Languages and Life: Gary's log (Italian, Spanish, German, Japanese, bits of French)

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Ogrim
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Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?t=873
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Re: Languages and Life: Gary's 2016 log (Italian, Spanish)

Postby Ogrim » Thu Oct 27, 2016 2:13 pm

garyb wrote:Anyway, the big news that I promised: I've decided to leave my job. I plan to go travelling, probably to South America as I've mentioned, but before that I want to have a break for a couple of months. During that I'll have lots of time for languages, and given the travel plans my focus will obviously be on Spanish. Other than that, music and relaxation and investigation of alternative work possibilities to the full-time office job that would give me more time and flexibility. I've been dreaming about these things for too long and it's time to try to make them happen.


Best of luck garyb! Giving up the job is a bold step, but I am sure the right thing to do if that is what you really want. I admit there are times when I would like to just hand in my badge and leave the office forever, but in order to do that I would have to win big in Euromillions first. :D
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Re: Languages and Life: Gary's 2016 log (Italian, Spanish)

Postby Spoonary » Thu Oct 27, 2016 8:06 pm

Te deseo mucha suerte, Gary!

Seriously, I wish I had the guts to something like packing in my job to go travelling. :?

Now, I don't want to pry - and please just ignore this question if you don't want to answer it - but how are you going to survive financially? Do you have savings?
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Re: Languages and Life: Gary's 2016 log (Italian, Spanish)

Postby garyb » Fri Oct 28, 2016 9:14 am

Thanks Ogrim and Spoonary!

I've been working full-time almost constantly since I finished University in 2009, and I don't live a particularly expensive lifestyle, so I've saved up a reasonable bit. However, I'd rather avoid spending too much of my savings if I can avoid it, so at the moment I'm looking into possibilities for working while travelling. I'm a Web developer so I could probably pick up some part-time freelance or remote work online, or there's the possibility of doing basic jobs through things like WorkAway. That might also let me stay in places for longer and experience the culture more, rather than just going around sightseeing.

It's been on my mind for years that I don't full-time office work is maybe not the right thing for me, at least not at this point in my life. I've reached a point where I feel like I can't live like this any more, in a vicious circle of stress and lack of time, constant tiredness, feeling unhealthy and unhappy from that, and not being able to relax because of it all. All while daydreaming about everything I'd love to do if only I had the time and energy. Sure, in theory it's possible to work full time and have hobbies and a social life and sleep enough, but it's a delicate balance and despite years of trying I'm not managing. I need a break from it and to at least try to find an alternative. If it doesn't work out or it just turns out to be "the grass is always greener on the other side", I can always come back knowing that I've tried.

I do realise that I'm very fortunate to be in this position where I have the savings and the skills and experience to have a break and to take a risk.
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Re: Languages and Life: Gary's 2016 log (Italian, Spanish)

Postby garyb » Mon Oct 31, 2016 11:24 am

Small things...

Reading: Finished Accabadora. Quite well-written and certainly something different, but not exactly my thing. I enjoyed the part set in Turin the most, since it talked about places I've visited like Parco del Valentino. In Spanish, I decided to check out Isabel Allende, an author who is mentioned frequently on this forum, and started La casa de los espíritus. I've read the first dozen pages and so far it is hard. This is a proper book, not some blog-style trash like Apocalipsis Z. I'm undecided on whether to persevere and satisfy my curiosity or to shelve it and find something more appropriate for my current goals and level. Recommendations are always welcome.

Films and TV: Watched Mine vaganti, which was a recommendation, but I found it too melodramatic and I had the same feeling as with one of the director's other films (Saturno contro) that it couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a serious story or a lighter one. In Spanish I'm continuing with Cuéntame which is interesting if not exactly exciting. I might complement it with something more gripping like a crime series.

Radio: One of these things I do a lot of but don't write much about, because there's not much to say really. But Spain's RTVE Radio 3 has been a great recent discovery! Lots of very good music, particularly jazz but most genres are represented, apart from classical which has its own station. Obviously not a good choice if you just want to hear spoken language, but for me it's a nice mix of some Spanish and some musical discovery. There's a fair bit of music in Spanish as well as English and other languages: I've heard some sections with music all in French and Portuguese, for example. For Italian, I quite like Radio Deejay: it's more low-brow and conversational than the RAI stations, although on the minus side it's more "trendy", i.e. more English pop music.

Otherwise: some Italian speaking at home and on Skype, a bit more FSI, the usual things.
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Re: Languages and Life: Gary's 2016 log (Italian, Spanish)

Postby MamaPata » Mon Oct 31, 2016 12:33 pm

Isabel Allende is hard! I love her work, but even in English, I feel like I need to reread it a couple of times to properly get it. You could try Ciudad des las Bestias? It's a kid's book but quite a mature one. So you could try that and then return to Casa de los Espirutus when you get more of a sense of her work? As always, it's great to hear about all the stuff you're doing!
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Re: Languages and Life: Gary's 2016 log (Italian, Spanish)

Postby reineke » Mon Oct 31, 2016 12:52 pm

Watch out for anacondas and other man-eaters. Have fun.
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Re: Languages and Life: Gary's 2016 log (Italian, Spanish)

Postby Spoonary » Mon Oct 31, 2016 9:48 pm

I remember finding the first pages of La casa de los espíritus to be harder than what came later... Maybe get at least a full chapter in before dropping it... :?
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Re: Languages and Life: Gary's 2016 log (Italian, Spanish)

Postby tastyonions » Tue Nov 01, 2016 12:18 am

Traté sin éxito de leer La casa de los espíritus tres o quatro veces con una pausa de uno o dos meses después de cada tentativa. La quarta o quinta tentativa fue mi triunfo y lo leí hasta el fin. Valió la pena!
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Re: Languages and Life: Gary's 2016 log (Italian, Spanish)

Postby PfifltriggPi » Tue Nov 01, 2016 1:05 am

garyb wrote:
Reading: Finished Accabadora. Quite well-written and certainly something different, but not exactly my thing. I enjoyed the part set in Turin the most, since it talked about places I've visited like Parco del Valentino. In Spanish, I decided to check out Isabel Allende, an author who is mentioned frequently on this forum, and started La casa de los espíritus. I've read the first dozen pages and so far it is hard. This is a proper book, not some blog-style trash like Apocalipsis Z. I'm undecided on whether to persevere and satisfy my curiosity or to shelve it and find something more appropriate for my current goals and level. Recommendations are always welcome.


I do not know if you already have read this, but I am currently reading Requium por un campesino español by Ramon J. Sender and I find it very interesting. It is sad, but good.
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garyb
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Re: Languages and Life: Gary's 2016 log (Italian, Spanish)

Postby garyb » Tue Nov 01, 2016 9:39 am

Thanks for all the comments! It's reassuring to hear that it's genuinely a hard book and it's not just me :). Maybe La ciudad de las bestias would be more appropriate for me, but I'll try to finish the first chapter of La casa de los espíritus at least. My Kindle estimates that it'll take me 45 minutes to finish the chapter, which sounds like a lot but should be enough to get me used to the language and decide whether to continue. Sometimes a book is just hard at first because you have to get used to the author's style and language, and then it becomes easier; other times it's just a difficult slog from start to finish, like Il gattopardo. I'll also say that fantasy and magical realism aren't usually my kind of thing, which might also be discouraging me, but if I get into the story I can enjoy it.

I've added Requium por un campesino español to my list. It looks short and culturally relevant.
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