Dave's log, (German and French)

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DaveAgain
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Dave's log, (German and French)

Postby DaveAgain » Thu Jul 11, 2019 5:46 pm

Dialang tells me my German reading is A2, I'm going to try to read 10,000 pages of German, and see where that takes me. I'm going to use this log to keep track.

1. Im Westen Nichts Neues, by Erich Maria Remarque. 263 pages

I read one chapter in L1, then read and listened to the same chapter in L2. I was able to borrow the texts from my local library, and the Goethe Institut's eLibrary has the audio.

In the back of my english language copy (ISBN: 9780099496946) was a note about the author's name:
His original name was Erich Paul Remark, but when he published All Quiet on the Western Front he changed his middle name in memory of his mother, and reverted to an earlier spelling of the family name to dissociate himself from a novel that he had published in 1920, Die Traumbude.
Last edited by DaveAgain on Fri Jan 21, 2022 9:20 am, edited 2 times in total.
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MorkTheFiddle
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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: 10,000 pages of German

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Thu Jul 11, 2019 11:20 pm

Hashimi wrote:Is "Im Westen Nichts Neues" suitable for A2 learners?
I read it when I was studying German (during the reign of the last Kaiser) and my level was probably A2 at that time. I found it difficult but readable. All of Remarque's novels, esxpecially the later ones, are IMHO quite good and worth the reading, though perhaps they are at a level higher than A2.
Part of Der Richter und sein Henker by Friedrich Dürrenmatt was assigned to us in my fourth semester of college German. Years later I finished it with enjoyment. Kind of an old-fashioned detective thriller with "meaning." I can still hear in my head the gravelly, world-weary voice of the reader of the audiobook of it that I listened to. The only other lit of note that I can remember was "Das Brot," a short story by Wolfgang Borchert and set just after World War 2 when food was in short supply in Germany.
Best of luck to you, DaveAgain, and to you, as well, Hashimi.
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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

DaveAgain
Black Belt - 1st Dan
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Re: 10,000 pages of German

Postby DaveAgain » Fri Jul 12, 2019 6:12 am

Hashimi wrote:Is "Im Westen Nichts Neues" suitable for A2 learners?
I read each chapter in English first.
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DaveAgain
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1968
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Re: 10,000 pages of German

Postby DaveAgain » Fri Jul 12, 2019 4:05 pm

2. Sarrasine by Honoré de Balzac - 58 pages, running total: 58 + 263 = 321 pages

I used Librivox.org for the audio, as that was in five parts I read 20% of the french eBook, then read and listened to the German, etc.
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DaveAgain
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Re: 10,000 pages of German

Postby DaveAgain » Sun Jul 14, 2019 7:26 pm

3. Volpone, der Fuchs by Ben Jonson & Stefan Zweig. 174 pages, running total: 174 + 321 = 495 pages

I read the english text until a scene break, then watched a video of an amateur german language stage production, then read the german text, etc.

There were some significant differences between the english and german plays. An afterword in the german text tells us that Mr Zweig did not have a copy of the english text to hand when he wrote his first draft, relying only on memory. :-)

I thought the theater company, Karl Theater did a good job. They've uploaded a number of full length plays to their YouTube channel, so if your german is better than mine, you might like to browse it.
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Sahmilat
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Re: 10,000 pages of German

Postby Sahmilat » Sun Jul 14, 2019 8:38 pm

Very ambitious and cool goal! I just wanted to drop in and recommend another work by Stefan Zweig, Schachnovelle. I read it in a day a few weeks ago. It's far more compelling than a book about chess has any right to be, and the language is not overly complicated. I think because of these qualities along with its relatively short length make it an excellent text for intermediate readers trying to get into literature.
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DaveAgain
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Re: 10,000 pages of German

Postby DaveAgain » Sun Jul 14, 2019 9:08 pm

Sahmilat wrote:Very ambitious and cool goal! I just wanted to drop in and recommend another work by Stefan Zweig, Schachnovelle. I read it in a day a few weeks ago. It's far more compelling than a book about chess has any right to be, and the language is not overly complicated. I think because of these qualities along with its relatively short length make it an excellent text for intermediate readers trying to get into literature.
Thanks for the recommendation, I'll look into it. :-)
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DaveAgain
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Re: 10,000 pages of German

Postby DaveAgain » Mon Jul 15, 2019 1:14 pm

Schachnovelle by Stefan Zweig. 44 pages, running total: 44 + 495 = 539 pages

I read 25% of the french eBook, then read and listened to the German, etc.

The Goethe eLibrary have the audio.
3 x

DaveAgain
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1968
Joined: Mon Aug 27, 2018 11:26 am
Languages: English (native), French & German (learning).
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... &start=200
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Re: 10,000 pages of German

Postby DaveAgain » Wed Jul 17, 2019 12:44 pm

5. Der Besuch der Alten Dame by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. 185 pages, running total: 185 + 539 =724 pages

This play was mentioned on the German: improving reading skills thread.

I watched a french language version (la visite de la vieille dame) a few weeks ago, so I was familiar with the plot before I started to read.

The text I used was intended for language learners, Routledge ISBN: 9780415051408. The German text is on the right hand page, on the facing page are some notes on the text
...not primarily for translations of difficult words and explanations of troublesome syntax but rather for various devices which are intended to facilitate vocabulary study and to familiarize the student with the construction of German words.
In back of the book is a glossary of ~2,000-2,500 (?) words.

I read the text, then the notes on the facing page. I didn't use the glossary.

-----
The notices at the front of the book say:
First published by Methuen and Co Ltd 1957
Introduction and notes copyright Paul Kurt Ackermann 1973

If I search Abebooks for AUTHOR, TITLE, PUBLISHER="Methuen" the cheapest option is ISBN: 0423827006
If I search for AUTHOR, TITLE, KEYWORD = "Ackermann" the cheapest option is ISBN: 0395040892

EDIT
Searching Abebooks for PUBLISHER = "Methuen Educational Ltd" brings up a number of french and german books:

German
    Der Gute Mensch von Sezuan - Bertolt Brecht
    Funf Lehrstucke - Bertolt Brecht
    Romulus der Grosse - Friedrich Durrenmatt
    Andorra - Frisch, M
    Biedermann und die Brandstifter - Frisch, Max
    Der Jungste Tag - Odon Von Horvath
French
    L'Alouette - Jean Anouilh
    Vipere au Poing - Herve Bazin
    La Peste - Albert Camus
    Caligula - Albert Camus
    L'étranger - albert Camus
    Elise or the Real Life - Claire Etcherelli
    Le Grand Meaulnes - Alain Fornier
    La Dentelliere - Pascal Laine
    Le Rendez-vous , Alain Robbe-Grillet
    Huis Clos - Jean-Paul Sartre
    Les Mains Sales - Jean Paul Sartre
    Les Jeux sont faits - Jean-Paul Sartre

EDIT2
    Moderato Cantabile by Marguerite Duras
    Autour de Mortin by Robert Pinget
Last edited by DaveAgain on Fri Mar 06, 2020 3:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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DaveAgain
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1968
Joined: Mon Aug 27, 2018 11:26 am
Languages: English (native), French & German (learning).
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Re: 10,000 pages of German

Postby DaveAgain » Thu Jul 18, 2019 2:06 pm

6. "Die Prinzessin von Llyr" aka "Taran und die Zauberkatze" by Lloyd Alexander, 171 pages, running total: 171 + 724 = 895 pages.

I read each chapter in english, then read and listened in German.

This book is the third in a five book series called the Chronicles of Prydain. I bought an omnibus edition of the first three books "Taran - die dunkle seite der macht" (ISBN: 3570131963). There is amateur audio for all the books on YouTube.

(The books seem to have been published under two different titles in German, hence the two titles above.)
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