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BAnna’s TAC 2014 Spaß-Lobo-IndRussian

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patrickwilken
Senior Member
Germany
radiant-flux.net
Joined 4292 days ago

1546 posts - 3200 votes 
Studies: German

 
 Message 193 of 236
20 June 2014 at 9:20am | IP Logged 
I'm watching the World Cup here, but don't count it. Like you I am mostly just watching the action.
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BAnna
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4381 days ago

409 posts - 616 votes 
Speaks: English*, German, Spanish
Studies: Russian, Turkish

 
 Message 194 of 236
25 June 2014 at 5:47am | IP Logged 
Couple of quick recommendations:

German film: Oh Boy (American title is Coffee in Berlin)
Spanish film: La danza de la realidad
Russian series: Sherlock Holmes (my childhood obsession with Holmes is returning)

German book: Als wir traeumten (umlaut a is not rendering correctly)


HTLAL has been pretty speedy...maybe everyone's watching World Cup?
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patrickwilken
Senior Member
Germany
radiant-flux.net
Joined 4292 days ago

1546 posts - 3200 votes 
Studies: German

 
 Message 195 of 236
25 June 2014 at 7:28am | IP Logged 
In Berlin you have no choice but to watch the Weltmeisterschaft. All the cafes, bars, corner stores have flat screen TVs out to watch the games in the evenings. It's really a nice month once every four years, where everyone is in a good mood watching the games, meeting neighbors...

I really liked Oh Boy! (strange the American title was changed). It really captures the spirit of Berlin in a nice way.

Edited by patrickwilken on 25 June 2014 at 7:29am

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BAnna
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4381 days ago

409 posts - 616 votes 
Speaks: English*, German, Spanish
Studies: Russian, Turkish

 
 Message 196 of 236
30 June 2014 at 12:46am | IP Logged 
It's been a while since I've done a proper update and it's near the end of the month, so time for a summary of
June:

Overall
Since the weather is nice, I'm trying to do more listening while I'm out and about (plus it's a way to get some
exercise while being immersed in the language), yet I know my attention may not be all there, so I often repeat
listen a couple of times and just count it once.

After reading the article Iversen posted about the ineffectiveness of learning vocabulary from context and an
article on Vocabulary Myths, I've completely rethought
my not actively studying Spanish or German, and decided I do need to occasionally do some formal study (not
sure about the ratio: maybe a half an hour to an hour a week should be enough?)
I've signed up for a weekly C1 conversation class in German, and am going to revisit working in my Spanish
workbook. I'm way ahead of where I need to be to complete the SC, so I think some study time is warranted. I
also saw a video by Anthony Lauder where he said that language learning is like learning a musical instrument:
you need both practice time and play time. To paraphrase: "If all you do is play, you don't get any better. And if
all you do is practice, you can't perform". And while extensive reading/listening does develop an ear for correct
language, I think short grammar/vocab sessions will cement those patterns all the more. Speaking of vocab, I
gave Anki another shot with Russian. I did it for a little over a week, then stopped and also took a break from
Russian for a few days. I think I will go back to my handwritten lists and cards for vocabulary learning. What I
didn't like was the structure/timing of Anki. With my handmade lists and cards, I can do them whenever and
however I like, and I think the writing out by hand actually helps me learn the words.   I'll post my Russian stuff
on my polydog log...that is, my polylog? :)

Spanish
Watched/Listened:
Spain: Flaman-scifi-comedy series, Master Chef España (cooking contest), interview with Eduardo Galeano

US Spanish-language programming: news, and analysis of World Cup (as well as World Cup games but did not
count these as SC), documentaries on the Amazon, Yellowstone, nature photographers

Chilean movie: La danza de la realidad

Audiobooks: Sin novedad en el frente (All quiet on the western front) -the narrator read really fast. Abridged
version of La Regenta (narrator from Spain, 19th century Spanish-language novel with themes similar to Madame
Bovary)

Read:
Wrapped up Siempre nos quedará Paris (about movies and Argentinean history), Breve historia de la primera
guerra mundial (well-written but depressing non-fiction about WWOne), and will be done very soon with the
book version of La regenta. This last is an adapted, simplified version of the novel.

German
Read: mostly just Als wir träumten (over 500 pages), some articles from Der Spiegel and Die Zeit, and a teenage
mystery Die drei??? und die feurige Flut.

Watched/listened:

German movies: Clara Immerwahr (biopic about a chemist who committed suicide during WW1 partially because
her husband was developing poison gas for use in the trenches), die Päpstin (woman who lives as a man and
becomes Pope, set in the Middle Ages), Oh Boy-Coffee in Berlin (slacker in Berlin).

TV shows: Kaisermühlen Blues (heavy Viennese dialect, but soap opera didn't really capture my interest),
Interviews with Marcel Reich-Ranicki (literary critic) Per Leo and Feridun Zaimoğlu (writers), some Tatort episodes,
documentary about Surveillance

Audiobooks: end of Homo Faber (engineer in 1950s), Nathan und seine Kinder (historical young adult novel set
in Jerusalem during time of Saladin about conflict between Judaism, Christianity and Islam, based on Lessing's
Nathan der Weise), Das kleine Gespenste (Audioplay based on kids' book-sort of like Casper the Friendly Ghost),
and Ensel und Krete (Walter Moers' hallucinogenic take on Hansel and Gretl)

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BAnna
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4381 days ago

409 posts - 616 votes 
Speaks: English*, German, Spanish
Studies: Russian, Turkish

 
 Message 197 of 236
16 July 2014 at 12:44am | IP Logged 
I really miss the World Cup, although now the dust has settled, I can get back to studying. My intention is to not
do it as intensely as before. I watched or read about many of the games and pre- and post-game analysis in
Spanish or German, but also attended some public viewings in English. It was really fun watching with other fans.
I've also been watching an Argentinean series on soccer history and just started Eduardo Galeano's book, "Fútbol
sol y sombra". I always get very caught up in World Cup, though unlike my husband, I'm a casual fan most other
times. I even won a pool bet selecting Germany with a score of 1-0. At one of the public viewings, I was
conversing with a German-Argentinean gentleman in German, Spanish and English. Fun! He said he was rooting
for Germany, but he admitted he wouldn't have been sad if Argentina had won and even had the flags of both
countries displayed at his home. :)

For anyone learning (or who already speak) French, I saw a good movie one of my skype partners recommended
(though she watched it dubbed into German): Les Intouchables. And there is an interesting French-language
interview (with Spanish subtitles) of Lilian Thuram in Canal Encuentro's Fútbol Pasión-El racismo en el fútbol.

Watching games and socializing for a good amount of time per week made me realize I have been spending way
too much time in solitary and mostly sedentary study (something like 25-30 hours per week on languages on top
of working full-time). I would like to cut back to something reasonable like 10-15 hours and give myself more
time to socialize, be active, and just have fun. My reason for learning languages is enjoyment, but I admit I have
been overly perfectionistic and creating unnecessary stress for myself.
Speaking of stress, I tried to signup for a relaxing C1 conversation course, but it was cancelled, so they put me in
a C2 class. Yikes! But luckily it's on Saturday mornings (great time for me), the instructor is fantastic, there's a
great group of friendly and very fluent people, and it covers a bit of almost everything: grammar, conversation,
and reading a novel together. It will *undoubtedly * help me improve, even if I feel I'm in a bit over my head at
the moment. A bit? More like I'm at the bottom of the ocean...

I'm making very slow, but steady progress with Russian, mostly using instructional materials, but treating myself
to a subtitled film once a week or so, mostly Sherlock Holmes. I may dabble a bit with "The Little Prince", though
it's still way above my level. I found an audiobook copy at my library, so I could read and listen at the same time.
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Stelle
Bilingual Triglot
Senior Member
Canada
tobefluent.com
Joined 3903 days ago

949 posts - 1686 votes 
Speaks: French*, English*, Spanish
Studies: Tagalog

 
 Message 198 of 236
16 July 2014 at 2:07am | IP Logged 
BAnna wrote:
Couple of quick recommendations:

German film: Oh Boy (American title is Coffee in Berlin)
Spanish film: La danza de la realidad
Russian series: Sherlock Holmes (my childhood obsession with Holmes is returning)


If you're a Holmes fan, then you might like this episode of Fallo de Sistema (Spanish podcast on RTVE):

Buscando a Sherlock

It's a fun show - they talk about different versions of Sherlock Holmes in movies and video games.
3 persons have voted this message useful



BAnna
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4381 days ago

409 posts - 616 votes 
Speaks: English*, German, Spanish
Studies: Russian, Turkish

 
 Message 199 of 236
16 July 2014 at 5:10am | IP Logged 
Thanks, Stelle, for the great recommendation. :) I'll definitely add this to my list. I really like listening to podcasts while walking.
1 person has voted this message useful



BAnna
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4381 days ago

409 posts - 616 votes 
Speaks: English*, German, Spanish
Studies: Russian, Turkish

 
 Message 200 of 236
19 July 2014 at 7:29am | IP Logged 
Well, my plan to cut back on language study didn't go at all as planned. :0

So far this week, I've spent 14 hours on German alone. Why? Lots and lots of homework and reading for my great but challenging C2 class and a completely addictive audiobook: Tintenherz.
The narrator is excellent (Rainer Strecker), but I had to delete the musical interludes between chapters. At least I am taking longs walks and riding the stationary bike while listening, so am not just sitting like I am whilst doing homework. There are 16 discs and I'm on number 5. Oh, and it's the first of a trilogy of fantasy books...I guess I'll be busy for a while. So much for cutting back.






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