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TAC 2012, Team Sputnik, Teango | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4516 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes  Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 41 of 96 15 April 2012 at 11:13pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Immersion is always a good thing once you've got some ability under your belt. I had that same feeling when I went to Brussels and was forced to speak French. I hope to visit St. Petersburg later this year too.
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 songlines Pro Member Canada flickr.com/photos/cp Joined 5018 days ago 729 posts - 1056 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French Personal Language Map | Message 42 of 96 16 April 2012 at 12:47am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
What a wonderful post, Teango! You really captured the excitement and giddy delight you experienced in both the holiday and language learning aspects of your trip. Thanks for sharing it with us. Edited by songlines on 16 April 2012 at 12:47am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
 meramarina Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5776 days ago 1341 posts - 2303 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, French Personal Language Map | Message 43 of 96 16 April 2012 at 2:49am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Congratulations on completing what sounds like a magnificent trip and fantastic experience! I'd love to see that part of the world one day, too, and learn about Russian language and culture. Alas, I think that day is far away right now, at least until I can effectively manage the languages I already work on and unrelated Necessary Tasks of Life That Are Not Very Enjoyable, but it's good to contemplate the possibility, or, should I say, The Really Impractical Escape Fantasy. One of many!
I know at least that the culture, history and art is extremely fascinating. Well, all cultures and languages are like that for me, but still, I can dream, right? I keep getting emails urging me to purchase "Depressing Russian Literature," so this very well may be due either to True Destiny or some Internet marketer's profile of me. (Not kidding about the emails - I actually got these!) Regarding the Case of the Vanishing Tramp, I have had similar eerie experiences when severely jet-lagged and fatigued beyond belief, when I was somehow awake and asleep at the same time, and that condition causes all kinds of nonsensical happenings. I don't know if that's what happened to you, and I won't ask nor will I judge you if alcoholic beverages were involved! I might judge you if they weren't, though. I am not sure what to think about carrying a skipping rope in one's luggage . . . again, I'm not asking for details. Airport security just likes to take stuff, I think. Many years ago, a Heathrow security guy confiscated my soap. Maybe he just really needed it. Keep up the excellent language work! Edited by meramarina on 16 April 2012 at 2:51am 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| fabriciocarraro Hexaglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member Brazil russoparabrasileirosRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4524 days ago 989 posts - 1454 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, EnglishB2, Italian, Spanish, Russian, French Studies: Dutch, German, Japanese | Message 44 of 96 16 April 2012 at 3:21am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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I can't wait to hear about your stories, Teango!
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| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5365 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 45 of 96 16 April 2012 at 2:54pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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@Medialis
Haha! I know, I can't believe it myself, I finally made it through to the Big Red Fortress level! I absolutely loved both Moscow and St Petersburg and was very sad to leave the welcoming arms of Russia (no pun intended there!) and return to my little leafy paddock in the UK. I tried to speak Russian at every opportunity that came along, no matter how slow and embarrassing, and ironically even read a few pages of a Russian biography by a real-life ex-Spetsnaz. My second day in Russia was also pleasantly a little Japanified, as we went out to a sushi restaurant called "Две палочки" for lunch, and when I returned home and папа switched on the tv, what did I see...the exhilarating Sumo Championships narrated in a mixture of both Russian and Japanese. As a lifelong and resolute language nerd, I was all smiles! :) @fabriciocarraro Thanks man, I really enjoyed spending those Russian language credits for real. How's everything going in your studies lately? You'll be glad to hear that I still managed to catch the Barcelona vs Milan game with my girlfriend's dad whilst in Russia...looking forward to the semis starting tomorrow! @tarvos "Immersion is always a good thing once you've got some ability under your belt" - I couldn't agree more, tarvos. What level were you when you started speaking French in Brussels? I found things pretty hard at first but it did get much better after a few days. I suspect I would have got even more out of the experience if I'd learned more active vocabulary beforehand. @songlines Thanks for the lovely comment, songlines! And I love your photo collection by the way - what camera are you currently using? I ask simply because all I've got is this old beat-up digital camera from 2003, and I'm in the market for a real camera now to capture some of the beautiful shots of spring and the intetersting array of waterfowl on my local river. @meramarina Thanks meramarina, and I hope those blackguards at the airport eventually clean up their act and reimburse you with a new bar of soap. Russia is indeed a wonderful country and I hope you get the opportunity to visit one day, I just know you'd love it. How's the Polish coming along incidentally? In all honesty, I've found myself casting wander-longing glances over to Ukrainian, Polish and Czech a lot lately - who knows, maybe sometime down the road long after Russian has sunk in... With regards to the vanishing tramp, I must admit I was completely sober that morning, which leaves me even more perplexed. I'm telling you, it was nothing less than spooky! And in defence of bringing my skipping rope to the Motherland (maybe I should have written the US equivalent "jump rope" to make it sound a little more manly lol!), I had the crazy notion that I could burn off all those extra delicious calories by jumping rope each morning and going to the gym. The reality, however, was that I went to a gym and sauna once and almost broke my back after competing with my 8-year-old step-niece (who trains 3 hours every day as a gymnast) in a skipping competition outside the flat the next morning in sub-zero temperatures. After that, I just said to hell with the compensatory training, I'm going to eat my 6th pancake in the warm with сметана this morning and enjoy it! I guess I'm just too old for this *bleep*. ;) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| meramarina Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5776 days ago 1341 posts - 2303 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, French Personal Language Map | Message 46 of 96 16 April 2012 at 4:05pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Well I sure would love to visit London and the rest of the UK again one day, but if I'm presented with some nice fresh soap immediately upon arrival, I don't think I'd take that very kindly.
That's mostly on hold until I can dig myself out of a mountain of software training guides I'm editing/rewriting. But the final project deadline is coming up very soon, so when that's all done I'll get back to serious language work and make some good progress over the summer. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4516 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 47 of 96 16 April 2012 at 4:54pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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In French... B1 maybe???? I am a solid B1 in conversation now and it did improve.
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| M. Medialis Diglot TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member Sweden Joined 6166 days ago 397 posts - 508 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Russian, Japanese, French | Message 48 of 96 16 April 2012 at 6:58pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Hey Teango! A truly fantastic travel report, and I really enjoyed the photos! (I was literally laughing out loud on the last picture about you being watched). haha.
Watching Sumo wrestling in Russia sounds irresistibly bizarre. :D My mind has imploded several times when I've come accross famous Japanese anime titles and author names transcribed into cyrillic. - Something unique happens when Japanese and Russian are combined. :)
LOL! I was actually worried for a while that you'd continue chasing the Кот... That could only have ended in a mind shattering disaster, and perhaps in an icy swim in the Москве-реке? ;)
Mmmmm. The Red Square scenery is one of the most stunning pieces of art on this planet! :)
Hey, but that wasn't really fair! *Note to myself: Never ever do skipping battles with a gymnast*
Wow wow wow. Just think about it, after only 2.5 years of Team TAC you have turned into a conversant Russian speaker! You're on your way to full fluency bro! :) Edited by M. Medialis on 16 April 2012 at 8:39pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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