Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Continue or start your personal language log here, including logs for challenge participants
User avatar
Radioclare
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2250
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 12:59 pm
Location: England
Languages: Speaks: English (N), Esperanto, German, Croatian
Learns: Russian
x 10434
Contact:

Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Sun Oct 17, 2021 9:20 pm

17 October
Went to see a relative playing in a rugby match today. First time I've ever been to a rugby match, so didn't understand a lot of what was going on :lol:

Russian
I got some Russian grammar study in before I went out. I've finished the introductory section of 'A Comprehensive Russian Grammar' now, so started the first chapter of the main book today. This opens with a section on word building. The bit I read today was a useful recap of verb prefixes.

Once I was home again later in the day I read another short story from the parallel text. This one was only about four pages of Russian, so I think I made the right decision not to mess about with counting these and adding to my Super Challenge.

Total - Russian: 52 mins, Croatian: 55 mins
10 x

User avatar
Radioclare
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2250
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 12:59 pm
Location: England
Languages: Speaks: English (N), Esperanto, German, Croatian
Learns: Russian
x 10434
Contact:

Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Mon Oct 18, 2021 8:54 pm

18 October
Another Monday. The novelty of not finding lots of weekend emails when I turn on my computer still hasn't worn off :)

Russian
I had an annoying quantity of Memrise reviews today, after a couple of pretty light days over the weekend. Sometimes there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.

I read another short story and learned some new words. "лысый" (bald) and "растрата" (embezzlement).

Carried on with the section on word building in my grammar book. I feel like this kind of stuff is mildly interesting, but not wildly useful. It's not like this is Esperanto where I can learn all the various suffixes etc and apply them logically. So I'm just reading through it and not attempting to memorise at the moment.

Total - Russian: 83 mins, Croatian: 61 mins
8 x

User avatar
Radioclare
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2250
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 12:59 pm
Location: England
Languages: Speaks: English (N), Esperanto, German, Croatian
Learns: Russian
x 10434
Contact:

Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Tue Oct 19, 2021 9:35 pm

19 October
I unexpectedly drank port with my dinner (not something which happens very often :lol:) and it left me not feeling very energetic for the rest of the evening.

Russian
I cleared the inevitable Memrise reviews and then read another Russian short story. This was another one that fell into the category of too much description, not enough action; my Russian isn't good enough to get much out of poetic descriptions of the taiga. I learned the words "овраг" (ravine) and "дятел" (woodpecker). The latter is a bit similar to the Croatian word "djetlić", but not similar enough that I would have guessed it.

The good news is that I also got to the end of the section on word-building in my Russian grammar. So tomorrow I can start the first proper section about nouns and maybe even get far enough to do some grammar exercises :)

Total - Russian: 43 mins, Croatian: 58 mins
7 x

User avatar
rdearman
Site Admin
Posts: 7231
Joined: Thu May 14, 2015 4:18 pm
Location: United Kingdom
Languages: English (N)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1836
x 23127
Contact:

Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby rdearman » Wed Oct 20, 2021 7:52 am

Radioclare wrote:The good news is that I also got to the end of the section on word-building in my Russian grammar. So tomorrow I can start the first proper section about nouns and maybe even get far enough to do some grammar exercises

And that is good news because .....

Allow me to paraphrase:
The good news is that I also got to the end of the water torture. So tomorrow I can start to get the first proper beatings and maybe even get far enough to receive some water boarding and dental drilling.
:lol:
2 x
: 0 / 150 Read 150 books in 2024

My YouTube Channel
The Autodidactic Podcast
My Author's Newsletter

I post on this forum with mobile devices, so excuse short msgs and typos.

User avatar
Radioclare
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2250
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 12:59 pm
Location: England
Languages: Speaks: English (N), Esperanto, German, Croatian
Learns: Russian
x 10434
Contact:

Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Wed Oct 20, 2021 9:45 am

rdearman wrote:Allow me to paraphrase:
The good news is that I also got to the end of the water torture. So tomorrow I can start to get the first proper beatings and maybe even get far enough to receive some water boarding and dental drilling.
:lol:


Basically yes :lol: But I was getting bored of the water torture so I'm thinking at least the beatings will give me some variety :D
2 x

User avatar
Radioclare
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2250
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 12:59 pm
Location: England
Languages: Speaks: English (N), Esperanto, German, Croatian
Learns: Russian
x 10434
Contact:

Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Wed Oct 20, 2021 8:21 pm

20 October
I used to get paid on the 20th of the month in my old job. In this job I get paid on the final day of the month but I haven't got used to it yet and still feel slightly disappointed every 20th :D

Russian
After the Memrise reviews I read a short story. Today's was about a hired hitman and that held my attention more than descriptions of the taiga :lol:

I started the section on nouns in my grammar book, which was quite a straightforward recap of the rules for which nouns are masculine and which feminine. Nothing particularly new here, so the exercises I did felt quite relaxing :-) There looks to be a long section about the gender of soft sign nouns, which I decided to leave for another day.

Total - Russian: 49 mins, Croatian: 55 mins, German: 42 mins
7 x

User avatar
IronMike
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2554
Joined: Thu May 12, 2016 6:13 am
Location: Northern Virginia
Languages: Studying: Esperanto
Maintaining: nada
Tested:
BCS, 1+L/1+R (DLPT5, 2022)
Russian, 3/3 (DLPT5, 2022) 2+ (OPI, 2022)
German, 2L/1+R (DLPT5, 2021)
Italian, 1L/2R (DLPT IV, 2019)
Esperanto, C1 (KER skriba ekzameno, 2017)
Slovene, 2+L/3R (DLPT II in, yes, 1999)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5189
x 7265
Contact:

Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby IronMike » Wed Oct 20, 2021 11:31 pm

Radioclare wrote:17 October
Went to see a relative playing in a rugby match today. First time I've ever been to a rugby match, so didn't understand a lot of what was going on :lol:

hahaha. Memories!

Dateline February 1988. West Berlin. Friend of mine from work had a rugby match (?) on Saturday. I joined a group from work as we jumped on the metro to go to an RAF base in central West Berlin. I sat on the sidelines watching this strange sport. The team my friend's team was playing occasionally stopped in front of us to huddle.

I couldn't figure out what language they were speaking. I was a B2 in Russian by this point, but I had no idea what German was supposed to sound like, apart from some sounds I heard on the U-Bahn. Still, didn't really know what the hell they were speaking. I finally asked someone.

"Uh, it's the Scottish Black Watch. They're speaking English, damn ya!"

What? That's English? Once I learned this, I listened more closely. The only word I understood out of those guys' mouths was "f^ck."
6 x
You're not a C1 (or B1 or whatever) if you haven't tested.
CEFR --> ILR/DLPT equivalencies
My swimming life.
My reading life.

User avatar
Radioclare
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2250
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 12:59 pm
Location: England
Languages: Speaks: English (N), Esperanto, German, Croatian
Learns: Russian
x 10434
Contact:

Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Thu Oct 21, 2021 9:58 pm

IronMike wrote:What? That's English? Once I learned this, I listened more closely. The only word I understood out of those guys' mouths was "f^ck."


I can believe this :lol: :lol:

21 October
Worked in the office today and then went out for a meal afterwards, which involved a certain quantity of wine.

Russian
That means not so much Russian this evening. I cleared my Memrise reviews, learned another 10 words and then watched two episodes of 'Кухня'. I've now got to the end of season 2 :)

Total - Russian: 60 mins, Croatian: 55 mins
7 x

User avatar
Radioclare
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2250
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 12:59 pm
Location: England
Languages: Speaks: English (N), Esperanto, German, Croatian
Learns: Russian
x 10434
Contact:

Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Fri Oct 22, 2021 8:33 pm

22 October
Feeling kind of tired this evening after some energetic yoga.

Russian
That means it's another pretty boring update, I'm afraid.

I cleared my Memrise reviews and then couldn't face another difficult short story, so decided to watch a couple of episodes of 'Кухня' instead. I've been finding it really funny recently and I find that if I can force myself to concentrate on it, my comprehension is enough to follow and enjoy the storyline. Sometimes concentrating enough is the challenge! After I'd watched two episodes today, I decided I wasn't going to be able to focus enough for a third.

Total - Russian: 57 mins, Croatian: 55 mins
7 x

User avatar
Radioclare
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2250
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 12:59 pm
Location: England
Languages: Speaks: English (N), Esperanto, German, Croatian
Learns: Russian
x 10434
Contact:

Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Sat Oct 23, 2021 9:16 pm

23 October
I've spent most of today sorting out travel plans for a trip I might be setting off on this time next week. But a week is a long time in these Covid times, so who knows whether it will actually happen!

Russian
Before I disappeared down a rabbit hole of looking up accommodation on booking.com, I got my Russian study done :) I cleared the Memrise reviews first thing, then read not one but two short stories out of my parallel text book. That was to compensate for having skipped a few days of reading in the week. The end of this book is now in sight - I might even finish it tomorrow.

I spent half an hour or so working through the section on the gender soft sign nouns in 'A Comprehensive Russian Grammar'. This grammar is so comprehensive that I by no means mastered all the different rules and exceptions to rules today. But I feel like I have a bit of a better grasp of the subject and some ideas of what to look out for when trying to determine the gender of a soft sign noun in future. If in doubt, assume it's feminine :lol:

Total - Russian: 56 mins, Croatian: 72 mins, German: 100 mins
8 x


Return to “Language logs”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests