galaxyrocker wrote:I actually bought this too, when it first came out. I absolutely love Routeledge's Essential Grammar series, and N. Sámi is on my list to learn, eventually. That said, I do think the book mentioned radio stations in the language, which are a great help for audio, and that there are several books with more being written. Plus, I'm personally against translations in minority/smaller languages. A language needs to have its own tradition if it's to survive; it can't just have everything translated from the majority language tradition. This is a huge issue with Irish right now, imo, especially with the hype that translations receive as opposed to new, native, materials. So, really, I'd love to see more Sámi-only and Sámi-original books published. But, if you ever decide to give N. Sámi a good look, let me know! I'll definitely try to keep up with you!
I see translations just as part of the learning process, like an extension of Assimil or, when it doesn't exist, a way to fill in some gaps when textbooks are too much oriented towards grammar. My main goal remains reading literature, and once I've reached a comfortable level for reading extensively I stick to original works only, at least for fiction. I don't think all that hype is necessary, either.
As for learning North Sámi, I'm all for it, but that's not happening within a few years, as I plan to reach B2 in both Estonian and Finnish first. Well, that's an extra motivation!
======================
I've spent some time browsing the catalogue of the publishing house Emons, for audiobooks. It doesn't have a vast catalogue yet, but there is enough to keep me busy at my current favorite pastime (although I'm better off listening to Norwegian audiobooks, as I can understand Italian fine and not yet Norwegian). Anyway, most of the books are below 10€, so I find it a reasonable and sustainable resource.
It is a day of finishing resources, which I always find encouraging. First, non-fiction 20 pages. I finished the book I was reading on the Kobo app and I've already started Economia dell'idrogeno by Jeremy Rifkin. I was slow with Italian non-fiction before, but this one came out almost as quick as reading in French or Spanish. Really remarkable progress, and this is probably thanks to listening to crime audiobooks with longer paragraphs. I trained myself to process Italian information more quickly.
Another resource - and this is a relief - is Jostein Gaarder's Maya, a book I've had on my iPad for several years. It was too long and not so much useful as a learning resource. Next I was planning to go for the sequel of Odinsbarn, Råta, but I got to know the author Levi Henriksen, who isn't a crime novelist like most Scandinavians are. It's an opportunity to have an insight into the Norwegian way of life, but with much less blood. I was going to listen to the audiobook-only, as part of my commute, but I decided to make it my main reading. I'll keep the crime novels and those books I can't find on epub for my audiobook listening slot.
When you reach a level in Chinese where you know many characters, you start to know at least 1 of the pair in two-character-words. That makes it immensely easier to figure out new words from context. You read a word in context and you have an idea what it relates to (measure words also help on this).
Searching for RomanianYes, there are audiobooks in Romanian. Contemporary novels are harder to find, but I got one of Murakami's as well as the text. One more incentive for it to move up in my list. Let's hope I reach C1 in Spanish quickly.
There are also plenty of ebooks in Romanian. Even translations of contemporary Italian novels, such as Niccolò Ammaniti. Btw, I learned that some sites can expand URLs from those URL shorteners so that you don't have to go through all the ads,
Link Expander, for example.
Next step is knowing whether Romanians dub or subtitle, and whether there are native series with subtitles. I guess the answer is 'no' to both, so I'll have to do like Greek, read subtitles for series in English and later on start native series.