Ни пуха ни пера( Russian, Spanish, French, Greek)

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Ни пуха ни пера( Russian, Spanish, French, Greek)

Postby asterion » Mon Oct 17, 2016 6:03 pm

Привет всем!

For the title of my log...it is a Russian equivalent of " break a leg", superstitious notion derived from the belief that wishing good will bring the opposite. So when Russians, back in time, went hunting they were told, literally, to catch " neither fur( animals) nor feathers( birds)". I first wanted to name my log " Tomorrow never comes..." as that would most accurately describe my penchant for procrastination, but since I did not want it to turn into self-fulfilling prophecy, I just decided to wish my self some luck, and ward off evil spirits of procrastination which have been standing in the way of me starting to learn Russian seriously :D

I have decided to start this log, because I want to add some structure to my language learning, and prompt myself to actually * learn* something instead of language hopping which I have been doing so far.
I have always had something close to eidetic memory, so my fellow students made jokes about me ripping off textbook pages after having read them once, because I did not need them anymore. That sufficed to get me the best grades, but came with an undesired consequence of things not sticking around my head for too long after exams. So I changed my modus operandi... started reading 3-4 textbooks simultaneosly, and it worked liked a charm. Someone might think of it as an ordeal, but in fact, it was far more relaxing than using just one resource. When you read about the same thing from different angles, it becomes better imprinted on your mind, and you do not fall into trap of actually memorizing where a certain thing is in a textbook. Also, its a known fact that it is better to read one thing 5-6 times, even for 5 minutes every time, than once for an hour. So I decided to import that method into my language learning too.
Another thing important for my language learning are- books. I' m an avid reader so it is a way of combining the useful and the pleasant. I will use it as a main method for vocabulary building- both extensive and intensive reading. I usually do not try hard to memorize a certain word, because I know for sure that after having come across it few times, it will eventually sink in, without much effort.

Now, a bit of language background:

РУССКИЙ
I have a strong desire to learn Russian( sometimes I think that given my equally strong procrastination I actually want it to be poured into my head with a laddle), as you can guess, in the first place because of classical literature, Russian classical literature being my favorite. Even if I could not speak with any Russian alive today, I would be satisfied with gaining access into the world of Dostoyevsky, Bulgakov, Chekhov, Tolstoy, Bunin, Gogol...wihout translator as intermediary. Also, I am fond of Russian classical music( Rachmaninof and Tchaikovsky being my favorite composers), Russian cinematography( Nikita Mikhalkov and Andrey Tarkovsky) and have been reading books on Russian history, religion and culture for quite some time. And last but not least- I am a big fan of Salad Olivier.. :D

My ambition is to master the " skeleton of the language" ( meaning that I can walk the grammar ground without getting into any bumps * unfamiliar concepts* ) in 3-4 months, and than start adding some meat by reading books and watching movies.

In accordance with my above mentioned modus operandi, my language learning materials are as follows:

Assimil Russian with Ease ( Melnikova- Suchet)

New Penguin Russian course

Comprehensive Russian grammar( Terrence Wade)

Books:

Мастер и Маргарита( Булгаков=)

Обитель( Захар Прилепин)

Смерть Ива́на Ильича́( Толстой)

Оди́н день Ива́на Дени́совича(Солжени́цын)


FRANÇAIS

I had French in school for almost eight years, but as it is often the case I was mostly left to my own devices, apart from mastering the basics of the language through school education. I managed to bring myself to what I estimate as B1 level French and I am now aiming to jump to B2 plateau. My skills lie in reading and writing...but I need to work a lot on my speaking and comprehension.

Language learning materials:

Grammaire progressive du français-perfectionnement

Grammaire progressive du français-niveau avancé

Course de langue et de civilisation françaises IV( Mauger)


Books:

Le Sermon sur la chute de Rome( Ferrari)

Mémoires d'Hadrien( Yourcenar)

Les Identités meurtrières( Maalouf)

ESPAÑOL

Spanish is out of all my languages, the most effortlessly learned...I do not have many weak points, if we discount lack of practice. My cousin has a Spanish husband, so when they come for a visit, I try my hand at talking with him, and usually fail miserably. I choke up, my otherwise very good Spanish pronounciation becomes barely intelligible, I struggle to remember the most basic words...and end up waving my hands around angrily( when I walk away from him) and murmuring to myself what I wanted to say to him, words now coming out fluently and with excellent pronounciation... and myself attracting curious glances of passers-by. So I have to find speaking partners...

Books:

Hacerse el muerto( Andres Neuman)

Cronica de una muerte anunciada( Marquez)

Ficciones( Jorge Luis Borges)

Some time later I would like to add Greek and Italian into the mix...For now, I have written enough. What remains is " Учиться, учиться, учиться" as comrade Lenin would say... :D
Last edited by asterion on Tue Oct 18, 2016 9:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Ни пуха ни пера

Postby asterion » Tue Oct 18, 2016 9:35 am

So I have finally taken a decent plunge into Russian language, and Day One at least has gone according to plan:

NEW PENGUIN RUSSIAN COURSE

I have decided to skip section on pronunciation, as I have read that it is misleading( for that I will use Assimil and I already have some prior knowledge from my unstructured dabbling), so I started with " урок номер три" ( lesson number three) which deals with everyday phrases and basic grammar.

Grammar wise, I have learned that:

1) Masculine nouns end with a consonat or й

чаи
борщ

2) Feminine nouns normally end - а or

сметана
Москва

3) Neutral nouns end - o or - e

окно
упражнение

4) Most nouns ending with soft sign - ь are feminine, but there are some masculine exceptions such as:

рубль
день

5) Nouns ending - a or which denote males are masculine:

папа
дядя

6) If a noun ends - и or- у or - ю it is most likely foreign borrowing and neuter:

такси
меню

Then there are question words- где(where?) and- что( what?) and personal pronouns:

Он, она, оно, ето ( he, she, it, that)

All in all, there was nothing much too unfamiliar in this lesson, and it went easily. From this first glance, I also memorized many words, but I do not bother with that, they will stick with time anyway.

ASSIMIL RUSSIAN WITH EASE

Lesson One(Как дела?):

Not much to say here...I read sentences in Russian, understood all of them right away, then listened to the recording, repeated after that, listened to English translation and translated into Russian, first in writing then aloud. Nothing unfamiliar or worth mentioning in this lesson.

RUSSIAN IN 100 LESSONS

I am normally suspicious towards this kind of " instant learning" books, but I decided to give this one a chance, because it has been much praised locally.

Аpart from familiar things learned in those other textbooks, I have learned something new:

When you want to ask if someone is at home, you use the expression: " Он дома?" and when you want to designate direction you say: " Когда он приходит домой?" ( When is he coming home?)

I was asked to translate the following sentences in the end of the lesson:

Good afternoon, Dasha! Tell me, please, is your sister at home? When is your mother coming home? My father comes home at night. She is at home at night. Thank you, goodbye.

Добрый день( Привет, Здравствуй) Даша! Скажи, пожалуйста, твоя сестра дома? Когда приходит домой твоя мать? Мой папа( отец) приходит домой вечером. Она вечером дома. Спасибо, до свидания.
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Re: Ни пуха ни пера( Russian, Spanish, French, Greek)

Postby asterion » Wed Oct 19, 2016 10:32 am

Day Two of my Russian language journey( other passangers will get on board later on):

NEW PENGUIN RUSSIAN COURSE

Урок номер четыре deals with the present tense conjugations( Russian only has one present tense) and the prepositional case. Both are pretty simple. In the present tense there are - АТЬ type words which are conjugated by taking off - ТЬ and adding personal endings. Inside this type there is also an irregular variant which includes verbs such as ЕХАТЬ( to ride) ЖИТЬ( to live), and ЗВАТЬ. They have stems - ЕД , -ЖИВ., and - ЗОВ. The second conjugation includes verbs that have -И before the infinitive ending- ТЬ where the stem is formed by taking off -ИТЬ.

Prepositional case almost always( they will add more details in the next lesson) takes the ending- e. Masculine nouns add- e, and feminine nouns change their last - a or- я to- e. Examples: Я живу в Париже, Я живу в Москве.

There is also a brief section on the stress in Russian, the most frustrating part of the language to me, because it affects the pronunciation(vowel reduction rules depend on where the stress is) and with the exception of few not that useful " crutches" so I will just have to get my ear accustomed to it with time.

ASSIMIL RUSSIAN

Slow-paced recordings really annoy me, they sound unnatural, and I am afraid I might emulate them in the future, and sound like a speech software in conversations. Hopefully they speed it up later on.

Second lesson( Kто ето? ) brought nothing new to me...all familiar concepts and words

RUSSIAN IN 100 LESSONS

Trouble in paradise...unlike " New Penguin Russian" , " Russian in 100 lessons" has made things a bit more complicated with present tense...Apparently there are stem consonant changes, so stem final consonant- г, -д, -з...becomes- ж, - с, -х becomes- ш, -к, -т becomes -ч and so on.

In the end of the lesson I was asked to translate the following sentences:

You are hurrying home. I am going to you( your place). How are you? Thanks, fine. She works a lot. He is already going to work. How is your health? Send my regards to your wife. I work a lot and get tired.

Ты спешишь домои. Я иду к вам. Как дела? Спасибо, хорошо. Она много работает. Он уже ходит на службу. Как твое здоровье? Привет супруге. Я много работаю и устаю.
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Re: Ни пуха ни пера( Russian, Spanish, French, Greek)

Postby asterion » Thu Oct 20, 2016 6:17 am

http://neorrabioso.blogspot.rs/

Suelo leer este blog de los aforismos, poemas, anecdotas y " Troyas literarias"...Una de las anecdotas que me hizo reir a carcajadas es sobre el escritor argentino, Ernesto Sabato, quien, aparte de su talento literario, tambien se destacó por su soberbia, y rivalidad con otros dos grandes de la literatura argentina, Jorge Luis Borges y Julio Cortazar...Durante una conferencia literaria en Paris, los participantes( escritores) hacian listas con los nombres de los mejores escritores del boom latinoamericano. Se levanta Carlos Fuentes( escritor mexicano) y lee su lista: Para mi los mejores escritores argentinos son: Borges, Cortazar y Sabato..En este mismo momento, Sabato saltó de su asiento, y se marchaba gritando: " ¡Gracias por ponerme en ultimo lugar! " . Fuentes respondió tambien gritando:" ¡Es que era por orden alfabético!" :lol:

P.S. Correcciones son bienvenidas...
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Re: Ни пуха ни пера( Russian, Spanish, French, Greek)

Postby asterion » Fri Oct 21, 2016 10:33 am

Yesterday was not spent studying, but I watched a Russian movie instead:

Image

I tried not to obsess over unknown words( around 90% of them) comforting myself with the thought that they remained ingrained in one of brain engrams, and will be activated later on... :D

" Дурак" ( " The Fool") is another one in what seems like an endless line of Russian movies dealing with corruption( probably the most recognized internationally is " Leviathan"). Why are Russian directors of today so obsessed with corruption, making it seem almost endemic to Russian society( maybe it is because it panders to some pre-conceptions about Russia and sells well abroad?), why can not they make more spiritual and cathartic movies like Mikhalkov, Konchalovsky, Tarkovsky...it escapes me.

The basic storyline is this: Dima, the young plumber( and also the student of architecture) responds to a call to repair a burst bathpipe in one of the communal housing blocks, only to determine that the problem is much larger- the wall has fissured and the whole building is about to collapse. Most of the residents there are from the very bottom of society : " scorned of the Earth" or " scum of the Earth" as you like, drunkards, wife-beaters, drug addicts...but he takes in interest in their faith, can not shake it off and " mind his own business", and even goes to report the problem to the ( female) mayor who is throwing a lavish birthday party. But it seems like the problem can not be easily solved...because everyone in city administration is entangled in the web of lies and corruption, in other words- a crook.

The title is an obvious reference to " Idiot" ( Dostoyevsky)...Much like Mishkin, Dima is a morally upright, sensitive and kind-hearted man who is victimized by the rest of ruthless society. Disconcerting fact is that the main antagonists are not really " bad persons", they just happened to be in power and played their role in the system that has been in place for decades. It even seems that even if they tried to act morally, they would at some point be sucked in...as if in a whirlpool.

I also came across a wonderful song in the movie...it is by Viktor Tsoi, late Russian singer of Korean ancestry, and learned the lyrics:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOflNwahs6U&list=RDtOflNwahs6U#t=97
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Re: Ни пуха ни пера( Russian, Spanish, French, Greek)

Postby MamaPata » Fri Oct 21, 2016 4:36 pm

That looks really interesting! What other Russian films have you watched? I feel like there are a lot that might suit you better! What do you think makes a movie cathartic?

Learning the lyrics sounds like a great way to study!
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Re: Ни пуха ни пера( Russian, Spanish, French, Greek)

Postby asterion » Fri Oct 21, 2016 6:09 pm

MamaPata wrote:That looks really interesting! What other Russian films have you watched? I feel like there are a lot that might suit you better! What do you think makes a movie cathartic?

Learning the lyrics sounds like a great way to study!


I totally agree...lyrics along with reading( books) or watching movies is enjoyable, if not traditional way of learning a language.. ;)

Well, to me, cathartic movie is the one that shakes me to the core, the one that makes me think, changes my outlook...and does not leave status quo, is not purely " diagnostic" . To give you some examples: " Barber of Siberia" ( Mikhalkov), " Cries and whispers" ( Bergman), " Tokyo story" ( Yasujiro Ozu), " Forrest Gump".

I have watched plenty, but among my favorites are: " Moscow does not believe in tears", " Barber of Siberia" ( warmest recommendations), "Sacrifice", " Stalker" and " Andrei Rublov" ( all by Tarkovsky), " Ballad of a soldier" ( black and white movie by Chukhrai).
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Re: Ни пуха ни пера( Russian, Spanish, French, Greek)

Postby MamaPata » Fri Oct 21, 2016 8:44 pm

Ah cool. I still haven't seen quite a few of Tarkovsky's films and I need to get around to watching Barber of Siberia - it's been heavily recommended!
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Re: Ни пуха ни пера( Russian, Spanish, French, Greek)

Postby vonPeterhof » Fri Oct 21, 2016 8:48 pm

asterion wrote:" Дурак" ( " The Fool") is another one in what seems like an endless line of Russian movies dealing with corruption( probably the most recognized internationally is " Leviathan"). Why are Russian directors of today so obsessed with corruption, making it seem almost endemic to Russian society( maybe it is because it panders to some pre-conceptions about Russia and sells well abroad?), why can not they make more spiritual and cathartic movies like Mikhalkov, Konchalovsky, Tarkovsky...it escapes me.

As someone who hasn't watched a Russian movie since "Leviathan" I'm hardly in a position to judge whether or not there's been a noticeable wave of Russian films about corruption, but it does feel a bit ironic to contrast films that "sell well abroad" to those of Tarkovsky and Konchalovsky, since the former is likely a bit more popular abroad than in Russia, and the latter has been criticized, whether fairly or not, for the fact that his last two movies premiered in Venice before Russia and seemed to have been tailor-made to win prizes at the Venice Film Festival. Though they're both seen (again, whether fairly or not) as art house directors, so the concept of "selling well" might be foreign to them altogether. FWIW the only Mikhalkov movie I've watched in its entirety is "12", and I always feel a bit like I'm confessing to a guilty pleasure whenever I say that I liked the direction and acting in it (mostly because so few other people seem to like it, or to even have seen it).

As for Kino, their songs are still quite popular and appear in films from time to time, but there were two films in the 80s that they were actually personally involved with - Асса (Assa) and Игла (The Needle). Viktor Tsoi starred in the latter, and the former had a cameo by the band playing themselves and its soundtrack included songs by other contemporary, previously underground Russian rock artists.
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Re: Ни пуха ни пера( Russian, Spanish, French, Greek)

Postby asterion » Sat Oct 22, 2016 6:46 am

vonPeterhof wrote:
asterion wrote:" Дурак" ( " The Fool") is another one in what seems like an endless line of Russian movies dealing with corruption( probably the most recognized internationally is " Leviathan"). Why are Russian directors of today so obsessed with corruption, making it seem almost endemic to Russian society( maybe it is because it panders to some pre-conceptions about Russia and sells well abroad?), why can not they make more spiritual and cathartic movies like Mikhalkov, Konchalovsky, Tarkovsky...it escapes me.

As someone who hasn't watched a Russian movie since "Leviathan" I'm hardly in a position to judge whether or not there's been a noticeable wave of Russian films about corruption, but it does feel a bit ironic to contrast films that "sell well abroad" to those of Tarkovsky and Konchalovsky, since the former is likely a bit more popular abroad than in Russia, and the latter has been criticized, whether fairly or not, for the fact that his last two movies premiered in Venice before Russia and seemed to have been tailor-made to win prizes at the Venice Film Festival. Though they're both seen (again, whether fairly or not) as art house directors, so the concept of "selling well" might be foreign to them altogether. FWIW the only Mikhalkov movie I've watched in its entirety is "12", and I always feel a bit like I'm confessing to a guilty pleasure whenever I say that I liked the direction and acting in it (mostly because so few other people seem to like it, or to even have seen it).

As for Kino, their songs are still quite popular and appear in films from time to time, but there were two films in the 80s that they were actually personally involved with - Асса (Assa) and Игла (The Needle). Viktor Tsoi starred in the latter, and the former had a cameo by the band playing themselves and its soundtrack included songs by other contemporary, previously underground Russian rock artists.


No, I was in fact referring to the movies made with the sole intention of " selling well abroad", whose biggest " value" lies in fitting those preconceptions in these turbulent political times. I was not aware that Konchalovsky was shunned in Russia( for that reason I am learning Russian, to partake more in public opinion) after all, he has just been nominated for Academy Awards by Russian committee..His Silver Lion winning movies are real artistic masterpieces( and they did not need to bash the country and its system of values), but, yes...he is more moderate in his political statements than his brother, whose masterpiece " Barber of Siberia" was rejected as a nominee at Oscars, and that opens more doors for him. Whether we like it or not, political convictions matter a lot these days, regardless of the quality. Tarkovsky was directing in different times, he was a Soviet dissident( although I do not think his spiritual movies were made with the sole intention of spiting the authorities), so he was well-received abroad.

Thank you for that information about movies involving Tsoi, I will try to track them down. ;)

Ah cool. I still haven't seen quite a few of Tarkovsky's films and I need to get around to watching Barber of Siberia - it's been heavily recommended!


I am sure you will not be disappointed... ;)
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