Lingua's 2020 Italian, German, Portuguese Log (+ dabbling in Latin, Sicilian & dialects)

[lingua]

Thanks Wernecker. I was already doing Nicos Weg on DW site. The DW Top Thema you mentioned are at a B1 level which is still too high for me. However, I started looking at some of the other A1 courses. I'd already done a couple of lessons of Deutsch Interaktiv which I liked okay. But today I started the Radio D and that seems more like what I'm looking for. Lots of exercises and excellent explanations. The exercises are all in German though so I have to look up the words to make sure I understand what I'm supposed to do. I think I'll stick with this one for now.

Last night I started on the Kindle version of the PMP Basic German book and it seemed familiar. It turned out I already had an older physical copy of the book. This isn't the first time I've bought a duplicate book.

[IronMike]

Book #87: Zuppe di pesce e piatti unici by AA.VV. This is a small cookbook covering different types of fish soups. There was a section on soups from around the world. I was surprised there was no clam chowder. Also a section fish in pastry, fish quiche and such. They use a lot of different fish I've never heard of in English let alone Italian. Reading it was easy because outside of a few verbs specific to cooking techniques I haven't read about recently (or ever) and the unknown fish. This cookbook is part of a series.

zuppedipesce.jpg

Did you read it just for the Italian or do you like fish? Speaking of fish pastry/quiche, have you ever had Pissaladière? Or Pissaladina? This was a stand-by when the wife and I were pescovegetarians. I loved making it and eating it, so good.

I also find it interesting they didn't have clam chowder. Did they have any other chowders? What was the representative American fish soup in the book, if they had an American one?

[lingua]

Did you read it just for the Italian or do you like fish? Speaking of fish pastry/quiche, have you ever had Pissaladière? Or Pissaladina? This was a stand-by when the wife and I were pescovegetarians. I loved making it and eating it, so good. I also find it interesting they didn't have clam chowder. Did they have any other chowders? What was the representative American fish soup in the book, if they had an American one?

I don't recall ever having had Pissaladière. None of the "world" recipes appeared to be American. Mostly European and one Caribbean. However they had a recipe for the Scottish Cullen Skink which seems a lot like a chowder to me but uses haddock rather than clams. I generally prefer to read numerous books on the same subject to reinforce my vocabulary. I'm a huge fan of sushi though I mostly eat sashimi or nigiri. At home we do shellfish or a limited type of fish (salmon, flounder, ahi, sea bass) so I'm always on the look out for new ways to prepare it.

[lingua]

German:
Clozemaster: New: 116 & Reviewed: 402 (multiple choice)
Duolingo: 56 --> 57 crowns; subject: dates
Memrise: Review verb conjugations & vocabulary
PMP: Basic German: Chapter 1-2
DW Radio D: Lessons1-2
MHz Choice: Die Toten vom Bodensee S1E5-7 (264 mins)
MHz Choice: Tatort: Linholm: S1E1 (89 mins)
MHz Choice: Tatort: Borowski S2E1-2 (175 mins)

I finished up the Die Toten vom Bodensee series. There are two more episodes but MHz Choice doesn't yet have them. I hope they will get them eventually. I enjoyed the scenery of the lake and surrounding area enough that we'll be spending a couple of days in Konstanz when we're in Germany.

Deutsch Welle has a lot of different courses for all levels but especially A1-2 & B1. I am trying out a different set of lessons called Radio D located here: https://www.dw.com/en/learn-german/radio-d/s-9671. So far I'm enjoying it. It doesn't cover a lot because of the way it's structured. The German audio portion expects you to use the external sounds (outside of the speaking) to understand what is going on. The exercises are completely in German including the instructions. The first two lessons were basic and I knew all the words so I'm mostly using it for pronunciation reinforcement.

I did the first two chapters of PMP Basic German which covered the alphabet, pronunciation, etc. This was all review.


Portuguese:
Memrise: Review verb conjugations & vocabulary
Clozemaster: New: 200 (multiple choice) & Reviewed: 820 (text input)
Duolingo: 62 ---> 65 crowns; subjects: preposition contractions, demonstratives, occupation
Portuguese Lab: Lesson 10
PMP: Basic Portuguese: Chapter 7

Lesson 10 of Portuguese Lab covered plurals whichs are pretty easy in Portuguese compared to Italian. Chapter 7 of PMP covered four irregular verbs in the present tense (poder, querer, perder, pôr) and the vocabulary of politics. I was already familiar with all four verbs though the vocabulary was new to me.


Latin:
Memrise: reviewed vocabulary
Clozemaster: New: 0 & Reviewed: 346 (multiple choice)
Duolingo: 76 --> 78 crowns; subjects: routines, emotions

I did some Latin Memrise for the first time this year otherwise just do about 20 minutes per day on average.


Italian:
Memrise: reviewed vocabulary
Clozemaster: New: 0 & Reviewed: 100 sentences (text input)
Speechling: recording, diction
Reading: Newton e la formula dell'antigravità by Luca Novelli <-- 51%

I did a little Memrise for the first time since the first of January. Outside of that the usual reading, Clozemaster and recording on Speechling.

[lingua]

Book #88: Newton e la formula dell'antigravità by Luca Novelli. This book touched on the theory of relativity, alchemy, mechanics and mentioned the infamous apple.

newton.jpg (28.85 KiB) Viewed 754 times

[lingua]

German:
Clozemaster: New: 114 & Reviewed: 190 (multiple choice)
Duolingo: 57 crowns (nothing)
Memrise: Review verb conjugations & vocabulary

Very little German midweek. I am starting to revert to my original negative opinion of DuoLingo and haven't been in the mood to even bother with it. I was doing the English/German and Italian/German Clozemaster but decided to stick to one of them. English/German won out.

Portuguese:
Memrise: Review verb conjugations & vocabulary
Clozemaster: New: 239 (multiple choice) & Reviewed: 483 (text input)
Duolingo: 65 ---> 68 crowns; subjects: preposition contractions, pretérito perfeito, conjunctions
Portuguese Lab: Lesson 11-12
PMP: Basic Portuguese: Chapter 8-9; Review Everyday Vocabulary: Legumes I (vegetables)

Like with German, I was doing English & Italian to Portuguese and decided to stick with Italian/Portuguese. The downside to both Duolingo and Clozemaster is that they are Brazilian Portuguese. So there are some words that are somewhat frequently shown in Clozemaster that don't seem to be used in Portugal.

I know that overall it won't make a lot of difference but I have no plans to go to Brazil and I've been to Portugal several times and intend to return multiple times in the future so I prefer to learn that version. Most of the pronunciations in forvo are from Brazilians rather than Portuguese. I try to always download the Portuguese speaker. Often they sound the same or very similar but there have been a few words where the Portuguese and Brazilian speakers were not even close and I would have thought they were two completely different words.

Portuguese Lab: Lesson 11 covered having to do something using the verb ter + de + infinitive. Not difficult at all. Lesson 12 covered needing to do something using the verb precisar + de + infinitive. Also not difficult until doing an exercise that made me decide between having to do and needing to do. It seems a fine line. In English I would say they are pretty interchangeable. I have to go to the store / I need to go to the store because I have no food in the house. I need to drink a whiskey / I have to drink a whiskey. What is the real distinction?

Tenho de ir ao supermercado. Preciso de ir ao supermercado.
Tenho de beber um uísque. Preciso de beber um uísque.

*Corrections welcome.

PMP: Chapter 8: Regular -ir verbs in the present tense and the vocabulary of personality. Chapter 9: Irregular -ir verbs in the present tense and the vocabulary of accidents/incidents. The irregular verbs: pedir, ouvir, dormir, subir, ir, vir, sair, cair. Some of these are only partially irregular. Most of them I already had in Memrise so knew the conjugations.


Latin:
Memrise: reviewed vocabulary
Clozemaster: New: 0 & Reviewed: 450 (multiple choice)
Duolingo: 78 --> 79 crowns; subjects: food, time


Italian:
Reading: Piatti unici di verdure AA.VV. <-- 16%

I started reading Piatti unici di verdure. It's part of the series that the recently completed Pesce book belongs to. Unique dishes are fine but so far i would say these are not particularly appealing. Soup with raisins, apples and lentils or spinach and oats? No thanks. Now some of them sound OK by eliminating an ingredient or two. I read cookbooks to solidify my cooking/food vocabulary so it doesn't really matter if I ever make any of the recipes.

[rfnsoares]

Portuguese Lab: Lesson 11 covered having to do something using the verb ter + de + infinitive. Not difficult at all. Lesson 12 covered needing to do something using the verb precisar + de + infinitive. Also not difficult until doing an exercise that made me decide between having to do and needing to do. It seems a fine line. In English I would say they are pretty interchangeable. I have to go to the store / I need to go to the store because I have no food in the house. I need to drink a whiskey / I have to drink a whiskey. What is the real distinction?

Tenho de (que) ir ao supermercado. Preciso ir ao supermercado.
Tenho de (que) beber um uísque. Preciso beber um uísque.

*Corrections welcome.

1) Tenho de (formal) / Tenho que (informal, spoken language)
2) Preciso (+ inf.) or Preciso de (+ noun)

* Although Preciso de + inf. is grammatically correct, it is not used, even among classic authors.
Preciso viajar para ser feliz / Preciso de uma viagem para ser feliz

3) There's a fine line too in Portuguese. Preciso implies a wish, desire or a necessity, on the other hand, Tenho de implies an obligation, duty.

[iguanamon]

I know that overall it won't make a lot of difference but I have no plans to go to Brazil and I've been to Portugal several times and intend to return multiple times in the future so I prefer to learn that version. ...

You are right that whichever version of Portuguese you learn won't make a difference to either community. I concentrated on Brazilian Portuguese but also used Iberian Portuguese resources. I have traveled in both Brazil and Portugal. I have met speakers of both varieties in both countries- just like you see Americans, Australians and Canadians in Britain. I have traveled with a Brazilian in Portugal and hung out with both communities each of us speaking our own variety of Portuguese amongst and with each other with no problems in comprehension on either side. I speak with a Brazilian accent and vocabulary and have never had an issue with being understood or understanding. There is a significant Brazilian immigrant community in Portugal and vice-versa. There are also many Brazilian tourists in Portugal. I can pretty much guarantee you that you will encounter Brazilian Portuguese all over Portugal from time to time. Don't worry about it. Just learn Portuguese and it will make sense soon enough.

With your Italian, Latin and Sicilian dialect background, I am certain that you will make rapid progress with Portuguese. It's a great language, a world language spanning South America, Africa and even continuing to have a small presence in Asia. I'm enjoying following your progress. Boa sorte!

[tastyonions]

"Precisar de" + infinitive is definitely still used in Portugal: https://ciberduvidas.iscte-iul.pt/consu ... udar/22875

The site also notes that it is less common in Brazil.

It's mostly slang words that you'll need to be careful about as far as vocabulary. Example:

puto | s. m. | pron. indef. | adj. m.
1. [Portugal, Informal] Criança ou jovem do sexo masculino. = GAROTO, MENINO, MIÚDO, RAPAZ
2. [Portugal, Informal] Filho.
3. [Brasil, Informal, Depreciativo] Homem homossexual.
4. [Brasil, Informal] Homem libertino ou devasso. = SACANA

https://dicionario.priberam.org/puto

[lingua]

German:
Clozemaster: New: 536 & Reviewed: 624 (multiple choice)
Duolingo: 57 --> 60 crowns; subjects: dates, predicate, location
Memrise: Review verb conjugations & vocabulary
Reading: Café in Berlin by André Klein
Watched: Tatort: Lindholm S1E2 (88 mins)

I reread the first three chapters of Café in Berlin and read the fourth chapter. The first chapters are a lot easier now and I understand most of it. I didn't much enjoy the second episode of Tatort: Lindholm. Too much emphasis on the criminals and not enough on solving it.


Portuguese:
Memrise: Review verb conjugations & vocabulary
Clozemaster: New: 340 (multiple choice) & Reviewed: 688 (text input)
Duolingo: 68 ---> 72 crowns; subjects: prepositions, time, measurements, imperative
Portuguese Lab: Lesson 13;
MHz Choice: Filha da Lei S1E1 (90 mins)
Reading: Cozinha do Rio <-- 21%

Portuguese Lab: Lesson 13 covered knowing how to do something using the verb saber + infinitive. This was straight forward so no difficulties at all. I also did some phonetic review and vowel sounds from the pronunciation and beginning Portuguese Lab courses. My understanding of pronunciation is improving but I continue to have problems with a few sounds.

I reread Cozinha do Rio and then read ahead. Since I've been putting the vocabulary in Memrise I'm finding it relatively easy to understand. The recipes have a tendency to use a lot of the same ingredients. I'm also finding that doing text input for Clozemaster reviews is becoming much easier.

I watched the first episode of Filha da Lei. It's only 45 minutes so I watched it twice. The first time I watched for the story. It was pretty hard to understand and I only picked up a spattering of words. The second time through I focused on listening since I already knew the story line. I felt like I picked up a lot more words. Since the episodes are short I will probably continue to do it this way.


Latin:
Clozemaster: New: 0 & Reviewed: 788 (multiple choice)
Duolingo: 79 --> 83 crowns; subjects: time, language, home, gods


Italian:
Clozemaster: New: 0 & Reviewed: 102 (multiple choice)
italki: one hour lesson
Reading: Piatti unici di verdure AA.VV. <-- 39%
Reading: Torte salate e sformati di verdure AA.VV. <-- 14%

Still mostly only doing reading. I had one tutor session and it went well. My tutor says she is pleased with the word choices I'm making and also the fact that my errors are lessening. I'm more likely to self correct most of the time.