Montmorency's Log (CY, DE, NO) + (Celtic {Team) Nordic} + SC 2016-7

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Montmorency
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Posts: 1035
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:01 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Languages: English (Native)
Maintaining: German (active skills lapsed somewhat).
Studying: Welsh (advanced beginner/intermediate);
Dabbling/Beginner: Czech

Back-burner: Spanish (intermediate) Norwegian (bit more than beginner) Danish (beginner).

Have studied: Latin, French, Italian, Dutch; OT Hebrew (briefly) NT Greek (briefly).
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1429
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Re: Montmorency's rather intermittent Log (CY, DE, ES, DK(?),...?)

Postby Montmorency » Thu Oct 15, 2015 4:29 pm

Donnerstag 15. Oktober 2015 - Deutsch

Conversation group; 2 hours; went quite well. The native speaker tutor/leader mentioned that she was offering evening lessons to a small group and asked if we were interested. (One of the other learners in the group has been to her evening classes before; he is quite advanced). Depending on details, I will probably sign up for it. I read some handouts (mostly about the interaction between Frau Merkel and Herr Gauck over the asylum-seeker crisis), on the bus home.

Later, listened to:

wdr5dasphilosophischeradio_2015-09-18_schmerzhaftwarumgutephilosophiewehtunmusssendungvom18092015_wdr5 (52 min)

Edit:

wdr5dasphilosophischeradio_2015-10-09_einefragederhaltunggelingendeslebensendungvom09102015_wdr5 (52 min)

Quite a German day today, as things turned out. Must fit in some Cymraeg tomorrow.
Last edited by Montmorency on Mon Oct 19, 2015 10:21 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Montmorency
Brown Belt
Posts: 1035
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:01 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Languages: English (Native)
Maintaining: German (active skills lapsed somewhat).
Studying: Welsh (advanced beginner/intermediate);
Dabbling/Beginner: Czech

Back-burner: Spanish (intermediate) Norwegian (bit more than beginner) Danish (beginner).

Have studied: Latin, French, Italian, Dutch; OT Hebrew (briefly) NT Greek (briefly).
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1429
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Re: Montmorency's rather intermittent Log (CY, DE, ES, DK(?),...?)

Postby Montmorency » Fri Oct 16, 2015 11:55 pm

Dydd Gwener 17 Hydref 2015 - Cymraeg

Not much time for languages today, but wanted to squeeze in some Welsh:

OrBae-20151016-ArweinwyrLlafurAcAdeiladauCrefyddol (27 min)

The weekly political round-up.

A look at the state of chapel worship in Wales ... not as healthy as it once was.

The "ArweinwyrLlafur" in the title is a reference to the (new) leader of the Labour party, and the hard time he is (predictably) being given by the government and the (mostly right-wing) press.
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Montmorency
Brown Belt
Posts: 1035
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:01 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Languages: English (Native)
Maintaining: German (active skills lapsed somewhat).
Studying: Welsh (advanced beginner/intermediate);
Dabbling/Beginner: Czech

Back-burner: Spanish (intermediate) Norwegian (bit more than beginner) Danish (beginner).

Have studied: Latin, French, Italian, Dutch; OT Hebrew (briefly) NT Greek (briefly).
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1429
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Re: Montmorency's rather intermittent Log (CY, DE, ES, DK(?),...?)

Postby Montmorency » Sat Oct 17, 2015 3:15 pm

Dydd Sadwrn 17eg (yr ail ar bymtheg) Hydref 2015 - Cymraeg

John_Walter_-_14_10_2015_b06hb0t2_default (~34 min).

John Walter in conversation with 2 others (possibly ex-HMI school inspectors) talking about small schools in Wales.

Update: ~50 minutes Skype conversation with fellow SSiW forum members. I didn't feel well prepared, but it went better than expected. A little too much English, ond na ni; paid a phoenu / becso - but there we are; don't worry.

Later: listened again to the John Walter podcast. I think the others were teachers, rather than school inspectors. It got quite heated at some points, which is quite good, as you then tend to hear more spontaneous speech, although they were talking across each other.
Last edited by Montmorency on Sun Oct 18, 2015 12:19 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Montmorency
Brown Belt
Posts: 1035
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:01 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Languages: English (Native)
Maintaining: German (active skills lapsed somewhat).
Studying: Welsh (advanced beginner/intermediate);
Dabbling/Beginner: Czech

Back-burner: Spanish (intermediate) Norwegian (bit more than beginner) Danish (beginner).

Have studied: Latin, French, Italian, Dutch; OT Hebrew (briefly) NT Greek (briefly).
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1429
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Re: Montmorency's rather intermittent Log (CY, DE, ES, DK(?),...?)

Postby Montmorency » Sun Oct 18, 2015 11:59 am

Dydd Sul 18fed (deunawfed) Hydref 2015 - Cymraeg

Listened to John_Walter_-_14_10_2015_b06hb0t2_default again (3rd time). (34 min).

I would say the repeated listening did increase word recognition and comprehension somewhat. I think 3 times is about my limit, at least over a shortish period. On the whole, I think I'd rather spend the time listening to something different (in any case, the same words are going to come up, to some extent). Nevertheless, I'm going to give repeated listening a try for a while, something I've not really done, except repeating SSiW lessons when needed, but that is slightly different I think. Even then, I try to avoid repeats of lessons (and this is in line with latest SSiW thinking as it happens).

I've been reading some articles/papers on the web about repeated listening. As usual there are conflicting views. If there is any consensus, it seems to be that it has some value. It might only be marginal though.

Listened to John_Walter_-_15_04_2015_b05px5v0_default (31 minutes).

About pel-droed (football), a subject in which I have almost zero interest, but in a way, that helped me concentrate on the words and structure, and not worry too much about the content. :-) And it was actually more interesting than I was expecting. John Walter is a good host / interviewer and keeps it lively. I think he is a gog (northerner), which I suppose helps me to understand him better than some other speakers, as I'm learning gog.
(The continuity announcer referred to him as John Walter Jones. Na ni, beth bynnag. There we are, whatever).

Update:

Sonntag 18. Oktober 2015 2015 - Deutsch

Listened to:

wdr5dasphilosophischeradio_2015-08-28_gefaehrdetdieautonomiesendungvom28082015_wdr5 (53 min)

Gefährdet? - die Autonomie - Studiogast: Michael Pauen, Philosoph.

Cymraeg unwaith eto (Welsh again)

Listened to 5x 5 minute conversations recorded by Aran and Catrin from SSiW. These are bonus offerings for people who have subscribed to their "Growth Club". Transcripts are available, but I'm trying not to use them, at least until I've had a go at making my own transcript. They are not quite as difficult as the average Radio Cymru programme, but still challenging enough (which is good).

DewiLlwydArForeSul-20151018 (1h 6m)

A weekly round-up of the Sunday newspapers (mostly English language papers). Dewi Llwyd plus guests. I find Dewi Llwyd (who sounds like a southerner) fairly difficult to understand, partly because of the accent, and partly because he speaks so quickly and also with a sing-song tone and variable speed (fast and faster - he never actually slows down). A good challenge though.

"Ar Fore Sul" = "On Sunday Morning" - morning = "bore" which is soft-mutated because of the "Ar" (and perhaps because it's a time expression).
(Note that the normal word for "sun" is "haul" not "sul").

(Glad to have managed a bit of both Welsh and German today, which is what I've been aiming for, but not always managing. This seems to be the secret of the real polyglots (not that I really aim to be one, but I can learn from them): do some of each language each day, which must be quite time consuming for those with a dozen or more languages (which is not my aim at all), but I admire them for doing it). In passing, my skills in Welsh compared to German are quite opposite: In Welsh I am fluent with a tiny vocabulary (because of the way I have learned); In German I now have a fair vocabulary, but do not at all consider myself fluent, although my listening comprehension is OK (this is also because of the (different) way I have learned. I am now trying to get a better balance between the two: more vocabulary in Welsh: more fluency - more speaking - in German; however, because I had quite a long break from German I'm approaching it more by listening than speaking at the moment, but that will gradually change...I hope).
Last edited by Montmorency on Mon Oct 19, 2015 10:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Montmorency
Brown Belt
Posts: 1035
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:01 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Languages: English (Native)
Maintaining: German (active skills lapsed somewhat).
Studying: Welsh (advanced beginner/intermediate);
Dabbling/Beginner: Czech

Back-burner: Spanish (intermediate) Norwegian (bit more than beginner) Danish (beginner).

Have studied: Latin, French, Italian, Dutch; OT Hebrew (briefly) NT Greek (briefly).
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1429
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Re: Montmorency's rather intermittent Log (CY, DE, ES, DK(?),...?)

Postby Montmorency » Mon Oct 19, 2015 3:33 pm

Montag 19. Oktober 2015 - Deutsch

wdr5tischgespraech_2015-08-05_johansimons05082015_wdr5 (47 min)

Thought I should try a different sort of podcast for variety. Johan Simons speaks with what sounds to me like a Bavarian accent (although it was all Hochdeutsch), fortunately quite slowly and clearly.

Dydd Llun 19eg (y pedwerydd ar bymtheg) Hydref 2015 - Cymraeg

John_Walter_-_07_10_2015_b06drw60_default (27 minutes)

JW + 3 guests (sometimes all 4 of them talking at once). Fairly challenging, but interesting.

Update:

wdr2montalk_2015-10-12_renandemirkanwdr2montalk12102015_wdr2 (1h 5m)

A different station and different style from "DPR", but good to have some variety.
Last edited by Montmorency on Mon Oct 19, 2015 10:24 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Josquin
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Location: Germany
Languages: German (native); English (advanced fluency); French (basic fluency); Italian, Swedish, Russian, Irish (intermediate); Dutch, Icelandic, Japanese, Portuguese, Scottish Gaelic (beginner); Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Sanskrit (reading only)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=737
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Re: Montmorency's rather intermittent Log (CY, DE, ES, DK(?),...?)

Postby Josquin » Mon Oct 19, 2015 10:05 pm

Quick remark on your German dates: Ordinal numbers in German are expressed by putting a full stop after the respective cardinal number, so the correct date for yesterday would be 19. Oktober 2015 or 19.10.2015. Also, even if your way to indicate ordinal numbers were correct, it would have to be 19ter Oktober, unless you meant something like "Montag, der 19. Oktober", in which case "neunzehnte" would indeed be the correct reading.

Okay, I'm done nitpicking now. You may proceed with your log. ;) By the way, good to have you back on the forum(s)! The more Celticists the merrier!
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Oró, sé do bheatha abhaile! Anois ar theacht an tsamhraidh.

User avatar
Montmorency
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Posts: 1035
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:01 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Languages: English (Native)
Maintaining: German (active skills lapsed somewhat).
Studying: Welsh (advanced beginner/intermediate);
Dabbling/Beginner: Czech

Back-burner: Spanish (intermediate) Norwegian (bit more than beginner) Danish (beginner).

Have studied: Latin, French, Italian, Dutch; OT Hebrew (briefly) NT Greek (briefly).
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1429
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Re: Montmorency's rather intermittent Log (CY, DE, ES, DK(?),...?)

Postby Montmorency » Mon Oct 19, 2015 10:20 pm

Josquin wrote:Quick remark on your German dates: Ordinal numbers in German are expressed by putting a full stop after the respective cardinal number, so the correct date for yesterday would be 19. Oktober 2015 or 19.10.2015. Also, even if your way to indicate ordinal numbers were correct, it would have to be 19ter Oktober, unless you meant something like "Montag, der 19. Oktober", in which case "neunzehnte" would indeed be the correct reading.

Okay, I'm done nitpicking now. You may proceed with your log. ;) By the way, good to have you back on the forum(s)! The more Celticists the merrier!


:-) It's been a while since I made any attempt at serious writing, so I'm rusty, although I should have checked more carefully. I did look quickly for some examples, but obviously chose the wrong ones (or took them out of context). :-)

I'm here to learn, so feel free to nitpick. :-) (and thanks: it was very useful; thanks also for your welcome back!)
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Montmorency
Brown Belt
Posts: 1035
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:01 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Languages: English (Native)
Maintaining: German (active skills lapsed somewhat).
Studying: Welsh (advanced beginner/intermediate);
Dabbling/Beginner: Czech

Back-burner: Spanish (intermediate) Norwegian (bit more than beginner) Danish (beginner).

Have studied: Latin, French, Italian, Dutch; OT Hebrew (briefly) NT Greek (briefly).
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1429
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Re: Montmorency's rather intermittent Log (CY, DE, ES, DK(?),...?)

Postby Montmorency » Tue Oct 20, 2015 12:45 pm

Dydd Mawrth 20fed (yr ugeinfed) Hydref 2015 - Cymraeg

DanYrWynebGydaDylanIorwerth-20151019 (43 min)

The first half was about football - peldroed - pel = ball; troed = foot and as the 2nd half of a composite noun, it gets soft-mutated (t->d).
Interestingly, troed can either be masculine or feminine. There are a small number of nouns like that. I haven't fully worked out the implications of this, and certainly don't know what they all are. In some cases, gender can indicate a different meaning. In the case of the foot of a person, it seems troed can be either gender, but when it means, e.g. foot of a bed or the foot of a page, it's masculine.

The programme included a short interview by phone with Carwyn Jones, the First Minister of Wales (evidently a fluent Welsh speaker). Given that this was not explicitly a political programme, I somehow can't imagine the UK Prime Minister coming on such a programme and chatting about football. Similarly, the building in Cardiff that houses the Senedd, the Welsh Assembly, is open to the public and visitors are welcome. (A good place to find someone to talk to in Welsh, apparently). I suppose this is partly a reflection of Wales being a small country, but I think it also illustrates a difference between Celtic and what has come to be English culture.

Update:

GariWyn-20151019-GariWyn19102015 (26 min)

A visit to Zipworld; a major tourist attraction in North Wales. In parts of Wales where there is little industry, tourism is one source of income.
It takes advantage of the spectacular views around this part of Wales, and featured in an episode of Rownd a Rownd, a northern-based "soap".

http://www.zipworld.co.uk

I think Gari was at the Bethesda site, which would also be where RaR went (as it is made and set on Ynys Môn - Anglesey).

update:

Dienstag 20. Oktober 2015 - Deutsch

wdr2montalk_2015-09-28_juergenbeckerwdhwdr2montalk28092015_wdr2 (1h 21m)

With Jürgen Becker, a cabaretist, and obviously well known to the audience (as are most of the guests in this series) but not to me (as are most guests in this series ... :-) ). Well this is a chance for me to get more acquainted with contemporary German culture.

"Montalk" is somewhat more entertainment-oriented than the other things I've been listening to, but it's nice to have a change. And the conversations / interviews are quite long, and I think the aim is to have quite an in-depth, although easy-going conversation, where perhaps the speakers reveal themselves (perhaps more than they intend sometimes?). There are usually phone-in guests as well, friends of the interviewee, and the interviewee is not necessarily forewarned.

I guess this is him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%BCrgen_Becker
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Montmorency
Brown Belt
Posts: 1035
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:01 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Languages: English (Native)
Maintaining: German (active skills lapsed somewhat).
Studying: Welsh (advanced beginner/intermediate);
Dabbling/Beginner: Czech

Back-burner: Spanish (intermediate) Norwegian (bit more than beginner) Danish (beginner).

Have studied: Latin, French, Italian, Dutch; OT Hebrew (briefly) NT Greek (briefly).
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1429
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Re: Montmorency's rather intermittent Log (CY, DE, ES, DK(?),...?)

Postby Montmorency » Wed Oct 21, 2015 7:14 pm

Dydd Mercher 21ain (yr unfed ar hugain) Hydref 2015 - Cymraeg

John_Walter_-_21_10_2015_b06jmjwm_default (26 min)

This got really heated at times. Discussing politics, strikes in the 1970s...

DeiTomos-20151018-DarlunTryweryn (1h 21m)

The sad story of how a Welsh village had to be abandoned in order to make way for a dam & reservoir, in order to provide water for the city of Liverpool, between the late 1950s and early 1960s.
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Montmorency
Brown Belt
Posts: 1035
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:01 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Languages: English (Native)
Maintaining: German (active skills lapsed somewhat).
Studying: Welsh (advanced beginner/intermediate);
Dabbling/Beginner: Czech

Back-burner: Spanish (intermediate) Norwegian (bit more than beginner) Danish (beginner).

Have studied: Latin, French, Italian, Dutch; OT Hebrew (briefly) NT Greek (briefly).
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1429
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Re: Montmorency's rather intermittent Log (CY, DE, ES, DK(?),...?)

Postby Montmorency » Thu Oct 22, 2015 9:26 pm

Dydd Iau 22ain (yr ail ar hugain) Hydref 2015 - Cymraeg

Rhaglen_Dylan_Jones_-_Tryweryn_b06hbdzj_default ( 2h 3m)

More on the story of Tryweryn.

A different sort of programme, with musical intervals. Plenty of speech though.

Here is some background information:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-34528336

Donnerstag 22. Okctober 2015 - Deutsch

Update:

Back in my comfort zone with "Das Philosophische Radio":

wdr5dasphilosophischeradio_2015-08-21_bedeutsamdasnichtssendungvom21082015_wdr5 (55 min)

The guest speaker had to stop and think a lot during this, which was helpful to me, as it gave me time to think.
However, as it went on, I got the impression that she perhaps wasn't quite as well prepared as are most guest speakers, and the host, Jürgen Wiebicke, had to rather help her along.

I had alway visualised Jürgen Wiebicke as some elderly genial professor in a remote and historic university. I was therefore a little surprised when I found his photograph on the web, and he only looked about in his 40s. (I think he's actually in his 50s, but could pass for younger). Nevertheless, he has a great voice and demeanor for this kind of programme, and that makes it easy to listen to.
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