Montmorency's Log (CY, DE, NO) + (Celtic {Team) Nordic} + SC 2016-7

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Montmorency
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Posts: 1035
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:01 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Languages: English (Native)
Maintaining: German (active skills lapsed somewhat).
Studying: Welsh (advanced beginner/intermediate);
Dabbling/Beginner: Czech

Back-burner: Spanish (intermediate) Norwegian (bit more than beginner) Danish (beginner).

Have studied: Latin, French, Italian, Dutch; OT Hebrew (briefly) NT Greek (briefly).
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1429
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Dydd Llun 11 Ionawr 2016 - Now joined the Celtic TAC 2016 ... oo-er...

Postby Montmorency » Mon Jan 11, 2016 5:30 pm

Dydd Llun 11 Ionawr 2016

I have now officially joined (I hope!) the Celtic TAC team for 2016. This posting is just to reflect that fact, and to indicate that from now on, this will be my TAC 2016 log, as well as my normal log for any non-Celtic languages I'm active with. I didn't see the point of attempting to duplicate logs, and I'd probably only get confused if I tried. But I may have to change the way I record things to reflect the TAC. However, since this is my first TAC and I don't really know what I'm doing, I'll just have to play it by ear... :? ;)
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Montmorency
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Posts: 1035
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:01 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Languages: English (Native)
Maintaining: German (active skills lapsed somewhat).
Studying: Welsh (advanced beginner/intermediate);
Dabbling/Beginner: Czech

Back-burner: Spanish (intermediate) Norwegian (bit more than beginner) Danish (beginner).

Have studied: Latin, French, Italian, Dutch; OT Hebrew (briefly) NT Greek (briefly).
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1429
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Dydd Iau 12 Ionawr - Dienstag 12. Januar 2015

Postby Montmorency » Wed Jan 13, 2016 3:51 pm

Not managed to get much Welsh in, and unfortunately, German has been a real sin of omission lately, but an upcoming Konversationsgruppe will probably frighten me into doing at least some preparation... :lol:

As mentioned elsewhere, I now have an Android smartphone, and one of the first things I did with it was to download "Ap Geiriaduron" from the University of Bangor, and the dict.cc app. I've been using dict.cc on a web browser on a PC or laptop for years, but it's great now to have a mobile version, mainly for German, but it does have small Danish and Nowegian dictionaries (and many other languages not of immediate interest). Both of these apps work offline.

For German, I used to use, and absolutely loved, a Sharp electronic dictionary ("Sprachcomputer"), which has a large screen and a huge and robust-looking keyboard, but was still fairly portable. I have the Langenscheidt version, but there was also a Duden version. One nice thing about it is that it runs on a single AAA battery which lasts for absolutely ages, even when you use it a lot. However, eventually, the keyboard became more and more unreliable, and then the screen started developing vertical "lines" of white space where the text should be. I was faced with the choice of replacing it with another (they are still available), or investing in new technology which could offer a lot more (although would probably be less robust) and certainly wouldn't have great battery life. I wasn't sure what to do, so did nothing for a long time. However, finally, other, non-language-related reasons for getting a new phone became apparent, which, plus the prospect of dictionary and other useful apps, made the case for a smartphone fairly unassailable, and "dyma ni" - here we are.

Cymraeg
Someone on the SSiW forum said that SSiW got a mention on today's edition of "Taro'r Post", so I gave it a listen:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06v324x (60m)
12/01/2016
Taro'r Post
Y straeon difyr yn fyw o'ch cymuned chi. Ffoniwch, e-bostiwch, neu sgrifennwch. A chance to react to the day's topics with Garry Owen.
Image


The whole programme was about learning Welsh, and there were a lot of interviews via Skype and phone with language learners (not necessarily using SSiW - in fact most seemed to be classroom learners as far as I could tell, but still very interesting). I'd like to have a re-listen to make sure I was understanding everything. The presenter, Gary Owen normally speaks very fast, but I think he was slowing it down for the benefit of the learners at the other end.
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Montmorency
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Posts: 1035
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:01 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Languages: English (Native)
Maintaining: German (active skills lapsed somewhat).
Studying: Welsh (advanced beginner/intermediate);
Dabbling/Beginner: Czech

Back-burner: Spanish (intermediate) Norwegian (bit more than beginner) Danish (beginner).

Have studied: Latin, French, Italian, Dutch; OT Hebrew (briefly) NT Greek (briefly).
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1429
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Dydd Gwener 15 Ionawr - Freitag 15. Januar 2015

Postby Montmorency » Fri Jan 15, 2016 9:36 pm

Deutsch

My Konversationsgruppe restarted for the new term / year today, finally kicking me into some kind of action in German. (A bit over 90m).

I didn't prepare very well for it, just doing a little reading (Kästner).

The teacher who leads the group also teaches a more formal small class and asked me if I wanted to join it. Given that I've become a bit lazy on the German front I am considering it. I could probably benefit from a slightly more disciplined approach at the moment. I've avoided classroom classes in recent years, because the acoustics in the classrooms are usually awful, which is not good for someone with hearing issues. However, these classes, as well as being small, are in M's house, where the KG is, and there is usually no acoustic problem there. One thing I am not looking forward to is that it involves a course book. In my experience of evening classes that follow books, the books are always awful (IMHO), and usually the class abandons the book before the year is out, to the relief of all concerned, including the teacher. But maybe this one will be better....one can but hope.

Cymraeg

Catching up with the S4C TV ("soap") series: "Rownd a Rownd": (19-20m per episode)

http://www.s4c.cymru/clic/c_level2.shtm ... =529478464 (5 Ionawr 2016)

http://www.s4c.cymru/clic/c_level2.shtm ... =529478484 (7 Ionawr 2016)

The storyline took on an unexpectedly dark aspect at the end of 2015. This storyline is still being worked out, and this episode was very sad.
(BTW, RaR can now be watched outside the UK via the S4C International page:

http://www.s4c.cymru/en/international

Mwynhewch!

Anyway, RaR used to have a generally upbeat and often humorous mood, even though serious issues came up now and again. I hope it cheers again up soon!

http://www.s4c.cymru/clic/c_level2.shtm ... =529478504 (12 Ionawr 2016)

Oh dear. It gets darker.

http://www.s4c.cymru/clic/c_level2.shtm ... =529478524 (14 Ionawr 2016)
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Montmorency
Brown Belt
Posts: 1035
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:01 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Languages: English (Native)
Maintaining: German (active skills lapsed somewhat).
Studying: Welsh (advanced beginner/intermediate);
Dabbling/Beginner: Czech

Back-burner: Spanish (intermediate) Norwegian (bit more than beginner) Danish (beginner).

Have studied: Latin, French, Italian, Dutch; OT Hebrew (briefly) NT Greek (briefly).
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1429
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Dydd Llun 18 Ionawr - Montag 18. Januar 2015

Postby Montmorency » Tue Jan 19, 2016 3:15 am

Well, I was a linguistic backslider over the weekend. I had to miss my Saturday Welsh Skype session as we had visitors, and the only thing I did was dipping in and out of Kästner, but not very seriously. However, somewhat back on track today:

Deutsch

I took the plunge and decided to go along to the class mentioned in the previous post. There were two other learners as well as me, and normally there will be a fourth, who was off skiing this week. He also goes to the Konversationsgruppe and recommended this class, and it turned out I knew one of the others from a previous evening class. And as I already know the teacher very well (she leads the Konversationsgruppe), it should all hopefully be quite cosy, and tonight seemed to go quite well.

The course book looks quite good in fact, and I've now ordered it. There is a corresponding grammar book which I'm thinking of ordering. I've never used a TL grammar book before, but I seem to remember reading the idea of doing so being recommended by people who seemed to know what they were talking about. :) This particular grammar book gets very good reviews on Amazon.de which is promising.

If I am honest, I think the teacher spoke too much, which really means that we learners didn't speak enough :), but at least we got plenty of listening comprehension practice. M only used the bare minimum of English to occasionally explain something which none of us understood, and while it's possible she sometimes simplified her German for our benefit, she seemed to be talking at full speed, which for her is not at all slow. :-) So we had to be on the ball, which is good. I think the lesson was supposed to be 2 hours, but she generously overran by at least 15 minutes I think, so it might be equivalent to as much as 120m of listening, but for the purposes of counting native-spoken words listened to I'll round it down to a more conservative 100m. (I would hope we are all speaking a bit more in future, and I know the 4th member (missing tonight) is a very good speaker, so the amount we are listening to the teacher will go down, at least to some extent.

Cymraeg

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06wk70d (45m)
Teyrngarwch gwleidyddol a phoblogeiddio mathemateg
Dan yr Wyneb gyda Dylan Iorwerth

Yn sgîl ad-drefnu cabinet Jeremy Corbyn, dyma drafod teyrngarwch i arweinydd plaid. Sylw hefyd i agweddau at fathemateg. Discussions on political loyalty and popularising maths.


Definitely my favourite discussion programme. I can't say I understood every word by any means, but I was getting the "gist" of a lot of it.
By the way, with " a phoblogeiddio" above, that's an example of aspirate mutation creeping in, because of the "a" ("and").

In its unmutated (radical) form, the word would be "poblogeiddio" ("to popularise"). "ph" in Welsh sounds the same as "ph" in English.
I have read that aspirate mutations are often left out in normal speech, but I think the ones like that after "a" are usually respected.
Another one I have come across a few times is "..a chymryd". ("cymryd" = "to take"). "c" is pronounced like English "k", and "ch" is a hard, gutteral sound. Harder (I think) than in Scottish "loch", and even than in German "Bach", although it might depend on the individual speaker. Anyway, it's very obvious when a "c" gets an aspirate mutation like that, when you hear it.
Last edited by Montmorency on Tue Jan 19, 2016 10:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Montmorency
Brown Belt
Posts: 1035
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:01 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Languages: English (Native)
Maintaining: German (active skills lapsed somewhat).
Studying: Welsh (advanced beginner/intermediate);
Dabbling/Beginner: Czech

Back-burner: Spanish (intermediate) Norwegian (bit more than beginner) Danish (beginner).

Have studied: Latin, French, Italian, Dutch; OT Hebrew (briefly) NT Greek (briefly).
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1429
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Dydd Mawrth 19 Ionawr - Dienstag 19. Januar 2016

Postby Montmorency » Tue Jan 19, 2016 10:35 pm

Deutsch

http://www1.wdr.de/radio/podcasts/wdr5/ ... io100.html
http://podcast-ww.wdr.de/medstdp/fsk0/8 ... 5_wdr5.mp3 (53m)
wdr5dasphilosophischeradio_2015-12-11_vernuenftigdergottesglaubewdr5dasphilosophischeradio11122015_wdr5.mp3

WDR 5 Das philosophische Radio
Vernünftig? - Der Gottesglaube | WDR 5 Das philosophische Radio (11.12.2015)
Gundi Große
Studiogast: Holm Tetens, Philosoph; Moderation: Jürgen Wiebicke


Cymraeg

http://www.s4c.cymru/clic/c_level2.shtm ... =529478544 (~20m)
Rownd a Rownd 19 Ionawr 2016

And the storyline is still fairly dark. I hope it cheers up soon. One of the things I used to like about it was it was a bit more optimistic than most soaps - a bit less "Sturm un Drang"!.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06wk4t1 (45m)
17/01/2016
Y Talwrn, 2016

Dau dîm o feirdd yn cystadlu i gyrraedd y rownd derfynol yn Eisteddfod Genedlaethol 2016. Two teams of bards compete to win a place in the 2016 National Eisteddfod final.


This is a long-running series, and something of an institution I believe, and is way above my "pay-grade", but I still enjoy it.

I have no knowledge of literary Welsh, and have no way of judging the literary quality of the performances, but they seem to have fun doing it, and always get a good response from the audience.
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Teango
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Re: Montmorency's rather intermittent Log (CY, DE, [ES], [DK] + Celtic Team TAC 2016)

Postby Teango » Wed Jan 20, 2016 2:16 am

I'm enjoying these performances in the 2016 National Eisteddfod final whilst taking a break for lunch - diolch am y ddolen, M! I have no real idea what they're saying of course (save a familiar word here or there and from time to time), but it sounds very well delivered and received. :)
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Montmorency
Brown Belt
Posts: 1035
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:01 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Languages: English (Native)
Maintaining: German (active skills lapsed somewhat).
Studying: Welsh (advanced beginner/intermediate);
Dabbling/Beginner: Czech

Back-burner: Spanish (intermediate) Norwegian (bit more than beginner) Danish (beginner).

Have studied: Latin, French, Italian, Dutch; OT Hebrew (briefly) NT Greek (briefly).
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1429
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Re: Montmorency's rather intermittent Log (CY, DE, [ES], [DK] + Celtic Team TAC 2016)

Postby Montmorency » Thu Jan 21, 2016 10:26 pm

Teango wrote:I'm enjoying these performances in the 2016 National Eisteddfod final whilst taking a break for lunch - diolch am y ddolen, M! I have no real idea what they're saying of course (save a familiar word here or there and from time to time), but it sounds very well delivered and received. :)


Just to clarify, this is not the final, which doesn't happen until much later in the year, but a running competition for places in the final. :-)
So there should be a round each week for quite few weeks, or possibly months. I'm not too clued up on the timetable. There will probably be some breaks in the series.
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Montmorency
Brown Belt
Posts: 1035
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:01 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Languages: English (Native)
Maintaining: German (active skills lapsed somewhat).
Studying: Welsh (advanced beginner/intermediate);
Dabbling/Beginner: Czech

Back-burner: Spanish (intermediate) Norwegian (bit more than beginner) Danish (beginner).

Have studied: Latin, French, Italian, Dutch; OT Hebrew (briefly) NT Greek (briefly).
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1429
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Dydd Mercher 20 Ionawr - Mittwoch 20. Januar 2015

Postby Montmorency » Thu Jan 21, 2016 10:37 pm

Cymraeg

Sesiwn_Fach_-_17_01_2016_b06wk4ss_default.mp3 (93m)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06wk4ss
Sesiwn Fach
BBC Radio 17/01/2016
Music,Folk BBC Radio Cymru BBC iPlayer
Image
Recorded date: 2016-17-01 15:00
Idris Morris Jones yn cyflwyno'r gorau o'r sîn gerddoriaeth werin gyfoes yng Nghymru. Idris Morris Jones presents the best from the folk music SERIES: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00dlb7k


Deutsch

Continuing to read Als Ich Ein Kleiner Junge War von Erich Kästner.
Last edited by Montmorency on Thu Jan 21, 2016 10:47 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Montmorency
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Posts: 1035
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:01 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Languages: English (Native)
Maintaining: German (active skills lapsed somewhat).
Studying: Welsh (advanced beginner/intermediate);
Dabbling/Beginner: Czech

Back-burner: Spanish (intermediate) Norwegian (bit more than beginner) Danish (beginner).

Have studied: Latin, French, Italian, Dutch; OT Hebrew (briefly) NT Greek (briefly).
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1429
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Dydd Iau 21 Ionawr - Donnerstag 21. Januar 2015

Postby Montmorency » Thu Jan 21, 2016 10:42 pm

Cymraeg

http://www.s4c.cymru/clic/c_level2.shtm ... =529478564 Rownd a Rownd 21 Ionawr 2015

The last of the teenagers about whom the stories often used to centre now seems to have left the programme, which I think confirms that the series has taken a new direction, which seems to coincide with the storylines getting darker. Mae'n bechod yn fy marn i. It's a pity, in my opinion.

Deutsch

Continuing to read Als Ich Ein Kleiner Junge War von Erich Kästner.
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Montmorency
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Posts: 1035
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:01 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Languages: English (Native)
Maintaining: German (active skills lapsed somewhat).
Studying: Welsh (advanced beginner/intermediate);
Dabbling/Beginner: Czech

Back-burner: Spanish (intermediate) Norwegian (bit more than beginner) Danish (beginner).

Have studied: Latin, French, Italian, Dutch; OT Hebrew (briefly) NT Greek (briefly).
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1429
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Dydd Gwener 22 Ionawr - Freitag 22. Januar 2015

Postby Montmorency » Sat Jan 23, 2016 12:42 am

Deutsch

wdr5dasphilosophischeradio_2015-12-18_mittieferemsinndiestarwarssagawdr5dasphilosophischeradio18122015_wdr5.mp3 (~52m)

http://podcast-ww.wdr.de/medstdp/fsk0/8 ... 5_wdr5.mp3

http://www1.wdr.de/radio/podcasts/wdr5/ ... io100.html

WDR 5 Das philosophische Radio
Mit tieferem Sinn?- die Star-Wars-Saga | WDR 5 Das philosophische Radio (18.12.2015)
Gundi Große

Studiogast: Gundolf Freyermuth, Medienwissenschaftler; Moderation: Jürgen Wiebicke


(Personally I have almost no interest in "Star Wars", although I like some of the parodies you can find on Youtube. :) An interesting discussion nevertheless).

Reading: continuing the same Kästner book, but also reading a lot about and around him, mostly auf Deutsch, on the web.

Edit: For some time now, I've been using the handy free utility "To Bach" (Windows only) from Interceptor Solutions to give me my circumflex-accented vowels, e.g. ŷ - to mark a long vowel. The latest version of To Bach also supports umlauts, acute, and grave accents. Unfortunately, it does not by default support the ß character. However, tonight, I had a look at the documentation and realised that there was a configuration file you could edit to add additional characters. With a bit of digging around, I worked out what it should be, and hey-presto, I can ßßßß-away to my heart's content. :) (I know it's possible to get it with ALT+numeric 0223 or ALT+numeric 225 but I can never remember those when I really need them!). Diolch yn fawr iawn und Danke schön Interceptor Solutions!

(I know one can also change keyboards, but that idea has never appealed to me).

BTW, "To Bach" means "little house" in Welsh! - geddit? :-) ^^^^
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