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Przemek TAC 2013 | ||
Tags: Swahili | Hindi | Turkish | Portuguese | Multilingual | Arabic | Total Annihilation Challenge (TAC) | Italian | French | ||
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| Przemek Hexaglot Senior Member Poland multigato.blogspot.c Joined 6271 days ago 107 posts - 174 votes  Speaks: Polish*, English, SpanishC2, Italian, Portuguese, French Studies: Turkish, Hindi, Arabic (Written) | Message 9 of 16 06 January 2013 at 10:14pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Here’s what I’ve done this week.
Arabic MSA - عربي *FSI Modern Written Arabic Volume I, lessons 1-4 In fact they contain material I’ve already learnt some time ago. But I think it’s still better to master it through extensive drills in this book. *Watching: Al Jazeera I watched news broadcast not understanding much, well, sincerely speaking I was able to catch only some words. I was able also to read some words appearing on screen. But I think it’s really important to get early to listening. *“A New Arabic Grammar” (Haywood, Nahmad), chapter 1: Orthography. Phonetics. Punctuation. It was in fact a review of some basic information about the language. First week brought the first matter to be cleared. When some time ago I started to learn MSA (but then stopped after a few units), I studied from “Teach Yourself Arabic” (by J. Smart and F. Altorfer). They say that the Classical Arabic had a set of three case endings for the nouns, but nowadays they are largely ignored. Only so-called indefinite accusative (called accusative marker) is used because this shows in the script. It’s an alif attached to the end of the noun or adjective. Technically it’s accompanied by two slashes above the preceding consonant but in practice they are usually omitted. Example: كتاب, كتابا (kitaab, kitaaban) But the FSI course uses the other cases too. I asked on this forum (in the section “Questions about your target languages) and have gotten one answer, not from a native, but that doesn’t mean that less reliable. Here’s a part of this answer: “The cases are used all the time in media. They are an important part of the language. (…) Like the Arabic word for "Also" أيضا. It is always pronounced in the accusative AjDhan, never AyDh or ayDha in MSA.” That’s not exactly the answer. I’m aware that some words or whole phrases go always in accusative, e.g. “ahlan wa sahlan”. Another matter is so-called “nunation”. “TY” book doesn’t mention it at all. FSI – does. Here’s the answer I’ve gotten to my question: “The nunations (…) hand is not heard as often, mostly in certain words that always carries them. (…) Certain reporters use more nunations than others, but it is never used like in books. The ending vowels are just not as important to pronounce.” Does anybody have more info on this? Do TV news presenters really use nunation and cases. I don’t know the language that well yet to be able to differentiate. French *FSI Course, unit 15 This unit contains plenty of exercises (which I love) and a new material, inter alia on verbs like "mettre" (admettre, commetre, émettre, omettre, permettre, prmettre, remettre, sommettre, transmettre) and Future tense (Futur). *Watching: France 24 Hindi - हिंदी *Teach Yourself, unit 1 Nouns, adjectives *Teach Yourself, units 1-4 Listening to audio recordings, listening-repeating This is in fact a review. I studied some Hindi before, but as I had two years’ break I really need to refresh it thoroughly. I hope at the beginning it won’t cause me any difficulties and I will review basics quickly. Italiano *Watching: Rai News *“Better Reading Italian”, chapter “Bel paese: Torino” Simple things for the beginning and review how to create diminutives, augmentatives and pejoratives. New interesting phrases learnt: fare il muso = to pout “Tutte le volte che papà parla di fare una gita in mongatna, mia sorella si mette a fare il muso. fare il verso a qualcuno = to mock someone’s manner of speaking, to imitate someone’s voice Mia cugina Giulia non apre la bocca senza piangucolare e lamentarsi e i suoi fratelli, che sono, dispettosi, non perdono mai un’occasione per farile il verso. *Reading: „Putin concede la cittadinanza russa a Depardieu” (Il Giornale, 3.01.2013) Interesting text saying that the French actor Gérard Depardieu is looking for a new country to settle in because of the recent attempts of President Hollande to introduce 75% income tax for the most rich people in France. Text says that President Putin of Russia don’t see any problem in receving the French actor as a Russian citizen. Indeed an appropriate institution issued already a Russian passport for Depardieu. Some useful phrases come with this text: andare a tutta birra = go at full speed fare ponti d’oro a qualcuno = offer big advantages to someone Português *Assimil, lessons 22-28 Reviewing Past tense, some irregular verbs, pronouns. *Watching: RTP Internacional: Jornal da tarde and Telejornal As a new year began, they were talking much about e.g. “orçamento” = budget which can be “demulgado” (declared publicly), or “entrar em vigor” or someone can “pôr” it “em vigor”. There was much talking also about “défice orçamental”. And of course of many other things… Swahili *FSI Basic Course, units 41-43 *"Swahili Learners' Reference Grammar": subjunctive, static verbs Subjunctive Verbs ending in –a change it to –e; others keep the final vowel Examples: tunakula – tule / we eat, we are eating, that we ate, that we eat, that we should eat tunanunua – tununue tunaishi – tuishi tunajaribu – tujaribu It is used in subordinate clauses and some structures, like: (ni) lazima (it’s necessary, must), tafadhali (please), afadhali (it’s better), itabidi (it’s necessary, should); examples: ni lazima tule = it’s necessary that we eat, we must eat ni lazima tujaribu = it’s necessary that we try, we must try ni lazima twende =it’s necessary that we go, we must go unataka waende? = do you want them to go ijapokuwa = even if, although Example: Ijapokuwa nitakaa nyumbani peke yangu, sitakwenda mahali popote siku ya leo. = Even if I'm going to stay at home by myself, I won't go any place at all today. It seems that „ijapokuwa” is used rather in written Swahili, while “ingawa” is more frequently used in spoken language. You can also use “hata kama”. peke y- = by oneself peke yangu peke yako peke yake peke yetu peke yenu peke yao -o –ote = at all; any mahali po pote = anywhere at all kitu cho chote = anything at all mtu ye yote = anyone at all [special concord for singular animate nouns is ye] Yeye hana nyumba yo yote. = He doesn’t have any house. Sitaki ndizi zo zote. = I don’t want any bananas at all. Stative (neutral) extension – Ik (ik, ek, k) saying that the subject has gotten into some state, without saying anything about the means or agent of the action; examples: Maji yamemwagika = Water has been / is spilled. Baiskeli imeharibika = Bicycle has been / is broken. Turkish *FSI Course: unit 36 – grammar, vocabulary; units 36-38 audio Some useful words and phrases. The most important structure “-(a, ı) r … + ma + z” = as soon as, immediately upon; examples: Eve gider gitmez telefon ederim. – I will call as soon as I go home. Kitabı okur okumaz sana veririm. – As soon as I read the book I will give it to you. Another structure: -(y)arak = as (being), by Böyle koşarak nereye gidiyorsun? = Where are you going running like this? Göçmen olarak Türkiye’ye gelmişler. = They came to Turkey as immigrants (reportedly). Edited by Przemek on 07 January 2013 at 9:56am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Przemek Hexaglot Senior Member Poland multigato.blogspot.c Joined 6271 days ago 107 posts - 174 votes Speaks: Polish*, English, SpanishC2, Italian, Portuguese, French Studies: Turkish, Hindi, Arabic (Written) | Message 10 of 16 03 February 2013 at 12:55pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Here's my report for January
Struggling – this word describes very well January as regards my learning languages. After an extremely good start at the beginning of the year, my motivation slowed down with every week. In effect I didn’t do as much as I expected. Sincerely speaking I struggled with my motivation to keep up with all of the languages I’ve learned so far. If I could study them all full time I’d be more than happy but I don’t have that much time so I think I have to re-consider my plans – and to put aside some of them for some time. I hope to return to them in the future. What I did in the first week of January you can read in a previous post. Here I will report on what I did in the last three weeks. Time spent Total: 72h50 French: 16h30 Portuguese: 13h30 Turkish: 11h50 Italian: 10h30 Arabic (MSA): 9h50 Hindi: 4h20 Swahili: 4h20 Remarks Arabic MSA - عربي Nothing special. I’ve listened to the recordings of lessons 4 through 9 of the FSI Modern Written Arabic Course. Sincerely speaking, I guess I didn’t make a right decision to switch to MSA this year. I think I’ll return to Egyptian dialect to study it full time again. Nevertheless I’ll continue to listen to MSA recordings. Français I studied units 15 and 16 of the FSI Course. I did all the grammar and tried to learn vocabulary, I practiced reading and listening. I made all the audio drills twice. The material covered mostly relative pronouns: qui, que, ce qui, ce que, as well as Conditional. I watched France 24 and tried to repeat what was being said, to remember as much as I can. Hindi - हिंदी This is one of the languages I always wanted to return to but it seems my decision was made too soon. I regret it but I don’t have enough time to continue. In the last weeks I reviewed units 2 and 3 of “Teach Yourself” course. I also listened to units 3-6 of this course. Italiano As it comes to one of my priorities this year, last weeks were spent mostly on keeping up with the spoken language. I watched Rai News and Euronews. I listened to “Lo scandalo Modigliano” (by Ken Follett) as audiobook. Apart from that, I just started to read “Processo” by Franz Kafka (Italian translation). Português Another priority this year. I reviewed lessons 29-42 of the Assimil course. I read all the texts, made all the exercises. I also practiced translating all the texts from Spanish (I have a version of the course in this language) into Portuguese. I watched TV news programs for several hours in total, especially RTP International and Euronews. Türkçe Turkish is another language I’ll continue to study full time. I studied units 36-41 of the FSI Course. I did all the readings, grammar and vocabulary exercises. I also did these units using listening-repeating method. Kiswahili I went through consecutive units, namely 44-47, of the FSI course. I practiced reading, learnt new grammar issues and vocabulary. I did all the drills, using traditional method as well as treating them as audio drills. I must admit, though with a much regret, that I’m not sure I’ll still be spending so much time on Swahili as I did before. As I don’t have that much time I think I will put it aside for some time. I may do some reading or exercises occasionally, but it won’t be full time study in the coming months. I will try to do my best not to put aside my favorite languages for long. I’m sure if not now, I will learn them later when I’ve gained strong command of the ones I regard as my priorities at present. Edited by Przemek on 03 February 2013 at 12:56pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| strikingstar Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 4969 days ago 292 posts - 444 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin*, Cantonese, Swahili Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written) | Message 11 of 16 03 February 2013 at 2:39pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
I'm no expert, but it seems that whether you want to pronounce the case endings or not is optional in most cases (excuse the pun). I mean afterall, nobody really speaks MSA. But it's definitely not wrong to want to pronounce all the case endings. If anything, you're putting more effort into proper grammar. The alif on an indefinite accusative is only a spelling convention. Just like the alif on past tense verbs conjugated for هم, e.g. درسوا (darasuu). The alif exists only because the word is already in the indefinite accusative, not the other way round. The presence of the alif indicates that the word is in the indefinite accusative but it does not make it in the indefinite accusative. Now what makes a word definite or indefinite? Same as most languages really. But in Arabic, you'll usually know if it's definite because there's an al-, it's in a definite idaafa or if it's got a pronoun suffix attached. And usually, words are in the accusative when it's the direct object of a verb. That's really all there is to it. One last note, the alif convention for indefinite accusative words does not apply to words ending with a taa marbuta. So, I read a book today = قرأت كتابا اليوم, with the alif ending. But I read a newspaper today = قرأت جريدة اليوم, no alif ending. But both kitaaban and jariidatan are both in the indefinite accusative. The only rule explicitly governing not pronouncing a case ending is if the word's the last word of a sentence. BUT, if the last word is indefinite accusative, then the case ending is pronounced without nunation. (Arabic has a rule for every situation you can think of, just gotta deal with it :) )
Nunation is just the case ending for indefinite words. You've already seen it above. Kitaabun/Kitaabin/Kitaaban vs. Al-kitaabu/Al- kitaabi/Al-kitaaba. It really isn't anything special. But you'll always be grammatically correct if you pronounce it in any situation that it can be used. Personally, that TY book sounds really terrible. Doesn't sound like it teaches much.
Usiache kujifunza Kiswahili. Ulisema ungependa kutembelea Afrika ya Mashariki siku moja. Itakuwa salihi sana. Edited by strikingstar on 03 February 2013 at 6:08pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Przemek Hexaglot Senior Member Poland multigato.blogspot.c Joined 6271 days ago 107 posts - 174 votes Speaks: Polish*, English, SpanishC2, Italian, Portuguese, French Studies: Turkish, Hindi, Arabic (Written) | Message 12 of 16 16 March 2013 at 9:45am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Here's my report for February
February was without a doubt European languages month. I focused on Portuguese, Italian and French. These are the languages I might use in the nearest future in my job or in private contacts. That’s why it’s been a high time to review some grammatical issues and of course vocabulary. I didn’t put aside neiher Arabic nor Turkish but I did nothing connected with Hindi and Swahili. Because of the medical treatment to the eyes I wasn't able to use the computer for a month. That's why this update appears just now. It was also the time when I had to use mostly audio materials or watch TV now and then. Time spent Total: 87h10 Italiano: 29h00 Português: 25h40 Français: 17h20 Türkçe: 11h05 عربي (Egyptian Arabic): 4h05 Remarks Italiano Most of the time I dedicated to Italian was spent on listening comprehension. I managed to get an audiobook of Ken Follett’s “The fall of the giants” in Italian translation - “La caduta dei giganti”. Generally, it tells the story of several families and individuals before and during the first world war and Bolshevik revolution in Russia. It describes the events that lead to the fall of former governors and emperors giving way to appearance of a new world order. I finished reading „Processo” by Franz Kafka in Italian translation. I also watched news broadcasts on Rai News. I admit it was not much but this is because I had a great exposure to Italian thanks to “La caduta dei giganti” as audiobook. I didn’t note down many things from the books I read/listened to but a few things as a reminder, e.g.: *Spero che tu abbia ragione. / Subjunctive construction is needed in this kind of sentence I learned some vocabulary connected with military actions, e.g. *trincea – trench; trinceramento – entrenchment; trincerare (io trincero) – to entrench Português I reviewed chapters 43-56 of the Assimil book. The most important grammatical issues covered: futuro, futuro do conjuntivo, presente do conjuntivo, imperfeito do conjuntivo, infinitivo pessoal, pretérito mais-que-perfeito do indicativo, pretérito mais-que-perfeito do conjuntivo. I watched Portuguese TV, mostly news programs: Bom dia Portugal, Grande Jornal, Jornal da Tarde and Telejornal. I also watched morning program “Praça da alegria” but I didn’t like it much. I read some articles from “Notícias Magazine” (which I bought some time ago in Portugal) and a book “Regresso de Sherlock Holmes III” containing three little stories about a famous detective. What’s most important I participated for the first time in Portuguese Practice Hangout on Google+. Although it was hosted by a Brazilian, Andre, and I learn European version of the language, it was still a great opportunity to practice. Some interesting vocabulary and phrases encountered: *prejuízo – damage, loss *Vamos tentar fazer. – We are going to try to do it / It’s not rare that even three verbs are put in a sequence like this. *carne de cavalo / de vaca *rutura – break, rupture / According to the new Acordo Ortográfico this word is no longer spelled as ‘ruptura’. *Ele nega que esteja em curso qualquer processo de investigação. *Assédio sexual. *Divulgado na internet. *Ele dá razão ao clube. *Não há motivo para (alguma coisa). *desafiar – to challenge *afastar - to remove, keep off, keep away; afastar-se – to move away, to go away, to turn; afastar-se do assunto – to stray from the subject *Novo escândalo na Igreja. *Pediu a demissão do cargo. *Conclave para eleger o novo Papa. *Mais uma vez. / Word “mais” stands generally before the things we want “more” Français I did units 16 and 17 of the FSI Course. The most important grammatical issues covered: conditionnel, pronoms interrogatifs (que, qui, qui est-ce qui + verb), pronoms relatifs (dont, lequel, laquelle), verbs like «prendre», verbes pronominaux (reflexive and non- reflexive), rien, personne ; pronoms démonstratifs (celle, celles, celui, ceux), subjonctif. I watched several times France 24 news channel to practice listening comprehension. Some interesting vocabulary encountered: *7 français enlevés au Cameroun *lorsque – quand, au moment oú Example : Nous en parlerons lorsque vous viendrez. *convaincre – amener par des arguments à reconnaître l’exactitude ou la nécessité de ; persuader Türkçe I did unit 41-47 of the FSI Course. With every new unit I am coming nearer to the end of the course and it’s time to find another source to learn. And I also need to practice, practice, practice… The most important issues covered: *ya… ya da (either… or), ne… ne de (neither… nor), hem… hem de (both… and) examples: Ya lokantaya gideriz ya da sinemaya. Ne lokantaya gideriz ne de sinemaya. Hem lokantaya gideriz hem de sinemaya. *suffix (ı)ş – giving generally the meaning of mutuality to do the action of the verb, sometimes it gives a specialized meaning to the resultant; examples: görmek - to see/ görüşmek - to see each other, to meet bakmak – to look at / bakışmak – to look at one another ödemek – to pay / ödeşmek – to settle accounts *(y)ış – forms verbal noun indicating “the act of doing…”, “the manner of doing” examples: Gidişgeliş üç saat sürdü – Round trip lasted for three hours Sinemanın açılış kapanış saatlerini soralım. – Let’s ask about opening and closing hours of the cinema. Konuşuşu çok güzel. – The way he/she speaks is very nice. *suffix –sana, -saniza – meaning approximately “why don’t you…, would you like to…” example: Yarin yemeğe bize gelsene / gelsenize. *Causatives: -dır-, example: bilmek - to know / bildirmek - to cause to know, to inform, to announce *Transitive and intransitive verbs. *Measures, numbers, percentages, colors, dates And much more – which I haven’t in fact studied but just listened to the recordings to get the glimpse of the new structures and to drill new vocabulary. I watched a bit TRT Türk but with no big success in understanding. Yet I think I need to get more exposure to the language. Some interesting vocabulary lerned: *alafranga – in European style; alafranga yemek – European food *aşağı – (direction) down, down under; aşağı inmek – to go down, to descend *boya – paint, shoe polish; boyamak – to paint, to polish shoes, to dry; akrilik boya – acrylic paint; yağlıboya – oil paint *yılamak – to wash, to bathe; ellerini yılamak – to wash one’s hands *yılanmak - to take a bath, to wash oneself عربي I didn’t do any new things. I focused on drilling what I’ve already learned. I reviewed Modules 1 and 2 of DLI Egyptian Arabic Course. Edited by Przemek on 16 March 2013 at 9:47am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Przemek Hexaglot Senior Member Poland multigato.blogspot.c Joined 6271 days ago 107 posts - 174 votes Speaks: Polish*, English, SpanishC2, Italian, Portuguese, French Studies: Turkish, Hindi, Arabic (Written) | Message 13 of 16 21 March 2013 at 1:45pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Practicing language skills with native speakers is now easier even if you don’t know
anybody who speaks your target language – thanks to Google Hangouts. I tried it several times and I think it’s a very cool idea! Google Hangouts are available from a Google+ account or from a Gmail inbox. All you need is an Internet connection, a microphone and a camera – well, you can do without a camera, but that’s what makes it more fun. Hangouts are similar to Skype videoconferencing tool but otherwise than in Skype here in one session you can have up to 10 persons for free. Apart from talking you can share what’s on your screen with others. You can edit your documents stored on Google Docs or work together on shared documents. There are several other apps you can use during a connection. A hangout may be set to be public or private - where only invited persons can participate. Hangouts are a fantastic way to talk to people from all around the world (of course not only to practice languages). At present there are hangouts for more popular languages organized, others (like Hindi and Swahili) are still waiting for someone ready to host them. For the time being I participated in Portuguese and Italian Hangouts. I hope to join other language hangouts in the nearest future, especially French, Spanish and Turkish. I really hope that there will be someone willing to host hangouts in Swahili. We’ll see… To get to know more about Language Practice Hangouts go to the Community Page on Google+ Edited by Przemek on 21 March 2013 at 1:46pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Przemek Hexaglot Senior Member Poland multigato.blogspot.c Joined 6271 days ago 107 posts - 174 votes Speaks: Polish*, English, SpanishC2, Italian, Portuguese, French Studies: Turkish, Hindi, Arabic (Written) | Message 14 of 16 21 March 2013 at 1:49pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Di Firenze e Cracovia nel hangout Italiano
Il mercoledì ho partecipato in un altro hangout per far pratica con il mio Italiano. Ho scoperto i hangout recentemente è l’idea mi piace moltissimo. Gli organizzano voluntariamente le persone chi hanno voglia di aiutare agli altri a mettere in pratica la loro conoscienza delle lingue quali imparano. Il hangout di ieri è stato molto interessante. Abbiamo cominciato di parlare di Firenze, una delle città Italiane più belle. Secondo me, è la città più bella. L’ho visitata qualche anno fa e mi è piacuta più che Roma o anche Venezia. Con i suoi magnifici edifici, monumenti e gallerie, come per esempio Santa Croce ed Uffizi non ci si può annoiarsi. Abbiamo parlato anche un po’ di San Juan, capitale di Puerto Rico, perche una dei partecipanti vive in questa città. Io ho avuto anche un’opportunità di dire qualche parola di Cracovia dove abito, ma non ci fu bastante tempo per raccontare molte cose. Ho menzionato solamente del Castello Reale e di Bona Sforza d’Aragona, la moglie del re polacco Sigismondo I Jagellone, detto il Veccho (nel Seicento). In Polonia si dice che grazie a lei mangiamo più verdure che prima. Prima noi polacchi avevamo mangiato solo carne? Marina ha notato che non può essere stato vero perche la gente povera non si poteva permettere a mangiare carne se non a grandi feste. Forse Bona ha insegnato a mangare carne alla corte reale... Il prossimo hangout sarà dedicato alla cinematografia. Ci sarà una discussione del film di Fellini “Prova d’orchestra”. Questo è stato un suggerimento fatto da Andrzej, un partecipante di Varsavia. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Przemek Hexaglot Senior Member Poland multigato.blogspot.c Joined 6271 days ago 107 posts - 174 votes Speaks: Polish*, English, SpanishC2, Italian, Portuguese, French Studies: Turkish, Hindi, Arabic (Written) | Message 15 of 16 22 March 2013 at 8:42am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Below you'll find my first attempt to write in Turkish. This text needed a few small
corrections which I got from a pal on Italki. Benim hakkımda Benim adım Przemek. Kırk iki yaşındayım. Polonyalıyım. Polonya’da, Krakov’da yaşıyorum. Krakov, Polonya’nın güneyinde yer alır. Devlet memuruyum. Belediyede çalışıyorum. Dış ilişkiler ve Avrupa projeleri üzerine calışıyorum. Müzik dinlemeyi, kitap okumayı, seyahat etmeyi ve fılm izlemeyi seviyorum, ama herşeyden önceyabancı dil öğrenmeyi seviyorum. İngilizce ve İspanyolca biliyorum, İtalyanca, Portekizce, Arapça ve Türkçe öğreniyorum. Birkaç yıldan beri Türkçe öğreniyorum. Çok zor. Evimde kendi kendime öğreniyorum. Öğrenmek için özel bir sebebim yok. Sadece hobim. Türkçem hala kötü. Ben bir sürü sözcük biliyorum, ama konuşma fırsatım yok. Çok pratiğe ihtiyacım var. Bir defa Türkiye’ye gittim. Tatill için. İki bin sekizde. Çok sevdim. İstanbul’a, İzmir’e, Bursa’ya, Çeşme’ye, Selçuk’a, Bergama’ya, Efes’e, Bodrum’a ve Pamukkale’ye gittim. Şahane yerler. Oraları tekrar seyahat etmek istiyordum. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Przemek Hexaglot Senior Member Poland multigato.blogspot.c Joined 6271 days ago 107 posts - 174 votes Speaks: Polish*, English, SpanishC2, Italian, Portuguese, French Studies: Turkish, Hindi, Arabic (Written) | Message 16 of 16 01 April 2013 at 12:39pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Languages – progress: March 2013
March was so far the best month when it comes to learning foreign languages. It’s not only about the amount of hours spent because this was a bit less than in February but in terms of practicing. I finally found a way to practice what I study. I am sure I don’t have to say how important it is for every language learner who wants to speak and not only to master the grammar. I found a great community on Google+ - it’s called Language Practice Hangouts. It joins people from all around the world who want to practice speaking and volunteers who want to help them. So far I participated in hangouts for Portuguese, Italian, French and Spanish. I hope for more in the coming days… Time spent Total: 127h05 Portuguese: 43h45 Français: 32h00 Türkçe: 20h40 Italiano: 19h40 عربي (Egyptian MSA) 8h40 عربي (Egyptian MSA) 2h20 Remarks Arabic (MSA & Egyptian) In March I switched again to MSA, although I dedicated some time to the Egyptian dialect too. I hesitated between the FSI and the DLI courses. In the end I chose the latter because of its more extensive audio material and more everyday vocabulary. Although both focus on diplomatic and military work, the DLI seems to be less “military”. I studied the first lesson, I did the reading, exercises and audio. Moreover I listened to the audio material of the lessons 2 and 3. They don’t contain any new material for me but the case endings. Some time ago when I started to learn MSA I used “Teach Yourself” book and it doesn’t teach you to use cases saying that nobody uses them nowadays. It mentions so-called “nunation” but doesn’t use it. I guess I’ll need some practice to get used to this. I wish I had more time for Arabic but for now I guess I must do with several hours a month. Maybe in the second part of the year I’ll slow down with other languages and sit down to study Arabic full-time. I even enrolled for the Arabic course at Dalarna University in Sweden - lectures are held online. I’m still waiting for the approval. Français I studied over and over units 16 and 17 of the FSI course which I did last month. It may seem I stuck but it’s not so. Suffice it to say that the unit 17 alone has over 50 pages. I wanted to drill the material especially as it contains conditional, subjunctive and some other grammatical issues like a collocation of the pronouns in the sentence. I also did unit 18 which is a review unit. I watched France 24 news channel to practice listening comprehension. But what’s most important I finally had an opportunity to practice speaking. The first ever French Practice Hangout was organized on Google+. I’ve already written about my experiences with this kind of practice with Portuguese and Italian. I had also a few occasions to speak French on the hangouts organized ad hoc with some friends I have at Google+. It’s such a fun to be able to chat with people from all around the world, e.g. from Colombia or South Africa. We discuss not only about our daily routines but also about politics, society issues, economy, literature and many other things... Some useful vocabulary I noted down: *Je l’apprendrai par coeur. – I learnt this by heart. *Il reprend l’initiative. – He takes an initiative. *Je doi m’en aller. – I have to go. *Je ne m’intéresse pqs à ce genre de choses. – I’m not interested in this kind of things. Italiano I finished “La caduta dei giganti” which I read or rather listened to in the form of audiobook. It was not so interesting as other novels by Ken Follett which I had read earlier but it was quite fun and very satisfying to be able to “read” it in Italian. I watched Rai 24 news broadcast and I participated in several Italian Practice Hangouts. Not much real study in March but I think I’ve learned enough of grammar and I just have to practice to become more fluent. Some useful vocabulary I noted down: *sbalordire – to amaze, to astonish, to be surprised Example: A quella notizia sbalordì *sbalorditivo – amazing, astounding, absurd Example: Prezzo sbalorditivo – staggering price *prendere in giro – to tease *Il prezzo ha salito alle stelle *altrove – elsewhere, somewhere else Example: Sono diretto altrove *É solo questo che conta Português As I already said it’s one of my priorities this year and I really want to become fluent in Portuguese. That’s why I keep up with spending so much time on it. In March I reviewed lessons 59-89 of the Assimil course, noting down some useful vocabulary and grammatical issues I needed to refresh. I watched some TV programs – several hours in total, especially on RTP International, RTP Informação and Euronews. I also read several articles from the “Notícias Magazine”. What’s most important, as with French and Italian, I had an opportunity to talk – thanks to Portuguese Practice Hangout. I made my first attempt in writing. I translated from Polish into Portuguese a short text from the website of the town for which I work. It was fun and on the other hand useful. I put it on the Italki site for a correction by a native. I was surprised that I made only three minor errors in the text, two of which were of “stupid” kind such as wrong gender in the adjective. I have to be more careful while practicing writing. Some useful vocabulary I noted down: *porém – yet, but, nevertheless *prazo – term, period; expiry date; time limit / a curto prazo / a longo prazo – short / long term Example: Eleições presidenciais vão ser convocadas num prazo de 30 dias. *parceria – partnership / parceiro, parceira *Diz que sente olgulho na postura do clube. *arguir – to accuse / arguir de – to accuse of (sth) / kłócić się / arguido – accused *Ideias não me faltam *Fazia um calor de derreter os untos a um cristão (difficult to translate, said to stress that it’s extremely hot weather) *Morra Marta, morra farta (not to be translated literally, meaning: when one dies, they will die content) *Quem me dera ter partido contigo – expresses a wish of doing something which is improbable *calcular – to imagine Example: Calcula que cuando cheguei... – Imagine that when I arrived… *De essa maneira posso juntar o útil ao agradavél *marrão – plodder *O que é que isso tem a ver com... – What does it have to do with... *faço tenção de fazer... / tenciono fazer... / tenho a intenção de Example: Faço tenção de descansar uns dias. *Assim é que é! (expresses one’s approbation, bravo) *fôlego – breath, (fig.) courage / perder o fôlego *Sei lá! – How could I know! *Que é feito… (de ti, do meu livro) – What happened… *Tenho trabalhado que nem um cão. – I’ve worked my fingers to the bone. *Assim mataria dois coelhos de uma só cajadada. – That way I would kill two birds with one stone. *Não faço ideia de quem estás a falar / Não faço ideia de quem estejas a falar (subjuntive is used to strengthen what’s being said) Türkçe I spent more time on Turkish in March than in the previous months of which I’m very glad. It’s still studying and enriching my vocabulary and not practicing but I hope it’s going to change soon and I will pass to more active learning. I did units 41-45 of the “Colloquial Turkish”. Similarly as with Portuguese, I did my first attempt in writing. I wrote a short text about myself. Edited by Przemek on 01 April 2013 at 12:43pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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