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Team Caesar (Romance languages), tac 2015

 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log Post Reply
117 messages over 15 pages: 1 2 3 4 57 ... 6 ... 14 15 Next >>
Anya
Pentaglot
Senior Member
France
Joined 5604 days ago

636 posts - 708 votes 
Speaks: Russian*, FrenchC1, English, Italian, Spanish
Studies: German, Japanese, Hungarian, Sanskrit, Portuguese, Turkish, Mandarin
Studies: Ancient Greek, Hindi

 
 Message 41 of 117
27 January 2015 at 7:51pm | IP Logged 
For Spanish and Portuguese learners, I could recommend these two useful sites, there are plenty of free book to
download:

https://espanol.free-ebooks.net
http://portugues.free-ebooks.net
2 persons have voted this message useful



kanewai
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
justpaste.it/kanewai
Joined 4700 days ago

1386 posts - 3054 votes 
Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese
Studies: Italian, Spanish

 
 Message 42 of 117
28 January 2015 at 1:50am | IP Logged 
I'm going big this winter, and tackling In the Name of the Rose. If anyone wants to join me, here's a pdf of a trilateral text (Italian, English, Spanish) that I also posted in the Super Challenge forum:

Il nome della rosa

For those who don't know the story, it's a murder mystery set in an Italian monastery in 1327. It also involves, says Wikipedia, semiotics, biblical analysis, medieval studies, and literary theory.

I don't like reading the pdf, but it's a nice crutch to have if you get stuck on a passage. I'm only ten pages in, and I have been stuck a few times already   It's a challenging read, for sure, but not as hard as I feared. I'm also hoping that it will get easier once the action starts - I've only finished the prologue.

But even in these ten pages I love the way Eco uses language. I've already highlighted half a dozen passages. It's work to untangle them at first, but the work is rewarded with some beautiful Italian.


Here, the narrator explains why he won't give many physical descriptions of the monks and abbots he meets:

Nulla è più fugace della forma esteriore, che appassisce e muta come i fiori di campo all'apparire dell'autunno, e che senso avrebbe oggi dire dell'abate Abbone che ebbe l'occhio severo e le guance pallide, quando ormai lui e coloro che lo attorniavano sono polvere e della polvere il loro corpo ha ormai il grigiore mortifero (solo l'animo, lo voglia Iddio, risplendendo di una luce che non si spegnerà mai più)?

Nothing is more fleeting than external form, which withers and alters like the flowers of the field at the appearance of autumn, and what would be the point of saying today that the abbot Abo had a stern eye and pale cheeks, when by now he and those around him are dust and their bodies have the mortal grayness of dust (only their souls, God grant, shining with light that will never be extinguished)?


And here is a beautiful rant about the state of the world these days (circa 1327):

Gli uomini di una volta erano belli e grandi (ora sono dei bambini e dei nani), ma questo fatto è solo uno dei tanti che testimoni la sventura di un mondo che incanutisce. La gioventù non vuole apprendere più nulla, la scienze è in decadenza, il mondo intero cammina sulla testa, dei ciechi conducono altri chieci e li fan precipitare negli abissi, gli uscelli si lanciano prima di aver preso il volo, l'asino suona la lira, i buoi danzano, Maria non ama più la vita contemplative e Marta non ama più la vita attiva, Lea è sterile, Rachele ha l'occhio carnale, Catone frequenta i lupanari, Lucrezio diventa femmina. Tutto è sviato dal proprio cammino.

In the past men were handsome and great (now they are children and dwarfs), but this is merely one of the many facts that demonstrate the disaster of an aging world. The young no longer want to study anything, learning is in decline, the whole world walks on its head, blind men lead others equally blind and cause them to plunge into the abyss, birds leave the nest before they can fly, the jackass plays the lyre, oxen dance. Mary no longer loves the contemplative life and Martha no longer loves the active life, Leah is sterile, Rachel has a carnal eye, Cato visits brothels, Lucretius becomes a woman. Everything is on the wrong path.

(translations from the pdf, shockingly uncredited)





Edited by kanewai on 28 January 2015 at 1:53am

2 persons have voted this message useful



Crush
Tetraglot
Senior Member
ChinaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5676 days ago

1622 posts - 2299 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish, Mandarin, Esperanto
Studies: Basque

 
 Message 43 of 117
28 January 2015 at 8:51am | IP Logged 
I thought the book Q was really interesting. It was originally written anonymously in Italian, now there are translations in several languages, which can be downloaded for free from the publisher's website. An audiobook of the Italian version can also be downloaded for free (Creative Commons license) from LiberLiber. I listened to it last year and thought it was great. You've also got all the materials necessary, for free, to make a nice parallel text from it.
2 persons have voted this message useful



garyb
Triglot
Senior Member
ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5018 days ago

1468 posts - 2413 votes 
Speaks: English*, Italian, French
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 44 of 117
28 January 2015 at 10:16am | IP Logged 
Intersting post kanewai, Il nome della rosa has been on my list for a wee while so it's nice to get a better idea of what it's all about. For the moment I'm sticking to easier and more modern books, but I'll get onto Eco sooner or later. A parallel text would definitely be a benefit for challenging works like that.
2 persons have voted this message useful



TimmyTurner93
Groupie
United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 3478 days ago

45 posts - 58 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Portuguese, Japanese

 
 Message 45 of 117
28 January 2015 at 4:13pm | IP Logged 
I have returned from my adventures in the north and only just remembered I didn't give
an introduction. So....

Hey, I'm Timmy

My romance language is Portuguese. I've studied on and off for about 6/7 months
prior to joining HTLAL and never really made progress as I would work for a while and
then stop and lose it all. Can't really define a proper long term goal as I'm always
editing but I'll probably frequently ask for opinions on whether anything new is
realistic or not.

My Log is located here

Please excuse any grammatical errors that might be in the text. MY sleep schedule is
in transition so my mind can barely focus to go back and check.

Edited by TimmyTurner93 on 28 January 2015 at 4:15pm

2 persons have voted this message useful



dandt
Senior Member
Australia
regarderetlire.wordp
Joined 4435 days ago

134 posts - 174 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Italian, French

 
 Message 46 of 117
29 January 2015 at 2:28am | IP Logged 
Hi guys! I'm Anna and have been lurking for a few years while being slack on my french.

I'm studying Italian at the moment. Italian is my fathers first language and I never had an interest, even
though it has meant not really being able to communicate with family, and instead was drawn to french. I've
recently been told of a job opportunity I may have in 18 months to work in Italy. While I only need English,
having Italian will be an added benefit in getting the job, paired with my Italian citizenship. I'm redoubling my
efforts in an attempt to get as good at Italian as possible by then.

I've never formally studied, but I'm not really starting from nothing. I have been around the language my
whole life, so I can understand a lot. I just need to focus on turning that into communication skills.

TID=39997&PN=1&TPN=1">log

Edited by dandt on 29 January 2015 at 2:33am

1 person has voted this message useful



Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6408 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 47 of 117
29 January 2015 at 4:14am | IP Logged 
Welcome!!!
1 person has voted this message useful



nikolic993
Diglot
Senior Member
Yugoslavia
Joined 3591 days ago

106 posts - 205 votes 
Speaks: Serbian*, English
Studies: Italian, Mandarin, Romanian, Persian

 
 Message 48 of 117
29 January 2015 at 8:18pm | IP Logged 
The Cosby Show dubbed in Italian on YouTube.


2 persons have voted this message useful



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