Lingua's Log: IT, DE, PT, FR (+ dabbling in LAT, SCN, PMS, etc)

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lemonbird
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Re: Lingua's Log: IT, DE, PT, FR (+ dabbling in LAT, SCN, PMS, etc)

Postby lemonbird » Wed Jan 12, 2022 3:15 am

lingua wrote:I also read the full story O baú das coisas perdidas by Susana Morais who is the person behind the PTLab (Portuguese Lab Academy). This is written at the A2 level. She must be planning a sequel because the ending was not complete. The book is structured with the story in Portuguese, the story with English translation (by paragraph), interactive exercises, glossary and there is audio available all for only $3 on Amazon for the ebook version. I was using this for my short lived shadowing last month. I will most likely spend some more time with the rest of the book and audio but I did read the entire story in one go a few days ago. It's pretty easy though there were some unknown words due to the type of story which is about a bubble breathing dragon and a woman who finds lost things for others. Information can be found here: https://storyglot.com/bau-das-coisas-perdidas


Obrigada por ter falado do Baú das coisas perdidas! Até agora, tinha desistido em ler um romance em português (me di conta da grande diferença entre o português falado e o português escrito/literário em 2021) porém, este romance parece perfeito pra mim. É bem curto também, né?
2 x

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lingua
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Re: Lingua's Log: IT, DE, PT, FR (+ dabbling in LAT, SCN, PMS, etc)

Postby lingua » Thu Jan 13, 2022 6:35 am

lemonbird wrote:
lingua wrote:I also read the full story O baú das coisas perdidas by Susana Morais ... information can be found here: https://storyglot.com/bau-das-coisas-perdidas


Obrigada por ter falado do Baú das coisas perdidas! Até agora, tinha desistido em ler um romance em português (me di conta da grande diferença entre o português falado e o português escrito/literário em 2021) porém, este romance parece perfeito pra mim. É bem curto também, né?


Yes, it's short. It's not a novel though. It's a Reader specifically for learners.
1 x
Super Challenge 2022-23:
DE: books: 0 / 2500 film: 1654 / 4500
IT: books: 3065 / 5000 film: 5031 / 9000
PT: books: 2921 / 5000 film: 5010 / 9000

Output Challenge 2023:
IT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 84 / 3000
PT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 0 / 3000

PT: Read 100 books: 28 / 100

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lingua
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Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=12257
x 2024

Re: Lingua's Log: IT, DE, PT, FR (+ dabbling in LAT, SCN, PMS, etc)

Postby lingua » Fri Jan 14, 2022 7:44 pm

German
-Quizlet: review course vocabulary
-Memrise: review verb conjugations

I started my online German course and there was barely anything to do for the first week lesson so I immediately went into the second week. So far I know nearly all of the vocabulary. The course includes a combination of written lecture, links to YouTube videos, links to practice exercises and a language lab. The latter I found to be slow, kludgy and mostly useless outside of the pronunciation aspect. I expressed my dislike to the professor who said it isn't required so I can choose to use it as much or as little as I like.

I've decided to pay for a year of Speechling again so I can get feedback on my pronunciation. I'll be making sure I can pronounce all lesson vocabulary correctly. Mid semester I have to write a short essay which I expect to be easy. Overall I'll have enough to keep me busy without keeping Assimil in the mix which would just clutter my mind with too many words I won't need for class. I don't expect any problems with this course so will be using it to focus on pronunciation and mastering verb conjugations especially the irregular ones.

I'm using quizlet for the course vocabulary because I don't want to waste time in memrise "learning" words I already know. I'm primarily using the write mode to make sure I'm spelling correctly and retaining gender.


Italian:
-Reading: Carnevale in giallo by Costa, Giménez-Bartlett, Malvaldi, Manzini, Recami (48%)

I got an email yesterday from Sellerio that the newest Rocco Schiavone book was available so I already bought it and will start it as soon as I'm done with the current book.


Portuguese:
-Textbook: Cozinhar em Português (nothing)
-Textbook: Gramática Ativa 1 - unit 29
-PTLab: B1-B2 lessons: gerúndio
-Memrise: verb conjugations

With most of my focus on German the last few days Portuguese has gotten shorted. I did one unit of Gramática Ativa I covering the gerúndio simples & ir + gerúndio (gerund). It's probably the easiest tense to conjugate. I haven't yet settled on a new book and have started the first few pages of three different ones. One was way too hard right off the bat so I gave up on it rather quickly. At the moment I'm leaning towards a cookbook as I like to return to them periodically to ensure I remember all the cooking terminology.
6 x
Super Challenge 2022-23:
DE: books: 0 / 2500 film: 1654 / 4500
IT: books: 3065 / 5000 film: 5031 / 9000
PT: books: 2921 / 5000 film: 5010 / 9000

Output Challenge 2023:
IT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 84 / 3000
PT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 0 / 3000

PT: Read 100 books: 28 / 100

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lingua
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Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=12257
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Re: Lingua's Log: IT, DE, PT, FR (+ dabbling in LAT, SCN, PMS, etc)

Postby lingua » Mon Jan 24, 2022 8:11 pm

German
-MHz Choice: Tatort: Borowski S1E1 (89 mins)
-MHz Choie: Der Bestatter (S3E1-4) (230 mins)
-PMP German Verb Tenses: 1.6, 1.8-1.13, 2.1-2.2
-Quizlet: review course vocabulary
-Memrise: review verb conjugations
-write: 622 words

Spending my time making sure I know all of the vocabulary for my course as well as all verb conjugations in present tense. I'm also still working a week ahead. It's still easy and so far I've 100% on my quizzes which I would fully expect given my background. I knew the majority of this weeks vocabulary but have made more gender errors than last week.

I supplemented with some exercises in the PMP German Verb Tenses book that covered regular present tense conjugations as well as haben (to have) and sein (to be). The course itself has very few exercises and includes links to some online exercises but I prefer to write out exercises by hand as it helps me retain concepts better.

I watched an episode of Borowski for the first time in a long time and thought it was better than some episodes in the prior season. I'm happy Brandt is gone as I never did like her.


Italian:
-Reading: Carnevale in giallo by Costa, Giménez-Bartlett, Malvaldi, Manzini, Recami (87%)

I've only one short story left to read in this book.


Portuguese:
-Reading: Só para um by Rita Lobo (15%)
-Textbook: Cozinhar em Português (nothing)
-Textbook: Gramática Ativa 1 - unit 30
-PTLab: A1-A2 lessons: haver, haver de + infinitivo
-Memrise: verb conjugations

I'm still not spending as much time as I'd like with Portuguese. I again did only one unit of Gramática Ativa I covering haver & haver de + infinitivo. Haver is a bit of a strange verb. It's used to indicate that something exists, something has happened in the past or will happen in the future. When used as the main verb with no subject it has only the third person form. However, it's also an auxiliary verb where all forms are used. I see it regularly when reading but haven't used it much when writing so I'd say I'm a little weak with it.
8 x
Super Challenge 2022-23:
DE: books: 0 / 2500 film: 1654 / 4500
IT: books: 3065 / 5000 film: 5031 / 9000
PT: books: 2921 / 5000 film: 5010 / 9000

Output Challenge 2023:
IT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 84 / 3000
PT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 0 / 3000

PT: Read 100 books: 28 / 100

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lingua
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Abandoned: ไทย, español
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=12257
x 2024

Re: Lingua's Log: IT, DE, PT, FR (+ dabbling in LAT, SCN, PMS, etc)

Postby lingua » Tue Mar 15, 2022 5:36 am

German
-MHz Choice: Tatort: Borowski S4E2 (88 mins)
-MHz Choice: Kommissar Dupin S1E1-8 (701 mins)
-Quizlet: review course vocabulary
-Memrise: review verb conjugations
-wrote: 3930 words

I watched the entire first season of Kommissar Dupin. I rather liked it. I don’t know if there are any more episodes but if there were I’d be watching.

Outside of that, I’m mostly spending my time on coursework which includes grammar lessons, links to videos, language lab and a cultural reading. Each week there are quizzes which usually include a multiple choice or fill-in quiz, oral questions which need a recorded answer and/or some questions that need written response or more recently a paragraph to discuss a specific topic. I've missed a few answers but overall I'm at 97% which is acceptable.


Italian:
-Reading: Tatuaggio by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán / translated by Hado Lyria (36%)
-Netflix: Quattro Metá (105 mins)

Quattro Metá was recommended from a reliable source but I didn’t much like it. I kept thinking it would get better but it didn’t. I barely even remember the movie but it involved matchmaking amongst friends. Not recommended.

I finished two books: Carnevale in giallo which consisted of five short stores by Alicia Giménez-Bartlett, Francesco Recami, Gian Mauro Costa, Antonio Manzini and Marco Malvaldi. I didn’t enjoy this topic as much as I’ve enjoyed the prior books. I also completed the latest Rocco Schiavone book: Le ossa parlano by Antonio Manzini. This one involved a difficult subject (pedophilia). Overall he did a good job on the subject. Manzini tends to tackle societal issues but he does it in a way that isn’t preachy. Instead he leads you to his point of view.

I bought Tatuaggio a long time ago. I wanted to read a book by Montalbán because the Montalbano series by Camilleri is an homage to the author. I’m not sure if it’s the translation or something else but I don’t much like the writing. Too much of the book is spent on random thoughts, descriptions, etc that have nothing to do with the murder.


Portuguese:
-Reading: Só para um by Rita Lobo (22%)

Portuguese has been neglected. Until I complete my German course I probably won’t do much with it.
6 x
Super Challenge 2022-23:
DE: books: 0 / 2500 film: 1654 / 4500
IT: books: 3065 / 5000 film: 5031 / 9000
PT: books: 2921 / 5000 film: 5010 / 9000

Output Challenge 2023:
IT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 84 / 3000
PT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 0 / 3000

PT: Read 100 books: 28 / 100

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lingua
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Abandoned: ไทย, español
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=12257
x 2024

Re: Lingua's Log: IT, DE, PT, FR (+ dabbling in LAT, SCN, PMS, etc)

Postby lingua » Mon Mar 28, 2022 2:30 am

Life is getting in the way of my studying in recent weeks.

German
-Memrise: review verb conjugations

I did the bare minimum for my German course. We have to write an essay so the first part was to create an outline of vocabulary that we intend to use. That took way longer to create than I expected but I can't know what vocabulary I'm going to use until I do a rough outline of what I'm planning to write. Only three more weeks of class and I'm done. I won't be continuing as I don't like the structure of the course.


Italian:
- 2 italki sessions

I finished reading Tatuaggio by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán / translated by Hado Lyria. This is the second book in the Pepe Carvalho series. He's an ex-CIA operative turned PI who likes good food. His girlfriend Charo is a prostitute but he also hooks up with other women on the side.

A man with an unusual tattoo is found dead. His face is beaten beyond recognition and a local business owner hires Carvalho to find out the dead mans name. Carvalho tracks down the name but he thinks something is off so he continues the investigation on his own to find out who the murderer was.

Overall I didn't much like this book. Partly because it's short (only 181 pages) and there is a lot of filler of Carvalho's random thoughts about life and food and partly because the translation felt off to me. This seems to be a lower rated book in the series so I might try another one in Portuguese in the future or one of the later books translated by someone else. I had expected it to be much better based on the fact that Camilleri liked the author.

tatuaggio.jpg
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7 x
Super Challenge 2022-23:
DE: books: 0 / 2500 film: 1654 / 4500
IT: books: 3065 / 5000 film: 5031 / 9000
PT: books: 2921 / 5000 film: 5010 / 9000

Output Challenge 2023:
IT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 84 / 3000
PT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 0 / 3000

PT: Read 100 books: 28 / 100

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lingua
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Posts: 951
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2016 11:23 pm
Languages: English (N)
Maintaining: italiano (B2/C1ish)
Studying: português, Latina
Dabbling: siciliano, Deutsch, français, piemontèis
Abandoned: ไทย, español
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=12257
x 2024

Re: Lingua's Log: IT, DE, PT, FR (+ dabbling in LAT, SCN, PMS, etc)

Postby lingua » Thu Apr 14, 2022 5:01 am

Life is getting in the way of my studying in recent weeks.

German

I completed my German course with 95% which I'm fine with. I knew the majority of the material but was able to fill in a few gaps of some grammar points that I hadn't spent much if any time on. I am going to give it a rest for a while and get back to Portugal for the next month or so, I'll return to Assimil in about a month as well as focus on my grammar weaknesses.


Italian:
- Reading: Il mondo secondo Garp by John Irving / translated by Pier Francesco Paolini (11%)

Some time ago someone here posted a list of some number of books that one should read. I took a look at the list and found I probably had only read about 30 of them. There were a couple by Irving who I read when I was much younger but I had never read this one so decided to buy it even though I don't generally like translated books. It's a pretty easy read and so far I like it OK.
6 x
Super Challenge 2022-23:
DE: books: 0 / 2500 film: 1654 / 4500
IT: books: 3065 / 5000 film: 5031 / 9000
PT: books: 2921 / 5000 film: 5010 / 9000

Output Challenge 2023:
IT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 84 / 3000
PT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 0 / 3000

PT: Read 100 books: 28 / 100

User avatar
lingua
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Posts: 951
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2016 11:23 pm
Languages: English (N)
Maintaining: italiano (B2/C1ish)
Studying: português, Latina
Dabbling: siciliano, Deutsch, français, piemontèis
Abandoned: ไทย, español
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=12257
x 2024

Re: Lingua's Log: IT, DE, PT, FR (+ dabbling in LAT, SCN, PMS, etc)

Postby lingua » Tue May 10, 2022 2:29 am

I've not done much since I'm still having trouble finding much time to spend with languages but things should free up by the end of the month.

German
- Memrise (verb conjugations)
- Speechling

I managed a bit of Memrise reviewing verb conjugations. I also got back to Speechling and will be spending more time on that in the coming weeks.


Italian:
- Reading: Il mondo secondo Garp by John Irving / translated by Pier Francesco Paolini (26%)
- MHz Choice: Don Matteo: S9E1-3 (181 mins)
- Netflix: Guida astrologica per cuori infranti S1E1-6 & S2E1-5 (414 mins)
- Speechling
- one hour session with italki teacher

MHz Choice dropped Don Matteo a while back because they weren't able to come to terms with the distributor. But now they've brought it back so I started watching Season 9. This series is a bit silly but the dialog is easy to follow. I also watched two seasons of Guida astrologica per cuori infranti on Netflix. It was a stupid romantic comedy series related to astrological signs but again easy dialog.
7 x
Super Challenge 2022-23:
DE: books: 0 / 2500 film: 1654 / 4500
IT: books: 3065 / 5000 film: 5031 / 9000
PT: books: 2921 / 5000 film: 5010 / 9000

Output Challenge 2023:
IT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 84 / 3000
PT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 0 / 3000

PT: Read 100 books: 28 / 100

User avatar
lingua
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Posts: 951
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2016 11:23 pm
Languages: English (N)
Maintaining: italiano (B2/C1ish)
Studying: português, Latina
Dabbling: siciliano, Deutsch, français, piemontèis
Abandoned: ไทย, español
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=12257
x 2024

Re: Lingua's Log: IT, DE, PT, FR (+ dabbling in LAT, SCN, PMS, etc)

Postby lingua » Thu May 26, 2022 9:02 pm

German
- Memrise (verb conjugations)
- Speechling
- MHz Choice: Tatort: Weimar S1E1 (86 mins)

MHz Choice has added yet another Tatort so I watched the first episode. Not sure if I like this one or not. Seemed a bit dull at times but I'll try another episode or two before I decide for sure. Otherwise I've only spent a small amount of time with verb conjugation and Speechling. I'll make an attempt to return to Assimil sometime next week.


Italian:
- Reading: Il mondo secondo Garp by John Irving / translated by Pier Francesco Paolini (38%)
- Netflix: Fedeltà S1E1-6 (239 mins)
- Netflix: 18 regali (114 mins)
- MHz Choice: Imma Tataranni S2E1-2 (124 mins)
- Speechling
- Recording/Reading: Tesla e la macchina a energia cosmica by Luca Novelli (23%)

I'm happy to see the return of Imma Tataranni. In fact MHz Choice has a couple of new series coming up later this year: Makari: Sicilian Mysteries by the producers of Montalbano. Makari is based on novels by Gaetano Savatteri. Another series will be The Alligator based on books by Marco Buratti. I read the first book a few years ago. Plus season three of I bastardi di Pizzofalcone is coming up in July. Good news for me as I was starting to run out of Italian stuff to watch.

Outside of watching I've been reading and recording again.


Portuguese:
- Memrise (verb conjugations)
- Reading: Só para um by Rita Lobo (31%)

I finally returned to my Portuguese book and have a short list of things I need to do with Portuguese by Monday.
4 x
Super Challenge 2022-23:
DE: books: 0 / 2500 film: 1654 / 4500
IT: books: 3065 / 5000 film: 5031 / 9000
PT: books: 2921 / 5000 film: 5010 / 9000

Output Challenge 2023:
IT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 84 / 3000
PT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 0 / 3000

PT: Read 100 books: 28 / 100

User avatar
lingua
Blue Belt
Posts: 951
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2016 11:23 pm
Languages: English (N)
Maintaining: italiano (B2/C1ish)
Studying: português, Latina
Dabbling: siciliano, Deutsch, français, piemontèis
Abandoned: ไทย, español
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=12257
x 2024

Re: Lingua's Log: IT, DE, PT, FR (+ dabbling in LAT, SCN, PMS, etc)

Postby lingua » Wed Jun 08, 2022 6:29 pm

German
- Memrise (verb conjugations)
- Speechling

Not much German going on at the moment in spite of my intentions since the last update.


Italian:
- Reading: Il mondo secondo Garp by John Irving / translated by Pier Francesco Paolini (51%)
- MHz Choice: Don Matteo S9E5-14 (557 mins)
- Podcast: Mangia come parli (47 mins)
- Speechling
- One 65 minute italki session

I listened to one episode of Mangia come parli about potatoes. It's been a while since I've listened to it and will be adding it back into the rotation as part of the SC since I'll probably run out of other things to watch before I get to the goal.

I've completed my reading/recording of Tesla e la macchina a energia cosmica by Luca Novelli. Tesla was a strange duck. The book was structured similar to the other books in the series with an overview of his life and primary accomplishments followed by a little mini-dictionary of related terminology. Tesla the car company made it into the dictionary. Totally enjoyable read. I feel like I'm reading aloud a lot faster now which is good since I want to complete the Italian output goal this year after not managing to with my prior attempts.

tesla.jpg


I'm pretty sure I've said this before but I'll make another plug for the Lampi di genio series of books by Luca Novelli. They're not difficult to read. If you're weak in science like I am then you'll learn something about important people and their contributions as well as build your science vocabulary. If you are already knowledgeable with science they could still serve as a review. The drawings are a nice addition. They all have a little dictionary of terminology at the end and a couple of them have had an activity for kids included. Also they're only 128 pages with illustrations so it would be a good choice for intensive reading.


Portuguese:
- Memrise (verb conjugations)
- rtp.pt: O Sábio E32-33 (80 mins)
- Podcast: Assim Assado: E1 (66 mins)
- Textbook: Gramática Ativa 1 - unit 30-31
- wrote: 683 words

Since there isn't a lot of European Portuguese shows available to me I'll be listening to the Assim Assado podcast for a portion of the SC. There are about 65 episodes and they are around an hour each so it should give me a good chunk of time. The host of the podcast interviews Portuguese speaking chefs. The first episode was about Manuel Liebaut a Lisbon chef. I got the gist of the podcast but didn't understand 100%. I think my listening comprehension will improve after listening to a few more episodes as I get used to the host and his relaxed conversational style. At least in this episode they both were speaking clearly.

I finally returned to Gramática Ativa 1 and did two units. I actually had already done unit 30 on haver; haver de + infinitive but didn't realize it at first. It was pretty straight forward. Unit 31 covered poder, conseguir, saber, conhecer, dever, ter de / que and precisar de. The idea being that one needs to know when to use each of them. In some cases it's obvious but in others not so much. I missed a few of these and will need to review it again in the future.

I even managed to write a few paragraphs. It wasn't very easy for me. I have forgotten some things during my unintended break when I was concentrating on German.

Book #20: I finished reading Só para um by Rita Lobo. This cookbook was focused on cooking for one. It included recipes for only 1-2 portions, a section with recipes for four portions with instructions for freezing, thawing and reheating. It got a little boring since the latter instructions were in every four portion recipe with minimal variation. At the end there was a section about furnishing your kitchen. The book was geared towards a beginner cook. I did think it was useful for someone living alone since cooking for one can be difficult so the smaller recipes and pointers were good.

soparaum.jpg
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5 x
Super Challenge 2022-23:
DE: books: 0 / 2500 film: 1654 / 4500
IT: books: 3065 / 5000 film: 5031 / 9000
PT: books: 2921 / 5000 film: 5010 / 9000

Output Challenge 2023:
IT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 84 / 3000
PT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 0 / 3000

PT: Read 100 books: 28 / 100


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