Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

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Beli Tsar
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby Beli Tsar » Tue Feb 02, 2021 11:15 am

Very helpful, thanks. I think I'll get my hands on it again once I've got through my current reading!
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: 0 / 50 1/2 Super Challenge - Latin Reading
: 0 / 50 1/2 Super Challenge - Latin 'Films'

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MorkTheFiddle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
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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 » Sat Feb 06, 2021 7:24 pm

WEEK BEGINNING 1-30-21
Ancient Greek
From A Greek Anthology by JACT:
Aristophanes Frogs 164-241 Dionysus in the underworld
Plato Apology of Socrates 39e-42a
Homer Iliad 16.419-461, 638-683 Zeus, fate and the death of Sarpedon
Demosthenes Against Conon 3-6 Harassment on military service

* This last reading finishes all the selections from A Greek Anthology. The JACT notes and vocabulary made the reading of all the selections downright pleasurable, all the selections were of intrinsic interest to me, and all the selections touched on some critical part of the author’s writing or thinking. Note that the reading selections will not—and JACT do not claim they will—make reading to full works of these authors any the easier. But I found them to be pepper-uppers, and the excerpts from Demosthenes, for example, inspired me to go back to some of his writings, which heretofore I found uninteresting and even at times impenetrable. I’ve started with Against Neiera, ironically enough not really by Demosthenes, and I’ve got On the Crown lined up, which really was by Demosthenes. Perhaps I’ll have a bit to say about my sources for Demosthenes in the Classical Resources section. *

French

TV
Engrenages Season 4 episodes 09-12 with subtitles
Engrenages Season 5 episode 01 with subtitles
Alas, as often, I grew tired of spending time with the characters of a series, no matter how good. People I might like to have a drink with every six months or so, but a weekly (or more frequent) encounter wears me out. So I stopped. Might go back, might not.

Reading
L-F Celine Voyage au bout de la nuit, re-read pp 13-16
L-F Celine Voyage au bout de la nuit, re-read and listened to pp 13-123

Video
La France au temps des colonies par Alain Descaux Films Documentaires 50 min
L’Homme qui donna la bombe aux Soviets (Klaus Fuchs) Arte 2011
Egypte, l'empire de l'or - 1/3 - Les guerres des pharaons (2008) to 30:17 Films Documentaires

Spanish

Reading
Julio Cortázar Cuentos Completos 1, “El hijo del vampiro,” 8 pages
Julio Cortáazar Cuentos Completos 1, “Manos que crecen,” 10 pp
Julio Cortázar Cuentos Completos 1, “Llama el teléfono, Delia,” 9 pp

Cortázar’s sly science fiction, which these stories are, really appeals to me.

Helen Phipps, Paginas Sudamericanas, Kindle 12% (the page numbers are not available for this book)

Video
Cuando los antibióticos ya no funcionan | DW Documental
DW Historias Latinas Tango en tiempos de pandemia 26 min
Prejuicio y propaganda nazi - los crímenes contra los "hijos de la vergüenza" | DW Documental 41 min. This is a look at the children of German women and French colonial troops on guard duty in occupied Germany. As sad as you might imagine.
El Jardín de Martín BOLIVIANO aprende 8 idiomas con el método TARZÁN - Latino Sueco 58 min TBH, I never figured out what the “Tarzan method” is.

Spent some time bookmarking pop Spanish tunes on Youtube with an eye to having a list of 30 minutes or so of listening for learning. One candidate is this tune featurning the operatic-like voices of Natalia Jiménez and Lila Downs. Do any other pop singers have such powerful voices?
[gritos, aplausos]
[Mariachis] :lol:
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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

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MorkTheFiddle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2113
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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 Feb 13, 2021 6:06 pm

Week beginning Sat PM 2-6-21
Ancient Greek
Democritus (Apollodorus) Against Neaira sections 29-126 (End)
Apollodoros Against Neaira [Demosthenes] 59, ed & trans Christopher Carey. Greek Orators Volume VI. Aris & Phillips Ltd, Warminster, England, 1992. Demosthenes is bracketed because this speech was frequently attributed to him, although most authorities think it was not his: Against Neaira.

Resuming On the Crown by Demosthenes from a couple of years ago at Section 13. Only Section 13 so far.
I am using The Oration of Demosthenes On the Crown, literal interlinear translation, Arthur Hinds and Company, 1895; plus notes from Demosthenes Speech on the Crown, edd Evelyn Abbott and P. E. Matheson, Oxford University Press, 1926 [1st Ed 1899] and Demosthenes on the Crown, ed. William W. Goodwin, Cambridge University Press, 1901.

Spanish
Julio Cortázar Cuentos completos I (L/R: Audible+Kindle)
• “Casa Tomada” pp 108-115
• “Lejana” 124-133
• “Continuidad de los parques” 216-217
• “Los venenos” 228-243

La Riqueza Del Lenguaje La Fuerza De Babel, 50 min. Thanks to Kraut!
Interesting video about multilingualism. For me i+2, so I missed lots.


Lupa app 10.9 minutes (among other benefits, Lupa tracks you usage time)

French

Céline Voyage au bout de la nuit 13-65
(L/R: Audible+Hard Copy=Le Livre de Poche, Gallimard, 1952)
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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

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MorkTheFiddle
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Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 11#p133911
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Sat Feb 20, 2021 9:00 pm

Week beginning Sat PM 2-13-21
Ancient Greek
On the Crown by Demosthenes Sections 14 -20.
Thucydides Book 1 Section 1
Have not begun to read Alexander Romance, which I downloaded this morning. Wikipedia has a discussion of the once very famous and widespread story here.
Spanish
Lupa app: El show debe continuar and Dime quién soy 84 min
Julio Cortázar Cuentos completos I (L/R: Audible+Kindle)
----- “Un Noche Boca Arriba” pp 352-361
Learning the lyrics to the song "Perfidia" by repeated listenings. There are dozens of versions on Youtube, though I listen to only 6 or 7, including one by the famous Trío Los Panchos.

French took a back seat. Rolling power outages for two or three days limited language learning for many hours at a time to the Kindle and iPod and flashlights. :(
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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

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MorkTheFiddle
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Sat Feb 27, 2021 7:07 pm

Ancient Greek
The first few paragraphs of Thucydides caught my attention this week. The first time through a few years ago, commentaries helped out a lot. I took their word, wanting to get through the whole in a decent amount of time. This time, the points made absorbed me more, and I even spotted something myself. T. uses the phrase κατὰ γῆν οὔτε διὰ θαλάσσης (1.2.2), which is translated 'by land and by sea', which is accurate enough, but 'on land and through sea' might better catch T's nuance. Not that it is much of a big deal. κατὰ has a lot of meanings.
Spanish
L/R of part of a story by Julio Cortázar "Las Armas Secretas."
Some repeated listening to "Perfidia." Just about memorized.
French
Continued Voyage au bout de la nuit through Chapter 37 (according to Audible). This is not a simple tale of a soldier at war.
Post by Français Authentique "Le Mont Saint-Michelle (apprendre le français) w/o subs. 12 min. This was i+1 for me.
Some repeated listening to "C'est si bon."
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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

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MorkTheFiddle
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Posts: 2113
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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.
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Sat Mar 13, 2021 6:15 pm

Slow going couple of weeks.
Ancient Greek
Reading and studying grammar of Herodotus Book 1
Working with Lysias's Against Eratosthenes. There is a useful parallel text of the speech in Ancient Greek and French in the Hodoi Elektronika.
French
Voyage au bout de la Nuit proved to have too many unknown words for me to follow, so I switched to Le Temps Retrouvé by Proust. The reader Pomme narrates a LitteratureAudio version, whose text comes from the 1927 Gallimard edition. I mention this only because more than one version exists. I have an Audible reading by Daniel Mesguich from a different version, but don't know the edition he reads from. I read pages 7-39, which goes for 1:17:30 hours.
For songs, I have down "C'est si bon." My favorite version is an ancient duet by Mirielle Mathieu and Petula Clark:

Spanish
I finished listening to and reading "Las armas secretas" by Julio Cortázar, and began the same with his novel Rayuela. I listened to 50:45 minutes. The novel was written back in a time when Paris occupied the imaginations of American writers. Cortázar does a lot of "name-dropping" of Parisian places and European intellecutal ideas, all of which seem a bit quaint today. Cortázar writes so well it doesn't matter much what he writes about.
Song: I have listened enough to "Perfidia" to recognize all the words now. My favorite version is by Trío Hermanos RodrIguez:
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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

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Carmody
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby Carmody » Sat Mar 13, 2021 6:42 pm

MorkTheFiddle » Sat Mar 13, 2021 7:15 am
.....
French
Voyage au bout de la Nuit proved to have too many unknown words for me to follow, so I switched to Le Temps Retrouvé by Proust. The reader Pomme narrates a LitteratureAudio version, whose text comes from the 1927 Gallimard edition. I mention this only because more than one version exists. I have an Audible reading by Daniel Mesguich from a different version, but don't know the edition he reads from. I read pages 7-39, which goes for 1:17:30 hours.

Congratulations as always on your Productivity as well as the Audacious undertaking of Le Temps Retrouvé by Proust. (which for me is too daunting to even dream of.....
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kanewai
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby kanewai » Sat Mar 13, 2021 9:35 pm

If you keep on with Proust, the website Proust, ses personnages will help immensely. It lists every character and where they appear in the books, and ... even better ... lets you scroll through their appearances in order so that you don't encounter any rude spoilers. Part of the pleasure of the books is how we meet characters at various points in their lives, and there are far too many characters to remember them all.
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Super Challenge - 50 books
Italian: 11 / 50
Spanish: 50 / 50
French: 16 / 50

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MorkTheFiddle
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Posts: 2113
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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 Mar 14, 2021 12:59 pm

kanewai wrote:If you keep on with Proust, the website Proust, ses personnages will help immensely. It lists every character and where they appear in the books, and ... even better ... lets you scroll through their appearances in order so that you don't encounter any rude spoilers. Part of the pleasure of the books is how we meet characters at various points in their lives, and there are far too many characters to remember them all.
Thanks for the reference. It is needed, for sure. Virginia Woolf compared reading Proust (and Madame de Sévigné) to walking through a large forest with many paths. As you walked down the paths, you often unexpectedly ran into someone you knew from a while back on another path. The same happens in another long novel I am reading in French translation, The Tale of Genji. There is a pleasure in this, but I had read other parts of Proust so long ago--well, 5 or 6 years--that I forgot who some of the characters are. So, proust-personnages is just what the doctor ordered.
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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

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MorkTheFiddle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2113
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 Mar 20, 2021 6:20 pm

A fairly slow week.
Ancient Greek
I read a bit of Book 1 of Herodotus and a bit of Plutarch's biography of the Spartan lawgiver Lycurgus.

French
Listening to and reading Proust's Le temps retrouvé. I began with the litteratureaudio audio and then switched to the Audible version. The Audible version uses three different voices, Michaël Lonsdale, Denis Podalydès, and André Dussollier, which I like. At first I could not find a matching text, but this turned out to be a bonus because I found out I could understand the audio without the text. A day or two later I found the text that I think Audible uses--have not checked out the whole thing yet.
It is from Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française, copyright by Librairie Gallimard, 1927. Le temps retrouvé, accessed 20 March 2021
A listening total for both versions of 142 minutes.

Spanish
Reading and listening to Rayuela by Julio Cortázar for a total of 137 minutes.
Cortázar makes references to a lot of jazz singers and instrumentalists from the 30s and 40s. When I looked up one of them in Youtube, I found a small welcoming committee of other readers of Rayuela. It was all fresh in Cortázar's mind of course when he published the novel in 1963, but now it's like rummaging through the attic and finding the occasional Victrola. How many younger readers can find it interesting? At any rate, Audible's reader, Leandro Schnitman, has a pleasant voice.
8 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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