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TAC 2010, Team K, Teango - GE SP SW RU | ||
Tags: Kanji | Turkish | Listening-Reading (L-R) | Swedish | Total Annihilation Challenge (TAC) | Russian | German | French | Spanish | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Adrean TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member France adrean83.wordpress.c Joined 5967 days ago 348 posts - 411 votes  Speaks: FrenchC1 | Message 17 of 185 15 January 2010 at 12:53am | IP Logged | |||||
Hi Teango I can recommend some better know films and directors. Though you may know them already. The White Band was the winner at last years Cannes festival. He is a well known director who has made also many French films as well as films in German. Downfall is a very well known German film focusing of the last days of Hitlers life in the bunker. It's a very good potrayal of Hitler I think. Werner Herzog is probably the most well known German director. He makes a lot of documentaries as well as films. Lots of the documentaries are in English. Some of his famous films include Aguirre, the wrath of god and Nosferatu the vampyre. He had good success with a documentary called Grizzly Man filmed in English a few years ago. Wings of Desire is another well known film by director Wim Wenders. I have seen nothing else of his except this film so I cannot make a good recommendation. A personal favourite of mine and an excellent war film is Stalingrad. So no more dubbed films! dubbed films bad! 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5355 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 18 of 185 15 January 2010 at 10:27am | IP Logged | |||||
Thanks for the fine list and links Adrean. I've seen many of these already with English subtitles and look forward to watching them again without subs. I've never heard of "Der Himmel über Berlin" (Wings of Desire), hey it's got Columbo in it too, or "Das weisse Band" (The White Ribbon). I'm putting these on my shopping list for the weekend. I remember watching Klaus Kinski in Herzon's "Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes" at an Arts Cinema in UK over 15 years ago and unexpectedly really enjoying it. He seems to pop up in quite a few German films, doesn't he. I haven't seen him in "Nosferatu" though so I'll add this to my wishlist too. And I agree, "Downfall" and "Stalingrad" are utterly awesome historical films!
I've found German dubbing to be pretty good compared to most countries. Russian dubbing for example is much worse...it's not unusual to hear a cats' cacophony of simultaneous English and Russian, and if you're unlucky you get the infamous "deathly monotone voice" guy dubbing over all the characters haha. But don't worry, once I've finished off my little handful of cheery "classics", I'll try and stay away from dubbed films in future... Edited by Teango on 17 January 2010 at 9:26am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| M. Medialis Diglot TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member Sweden Joined 6156 days ago 397 posts - 508 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Russian, Japanese, French | Message 19 of 185 17 January 2010 at 10:42pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Teango: Good work! I actually got a bit jealuos when I read your log and saw that you're filling your days with lr and language studies....Well, then I realized that I'm doing the same things myself. ;)
We are lucky to have found the TAC! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5355 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 20 of 185 18 January 2010 at 2:44pm | IP Logged | |||||
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"Sind Sie Engländer?"
One of the more curious things about living in Germany is that so many Germans speak excellent English. Whereas this would normally appear to be a good thing, it really isn't greeted with as much enthusiastiasm by a language learner who's moved especially to the country and is aching for some real immersion. The second most Germans sense you're not fluent in the language, they automatically revert to speaking in English. For the most part, this proves to be a pleasant and helpful experience, but occasionally you're faced with a reticent shop assistant with only a mere smattering of words and even less patience. No matter how good your German is from this point on, it is totally ignored in favour of communicating in only a handful of painfully plucked rusty school phrases and grunts. It's the same for restaurants and certain shops...the moment the owners get an inkling you could be English (i.e. clothes, walk, wide estranged eyes), or simply a foreigner (same difference), off goes Herbert Grönemeyer, and on goes "Careless Whisper" or "Frosty the Snowman". Now whilst this is all lovely, and I do really appreciate the vendor's attempt to make you feel at home, it can also be understandably quite frustrating for the hopeful language learner. Does this "helpfulness" happen in other countries just as much I wonder? Just imagine the look on the face of a businessman from Tokyo, who sits down in an authentic Italian restaurant in Milan, only to hear the sublime notes of Verdi in the background abruptly replaced by "Big in Japan" on full volume and greeted with "Ni hao!". So this week, I offer a couple of handy tips to help handle German "helpfulness" (try saying that after a bottle of Schnapps). Firstly, if you can, wear a traditional Austrian hat (ideally with a wacky feather in it) or a big ol' chequered cowboy scarf with tassles - you know the one, this is for the gents; or alternatively for the ladies, a large hand-knitted brimmed beret (orange seems to be the colour of choice here in Hessen), then just look comfortably disgruntled and say nothing audible in English of course. This however only works up to the point when you speak, but it'll stave off the Wham classics for a little while longer. Then, when someone persists on speaking one-legged pidgeon English to you, despite you asking them politely to peck away in their own native language instead, just keep on calmly repeating "auf Deutsch, bitte" until they think you're crazy and relent. This usually works after three cool and confident requests, and don't forget to smile genuinely and courteously afterwards, adding something along the lines of "Danke, Ich möchte gern mein Deutsch verbessern..." (apologies for any errors here, feel free to correct and see previous quotation) :) Incidentally, I tried speaking only Russian in a German sauna once, after reading a tip about pretending not to know any English, but with my typical luck, they actually turned out to all be Russian...which was a little embarrassing to say the least. What were the odds, eh?! So unless you're fluent in something really rare, like Chukchi, I wouldn't particularly recommend this last approach. Edited by Teango on 18 January 2010 at 2:55pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Iolanthe Diglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 5440 days ago 410 posts - 482 votes Speaks: English*, DutchC1 Studies: Turkish, French | Message 21 of 185 18 January 2010 at 4:32pm | IP Logged | |||||
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It's certainly the same in the Netherlands. Shopkeepers in Amsterdam tend to say prices in Dutch and English but a couple of times I've bought something from a shop and they immediately speak English with me and both those times my boyfriend had bought something before me (he's Dutch) and I asked him what language they spoke to him and he said Dutch. How did they know?! Since my boyfriend has an American accent in English sometimes Dutch people presume he's a foreigner too and talk to him in much worse English that he speaks even though he's a native. It's really bizarre when that happens :D
However one thing I've realised is it doesn't matter what language the other person speaks to you in since as long as you're speaking your target language, you're getting practice. I've spent way too long trying to get people to speak Dutch whilst speaking mostly English. Result = good listening skills, bad speaking skills. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5355 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 22 of 185 21 January 2010 at 3:57pm | IP Logged | |||||
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PROGRESS IN German, WEEK 3/52 OF 2010 TAC CHALLENGE
SUMMARY L-R: 7 hours (Currently reading "Das Parfum"*** by Patrick Süskind) Music: 15.4 hours (106 German songs…removed 4 I didn't really like) Podcasts/Audiobooks: 6 hours (Schlaflos in München, Slow German; Brüder Grimm) Movies: 1.6 hours (Scrooged [dub]) ——————————- Week Total: 30 hours LR Total: 32.4 hours Year Total: 110.4 hours WANDERLUST CONFESSION BOX 105/2042 kanji (Remembering the Kanji I + Anki) pp. 12/126, 39 hieroglyphs (How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs + Anki) 137/1900 BSL signs (Communication Link + reviews) TEANGO’S WORD/PHRASE OF THE WEEK "ohne Schnickschnack" (without whistles and bells), can't wait to use this one! NOTES: Far far less hours than hoped this week...but hey, it was a more challenging week than most. So what did I get up to? Well, I indulged in a shopping spree this weekend, ordered several books online, raided the dusty suitcases stashed in the cellar for holy language grails and arks, and all in all will soon have amassed quite a tidy little sum of learning materials for German. This includes all the films recommended by Adrean - cheers once again for the list. I further remember catching random episodes of "Heimat" and "Das Boot" many moons ago in the UK, and they seemed quite intriguing at the time, so I'll be seeking these out eventually when the coffers are replenished and cast a healthy hearth-like glow again. I've shelved "Der Tod in Venedig" for the time being (phew!), a bridge too far for my current meagre "dunce Deutsch" level, and am instead listen-reading Patrick Süskind's "Das Parfüm". It's much much easier than Thomas Mann and far more enjoyable than Siddhartha. Whereas I only picked up 8 new passive words on average in a section with Mann, I'm pleasantly surprised to recognise 30-40 new words with Süskind - a clear case of getting the best out of easier reads and falling comfortably closer to Krashen's "i+1" concept. It also helps that the narrator is wonderfully dramatic (he really likes to roll his words in Bavarian sandpaper), and the plot is wickedly engaging, but I need to know...is the story supposed to be sadly funny or is it just me? I've also been listening to a LOT of German music recently, but only have just over 100 songs. So as you can imagine, my ears were starting to protest a little by the third week of Casandra Steen, Söhne Mannheims and Sido's musical hotpot constantly in the background. So this week I've collected a medley of other literature, short stories and learner podcasts, to help add a little variety to my daily passive listening. It seems to be working out well and so far my eardrums have relented from storming the grey Bastille. Next week I aspire to get through much more listening-reading... :) Edited by Teango on 21 January 2010 at 4:08pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| M. Medialis Diglot TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member Sweden Joined 6156 days ago 397 posts - 508 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Russian, Japanese, French | Message 23 of 185 22 January 2010 at 4:04pm | IP Logged | |||||
Now this is hilarious!! Well, I've never had your problem. It's interesting that people in stores so readily switch to English in Germany. Don't really know about Sweden, but when I worked at the local drug store (having many tourists), I'd never think about switching to English, unless the customer asked me to do it. I think however, that as your German improves, people will be less likely to switch language. That's the experience I've had with americans learning swedish. When they get confident and fluent enough, it becomes extremely hard for me to switch language even if I'd like to. Perhaps people are just lazy and prefer to pick the language that makes communication feel easy. Good job this week! Collecting new material every now and then is in my opinion as important as actually using it. Otherwise, it's so easy to get stuck in old habits and gradually lose speed. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5355 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 24 of 185 22 January 2010 at 6:09pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I've finally succumbed to the wanderlustful urge to do something with Turkish, and have set myself a fun little mini-challenge to do on the side over the next couple of weeks:
"Teango's Ten Turkish Baths in Ten Days"! Don't worry, this little escapade doesn't involve being scrubbed down raw and sudded up by an overzealous hairy bodybuilder; but rather combining daily relaxation with a bit of Turkish language learning. Over the next ten days, I aim to chill out at the end of each day's work and learning with a 30-minute session of Pimsleur Turkish and a good aromatic soak. By the end I hope to have learned a few more phrases to impress my local greengrocer, and to have reduced my stress levels into the bargain. Edited by Teango on 22 January 2010 at 6:10pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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