AroAro's log (languages, books, certificates)

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AroAro
Green Belt
Posts: 355
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:57 pm
Languages: • Native - Polish
• Certified - C1: French, Italian, Romanian; B2: English, German
• Estimate - B2: Russian; B1: Bulgarian
• Learning - Czech, Hebrew
• Dabbled in - eo, la, uk, sw, lt, oc
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... d80b60a5e9
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Re: AroAro's log Pусский and עברית

Postby AroAro » Fri Jan 29, 2021 8:10 am

WEEKLY UPDATE

Well, it was a bad week, to put it shortly. First, one of my colleagues broke her arm so she'll be on sick-leave at least for 2 months - that means more overload for the whole team. Then, my son caught a flu and I caught it as well but of course I could not call in sick - there would be too many absences in this critical time. And I had to do overtime on top of that. Not much time and energy left for language learning. I'm pretty sure it can get only better next week!

Hebrew - Assimil lesson 36. The 4th revision lesson was nice and it did not take me so much time to complete it.

Russian - Assimil lesson 54. I will probably reach the last lesson by the end of February.

English - read p.66-70 from Time, watched 1 video by Lindie Botes and listened to 1 documentary on BBC World Service

French - read p. 74-79 from Le Point, watched 1 video by "Poisson Fecond" and listened to Radio France Info for 1 hour

Italian - read p.84-85 from L'Espresso, watched 1 video by "Nova Lectio"

German - read p.61 from Der Spiegel, watched 3 videos by MrWissen2go, listened to 1 episode of "Zeit Verbrechen", 1 "Echo der Welt" and 1"Eine Stunde History"

Romanian - read 2 articles from Deutsche Welle, watched 1 episode of "Romania te iubesc", 1 by "Zaiafet" and 1 "Telejurnal"
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User avatar
AroAro
Green Belt
Posts: 355
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:57 pm
Languages: • Native - Polish
• Certified - C1: French, Italian, Romanian; B2: English, German
• Estimate - B2: Russian; B1: Bulgarian
• Learning - Czech, Hebrew
• Dabbled in - eo, la, uk, sw, lt, oc
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... d80b60a5e9
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Re: AroAro's log Pусский and עברית

Postby AroAro » Fri Feb 05, 2021 8:10 am

WEEKLY UPDATE

I'm feeling definitely better this week and I could concentrate more on my languages - but my neighbors had other plans... I live in a block of flats and one of my "lovely" neighbors decided to start some renovation works on Sunday - 15-20 years ago, it would be unconceivable to use a driller and a hammer on Sunday. Not because of religion (on Sunday each Pole was supposed to go to church) but because Sunday should be a day of calm and silence and everyone respected that. But times have changed, people do not care here about others and individualism is reigning in human relations. Or maybe I'm just getting old :) So on Sunday my kid usually has a 2-3 hours nap at 12 pm and I use this time for language study but I could not do it last weekend. I wrote in some earlier posts that I usually move places every 2-3 years and now I think I'm not going to stay here that much time! Time to look for a house or at least a semi-detached house if I want to spare my nerves. But that would mean taking on a mortgage and I already paid one 1.5 years ago. It was for me a huge psychological burden so I was so happy to get rid of it but there is no other way-out in sight - unless I start playing some kind of "lottery" hoping to hit the jackpot soon ;)

Hebrew - Assimil lesson 40. They introduced the future tense but honestly I cannot wrap my head around it. Maybe it will be comprehensibly explained in the 5th revision lesson or in other books I will go through once I'm done with Assimil. And in the lesson 37 I read this phrase - "Yiheyeh beseder im hashkhenim hahadashim" or "Everything will be fine with the new neighbors". I wish so!

Russian - Assimil lesson 60. In the last post I hoped to finish the course by the end of February - I meant by the end of March of course. And I'm not going to do the active phase - I did it when I learned Romanian but I could not see any immediate benefits so I'll skip it this time.

English - "Time" - read p.71, watched 1 video by Lindie Botes

French - "Le Point" - read p.80-81, listened to FranceInfo, I'm going to start reading "Pierre de patience" this week

Italian - "L'Espresso" - read p.86-89, watched 2 videos by NovaLectio and listened to 1 episode of the podcast "Storie di geopolitica" (it's done by the guy behind NovaLectio)

German - "Der Spiegel" - read p.62-65, watched 1 video by "Die Frage" and 1 by MrWissen2go, listened to 1 "Einhundert", 1 "Weltempfanger", 1 "Eine Stunde History", 1 "Echo der Welt", + listening to NDR Info while working

Romanian - read 1 article from Deutsche Welle Romanian Service, watched 2 "Telejurnal" and 2 episodes of "Romania te iubesc" and 1 video by "Atentie cad mere"
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oho
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Re: AroAro's log Pусский and עברית

Postby oho » Fri Feb 05, 2021 8:49 am

AroAro wrote:Hebrew - Assimil lesson 40. They introduced the future tense but honestly I cannot wrap my head around it. Maybe it will be comprehensibly explained in the 5th revision lesson or in other books I will go through once I'm done with Assimil. And in the lesson 37 I read this phrase - "Yiheyeh beseder im hashkhenim hahadashim" or "Everything will be fine with the new neighbors". I wish so!


To me it really clicked after the 6th or 7th time I was studying it. After that you will tell youself, really, what was all the fuss about? it's so simple. :P

In general the Hebrew verb system has nothing particularly difficult but is so different from any Indo-European verb system that it takes quite some time to get accustomed to it and it can be a bit discouraging at the beginning. Then, after a while you'll start noticing that it has a lot of repeating patterns and that it has nothing overly difficult.

AroAro wrote:Italian - "L'Espresso" - read p.86-89, watched 2 videos by NovaLectio and listened to 1 episode of the podcast "Storie di geopolitica" (it's done by the guy behind NovaLectio)


Hey, se vuoi posso consigliarti altri canali di youtube sempre sul genere di nova lectio più o meno. Fammi sapere se saresti interessato.
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User avatar
AroAro
Green Belt
Posts: 355
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:57 pm
Languages: • Native - Polish
• Certified - C1: French, Italian, Romanian; B2: English, German
• Estimate - B2: Russian; B1: Bulgarian
• Learning - Czech, Hebrew
• Dabbled in - eo, la, uk, sw, lt, oc
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... d80b60a5e9
x 1792

Re: AroAro's log Pусский and עברית

Postby AroAro » Fri Feb 05, 2021 10:31 am

oho wrote:
AroAro wrote:Hebrew - Assimil lesson 40. They introduced the future tense but honestly I cannot wrap my head around it. Maybe it will be comprehensibly explained in the 5th revision lesson or in other books I will go through once I'm done with Assimil. And in the lesson 37 I read this phrase - "Yiheyeh beseder im hashkhenim hahadashim" or "Everything will be fine with the new neighbors". I wish so!


To me it really clicked after the 6th or 7th time I was studying it. After that you will tell youself, really, what was all the fuss about? it's so simple. :P

In general the Hebrew verb system has nothing particularly difficult but is so different from any Indo-European verb system that it takes quite some time to get accustomed to it and it can be a bit discouraging at the beginning. Then, after a while you'll start noticing that it has a lot of repeating patterns and that it has nothing overly difficult.


Oh, so I have to study it only 6 or 7 times to understand it, I thought it would be worse :D but you're right, Hebrew is my first non-Indo-European language that I study seriously and it turned out to be more challenging than expected. I need more time and exposure to get accustomed to its structure.

oho wrote:
AroAro wrote:Italian - "L'Espresso" - read p.86-89, watched 2 videos by NovaLectio and listened to 1 episode of the podcast "Storie di geopolitica" (it's done by the guy behind NovaLectio)


Hey, se vuoi posso consigliarti altri canali di youtube sempre sul genere di nova lectio più o meno. Fammi sapere se saresti interessato.


Si, certo, con piacere, aspetto le tue raccomandazioni!
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oho
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Re: AroAro's log Pусский and עברית

Postby oho » Fri Feb 05, 2021 10:46 am

AroAro wrote:Si, certo, con piacere, aspetto le tue raccomandazioni!


Questi sono canali di cultura, filosofia, scienza, libri, cinema, comicità, politica, attualità e lingue:

Rick DuFer

Roberto Mercadini

Barbascura X

Barbaroffa

GioPizzi

Ilenia Zodiaco

Svet Krasna

BarbieXanax

Breaking Italy

Alessandro de Concini

CARTONI MORTI

Entropy for Life

Dario Bressanini
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cjareck
Brown Belt
Posts: 1047
Joined: Tue Apr 25, 2017 6:11 pm
Location: Poland
Languages: Polish (N) English, German, Russian(B1?) French (B1?), Hebrew(B1?), Arabic(A2?), Mandarin (HSK 2)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=8589
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Re: AroAro's log Pусский and עברית

Postby cjareck » Fri Feb 05, 2021 6:36 pm

AroAro wrote: Not because of religion (on Sunday each Pole was supposed to go to church) but because Sunday should be a day of calm and silence and everyone respected that.

Sunday "Niedziela" Polish name comes from "don't work", "don't act" ("nie działaj). This was probably something connected to religion as something similar to the Jewish Sabbath. But, yes, even unbelievers respected the need to be calm on that day.
AroAro wrote: But times have changed, people do not care here about others, and individualism is reigning in human relations.

It is a clear disrespect towards others.
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Please feel free to correct me in any language


Listening: 1+ (83% content, 90% linguistic)
Reading: 1 (83% content, 90% linguistic)


MSA DLI : 30 / 141ESKK : 18 / 40


Mandarin Assimil : 62 / 105

User avatar
AroAro
Green Belt
Posts: 355
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:57 pm
Languages: • Native - Polish
• Certified - C1: French, Italian, Romanian; B2: English, German
• Estimate - B2: Russian; B1: Bulgarian
• Learning - Czech, Hebrew
• Dabbled in - eo, la, uk, sw, lt, oc
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... d80b60a5e9
x 1792

Re: AroAro's log Pусский and עברית

Postby AroAro » Fri Feb 12, 2021 8:19 am

WEEKLY UPDATE

I'm not going to talk about my neighbors this time, they don't deserve it. I'm now seeing houses for sale in the area to gauge the available options and the situation on the market. I have also found a new guilty pleasure - "Love it or list it Vancouver".

Some interesting threads have recently been opened on this forum. I usually don't leave any comments because someone always leaves an answer that more or less conveys what I think of the subject - but their answer is always more eloquent and better phrased than what I would ever be able to write. The thread that made me think about my learning method was "Learning only one language". I was a perfectionist many years ago but eventually gave it up because I realized that learning a language is a never ending story. On the other hand, I'm aware that my skills in the languages I'm learning are not stellar so I thought for a second that maybe I should concentrate on a limited number of languages? Let's imagine I will concentrate solely on English. Am I supposed to develop skills in English till the end of my life despite the fact that I will never reach a real fluency (because I don't live in an English speaking country and anyway there will always be some words/idioms beyond my comprehension)? My answer is no, instead of chasing an impossible goal, I think that learning multiple languages at the same time is not a bad idea in my case. I am aware that there are always things to be improved - when I read my previous posts, I always find some awkward and stilted phrases that make me question my skills. But I just like to learn grammar rules and decode the language step by step and I don't want to deprive myself of that pleasurable way of spending time. So in the end I'm not going to change anything in my routine!

Hebrew - Assimil lesson 43. I struggle to retain the vocabulary, it's so different from other languages I know. I remember I had the same problem when learning German.

Russian - Assimil lesson 64

English - "Time" - read p.72-79, watched 1 video by Lindie Botes and listened to 1 BBC Documentary

French - "Le Point" - read p.82-83, watched 1 video by "Poisson Fecond"

Italian - "L'Espresso" - read p.90-92, listened to 1 episode of "Storie di geopolitica". I checked the YT channels recommended by oho and I plan to watch some videos next week

German - "Der Siegel" - read p.66-67, listened to 1 episode of "Zeit Verbrechen", 1 "Echo der Welt", 1 "Weltempfanger" and watched 1 video by MrWissen2go. I did not listen much to NDR Info while working because I had a very busy week at work full of ad-hoc requests and had to concentrate on my job.

Romanian - read 4 articles from DW Romanian, watched 1 video by "Top Opt" and "Zaiafet", watched 1 "Telejurnal" and 2 episodes of "Romania te iubesc". Radio Romania Actualitati stopped updating their podcasts so I have less and less resources. But it's not a big deal because in a few months' time I plan to listen to some native content in Russian and Hebrew and I will put German and Romanian podcasts on hold.
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Caromarlyse
Green Belt
Posts: 387
Joined: Fri Dec 06, 2019 2:31 pm
Languages: English (N), French (C1-ish), German (B2/C1-ish), Russian (B1-ish), Portuguese (B1-ish), Welsh (complete beginner), Spanish (in hibernation)
(All levels estimates and given as a guide only)
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Re: AroAro's log Pусский and עברית

Postby Caromarlyse » Fri Feb 12, 2021 8:43 am

AroAro wrote:instead of chasing an impossible goal, I think that learning multiple languages at the same time is not a bad idea in my case. I am aware that there are always things to be improved - when I read my previous posts, I always find some awkward and stilted phrases that make me question my skills. But I just like to learn grammar rules and decode the language step by step and I don't want to deprive myself of that pleasurable way of spending time. So in the end I'm not going to change anything in my routine!


I like the way you've articulated this. I feel very similarly about my French and German - they are fine for what I need them for, and whilst I enjoy engaging with the languages and thus improving (and doing some explicit study), I don't have the drive to "perfect" them to the exclusion of everything else. I also enjoy learning other languages and now am at a point in my life where I have the time to do so, so why not? After all, the more I learn, the less I have to be that English native speaker who speaks English in every other country they visit! (Though I recognise that this is all just my view, and others put the opposite case across just as persuasively.)

Re: your neighbours, I remember being in Germany in the 1990s and learning that hanging out your washing to dry on a Sunday was frowned upon!
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AroAro
Green Belt
Posts: 355
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:57 pm
Languages: • Native - Polish
• Certified - C1: French, Italian, Romanian; B2: English, German
• Estimate - B2: Russian; B1: Bulgarian
• Learning - Czech, Hebrew
• Dabbled in - eo, la, uk, sw, lt, oc
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... d80b60a5e9
x 1792

Re: AroAro's log Pусский and עברית

Postby AroAro » Fri Feb 12, 2021 11:37 am

Caromarlyse wrote:
Re: your neighbours, I remember being in Germany in the 1990s and learning that hanging out your washing to dry on a Sunday was frowned upon!


Sounds like a heaven on earth :)
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User avatar
AroAro
Green Belt
Posts: 355
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:57 pm
Languages: • Native - Polish
• Certified - C1: French, Italian, Romanian; B2: English, German
• Estimate - B2: Russian; B1: Bulgarian
• Learning - Czech, Hebrew
• Dabbled in - eo, la, uk, sw, lt, oc
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... d80b60a5e9
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Re: AroAro's log Pусский and עברית

Postby AroAro » Mon Feb 15, 2021 8:04 am

ITALIANO

Dopo aver letto il libro su San Pietroburgo, ho letto un altro libro in polacco - "Włoskie szpilki"/"Scarpe con tacco italiane" di Magdalena Tulli. Lei è una scrittrice polacca ma suo padre era italiano. E nata a Varsovia negli anni 50 e quando aveva solo alcuni mesi, sua madre l'ha portata in Italia, a Milano, dove ha passato due anni (almeno questo risulta del libro, non so quanto sia vero, ma il libro mi sembrava molto autobiografico).

Tulli scrive in polacco e lavora anche come traduttrice. Ha pubblicato il suo primo libro nel 1995 e poi ha proseguito con alcuni altri libri. Li ho letti tutti ma a dire il vero non mi hanno colpito. Mi piaceva solo lo stile letterario, che si distingueva molto da quello degli altri scrittori polacchi, ma in generale mancava l'azione per rendere questi libri più interessanti. Al contrario, "Włoskie szpilki" è un libro totalmente diverso. Ci si riconosce immediatamente lo stile di Tulli ma infine questo stile serve a raccontare una storia interessante, e a volte sconvolgente. La scrittrice (oppure la narrattrice) ci parla di sua madre, soppravissuta al campo di concetramento di Auschwitz, che soffriva di Alzheimer e di cui Tulli si occupava durante gli ultimi anni della sua vita. Ma scopriamo anche che la madre non aveva mai amato sua figlia che era per lei soltanto un peso insopportabile. A scuola, quando era piccola, le cose non andavano meglio perché gli altri ragazzi odiavano la figlia e persino la picchiavano. Tutto ciò solo perché era altra, aveva un padre straniero e sua madre era ebrea. Non se la cavava bene a scuola, non riusciva a scrivere e leggere perché le due lingue in quali cresceva (polacco e italiano) si mescolavano nella sua testa. Quindi, i bambini, ma anche i professori la disprezzavano. Ma forse anche la invidiavano perché ogni anno andava a Milano da sua nonna e poteva vedere questo meraviglioso e misterioso Occidente?

E una storia triste e per farla ancora più triste, in un capitolo al fine del libro, la narrattrice incontra questa figlia, cioè se stessa. Parlano un po' insieme ma lei sà bene che non può fare niente per la ragazza, per salvarla o almeno aiutarla. Sà che il mondo è costruito cosi e che non possiamo chambiarlo. Ci sono predatori e prede, ci sarà sempre qualcuno che dovrà soffrire più degli altri. E una constatazione senza speranza ma piuttosto vera. Sarebbe meglio se non ci facessimo false speranze nella vita.

E un libro affascinante, di appena 144 pagine, ma molto sconvolgente. Tulli ha scritto un secondo volumo chiamato "Szum"/"Ronzio" che voglio leggere presto e di cui parlerò senz'altro su queste pagine.
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