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Small Expectations | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| TixhiiDon Tetraglot Senior Member Japan Joined 5245 days ago 772 posts - 1474 votes  Speaks: English*, Japanese, German, Russian Studies: Georgian | Message 137 of 431 01 August 2010 at 2:38am | IP Logged | ||
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Fourth conjugation verbs at class yesterday - turns out they are far more difficult
than I thought. Kiziria covers them briefly in Beginner's Georgian so I thought they would be no problem at all, but it appears she left out all the difficult bits. I still recommend her book wholeheartedly, but it must be supplemented with a more comprehensive text for learners who want to cover more than the basics. And how is this for weird grammar? To say "I think you are a teacher" in Georgian you have two options. The first is straightforward: მგონია შენ მასწავლებელი ხარ. Here, მგონია is a fourth conjugation verb meaning "I think", შენ is "you", მასწავლებელი is "teacher", and ხარ is "are". No problems there. But you can also say მგონიხარ მასწავლებელი, where მგონიხარ means "I think you" and მასწავლებელი means "teacher". I think this is possibly the weirdest grammar I have ever come across in any language. In other news, I have discovered an excellent textbook "Georgian Language and Culture: A Continuing Course" by Kiziria and Aronson (what a great combination!) Full of dialogues in both casual and formal registers, a complete grammar overview, literature extracts, and a big vocabulary. Annoyingly I have had no luck in finding a hard copy anywhere - it is out of print and out of stock - so I had to print it off Uz- Translations. This means I can't take it on the train with me when I work outside home on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and this is when I've been doing most of my study recently. If anyone knows where I can get hold of a copy of this great book (come in Zhiguli, you're my only hope!) I'd appreciate the info. I've also returned to Byki recently - such a great little programme. I'm thinking I desperately need some more active practice, so I might start a little diary here. Here, for your entertainment, is the first installment. დღესაც ტოკიოში ძალიან ცხელა. იაპონიის ზაფხული ყოველთვის ცხელა, წელს კი განსაკუთრებით ცხელა. გასულ ქვირას გავცივდი რადგან დავიცინე კონდიციონერის ქვეშ, მაგრამ ეხლა კარგად ვარ. დღეს შვიდ საათზე გავიღვიძე და ჩემი ძაღლი წავიყვანე პარკში სასეირნოდ. მე დიდ პარკთან ახლოს ვცხოვრობ და ყოვედღე იქ მივდივარ ჩემ ძაღლთან ერთად. უკვე დიდი ხანია იმ პარკში დავდივარ და ამის მიერ ბევრი ადამიანი გავიცანი. დღეს საღამოს მივდივარ რესტორანში ერთ მეგობართან ერთად. ეს მეგობარი დიდი ხანია არ მინახავს, ამიტომ სასიამოვნო იქნება. OK. That was relatively painless. Here's the translation. Today it is very hot in Japan again. Summer in Japan is always hot, but this year is particularly hot. Last week I caught cold because I fell asleep under the air- conditioner, but I'm OK now. Today I woke up at 7 o'clock and took my dog for a walk to the park. I live close to a large park and I go there every day with my dog. I've been going there (I've put this verb in the present but I wonder if imperfect would be better) for a long time and because of this I have met a lot of people. This evening I am going to a restaurant with my friend. I haven't seen this friend for a long time so it will be nice. Left you all on a cliffhanger there... Will my friend and I have anything to talk about after such a long time? Will it continue to be hot in Japan?? Will I fully get over my cold or will it turn into fatal pneumonia??? Tune in next week! Edited by TixhiiDon on 01 August 2010 at 2:48am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| zhiguli Senior Member Canada Joined 6222 days ago 176 posts - 221 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian, Mandarin | Message 138 of 431 01 August 2010 at 4:56pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm afraid I can't help much here. Some people I know have been fruitlessly trolling used book sites like bookfinder and abebooks for months looking for a copy.
It's still listed on the publisher's website, so it's possible they might still have some leftover copies. I heard that they were going to publish a revised edition, but that was almost two years ago. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| TixhiiDon Tetraglot Senior Member Japan Joined 5245 days ago 772 posts - 1474 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese, German, Russian Studies: Georgian | Message 139 of 431 02 August 2010 at 9:41am | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks for the info Zhiguli. Maybe I'll try the publisher's website.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| TixhiiDon Tetraglot Senior Member Japan Joined 5245 days ago 772 posts - 1474 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese, German, Russian Studies: Georgian | Message 140 of 431 08 August 2010 at 8:44am | IP Logged | ||
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More fourth conjugation verbs yesterday, but lots of speaking practice again, which is
a good thing as I discovered yesterday just how much I need it. I was asked if I love my dog, which I managed to answer without problems by saying ძალიან მიყვარს. I was then asked if my dog loved me. I decided to make one of those silly language class jokes that would be embarrassingly unfunny in any other context and say "He loves me when I give him lots of food". What I should have said, I think, was ჩემს ძაღლს ვუყვარვარ როცა მე ბევრ საჭმელს ვაზლევს. What I actually said was something along the lines of "Bleurgh.. Mmm.. Vvv... Nnn. Bleurgh". Needless to say my red face was met with blank faces all round. I've got to start putting what I've learned into spoken words. Again I am pinning all my hopes on the private lessons. I still don't know when they are actually going to start, but I very much hope sooner rather than later. Anyway, here's my diary thing for the week. ცხელი და ნესტიანი დღეები გრძელდები აქ იაპონიაში. იმ პოსტის წერის წინ მე ათ წუთს ვიმუშავე ჩემს ბაღში და ეხლა ოფლში ვიწურები :( გასული ქვირის შეხვედრა ჩემს მეგობართან ძალიან სასიამოვნო იყო. დღეს კი არსად არ მივდივარ. გუშინ დავურეკე დედაჩემს და დედაჩემმა მითხარი, ჩემი დეიდა ძალიან ავადაა. დეიდა უკვე ოთხმოცდახუთი წლისაა, რადგან ეს ამბავი მოულოდნელი არ არის, მაგრამ სევდიანი ამბავია. გადავწყვიტე რომ მინდა წავიდე პლაჟზე! რა თქმა უნდა იაპონიასაც ბევრი პლაჟი აქვს, მაგრამ იაპონიის პლაჟები ლამაზი არ არის, და ამიტომ გადავწყვიტე წასვლა ფილიპინებში ნოემბერში ან დეკემბერში. იაპონიიდან ფილიპინებამდე მხოლოდ ხუთი საათია თვითმფრინავით რადგან მგზავრობა ადვილია და იაფი. რასაკვირველია ჯერ კიდევ მინდა ტავიდე საქართველოში, მაგრამ საქართველოში წასვლას ვაპირებ გაისად შემოდგომაზე. English: The hot and humid days continue here in Japan. Before writing this post I worked for ten minutes in my garden and now I am pouring with sweat. My meeting last week with my friend was really nice. Today though I'm not going anywhere. Yesterday I phoned my mum and she told me that my aunt is very ill. My aunt is already 85 years old so this news is not unexpected, but it is sad news. I have decided that I want to go to the beach! Of course Japan has lots of beaches but the beaches in Japan are not beautiful and so I have decided to go to the Philippines in November or December. It is only five hours by plane from Japan to the Philippines so it's easy and cheap to travel there. Of course I still want to go to Georgia, but I am planning to go to Georgia in Autumn next year. I've used "decide" a few times in there and I'm not sure I've used it correctly. If anyone can tell me I'd be grateful! Edited by TixhiiDon on 08 August 2010 at 8:52am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| marich27 Triglot Groupie Netherlands Joined 5198 days ago 41 posts - 42 votes Speaks: Georgian*, EnglishC2, Dutch | Message 141 of 431 08 August 2010 at 12:39pm | IP Logged | ||
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გამარჯობა ფილ,
მგონი დავბრუნდი! შენი პოსთებიდან ჩანს რომ ბევრი რამ გისწავლია უკვე. გილოცავ! კერძო მასწავლებლის აყვანაც კარგი იდეაა. რა ქენი? დაიწყე უკვე სიარული? ქართულად საუბარი რომ გიჭირს, ბუმებრივია, მაგრამ დარწმუნებული ვარ, მალე მაგ სირთულესაც გადალახავ! შენი თეთრი შურით მშურს. მეც მინდა ზღვის სანაპიროზე დასვენება... მიხარია რომ საქართველოში ჩამოსვლა გადაწყვიტე. იმედია მაგ დროს მეც საქართველოში ვიქნები და მასპინძლობას გაგიწევ. დღეს საქართველოში, გორში, ომოს დაწყების 2 წლისთავია. საშინელი დგეები იყო. იმედია ეს აღარასოდეს განმეორდება! დროებით 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| SuburbanGinger Newbie United States Joined 5026 days ago 15 posts - 15 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Russian | Message 142 of 431 09 August 2010 at 1:06am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi, I am a American teenager and just got fascinated with the Georgian alphabet and the Georgian/Russian conflicts. I was wondering if you had any ideas of what materials could be useful for a beginner. I have tried to learn Russian before, but realized that I want to major in Russian in college. So, I do know the basics of case systems and foreign grammars. Also, where can you get the Georgian alphabet onto a keyboard? Georgian seems like a very beautiful language that I would like to explore, and I must say that you are one interesting person--being British, living in Japan, being a translator. Oh, it sounds so cool. I hope this doesn't interrupt your language diary and thanks in advance. Edited by SuburbanGinger on 09 August 2010 at 1:07am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| TixhiiDon Tetraglot Senior Member Japan Joined 5245 days ago 772 posts - 1474 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese, German, Russian Studies: Georgian | Message 143 of 431 09 August 2010 at 9:50am | IP Logged | ||
Hi SuburbanGinger, thanks very much for your post. It's nice to hear from people who are interested in Georgian so of course I don't mind! I would recommend the book "Beginner's Georgian" by Dodona Kiziria, published by Hippocrene, for you to start with. She leaves out a lot of the more difficult grammar but it's definitely the best book to get started with in my opinion. If you have a spare 70 dollars you should also download Byki Deluxe for Georgian - it's a nice way to learn vocabulary. Even if you can't afford the Deluxe version the free version is a great way to get started with numbers, greetings, and so on. I'm not sure how to help you get Georgian on your keyboard - I did it quite easily but I can't remember exactly what I did and even if I could I have a Japanese computer so it would probably be different to yours! If you want to write roman letters and have them converted directly into Georgian, though, you can use http://www.translate.ge/ which also happens to be the best online Georgian-English-Georgian dictionary. Mari, great to hear from you again! Busy today but I will reply in Georgian tomorrow. Edited by TixhiiDon on 09 August 2010 at 9:51am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ellasevia Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2011 Senior Member Germany Joined 5923 days ago 2150 posts - 3229 votes Speaks: English*, German, Croatian, Greek, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Catalan, Persian, Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Ukrainian | Message 144 of 431 09 August 2010 at 10:10am | IP Logged | ||
I don't know what kind of computer you have, but if you have a Windows XP (or something similar) here's how you would do it: Start Menu --> Control Panel --> Regional and Language Options --> Languages --> Details --> Add --> Georgian --> OK. Good luck! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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