Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

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MorkTheFiddle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2114
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Location: North Texas USA
Languages: English (N). Read (only) French and Spanish. Studying Ancient Greek. Studying a bit of Latin. Once studied Old Norse. Dabbled in Catalan, Provençal and Italian.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 11#p133911
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Sun May 29, 2022 5:59 pm

DaveAgain wrote:
MorkTheFiddle wrote:Sorted through the Kindle for something new to begin. The organization of Kindle leaves something to be desired,
I have an old one of these, it lets you create folders so I have one for each language: French/German/English.

Thanks, Dave. Mine is an older version, too, with the Collections feature.
What I've got is a book on the Kindle that I can't remove by hook or by crook or the usual means. I wish there were a bulk way to remove titles from Kindle.
Another problem is some books that I uploaded to Kindle through 'send-to-Kindle' have the authors listed incorrectly, with no obvious way to fix them. Neither the online Amazon website nor Calibre can edit them. Spanish writer Fernanda Melchior, for example, has (not) written seven scholarly works on Ancient Greek authors in addition to her novel Temporada de huracanes. Of course, I could delete 'her' works completely one by one and re-load them, but why should I have to do that? :)
2 x
Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

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MorkTheFiddle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2114
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:59 pm
Location: North Texas USA
Languages: English (N). Read (only) French and Spanish. Studying Ancient Greek. Studying a bit of Latin. Once studied Old Norse. Dabbled in Catalan, Provençal and Italian.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 11#p133911
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Sat Jun 04, 2022 4:59 pm

Spanish

Análisis Literario Macbeth – William Shakespeare (Resumen) 11:36

Only a summary of the play, but useful for fixing the plot in the mind.
The poster enunciates clearly and speaks relatively slowly.

Ancient Greek

Taking a cue from a forum member studying French, whose name, naturally, I cannot recall. :( is LanguageLearner0007 (Learning French log (Road to DELF B1).
Occasionally a commentary provides useful information about grammar, as in thie note on Xenophon Hellenika 1.4.11
Passage in question:
ἃς ἐπυνθάνετο Λακεδαιμονίους αὐτόθι παρασκευάζειν τριάκοντα, καὶ τοῦ οἴκαδε κατάπλου ὅπως ἡ πόλις πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔχοι.

"the infinitive in distinction from the participle after πυνθάνομαι and verbs of similar meaning gives expresstion to a rumor which may or may not be true, and not to a recognized fact. So φαίνεται πλοντεΐν, he seems to be wealthy, but it may be only appearance; but φαίνεται πλουτῶν, it is plain that he is wealthy. The point, then, of the ἐπὶ κατασκοπήν was the confirmation of the rumor that ships were building at Gytheum. But see GMT. 914.1.[which says in indirect discourse either can be used and have the same meaning]"
From the notes of The Hellenica of Xenophon Books I and II etc. ed Robert W. Blake Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1896.
GMT = Goodwin's Moods and Tenses 1892
Doesn't always happen, but good to know just in case.

Another note 1.4.13 (also Blake 113)
"οὐ δικαίως . . . λεγόντων : had been banished, not justly, but through the intrigues of those who were less influential than he and more unprincipled in their political utterances. έπιβουλευθεὶς is circumnstantial, expressing manner like οὐ δικαίως . . . "
The passage in full:
[13] "λέγοντες ὅτι οἱ μὲν ὡς κράτιστος εἴη τῶν πολιτῶν καὶ μόνος ἀπελογήθη ὡς οὐ δικαίως φύγοι, ἐπιβουλευθεὶς δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν ἔλαττον ἐκείνου δυναμένων μοχθηρότερά τε λεγόντων καὶ πρὸς τὸ αὑτῶν ἴδιον κέρδος πολιτευόντων, ἐκείνου ἀεὶ τὸ κοινὸν αὔξοντος καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν αὑτοῦ καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ τῆς πόλεως δυνατοῦ:"
The translation: "Some of them said that he was the best of the citizens; that he alone was banished without just cause, but rather because he was plotted against by those who had less power than he and spoke less well and ordered their political doings with a view to their own private gain, whereas he was always1 advancing the common weal, both by his own means and by the power of the state." Xenophon in Seven Volumes, 1 and 2. Carleton L. Brownson. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA; William Heinemann, Ltd., London. vol. 1:1918; vol. 2: 1921.

French

Not a lot. Reading Les Thibault Vol 2 on the Kindle, but after the grand sweep and powerful passions of The Tale of Genji by the noblewoman and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu, Les Thibault seems pale and wan. The only equivalents of it in modern times I can think of--epic things happening to real people--would be the works of Leo Tolstoy, Fydor Dostoevsky, García Márquez or William Faulkner. (Obviously the dozens of national literatures of which I am ignorant might have their on candidates, and I would be happy to hear what they are).

Edited to add the name of LanguageLearner0007.
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Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

clara
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby clara » Sun Jun 05, 2022 9:57 pm

MorkTheFiddle wrote:What I've got is a book on the Kindle that I can't remove by hook or by crook or the usual means. I wish there were a bulk way to remove titles from Kindle.
Another problem is some books that I uploaded to Kindle through 'send-to-Kindle' have the authors listed incorrectly, with no obvious way to fix them. Neither the online Amazon website nor Calibre can edit them. Spanish writer Fernanda Melchior, for example, has (not) written seven scholarly works on Ancient Greek authors in addition to her novel Temporada de huracanes. Of course, I could delete 'her' works completely one by one and re-load them, but why should I have to do that? :)


My Kindle app has started some weird behaviors that I can't fix. It shows a dozen blank books that I keep trying to delete, but they keep popping back up, clogging up my book list. I also can't delete samples for books that I've bought without deleting the books themselves, so I have two of everything. And they've recently changed it so I can't buy books through the app and have to do it through the website. Unfortunately, I haven't found an alternative that I like better, but it's becoming increasingly frustrating.

Have you read Temporada de huracanes? Curious to hear what you think of it! I wouldn't say I enjoyed it, but I thought it was a worthwhile read, especially from a learning Spanish perspective.
2 x
Spanish Goals
22/23 SC Films: 438 / 18000 438 / 18000 minutes
22/23 SC Books: 6454 / 10000 6454 / 10000 pages
2022 Reading: 8061 / 8000 8061 / 10000 8000 pages

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MorkTheFiddle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2114
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:59 pm
Location: North Texas USA
Languages: English (N). Read (only) French and Spanish. Studying Ancient Greek. Studying a bit of Latin. Once studied Old Norse. Dabbled in Catalan, Provençal and Italian.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 11#p133911
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Mon Jun 06, 2022 5:23 pm

clara wrote:My Kindle app has started some weird behaviors that I can't fix. It shows a dozen blank books that I keep trying to delete, but they keep popping back up, clogging up my book list. I also can't delete samples for books that I've bought without deleting the books themselves, so I have two of everything. And they've recently changed it so I can't buy books through the app and have to do it through the website. Unfortunately, I haven't found an alternative that I like better, but it's becoming increasingly frustrating.

Have you read Temporada de huracanes? Curious to hear what you think of it! I wouldn't say I enjoyed it, but I thought it was a worthwhile read, especially from a learning Spanish perspective.

It was you I believe who called Temporada de huracanes a wall of words. Which is exactly what I found it to be. Walls of words do not put me off per se, but they have to pique my interest at least a little bit to lure me in. Temporada de huracanes did not do that, so I stopped after a short while in. :(

As for Kindle, when multibillionaire founders start chasing rabbits, their enterprises begin the long downhill slide. That's my economics for dummies explanation anyway for Amazon and Microsoft. ;) It ain't gonna get better, I fear. :(

The alternatives to Kindle are Nook and Kobe, but I don't know much about them. Are imitations ever any better than the originals? I dunno. One hates investing time in a copy only to find It's no better or even worse than the original.
6 x
Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

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MorkTheFiddle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2114
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:59 pm
Location: North Texas USA
Languages: English (N). Read (only) French and Spanish. Studying Ancient Greek. Studying a bit of Latin. Once studied Old Norse. Dabbled in Catalan, Provençal and Italian.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 11#p133911
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Sun Jun 12, 2022 4:56 pm

Spanish
Rediscovered El amante japonés by Isabel Allende on the Kindle. Having begun the novel before and not being much impressed, my perspicuity must have been lacking. Allende's mastery of magic realism brightens every page with a clever insight or laugh-out-loud comparison. Only on location 310 out of 3453, so not much more to say except it's a worthy followup to The Novel of Genji.

French
Nothing new, but about half way through and reading with great interest Looking for The Stranger by Alice Kaplan. It could be subtitled "Anatomy of the Writing of a Novel," and provides background and color to a novel some call monochrome. All the landscapes of the plot that once seemed empty to me turn out to have a purpose and a background in Camus's life and thinking. What might be called for Ancient Greek "antiquities" can be called just cultural data for The Stranger. Knowing something of the working career gives me some insights about what the novel means and is trying to say.
Though only halfway throught, Kaplan deserves high marks for clarifying various bits.

Ancient Greek
I'm in Book 2 Chapter 3 of Xenophon's Hellenika. The "antiquities" for this delve mostly into geography and usage. There are works by Blake (1896), Underhill (1900) and Hailstone (1903) that help with these matters. For those who care but are unfamiliar with this work, Xenophon wraps up the end and aftermath of the Peloponnesian War chronicled for most of its length by Thucydides.
10 x
Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

User avatar
MorkTheFiddle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2114
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:59 pm
Location: North Texas USA
Languages: English (N). Read (only) French and Spanish. Studying Ancient Greek. Studying a bit of Latin. Once studied Old Norse. Dabbled in Catalan, Provençal and Italian.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 11#p133911
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Sun Jun 19, 2022 2:23 am

Spanish
LA FAMILIA DE PASCUAL DUARTE – RESUMEN
Análisis Literario, Luís Niño Aguilar
31:38

La novela, Camilo José Duarte, La familia de Pascual Duarte: Completo (Voz Humano),
, 3:23:12.
Leído por, si no me equivoco, el autor.
Escuché el Análisis Literario, pero la novela, ya no.

And a handful of popular Spanish tunes on Youtube with lyrics.

El amante japonesa, Isabel de Allende
To location 662

French
A handful of popular French tunes on Youtube with lyrics.

Ancient Greek
Finished Books 3 and 4 of Xenophon's Hellenica. Includes a fascinating account of the successful revolt by proponents of democracy against the Thirty.
6 x
Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

DaveAgain
Black Belt - 1st Dan
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Languages: English (native), French & German (learning).
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... &start=200
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby DaveAgain » Sun Jun 19, 2022 12:44 pm

MorkTheFiddle wrote:French
A handful of popular French tunes on Youtube with lyrics.
I've been listening to a lot of Vanessa Paradis tunes recently, "il y a" is a nice one.
1 x

User avatar
MorkTheFiddle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2114
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:59 pm
Location: North Texas USA
Languages: English (N). Read (only) French and Spanish. Studying Ancient Greek. Studying a bit of Latin. Once studied Old Norse. Dabbled in Catalan, Provençal and Italian.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 11#p133911
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Tue Jun 21, 2022 5:46 pm

DaveAgain wrote:
MorkTheFiddle wrote:French
A handful of popular French tunes on Youtube with lyrics.
I've been listening to a lot of Vanessa Paradis tunes recently, "il y a" is a nice one.

Thought I replied, obviously did not. Haven't listened to Paradis recently until you mentioned this tune. Good enough to get me to listen to more. Thanks.
1 x
Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

User avatar
MorkTheFiddle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2114
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:59 pm
Location: North Texas USA
Languages: English (N). Read (only) French and Spanish. Studying Ancient Greek. Studying a bit of Latin. Once studied Old Norse. Dabbled in Catalan, Provençal and Italian.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 11#p133911
x 4824

Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Sun Jun 26, 2022 7:50 pm

Spanish
Still reading and enjoying El amante japonés. I've reached Kindle location 939, 27% of the novel.

French
Listened to some tunes by Vanessa Paradis.

Ancient Greek
Continued a very slow pace with Hippolytus by Euripides

To improve the pace and effectivness of my vocabulary learning in Ancient Greek, I began reading How To Learn and Memorize French Vocabulary (9781482667004) by Anthony Metivier.
Always put off in the past by the grandiose name Memory Palace--Metivier says call it whatever you like if you don't like that name--his approach looks promising, for Ancient Greek obviously, not French.
But I'm only a few pages in, and I have not yet come up with an alternative name. Suggestions are welcome.

In Conclusion
Private matters will require most of my attention for the next few weeks or even months, but I'll still be checking in periodically.
Until next time.
9 x
Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

Lawyer&Mom
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Sun Jun 26, 2022 9:14 pm

Temple of Mnemosyne?
1 x
Grammaire progressive du français -
niveau debutant
: 60 / 60

Grammaire progressive du francais -
intermédiaire
: 25 / 52

Pimsleur French 1-5
: 3 / 5


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