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Bookworm’s adventures-TAC15

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Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6385 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 33 of 217
24 February 2015 at 5:19am | IP Logged 
Well, it's true that the brain will want to re-use the old neural connections. You just need to keep them in use and form new ones. Maybe it's a good idea to learn Italian passively at first and activate when you are ready?
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patrickwilken
Senior Member
Germany
radiant-flux.net
Joined 4321 days ago

1546 posts - 3200 votes 
Studies: German

 
 Message 34 of 217
24 February 2015 at 11:11am | IP Logged 
Cavesa wrote:
Very true, patrick. With Italian or Polish, I suppose I could simply have fun in the
language in just a year or two. Japanese and Mandarin are a much more difficult path. And
Arabic as well, even though those Arabic adds on youtube sounded awesome! (Don't look
down on me, :-) it was an add promoting a panarabic charity, if I guessed correctly. And
youtube made me watch it twice or three times already)


I tried learning Arabic at university. It's a beautiful language, but ultimately it was too little gain for too much work for me. For me there has to be a rich living culture that I want to access. For me there just wasn't enough there in Arabic. I think there probably is in Chinese or Japanese. It's really a question of preference. I would say the same about lots of other languages (Hungarian, Finnish, Russian etc), which obviously lots of other people enjoy and value.

I am nearly fifty. So if I learnt Chinese I would be quite old by the time I could really use it. Whereas if I was in my 20s-30s I could imagine really using the language a lot in my life.

Edited by patrickwilken on 24 February 2015 at 11:13am

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mrwarper
Diglot
Winner TAC 2012
Senior Member
Spain
forum_posts.asp?TID=Registered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5014 days ago

1493 posts - 2500 votes 
Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2
Studies: German, Russian, Japanese

 
 Message 35 of 217
24 February 2015 at 12:44pm | IP Logged 
Cavesa wrote:
I write so slowly new posts appear before I post the reply :-D

Same here, as I discovered at gary's log -- I won't be posting for much longer if I'm to keep lagging behind :)

Quote:
But I have already postponed reading the newest Sapkowski until I can do so in Polish :-D

Is that the guy who wrote The Witcher / Last Wish stuff? Maybe it's the translations but it fell flat for me :(

Anyway, I wanted to comment...

Quote:
I am very curious how many points I got. As you need 50 out of 100 total and at least 10 from each part, it is quite tricky. You can get both parts above ten, therefore above the limit of still being acceptable as C2, but not get over the limit of 50. Theoretically, you can be awesome at one part but horrible at the other, but in that case, [...] I cannot wait for the final results, it is taking them so long!

I guess I lack the enthusiasm of my earlier youth (implying I was once enthusiastic, ha!), but a test is a test and it only tells so much, so you would possibly be better off keeping that in mind.

My C2 was split into five sections, which you theoretically had to pass independently. Both my brother and I discovered in utter shock that we flunked the written composition part, for somewhat different yet totally wrong reasons, and we both passed. We did from good to perfect scores in all the other parts so I guess examiners considered it would be better to just swallow the absurdity of their correction criteria and give us a lower score rather than going through a formal challenge, appeal, etc. which would have been but inevitable. In the end they managed to piss us off little enough that we archived the damned piece of paper and never looked back.

My brother's case was somewhat ironical / a waste of time and money because in order to enroll in a university in the US he had to sit another test anyway (which gave him a more realistic score, but that's another story).

Bottom line is, don't pay too much heed to test scores -- it's totally undeserved for the most part.

Edited by mrwarper on 24 February 2015 at 12:45pm

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garyb
Triglot
Senior Member
ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4995 days ago

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

 
 Message 36 of 217
24 February 2015 at 1:36pm | IP Logged 
I've just caught up with the last couple of pages. Good to hear that the exam seems to have gone well, although you'll wait for the definitive result. I couldn't even imagine doing a C-level French exam.

Regarding Spanish and Italian, I don't think interference is the major issue: you get it a lot at the start, and then as the weaker language improves, it happens less. I still sometimes mix up French and Italian structures and words, but for me the good (being able to speak both of them fairly well) outweighs the bad (making a few mistakes in both due to interference). A much bigger problem is just making time for both. Taking Spanish from intermediate to advanced is a huge commitment of time and effort, and learning Italian on top of that while also maintaining French would be a very big ask.

I'm sure you already know that I tried to add in Spanish on top of Italian and French and it was a failure, and even with just these two I'm struggling. That's just me though, and some people here do manage to juggle multiple languages well. If you can do a C2 exam without living in the country then maybe this next project is also within your capabilities :). I can't really give advice because everyone's situation is different, I can only describe my own experiences.

People mention the similarities between Spanish and Italian, but don't underestimate those with French. In a lot of ways, Italian works more like French than Spanish, so your French level would give at least as much of a boost as your Spanish. My experience is that these related-language discounts mostly apply at the beginner stage, so it could be worth taking the low-hanging fruit and spending some time learning the basics - reaching a decent passive level and being able to express yourself inelegantly wouldn't take long - and then afterwards re-evaluating your priorities.

I agree with Peter, it would be an experiment, only one way to find out!
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Cavesa
Triglot
Senior Member
Czech Republic
Joined 4797 days ago

3277 posts - 6779 votes 
Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1
Studies: Spanish, German, Italian

 
 Message 37 of 217
04 March 2015 at 1:31pm | IP Logged 
I'm an idiot, I didn't find the time to back up the log!!!! I am hyperbusy this week,
I nearly don't get to the computer and now two pages are gone. There was a Super
Challenge count, which I have elsewhere at least (it was very impractical to count it
from two logs)

What was lost: Lots of good advice concerning Italian. I am likely to take it on in a
few months.

Notes about the bits of my Spanish and German studies.

:-(

mrwarper told us so...
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mrwarper
Diglot
Winner TAC 2012
Senior Member
Spain
forum_posts.asp?TID=Registered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5014 days ago

1493 posts - 2500 votes 
Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2
Studies: German, Russian, Japanese

 
 Message 38 of 217
04 March 2015 at 1:41pm | IP Logged 
As much as I might like saying 'I told you so', I think I can tell you something better this time: I have everything backed up -- well, up to yesterday at 15:22 in your case :)

Edited by mrwarper on 04 March 2015 at 1:42pm

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Cavesa
Triglot
Senior Member
Czech Republic
Joined 4797 days ago

3277 posts - 6779 votes 
Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1
Studies: Spanish, German, Italian

 
 Message 39 of 217
06 March 2015 at 1:43am | IP Logged 
You are awesome! And I know you told us all so :-)

I'll send you an email adress, if you'd be so kind to send me a copy so that I can put
it here.

Other news:
No German today or yesterday, I am having quite a busy week. Really, I am extremely
looking forward to the next one as the usual load and schedule should look marvelously
relaxed compared to the chaos, lack of time and a huge amount of news, both good and
bad, I've been experiencing this week. German is on the "to do asap" list. (By the
way, have you seen the Pink Panther's To Do list? :-) )

Spanish:
I am continuing with my SC efforts, or rather: I keep having fun as much as time
allows while improving my Spanish slowly.

-I have pinned down my trouble with El palacio de la medianoche. My comprehension is
significantly lower when it comes to rather descriptive parts. I don't like lengthy
descriptions in general and I lack the vocabulary in this case. And I am learning it
slowly as it is just boring me. And, unlike many people, I am not that fond of India.
Not that I have anything against India, just the stories located there and the culture
doesn't appeal to me as much as many others. (For exemple, I've never really
considered learning Hindi, Sanskrit or any other Indian language). But the story is
finally captivating. And the book is not heavy, which is always a plus as I am an avid
public transport reader.

-I am still watching Isabel (I've watched 11 episodes so far) and I love the series
more and more. And,truth be told, I hadn't been taught that much at school about this
part of the Spanish history (I suppose the Spaniards aren't taught much about Charles
IV. either). And I love it! My progress is slow these days, almost impossible to
notice. However, I learnt a few words and understand more details than I used to. But
there are still bits here and there where I am not entirely sure.

I need a new French series to maintain the language as well.

Another wanderlust trigger that could be added to the list created during the Week
That Never Was :-) People around me who know/study many more languages than I do :-D
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1e4e6
Octoglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 4078 days ago

1013 posts - 1588 votes 
Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, Italian
Studies: German, Danish, Russian, Catalan

 
 Message 40 of 217
06 March 2015 at 2:59am | IP Logged 
If you want a good series, I recommend

Top Chef España

It is more intense than any of the Anglophone cooking programmes, and they actually can
be as exciting as Boca Juniors-River Plate, Argentina-Brasil or Real Madrid-FC Barcelona
superclásicos, or an India-Pakistan cricket match, Norway-Sweden hockey match, or
Australia-New Zealand rugby match. I would put it as intense as a drama like
El tiempo entre costuras.

Also, as someone who can barely cook, I learnt quite a lot of cooking terminology.

Edited by 1e4e6 on 06 March 2015 at 3:00am



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