@Bakunin - nice to see you over on my aimless log
I think I will definitely be taking you up on that offer once I work out a strategy
I read a few of the things linked to on your blog, and I'm slowly making my way through the rest. I'll talk about my thoughts a little further down.
@1e4e6 - hmm, I used it for watching specific programs, I never really browsed. So maybe I was just lucky enough that my tastes coincided with the things they thought I ought to watch. I'm not techy enough to think about a VPN, and I don't watch things enough to really need one. I do have a site with some Swedish TV bookmarked, but I think it is mostly dedicated to Anglophone things with Swedish subtitles. Sorry!
@daegga & Cavesa - perhaps I should rename my log 'the pirates' ship'? I am actually incredibly tempted by this idea!
@astromule - ah, thank you! I will try and keep a look out for it in my current book, too. Your examples only show it with 'se ut', I wonder if this is indicative of the way it is used more widely, or if it is because of the content of the book. By the by, I like the idea of having a particular word and then looking out for it in native media. It's always fun when a word I have learnt pops up in something I am listening to or reading. Maybe I should have a weekly word for all of my languages, although it would be difficult to arrange as I can't be sure when or where that word will come up, or if it will show itself at all!
---
So, Bakunin asked me what my ideas were for the listening experiment, and I have to say that I'm still not sure. However, thanks to the question, I've put a lot more thought into it.
I have already asked a friend if she'll record some content for me in German, although I am not yet decided what. As reader of my .com log might know, my German is still quite basic, and so I think whatever I have her record will be more in line with the recordings Bakunin uses when starting out: simple, non-abstract nouns, moving on to basic descriptions and so on. Basically, things that are geared towards vocabulary acquisition. I do have the advantage of not being a complete beginner in German: I can puzzle my way through a few chapters of a book, but I am quite happy to have extremely low comprehension while doing so. I am fairly confident about my ability to pick out and produce German sounds, and German is close to English and Swedish, so these things will help me here. For Swedish, I would be looking for recordings that help train my ear. I particularly want to become more used to the Lund/Malmö accents - Skånska more generally can come when I feel braver! I guess for audio training, as opposed to vocabulary opposition, I would need recordings that have quite a lot going on, and an interesting story line that I can listen and relisten to. However, I specifically do
not want recordings of people reading aloud. I would much rather recordings of the kind of anecdote someone might tell in normal conversation - perhaps even series of similar anecdotes. Hopefully, these kinds of recordings will get me more used to prosody in normal speech. While I can pick it out in the things I normally listen to - podcasts and television - I have as yet not been able to get a clear model. This is probably because no one person speaks for an extended length of time.
Both these will listening activities will be used aside whatever way it is I feel like messing about with the languages. I feel it will be more supplementary in Swedish than in German. I really hope that it will be the way I get through the German haze that seems to stop me from progressing.
I would like to try a more pure listening only approach with a completely new language. Right now I am thinking maybe Romanian, or Portuguese. However, as I have mentioned either here or over on Bakunin's log, I don't have the kind of funds for that right now. It is also an experiment that would require a lot of time, so I will have to know that the languages on my 'studies' list (Swedish and German) and also Dutch are at a level where I feel okay about letting them play in the sandpit while my back is turned. This depends not only on my feelings as a fairly negligent language mother, but also on my future study plans. So, for example, I personally feel that Swedish is fairly close, and that once my speaking is more reasonable I would be quite happy to let it do whatever, whenever. As I said in my .com log, Swedish takes care of itself. BUT if I feel that I wanted to, say, study in Sweden, it would need a LOT more TLC before I can think about adding another baby to my brood.
So, now that I've worked
that metaphor to death...
I am thinking about a way to make this listening only approach viable with limited (read: no) funds. In hindsight, Swedish and German would have been the best two languages to start with, as I have native speakers of both willing to help my out. But that ship has sailed. Oh, well. The future is still a fairly far away place, so I have time to work out the details.
---
In other news:
I have finished the Kindle Sample of
Nagasaki by Éric Faye, and there is absolutely no way I'm not going to buy the book. But, has anyone noticed how expensive French books are? I figure that, at that price I'd rather buy the real thing. So I'll see if it is available in Foyles, or if I would be able to order it to buy from there.
I have also started new books in both Swedish and German, despite not having ever finished a single book in these languages before, despite having books from these languages on my 'currently reading' list for a very long time...
The Swedish book,
Kaninhjärta by Christin Ljungkvist, appears to be some kind of supernatural/horror/thriller/crime mix up, and has gotten fairly good reviews. I've only read about a page, but it is very interesting so far. I bought the ebook for the bargain price of 37SEK, so even if I don't love it I think I won't feel too bad. The sentences are very long, but easy to understand, and I've not really had a problem with the vocabulary. There is a lot of time for that to change, though.
The German book is
Splitterherz, by Bettina Belitz. I have the Kindle sample of it, and so far it seems like it will go the way of
Les Cendres de l'oubli. I will be more than happy to be proven wrong, however.
I have also managed to cross another item off the hitlist: I finally finished another podcast, and listened to just over half of a new one. So, if we count the two unfinished podcasts, that makes three. I consider this cheating, sort of, but I didn't outline rules and so I'm going to cheat anyway. I also realise that half an hour of Kaamelott wasn't included in this weeks goals, but I don't mind. Ragardless of the goals, I have managed to spend a substantial amount of time with my three main languages. I don't mind not doing anything with my wanderlust languages - I have been too busy having fun with my 'studies' list. However, I do feel a bit bad for Dutch, so I will try to do a bit more tomorrow.