Teil - translate.ge: dictionary Minor Resources - EuroTalk, TalkNow!, Georgian - Georgian: A Reading Grammar by Howard I. Aronson - Indiana University - Lessons & Audio - Armazi.com - RadioFreeEurope - UniLang Basic Word List - VoA webcasts - kvali.com dictionary (To be used with IE) I don't know whether I will use these "Minor Resources" at all, though (except for EuroTalk - I will use that one for sure). The challenge will start sometime within the next days. I think I will post weekly updates. Any questions or propositions are welcome, of course. Edited by Zorndyke on 22 August 2007 at 12:56pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| lady_skywalker Triglot Senior Member Netherlands aspiringpolyglotblog Joined 6739 days ago 909 posts - 942 votes Speaks: Spanish, English*, Mandarin Studies: Japanese, French, Dutch, Italian | Message 2 of 16 09 July 2007 at 1:44pm | IP Logged | ||
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Good luck with your Georgian studies! :)
It's a shame that there are so few good resources for learning conversational Georgian. The existing textbooks are rather dry (dare I say boring?) and there are so few online resources in comparison to other 'minor' languages. There seems to be more available for Basque, for instance. Let me know if you find any other books or online resources! Georgian is on my hitlist...I can't resist a language which such a beautiful alphabet. :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Zorndyke Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6807 days ago 374 posts - 382 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: Czech | Message 3 of 16 09 July 2007 at 2:10pm | IP Logged | ||
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Good to know there is someone interested in what I'm doing here ;-)
Since I have no intention to use most materials there, the "Minor Resources" section is basically just a mere collection of links and resources for learning Georgian. When I find something new, I will edit my opening post. There is also another dictionary, but the problem is it's English->Georgian only and somehow it doesn't display the Georgian characters, although I have the fonts installed, can write in Georgian and everything: kvali.com Edited by Zorndyke on 09 July 2007 at 2:21pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| peterlin Tetraglot Groupie Poland peterlin.jzn.pl Joined 6264 days ago 54 posts - 58 votes Speaks: Polish*, Persian, English, Russian | Message 4 of 16 09 July 2007 at 2:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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I second lady_skywalker's wishes of best luck with your studies, Zorndyke.
I disagree with her on the asessment of the learning materials, however :-) Aronson's book ranks among the best language textbooks I've ever seen, really. A good site to hang out and learn is nukri - but it's in Russian. I would also recommend finding a Georgian willing to help you. It shouldn't be difficult - Georgians in general are extremely friendly and tend to be delighted when someone tries to learn their language. Lastly, I didn't understand your point about most of the consonants remaining silent. What do you mean? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Zorndyke Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6807 days ago 374 posts - 382 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: Czech | Message 5 of 16 09 July 2007 at 3:26pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks a lot, peterlin.
Yes, Russian resources for Caucasian and maybe Paleosiberian languages are just one more reason for me to learn Russian.
I vaguely remember that when a word begins with a bunch of consonants, some of them remain silent. I searched in EuroTalk to back it up, but didn't find the source for my assumption... Edited by Zorndyke on 09 July 2007 at 3:46pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6552 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 6 of 16 10 July 2007 at 4:42am | IP Logged | ||
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I don't speak Kartuli, but I did visit Georgia a few years ago with a private chauffeur/guide. My impression was that the Georgians pronounced the elements of the consonant clusters even in cases like the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral (სვეტიცხოვლის საკათედრო) or Jvari Church(ჯვარი) in Mtskheta (მცხეთა). But the T in Tbilisi was silent (თბილისი). I have no plans of learning the language even though it did evoke my curiosity.
Edited by Iversen on 10 July 2007 at 4:45am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Zorndyke Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6807 days ago 374 posts - 382 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: Czech | Message 7 of 16 18 July 2007 at 12:27pm | IP Logged | ||
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1st Week
Day 1, 12.7.07: - I read the introduction of Einführung in die georgische Sprache (EGS). 30 pages, 45 min. Day 2: - I added basic vocabulary from EuroTalk to my flashcard program, mainly greetings and food. I transcribed it into the program using the Georgian keyboard layout. So I killed several birds with one stone: - It was a good help for learning the Georgian alphabet - since the words are pronounced when you click on them in EuroTalk, I practised Georgian pronounciation - it helped me to learn how to type in Georgian - I gained the advantages of spaced repetition Day 3: - continued transcribing vocabulary from EuroTalk - I read and practised the chapter about the alphabet in EGS Day 4: - Today I had the glorious idea to draw a small delineation which depicts the Georgian keyboard. Hence, if I don't know where a character is, I don't have to try out every button... - transcribed more vocabulary and did some of EuroTalk's exercises; I noticed for the first time it is full of spelling mistakes - began reading the section about phonetics in EGS I think I'm now quite confident with the alphabet, typing (but I'm not very fast yet) and pronounciation, although I don't get the sounds always right for the first time and especially ყ is a real pain in the neck. I don't want to focus on pronounciation too much, anyway. Day 5: - the chapter about the phonetics of EGS is so dry and boring - I just skipped it - I entered more vocabulary from EuroT. I notice how my speed improves. EuroTalk is still full of mistakes. - I began with the first lesson of EGS - I will enter all the vocabulary of EGS into FullRecall, otherwise I would miss many words in the long run. An old grammar is not Assimil. Days 6 and 7: - continued to read the first lesson of EGS. Topics are natural genders and the cases. For next week, I intend to take a look at Aronson's grammar. I think I also heard other people than peterlin saying it was good (although I don't know whether I would still rely that much on what I think I have heard someday). Also, it should be more up-to-date, EGS was published in the 50's... I studied 30 min. every day. Edited by Zorndyke on 18 July 2007 at 4:59pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Zorndyke Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6807 days ago 374 posts - 382 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: Czech | Message 8 of 16 26 July 2007 at 7:15am | IP Logged | ||
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2nd Week
I basically continued with what I did in the first week, but I focused less on transcribing. On the second day I had a first look at Aronson's grammar. Today, I skimmed its first lesson which is about phonetics and the alphabet. I can say that I don't like it a all so far. It is also full of technical jargon (e.g.: postvelar voiceless fricative). As I said, I don't intend to deal with Georgian pronounciation that much anyway. On the fourth day I didn't do anything, except for reviewing some vocabulary. On days 5-7 EGS dealt with the verb to be (ყობნა), syntax and interrogatives. When I start studying I would always briefly revise the previous topics/pages. So I have finished the first lesson of the theoretical part and tomorrow I will have a look at the practical part which containes the vocabulary lists and the exercises. Georgian vocabulary is quite hard to remember; it sounds all the same somehow. Edited by Zorndyke on 26 July 2007 at 7:18am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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