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What Expug is doing in 2015 (TAC n more) | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6386 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes  4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 273 of 364 12 August 2015 at 10:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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And you can neutrally ask "сколько лет вы бы мне дали?" when requesting an evaluation of your appearance. Much more socially acceptable for a woman to ask :D
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| Expugnator Hexaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 4955 days ago 3335 posts - 4349 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian | Message 274 of 364 12 August 2015 at 11:57pm | IP Logged | ||
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I don't know if I'm going to have time during the weekend, so I decided to try harder on Georgian during the week. Yesterday I read a total of 21 pages. Is Georgian becoming the new French? I didn't understand much this time, I'm just reinforcing some known knowns, but I'm optimistic.
Listening to 'Norwegian Wood' in Norwegian is taking even longer, over 20 minutes. Pages are loaded with long paragraphs, which means there is a lot of text in 10 pages and so it takes over 20 minutes at the audiobook. At least it's getting easier each day, and I understand almost everything I listen to. I finally managed to pay more attention to Chinese reading today. I alternated Chinese and Portuguese translation. I still ran into sentences I couldn't understand despite looking up characters with Pera-pera, but I could learn a lot nonetheless. Today I could pay more attention to both Norwegian and Georgian extensive listening/watching, with better results than usual (better so in Norwegian than in Georgian). I finished my first series from Starmedia. This time, though, I'm going for subtitles in L2, with the series Анжелика, for which 8 episodes are available at Polydog. I also have the option of Интерны which I have as a file instead of Youtube and thus more practical to use alongside with two text files (the transcripts and their English translation), but I think Анжелика will be funnier. If I run out of transcribed episodes I will go for Интерны. I am really happy I have access to well-produced, up-to-date series in good quality. I'm thrilled! Watching TV series with subtitles in L2 is one of the steps that has led me into basic reading fluency, so I hope my Russian benefits from this intensive work. I expect it to be much harder than German, but I shouldn't feel discouraged by that. Today wa the best day with watching Kuxnya. Maybe it is time for trying without subtitles? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Expugnator Hexaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 4955 days ago 3335 posts - 4349 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian | Message 275 of 364 14 August 2015 at 12:01am | IP Logged | ||
Today was a tricky lesson on how some sentences distinguish present and future just by the use of the objective in the partitive (present) and in the future (genitive). These are the examples:
I think it has to do with the partial X total object: if the object is total (genitive case) then it means the action is 'perfect' and thus future. I still think it's safer to just use a future-implied adverb whenever is possible to avoid ambiguity :P Looking for an opportunity for practicing your L2? I decided to write to Nivea in German about their decision to discontinue the shaving gel, which is more efficient and of better quality and also better for the skin than the foam and the cream. I can buy a can of gel and it lasts for about twice the time as the foam, while producing a better effect and keeping the skin hydrated. So, I believe there is some planified obsolescence acting out there. The Brazilian company Natura also discontinued its shaving gel, which confirms my suspicious. So, I wrote to them in German and Portuguese. Last time I wrote in French and Norwegian here, I also posted those paragraphs at lang-8 (French) and italki (Norwegian). I got 1 partial correction in French and no correction in Norwegian. Looks like my time is better spent on Georgian and Chinese, where I get corrections almost all the time. 1 1/2 Ritter is a quite funny film and I understand quite a bit so far. If the audio weren't so low I'd try letting go of subtitles. So, it worked all right with the first episode of Анжелика!! The audio is not that hard to understand, though I still rely on the subtitles. The Russian translation by Google is still clumsy, so it doesn't help when I can't understand the syntax of the original Russian. Other than that, I could follow most of the scenes with two .txt files floating over the Youtube screen, scrolling them down one after another. If there was a file to interparse text automatically line by line, that'd be really nice. Strangely enough, my first 10 minutes of intensive Russian watching (I'm going to simplify and just use 'watching' when I mean watching videos instead of just listening) already paid off right after, at the Russian reading time. Edited by Expugnator on 14 August 2015 at 12:07am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 6945 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish | Message 276 of 364 14 August 2015 at 2:30am | IP Logged | ||
On this score it's the same principle in Finnish. Among other considerations, a direct object in partitive means that the verb's action is ongoing, incomplete/without affirmative result or only part of the direct object is affected by the action (this is especially true if the direct object is perceived as being uncountable). If the verb's action is complete or you're emphasizing the affirmative result, or if the entire direct object is affected (including a perceived set of direct objects), then the direct object won't be in partitive. This means nominative or genitive in Estonian, and nominative, genitive or accusative (the last for personal pronouns only) in Finnish. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Expugnator Hexaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 4955 days ago 3335 posts - 4349 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian | Message 277 of 364 14 August 2015 at 10:38pm | IP Logged | ||
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I may be blaspheming, but I see a similarity in indefinite pronoun formation between Estonian and Georgian: both make use of the "also" particle, -ც in Georgian and -gi/ki in Estonian. So we have ვინც in Georgian and keegi in Estonian. By the way, today's lesson on pronouns was simply fantastic.
I finished writing La carte et le territoire. Right, it has some insightful moments, but I don't think it's a great work. Extension du domaine de la lutte was better, even though I prefer to be optimistic. Maybe I shouldn't read more on Houellebecq soon, as the only book claimed to be a little more optimistic was good but not great. Now I'm back to spiritualist reading. Accomplished Language Textbook: Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar (and Workbook): A Practical Guide 
This is one of the series I recommend the most, and I've just finished using it for Mandarin. I like this one a little less than the German one, perhaps I was expecting more insightful comments than just an enumeration of greetings. It still remains a powerful resource for boosting up your perception of Chinese the way it is spoken, with important cultural insights as well. I felt some exercises were a bit exhausting, but this book is to be kept as a reference work, too. For example, next time I have to express duration when writing, I will probably get back to it. Now I'm going for "New Path: Getting Over Chinese Grammar". It is a wholy different game, but I hope there is knowledge out there that interests me as well. It seems to deal a lot with word formation and the history of the language. Enjoying the series Анжелика a lot. It's quite the exposure I need for Russian. A contemporary series, light dialogues, daily-life based. Today I think I missed yesterday's practice of following the subtitles at the .txt file with the keyboard and cursor, so I got lost more than usual. Should bear it in mind for tomorrow. I didn't really get the idea behind the particle -bi- inserted within an Uzbek verb to make up for a sequential action. At today's Assimil Perfectionnement Italien lesson I learned that 'curare' means soigner, 'to treat' while guarire is guérir, to heal. I already knew that guarire means to cure (Guarir non è possibile la malattia di vivere), but I couldn't expect to see a false friend even in a moment when we need a true friend. In Portuguese 'curar' means 'to heal', and 'to treat' is tratar, actually an English cognate. Today I can't do without my Kuxnya episode (couldn't watch it yesterday). Other stuff can wait. I wonder if people who post videos don't figure out they're giving spoilers just from the picture that illustrates the episode video? Not to mention when you copy part of the subtitles to paste at the translator and you stop in the middle of the episode when an important event is happening, so you briefly read it enough that it spoils it. Edited by Expugnator on 14 August 2015 at 10:52pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Expugnator Hexaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 4955 days ago 3335 posts - 4349 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian | Message 278 of 364 17 August 2015 at 11:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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Another productive weekend. I finished reading the paperback, translated novel in Russian which was taking me so long. Thirty pages more for the SC. Now I have to find another book for reading extensively at the weekends. I also read 30 pages more in Georgian. I also finished watching the Norwegian miniseries Adventslekene. Watching Norwegian with subtitles is a piece of cake now. And I started Norwegian Duolingo, which just got released from beta. Sounds like it's going to be a piece of cake. I didn't make the same mistake I did with Italian of taking the placement test and then going crazily for tracking progress, as I was going to take the complete course anyway. Maybe it is an idea to create another id just for taking those placement tests?
The dialogues at "Georgian: a continuing course" are harder than expected for a second 'wave'. The notes contribute to this impression, as they go into detail. Today I wasn't feeling well enough to go to the gym and so I feel much less 'awaken' during the day. I'm having trouble focusing at the longer activities such as listening - even L-R. I also have the feeling that I'm on a plateau for all of my languages at once, and this brings up some wanderlust as a way to keep noticing progress, but I will resist it. What's more, I'm really in the mood for using my target languages instead of just getting more and more input that hasn't brought me anywhere so far. Norwegian Duolingo is still fairly easy and fun. Helpful to consolidate some daily-life vocabulary that one usually skips when one doesn't do any SRS or 'finish' textbooks. I just keep the window open and study 1 lesson anytime I feel I need a break. Ja, vel. Der er tidlig nok for at jeg kan prøve å skrive noe på norsk en gang til. SOm jeg...kansje sa sist gang, disse dager leser jeg ikke mye norsk, men jeg hører veldig mye. Jeg driver med å høre på lydboken på norsk mens jeg leser den samme teksten i portugisisk. Jeg gleder meg til å lese på norsk igjen. Et par dager siden leste jeg en artikkel om suksessen den skandinaviske litteraturen i Brasil. I artikkelen står det at der fortsatt vanskelig å få en oversettelse til en bok av en skandinavisk forfater direkt i portugisisk. Med mindre det er en verdensberømt bok, må leserne lese en bok som ble oversettelset fra engelsk, ikke direkt fra islensk eller norsk eller svensk. Jeg leset om forfatteren Karl Ove Knausgård, som jeg hadde aldri hørte om før, og jeg ser frem til å kunne lese noen bøker av ham i morsmålet hans. Jeg synes jeg kan allerede lese ganske godt på norsk for å kunne forstå det som skjer i romaner uten å bruke ordboken. J'ai commencé à utiliser 'Hello Talk'. Jusqu'à présent je n'ai parlé qu'avec un mec de Hong Kong qui essaye de parler portugais. Hello Talk sent du lang-8 en ce qu'on ne peut choisir qu'une langue d'apprentissage par fois. Heureusement qu'avec la recherche on peut trouver des gens qui parlent norvégien ou chinois et apprenent portugais (non, je n'ai trouvé personne qui parle estonien et aprenne portugais). J'espère que je n'ai pas l'air d'être un 'stalker' parce que j'ai envoyé des messages à quelques personnes en demandant une conversation. Dans le dernier Polyglot Gathering ici dans la ville on a recommandé 'Hello Talk' parce que les gens sont sérieusement interessé dans les langues. J'espère que c'est vrai. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Expugnator Hexaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 4955 days ago 3335 posts - 4349 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian | Message 279 of 364 19 August 2015 at 12:10am | IP Logged | ||
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I am still affected by the lack of morning exercise. Maybe tomorrow I will feel better and will be able to go to the gym. I had some sort of strain in the abdomen which sometimes hurts a lot. It's been a week now and I was neglecting it, kept exercising, so it didn't get better. Now I am having some rest. I am having trouble with Estonian and Russian once again, not able to understand much from the texts, and maybe that explains why.
Sometimes it feels great to be wrong. I came back from lunch and went for reading Chinese from that book from Dan Brown, which I lately find a bit boring and annoying, and then I had one of the best days, where I understood a lot even from the longer periods. I tried to pay more attention to today's Karl & Co. I didn't understand everything, sometimes I missed complete sentences, but there is some progress going on. Those comedy series have a lot of words when compared to drama series. The same happens with Georgian. It would be great if I found subtitles for those series that are a continuous stream of dialogues, because that would allow one to practice whatever technique - extensive watching, intensive watching, subs2srs in a more intense way. A good dictionary makes all the difference. This morning I watched a Papiamento video with an expression that I had no clue about: ketu bai:
ketu means quiet, still , and bai is 'to go', but together that didn't make any sense. Then I just checked the dictionary and it's actually written altogether, ketubai, and it means 'all the time', 'continually'. Now it makes sense, it says the hospital has been having continuous problems with the intensive care unit. I paid attention to the new Georgian episode from the beginning. As a result, I understood almost everything that was going on in the scenes. Not the languages, I mean the situations, but that's already a good sign, because I might have had to understood a lot that was being said in order to understand the situations, and this seemed to be the case indeed. Reading German is becoming easier and easier, especially L-R. I still get lost in periods with enumerations or too many proper names. I'm a bit reluctant to do an extensive-reading text, because that can bring up some frustration if I notice I can't understand as much as I think I could, but nonetheless I'm confident. Today it went better with Анжелика. I could follow most of the dialogues while looking both at the transcription and at the machine translation, just pausing occasionally at longer sentences. Another example of what I discussed a few days ago, about aposed sobordinated clauses in English and how they are split in Georgian and Russian: What do you think is the most important in a waiter's work? Как вы думаете: что самое важное в работе официанта? როგორ პიკრობ: რა არის ოფიციანტისთვსის ყველაზე მნიშნელოვანი? (Woah, I transcribed the Georgian, as I don't have the Georgian subtitles. At least I understand something). Thanks to the videos from Easy Russian, I'm getting more input for Russian again. Intensive watching, with double subtitles. It starts to make the difference. I'm getting enough comprehensible input in Russian, and I believe I can already understand a little better. I should be writing more but I feel tired and not so motivated as my stuff isn't being corrected in my stronger languages, and in my weaker languages it usually gets overwhelming both to write and to reflect upon the corrections, so I feel a bit less motivated. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Expugnator Hexaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 4955 days ago 3335 posts - 4349 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian | Message 280 of 364 21 August 2015 at 12:02am | IP Logged | ||
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Yesday was an intense day. I didn't even write for my log because there was nothing exactly new to mention about my routine. The one thing I realized, which I said previously, is that I feel more and more the need of practicing my languages. If I want to keep making any progress and enjoying the process, I need to practice them, even if it's just through paragraphs at lang-8.
Yesterday I contacted some native speakers at Interpal. Got responses from two Nordmenn and one Estonian woman. I am chatting a lot with one of those Norwegian guys and I can write almost anything I want without looking words up. I also attempted to make my first sentences in Estonian but still waiting for further replies. In the evening, I went to the weekly Stammtisch. This time it took place close to work, so since I had to stay at work longer and couldn't attend other appointments, I could attend it at last. I sat close to an old German man who has been living here for 55 years. I couldn't understand everything he said (not even when he spoke in Portuguese, lol) but it went better with practice. I couldn't say all that I wanted either, but I did notice some progress. This is really the practice I need. It is not an ultimate goal in language learning because even when you 'master' daily life interactions you still need to learn a lot in order to understand even a newspaper article, in the case of non-transparent goals, but it certainly is a path that reinforces previous progress and increases confidence. The German girl who organizes the meetings says I'm B1 and I'm looking forward to reaching a B2 level in the next months. The main difficulty, just like Norwegian, is listening comprehension. Today was particularly challenging because we were at a bar, sitting on the sidewalk at a noisy and busy crossroad. So any effort made for comprehension should be regarded as above average. I expect one-to-one interactions in quiet environments to be much less challenging. I missed out on several words I couldn't remember but was still glad I could remember some not so common ones, and even get some cases right. It is challenging to keep interaction when you have to rely on online penpals that come and go all the time, either for messaging or for getting stuff corrected at lang-8/italki. I am considering taking classes again, just the current situation isn't favorable. If I do end up booking one lesson, I'll be strictly focusing on what I need the most, probably pronunciation. Today things are going as usual. I see some progress in Norwegian comprehension, but still unremarkable. I'm enjoying the French film Ah! Si j'étais riche. I also chatted a bit in German and in Norwegian again. Just because I said I want to practice and use more the language, I'm starting to find it not only easier but also more fun to read the same stuff I read everyday. What a change of perspective can make... I checked the beginning of a random episode of Анжелика and it turns out the automatic subtitles aren't that bad for Russian anymore at Youtube. Now I just have to get better at Russian so I can use them in Russian-alone, or else I'm doomed to my previous period where I watched Russian with English subtitles and which only brought me this far. I just got one of my paragraphs corrected at italki, Norwegian. Not so bad after all. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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