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Total Annihilation - hokusai77 | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| hokusai77 Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 7001 days ago 212 posts - 217 votes  1 sounds Speaks: Italian*, FrenchB1, EnglishC1 Studies: GermanB1, Japanese | Message 9 of 17 18 July 2007 at 8:29am | IP Logged | ||
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Tuesday, 17th July
JAPANESE I watched some youtube files in Japanese for about one hour, plus some listening in the car while driving to work and to the gym. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| hokusai77 Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 7001 days ago 212 posts - 217 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Italian*, FrenchB1, EnglishC1 Studies: GermanB1, Japanese | Message 10 of 17 19 July 2007 at 4:42am | IP Logged | ||
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Wednesday, 18th July
JAPANESE (20') Listened to lessons 4-5 of Ultimate Japanese Adv. while driving. Revised some flashcards. SWEDISH (1h) Lesson with my tutor. We read a few passages of a short story by Astrid Lindgren. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Luigi Diglot Senior Member Italy Joined 6789 days ago 113 posts - 135 votes Speaks: Italian*, English Studies: German, Russian | Message 11 of 17 31 July 2007 at 4:02pm | IP Logged | ||
Well, it really depends on what you are looking for in a book; I mean, if you want to improve your English even more and plunge yourself in the richness of American English, then maybe it's better not to go for a classic, whose language might be pompous and outdated. Some time ago I did want to read Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn; I was really fascinated by the characters and the humour in the novel, but someone advised me agaist reading it, saying that Twain's English is not contemporary and that it could do harm to my learning. I don't know if it would really be the case, however, I decided to put Twain's masterpiece aside. On the contrary, if you really care about the content of a literary work, in that case you will need something different from the numerous commercial "pseudo-books" that usually fill the shelves in bookstores. I don't mean that each and every modern bestseller is, intellectually speaking, a waste of time, (many of them are really good instead), but I'm only considering the fact that a serious selection would be mandatory, if it's quality that you are looking for. What kind of book are you looking for? A novel? An essay? What interests you more? The language? The content of the prose? The plot of the novel? Whenever I start a new book in English, I make sure I have three things to hand: the book, its Italian translation (you never know, it can be of some use), and the unabridged audiobook. That way I can really experience an immersion environement, or something like that I suppose. Edited by Luigi on 31 July 2007 at 4:02pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Luigi Diglot Senior Member Italy Joined 6789 days ago 113 posts - 135 votes Speaks: Italian*, English Studies: German, Russian | Message 12 of 17 31 July 2007 at 4:35pm | IP Logged | ||
I don't know, Ultimate French advanced is in my opinion not that advanced. I've seen textbooks for highschool students who are way more advanced than that. Of course, we should take into consideration that it was creatd for English native speakers and that Italians pick up French faster, due to more than obvious reasons, but I would say that the level attainable with that course is more or less B2, which is not much, after all. On the other hand, Ultimate German Advanced is good, and I'm going to start it next january. I think it is more or less similar to the Advanced Japanese course you own and study. Teach yourself improve your German is equally interesting, since it's really full of dialogues which are performed very well in the recordings. In fact, the speakers speak at a very fast pace (as many Germans tend to do) and you can get used to the native speed of the speech. The only problem is that the texts are never translated, and the glossaries at the end of each dialogue are really poor. So one needs to have recourse to a dictionary so many times and that's really a pain in the neck. Assimil Perfectionnement Allemand is really wonderful. It's a pity they didn't realized an Italian or English edition. I really suppose one could reach an advanced level using it. In my opinion, the best coupling should be "Assimil perfectionnement Allemand" with "Ultimate Advanced German". These two programs should bring you far. And, besides, finding someone from whom to borrow the recordings is quite easy. ;-) Edited by Luigi on 01 August 2007 at 8:47am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| dmg Diglot Senior Member Canada dgryski.blogspot.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6860 days ago 555 posts - 605 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Dutch, Esperanto | Message 13 of 17 31 July 2007 at 8:28pm | IP Logged | ||
I learn well from shadowing conversations. As such I loved Assimil's "New French with Ease". For some reason though, I couldn't stick with "Using French". OTOH, I'm really enjoying the dialogs for the intermediate and advanced Living Language courses ("French Beyond the Basics" and "Ultimate French Advanced"). I didn't like "Teach Yourself: Improve your French" course -- I ended up giving the book away to a friend. Maybe it would have been better with the CD (I only had the book) I think I felt it had too much overlap with other books I had (reference grammars and native materials for the slang). It did have a tiny snippet on French phonetics at the end, though, which I thought was good but otherwise not worth keeping the entire book around for. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| hokusai77 Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 7001 days ago 212 posts - 217 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Italian*, FrenchB1, EnglishC1 Studies: GermanB1, Japanese | Message 14 of 17 03 August 2007 at 3:12am | IP Logged | ||
I agree with you for not choosing a classic, even though they may be more interesting. I have read many classics, but I risk using outdated vocabulary and structures, so I now tend to prefer contemporary fiction. Yes, Luigi, I'd prefer reading a novel, rather than an essay, and yes, the plot is what interests me more. How do you use the audiobook? Do you listen to it while reading, or before? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| hokusai77 Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 7001 days ago 212 posts - 217 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Italian*, FrenchB1, EnglishC1 Studies: GermanB1, Japanese | Message 15 of 17 03 August 2007 at 3:25am | IP Logged | ||
Ultimate Japanese Advanced is not that advanced, either. I guess it takes you to a B2 level, as well. Strong points are vocabulary (lots of new words every lesson) and the audio CDs. But it uses far too English in explanations and grammar is too simple. Thanks for your comments about the German langage products. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| hokusai77 Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 7001 days ago 212 posts - 217 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Italian*, FrenchB1, EnglishC1 Studies: GermanB1, Japanese | Message 16 of 17 03 August 2007 at 3:40am | IP Logged | ||
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I haven't abandoned my study plans (yet!). During the past two weeks, I have downloaded Mnemosyne, which I think is far superior to flashcards to memorise new vocabulary. I am mainly inputting interesting sentences in all of the languages I am studying, and my retention percentage seems to have quite improved. Moreover, I can now use many "problematic" words and expressions, thanks to the "sentence-context" approach. I am also coming up with a better weekly schedule. I will keep you posted.
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