Sillygoose1's Language Extraordinaire

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sillygoose1
Green Belt
Posts: 380
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 6:25 pm
Location: USA
Languages: _
NA: English
C2: French
C1: German, Italian, Spanish
B2: Russian, Portuguese
A2: Japanese
A1: Mandarin
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=751
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Re: Sillygoose1's Language Extraordinaire

Postby sillygoose1 » Mon Feb 15, 2016 7:40 pm

French:

Halfway through season one of Kaboul Kitchen. The show is funny, I'm understanding many of the jokes/puns and the language errors committed by those portrayed to be non native speakers. Hero Corp got boring real fast.

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My Spanish literature class got me really interested in modernism and all that jazz so I download some Emile Zola novels. Probably going to read Therese Raquin eventually.

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Spanish:

Time to take a Capadocia break and head back to Spain with some Gran Hotel! Didn't watch an episode yet but hopefully tonight I'll be in and sheltered from the snow with an excuse to watch it!

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Still didn't start Del sentimiento tragico de la vida, too much German and Russian study lately. :/


Italian:

Not much to report on this front


German:

A lot to report here!

So I marathon-ed through that detective novel, In alter Freundschaft, and now I'm almost finished with it! Woo! My reading is getting better with every passing chapter and I'm so juked because I'm on a Germanic craze right now and I'm all about learning and speaking them well.

I also watched 15 episodes of The Simpsons auf Deutsch. I can't say it went as well as my reading, but I noticed being able to keep up more and more with the audio after every 4-5 episodes or so. Really exciting stuff.


Swedish:

Today I start the active wave of Assimil. My listening of the audio without looking at the text has gotten better which means I'm getting used to the pronunciation. I just need to polish up my grammar. I'm not really sure what "De" is supposed to mean for example.


Russian:

Lesson 88 today. Less than two more weeks of new Russian with ease material. The language has become more natural to my ears and it isn't as "foreign". Yeah, it took 85+ lessons for that to happen. I'm excited to get started with Perfectionnement Russe because it looks like it's got a bunch of info. The lessons are monstruous, way more than the new Perfectionnement Allemand & Italien.


Latin:

Lesson 81 today.
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sillygoose1
Green Belt
Posts: 380
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 6:25 pm
Location: USA
Languages: _
NA: English
C2: French
C1: German, Italian, Spanish
B2: Russian, Portuguese
A2: Japanese
A1: Mandarin
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=751
x 631

Re: Sillygoose1's Language Extraordinaire

Postby sillygoose1 » Sun Feb 21, 2016 3:28 pm

Francais:

Hier, j'ai lu deux chapitres de Therese Raquin. Jusqu'ici, ca me semble une belle histoire mais c'est aussi un peu trop tot pour en arriver la. Comme deja dit, mon cours de litterature latino-americaine m'a beaucoup fait interesser a cette epoque de litterature. En fait, j'ai toujours voulu commencer a lire ce genre de livres, mais je ne trouvais pas le temps avant.

La premiere saison de Kaboul Kitchen s'approche presque a sa fin. C'est toujours aussi drole et j'espere que ca continue ainsi a la seconde saison.


Espanol:

Pues me falta practica al hablar y escribir en espanol a pesar de que tomo una clase enteramente en espanol. Que ironia, no?

Sigo con Gran Hotel - una serie maravillosa y muy bien hecha. Yon Gonzalez interpreta su papel a la perfeccion y aun le quedan unos rastros de arrogancia en su personaje que habia en El Internado con Ivan, lo que me encanta.

Por fin he leido el primer capitulo de "El sentimiento tragico de la vida" de Miguel de Unamuno. El modo en el que habla directamente a sus lectores en sus libros es muy carinoso. Es una persona listissima. Desde que lei su libro "Niebla", no ha pasado ni un dia en el que no me senti afortunado de haberlo encontrado. Diria que me ha cambiado la perspectiva de la vida y del amor.


Italiano:

RIP Umberto Eco :(

Non ho fatto molto ultimamente perche' sono stato troppo occupato con l'universita', il russo, il tedescho, e il mantenere le mie altre lingue. Anzi, dopo un episodio di Gran Hotel, ci metto del tempo all'italiano - mi manca molto. Credo sia tempo di leggere un po' di filosofia e forse guardare un episodio di "E Arrivata la felicitia' "

Ah, me lo sono dimenticato. Infatti, ho usato l'italiano per compiere una presentazione sull'Eneide. Dopo non averne trovato dei risorsi sufficienti in inglese, ho deciso di cercare dal Google italiano - non so perche'. E voila, risorsi trovati!


Deutsch:

Ich lese immer noch das Buch In alter Freundschaft, deren Lesen ich fast beendet habe.

Auch so, ich habe ja viele Folgen Big Bang Theorys ferngesehen, und obwohl den Eindruck habe ich, dass mein Verstaendnis der Folgen sich verbessern wird, ich fuehle mich immer enttaeuscht mit mir. Es sehr schwierig zu entwickeln Faehigkeiten in eine Sprache so ungleich von deiner. Ist mir egal was man sage, Deutsch ist nicht als einfach zu lernen fuer ein Englischsprachiger wie glaube.


Russki:

Don't know the cyrillic keyboard commands yet, but I'm on lesson 95.
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sillygoose1
Green Belt
Posts: 380
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 6:25 pm
Location: USA
Languages: _
NA: English
C2: French
C1: German, Italian, Spanish
B2: Russian, Portuguese
A2: Japanese
A1: Mandarin
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=751
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Re: Sillygoose1's Language Extraordinaire

Postby sillygoose1 » Thu Feb 25, 2016 1:51 am

French:

Finished season 1 of Kaboul Kitchen. Read 5 chapters of Therese Raquin


Spanish:

Finished season 1 of Gran Hotel. Easily one of the best Spanish tv shows I've ever seen, if not one of the best internationally. It's everything I've always wanted - early 20th century, intrigue, murder. Yon Gonzalez is fantastic.

Wrote a 3 page paper in Spanish for my class - it's looking mighty good if I don't say so say myself!

Reading Una cuestion personal by Kenzaburo Oe. Japanese existentialism that takes weird turns. What else is new?


Italian:

Reading Umberto Eco's Numero Zero. Might start a series soon.


German:

Finished season 5 of the Big Bang Theory, finished In alter Freundschaft. I'm feeling good and getting good vibes. Magic is about to happen, folks.

Starting season 6 now


Russian:

Finished Russian with ease. I feel as though I didn't even dip my toes in the water yet. Starting Perfectionnement Russe tomorrow. There's no way I'll get to a C1, or even B2. I'd say a weak B1 minimum and B1 maximum. Still, it's exciting.
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sillygoose1
Green Belt
Posts: 380
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 6:25 pm
Location: USA
Languages: _
NA: English
C2: French
C1: German, Italian, Spanish
B2: Russian, Portuguese
A2: Japanese
A1: Mandarin
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=751
x 631

Re: Sillygoose1's Language Extraordinaire

Postby sillygoose1 » Sun Mar 06, 2016 6:40 pm

French:

Watched episode 1 of Les beaux mecs. Despite the fact that it isn't a Canal+ production (I don't think?), the first episode was pretty cool. Besides that, I'm going to be starting a book called Le premier sexe by the controversial French writer/journalist Eric Zemmour. It tackles the subject of the Occidental men to have more feminine tendencies these days. I just learned this recently, but its title is a reference to de Beauvoir's book called Le deuxieme sexe. Both are the polar opposites of each other.

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Spanish:

I finished Una cuestion personal by Kenzaburo Oe. It was ok. I skipped over the last few chapters and skimmed the last one. I had the feeling it wouldn't exactly be my cup of tea before starting it, but I was curious. The beginning/middle were good, though.


Italian:

Watched 4 episodes of E' arrivata la felicita. Besides the two Dandis from the Romanzo Criminale movie and series, I like this show because it sort of pokes fun at the West's new politically correct agenda while having fun side stories and fun characters. It wasn't the dry, drama type show that I expected it to be. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone.

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German:

Currently L/Ring Harry Potter and learning a lot of vocab that I didn't know from other books. I finished 2 seasons of the Big Bang Theory in German and realized that I was hardly going anywhere. So, my goal is to finish L/Ring the book then watch a Canadian show called Motive auf Deutsch.


Portuguese:

Watched the first episode of a series called O Grande Gonzalez. It was funny. I couldn't understand as much as I would've liked, but the same people involved with this series are the same ones who sort of monopolized the comedy scene in Brazil from what I understand. Their youtube channel Porta dos Fundos is pretty good too.

Besides that, I'm looking to watch some other shows also. Avenida Brasil hopefully.

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Russian:

Lesson 11 of Perfectionnement today. Lesson 8 and 10 destroyed me. I had to drop it. Things got rough. Hopefully I'll be able to move forward today.
3 x

sillygoose1
Green Belt
Posts: 380
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 6:25 pm
Location: USA
Languages: _
NA: English
C2: French
C1: German, Italian, Spanish
B2: Russian, Portuguese
A2: Japanese
A1: Mandarin
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=751
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Re: Sillygoose1's Language Extraordinaire

Postby sillygoose1 » Tue Mar 15, 2016 10:43 pm

French:

Finished Les beaux mecs awhile ago. The ending was predictable but still emotional. I really liked this show and understood the "banlieue" speech without much problem compared to the Marseillais at times. It's really a good show, however. I forgot to mention that it tells the story of Tony Le Dingue from his adolescent years in the 50s, to his rise in the 60s, and complete power control in the 80s while linking it to the modern day.

Spanish:

Got a 90 on my Spanish paper and a 93 on an exam. I think the professor is nitpicking a little bit with conjugations, but it's still nice to know what goes where.

Italian:

More E' arrivata la felicita. comprehension still good. I'd like to read a bit more in Italian if possible because some words are sort of escaping me. Like the other day I totally forgot the word for coat.


German:

More Harry Potter L/R. Every chapter is getting simpler and simpler. I watched a dubbed episode of Spongebob in German and comprehension was easy. Unfortunately it was season 1 and not too pleasant on the eyes.


Portuguese:

Finished O Grande Gonzalez. Bad comprehension for the most part. I watched 2-3 episodes of a series called Preamar and I only got the gist. I plan on reading some books then getting back into it. I'm going to start with translated Poe then move on to native Brazilian literature. Hopefully by then my comprehension will have improved a bit from the reading.
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sillygoose1
Green Belt
Posts: 380
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 6:25 pm
Location: USA
Languages: _
NA: English
C2: French
C1: German, Italian, Spanish
B2: Russian, Portuguese
A2: Japanese
A1: Mandarin
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=751
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Re: Sillygoose1's Language Extraordinaire

Postby sillygoose1 » Sat Apr 02, 2016 3:53 pm

French:

Started a series called Mafiosa. It's about a Corsican mobster who gets killed and leaves the clan to his niece, who is a lawyer. I've only seen one episode so far but it was good. Comprehension is great and I understood just about everything I heard. Also, there is a bit of Corsican spoken throughout the show which, besides Assimil and a Youtube video, is the only time I've ever heard it spoken. It basically sounds like the Tuscan dialect with Roman and Neapolitan influences.

I've also taken to re-watching Hero Corp and I think that was a good idea because after the first half of the first season it does get pretty decent.

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Spanish:

I'm most excited about Spanish right now because I started to watch two fabulous series. One is called Anclados, and is a comedy, in which a series of funny events goes on on a cruiseship. The characters are hilarious, the jokes are funny, and everything is great so far. I'm really into it.

The second one is called Alli Abajo which is a Spanish comedy series based off of Bienvenue chez les chtis/Benvenuto al sud. Basically, a guy and his mother from the Basque area go on a trip to Sevilla and they start making fun off each other's stereotypes. It's great because I get some practice with the accents of Andalucia (which, admittedly, I cannot understand too well when watching this series). It's not a direct copy of the aforementioned movies and definitely has a style of its own. If this boosts my comprehension of Andalusian speech even slightly, that's a huge win for me already.

I'm also reading a book by Horacio Quiroga called Pasado Amor.

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Italian:

Watched a movie called Tutta colpa di Freud. It wasn't bad and it was pretty easy to understand. It's just one of those typical Italian rom coms.

I finished reading Numero Zero by Eco and started another book called Gli sdraiati. Both are leaving me a bit confused so far. I might just start reading another book called La Dinastia about Octavian of the Roman empire and some secret intrigue. It hasn't been translated to English yet, so it seems like knowing Italian is paying off!

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Russian:

Stopped with Perfectionnement because it was getting too difficult. I decided to back track and start going through Russian Without Toil. There are still too many things I don't know about Russian and I definitely need to fill in a lot of gaps.
3 x

sillygoose1
Green Belt
Posts: 380
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 6:25 pm
Location: USA
Languages: _
NA: English
C2: French
C1: German, Italian, Spanish
B2: Russian, Portuguese
A2: Japanese
A1: Mandarin
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=751
x 631

Re: Sillygoose1's Language Extraordinaire

Postby sillygoose1 » Thu Apr 14, 2016 6:30 pm

French:

Watched season 3 of Braquo. It was great. Probably one of the best TV series I've ever seen. It's been years since I've seen season 2 so it was nice to watch again. I remember when I watched it that I needed subs and couldn't understand anything. Then I watched it without subs and followed everything.

If anyone is learning Russian, this season had dialogues that was like 30% Russian 70% French.

Also finished Season 1 of Hero Corp.

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Also if anyone is interested in French rap, here's some awesome stuff I've been listening to:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xbpYRko_zo[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yrhEin-Z1Q[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2oYfHdZ2po[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir7-CNij7kk[/youtube]

Spanish:

Almost finished with Alli Abajo. My understanding of the Andalusian speech has certainly improved tremendously, but not as good as my comprehension of other accents. I think I'm going to save the last three episodes because I'm getting bored of the Spanish accents and need to get some Mexican/Colombian/Argentine/Chilean back up in the mix.

My Spanish course at uni is finishing up. One exam left. Got an A!


Italian:

Reading Anatomia della distruttivita' umana by Erich Fromm. Nothing else as of yet, so far. I might watch a movie tonight or something. This movie looks really funny:

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German:

Watching dubbed Family Guy. My understanding of it is improving more and more. I noticed a huge difference between my watching yesterday and 1-2 months ago. I'm also reading a book called Amokspiel. Vocab continues being a problem for me, but I need to keep working through it like I've been doing up to now. I can now discern and understand the use of cases in speech and on paper, but I can't quite produce it yet.


Portuguese:

I can read fine, it's the listening where I have problems. So, I took to watching a telenovela called Avenida Brasil. I don't know if it's just me or not, but besides a few series Brazilian TV seems kind of boring. Even this telenovela that was praised isn't holding my attention much. I'll keep going on though. I found a site that streams Brazilian series and novelas so I should find something eventually.

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Russian:

Lesson 24 of Without Toil. I forgot how much more detail Without Toil went into compared to their newer editions. It's lovely. I'm starting to get a hang of the cases and genders. Things are looking up.
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rdearman
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Re: Sillygoose1's Language Extraordinaire

Postby rdearman » Thu Apr 14, 2016 7:04 pm

Don't do it like this:

Code: Select all

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xbpYRko_zo[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yrhEin-Z1Q[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2oYfHdZ2po[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir7-CNij7kk[/youtube]


Do it like this:

Code: Select all

[youtube]3xbpYRko_zo[/youtube]
[youtube]1yrhEin-Z1Q[/youtube]
[youtube]x2oYfHdZ2po[/youtube]
[youtube]Ir7-CNij7kk[/youtube]





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sillygoose1
Green Belt
Posts: 380
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 6:25 pm
Location: USA
Languages: _
NA: English
C2: French
C1: German, Italian, Spanish
B2: Russian, Portuguese
A2: Japanese
A1: Mandarin
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=751
x 631

Re: Sillygoose1's Language Extraordinaire

Postby sillygoose1 » Fri Apr 29, 2016 3:19 pm

French:

I've been watching season 2 of Kaboul Kitchen. It's still as funny as the first season if not more, but now there's a bit of intrigue mixed in.

I also started season 2 of Hero Corp which doesn't seem bad so far. Besides that, I haven't been reading much. My French is at the level I've always wanted it to be at so I have some flexibility in regards to how to use my time.


Spanish:

I watched 3 episodes of Vis-a-vis so far which is set in a Spanish women's prison (women's prisons seem to be popular now between Capadocia, OITNB, and this show). It's more like Capadocia than anything, but better. More emphasis is put on the prison itself, there's the kingpin with a huge following and many influences outside of jail, etc. Good stuff.

I've also been watching Club de Cuervos which is pretty funny. I've noticed that Netflix shows have weird volume settings so it's hard for me to watch without subs just like I had to with OITNB and other English shows from Netflix.

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Italian:

Today I'm going to read Le citta invisibili by Italo Calvino. Ever since Il cavaliere inesistente, I feel like he breathed a breath of fresh air in regards to my views on literature in general. I'm not sure if it was the wonderful prose or the smooth flow of the chapters, but Calvino won me over.

Now that school is over I'm going to be doing a lot more with Italian. I've been listening to a good amount Italian hip hop and it's not bad once you find the right artists.


German:

I marathoned through 1.5 seasons of dubbed Family Guy which was hard at first but got better. I tried Seinfeld yesterday, and it's like I'm starting from zero again. I can't understand much and what I can is because I've seen the episodes before. This is somewhat exciting for me because it means I found my threshold and I get to overcome it.

Still reading Amokspiel which is fine grammar-wise, but as far as vocab is concerned it's a bit difficult still. Too many unknown words. I'm working on it though and hopefully after another 2-3 novels this length I'll have advanced significantly.


Portuguese:

Tried continuing with Preamar but it got too hard so I'm back to Family Guy dubs. My comprehension has improved noticeably so I'm going to watch 1-2 full seasons then go back to native content.


Russian:

Just finished lesson 39 in Russian without Toil. Lesson 38 was killer for me. Not sure why. Probably the vocab. I'm kind of surprised that I went through all of Russian with Ease, 1/3 of Perfectionnement Russe, but without Toil is still difficult for me. It's a good thing I went back to it, though.
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Spoonary
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Re: Sillygoose1's Language Extraordinaire

Postby Spoonary » Sun May 01, 2016 5:58 pm

Wow! Your log is full of great TV/film suggestions! I'll definitely have to try some of the series you've recommended, now that the Super Challenge is underway. :)
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