AroAro's log (languages, books, certificates)

[AroAro]

German – I had my second session with the tutor and my speaking was worse than the first time, maybe I just had a bad day. We practiced the speaking part of the exam and one is expected to use fancier words that on a B2 exam, so saying “ich möchte über etw. spechen” is apparently out of the question. I need to memorise such collocations for my next session.

I finished reading “Der Spiegel. Wissen” and started reading a usual edition of “Der Spiegel”, I’m at the page 18/122.

Dutch – almost finished “Dutch doesn’t bite”, next – another short bookcourse for Polish speakers “Say anything you want in Dutch”

Clozemaster/Memrise
#Czech from English (Fluency Fast Track) => playing 1165, mastered 849 out of 8474 sentences
#Memrise Dutch Course – learned 358 words
#Memrise Corso di Portoghese (Portogallo) – learned 193 words

Reading – I’ve been reading Alice Munro’s “The Progress of Love” – the print is so small (and the pages are yellowish) that I have to squint my eyes to see properly.

Happy Eurovision week!

[AroAro]

German – I had two more lessons with my tutor. I think the first part of the speaking exam (5 minutes monolgue) should be fine but I really need to get better at the discussion part that follows – I’m bad at asking questions so a lot of practice is still ahead of me.

“Der Spiegel” – page 32/122.

Dutch – just started working with “Say anything you want in Dutch” so not much to report at this point I guess

Clozemaster/Memrise
#Czech from English (Fluency Fast Track) => playing 1210, mastered 895 out of 8474 sentences
#Memrise Dutch Course – learned 387 words
#Memrise Corso di Portoghese (Portogallo) – learned 216 words

Reading – I finished reading “The Progress of Love” – quite ok even though the last two novellas were rather bad (btw, Alice Munro passed away two days ago). I decided to read something in German as part of my preparation for C1 exam – I’m now at the page 164 of “Die Arena”, German translation of Stephen King’s “Under The Dome”. I read one of his books many years ago but I remember it was really exciting, and I thought it would be nice to read something like that in German. I’m not that much interested in German literature and I don’t have time to check and discover German or Austrian authors in search of a gripping book, so I bet reading a Stephen King in German translation is the best option.

Watching Eurovision (two semi-finals and the final) kept me away from studying and for the first time since I came back to ESC a few years ago I wonder if it was really worth watching it. Among oversexualized acts and tacky nudity, booing, disqualification of the Netherlands (the song was abysmal anyway) and votes reveal that lacked any suspense (with Switzerland being basically the only country getting 12 points from the national juries, it became quickly obvious they’d win no matter what the result of the public vote would be), Eurovision lost a litte bit of its spark this year. Nevertheless, it’s nice to hear different languages during the show and am happy there are countries that opt to sing in languages other than English (but not Poland of course, lol).

Ok, there was one entry that took me off-guard – Ireland, it was like watching a shortfilm. Camera work, aspect ratio, editing, framing, lighting and acting were brilliant, though I’m still not a fan of the song itself nor of the satanistic elements. But as a cinephile, I appreciate the effort behind the performance. She finished 6th in the jury vote, 6th in the public vote and 6th overall – coincidence? I think not

[jeff_lindqvist]

She finished 6th in the jury vote, 6th in the public vote and 6th overall – coincidence? I think not

Well spotted! I didn't notice that.

[AroAro]

German – still practicing my speaking skills with the tutor – well, sometimes I feel confident it’s going to be ok but at times I’m appalled at my speaking skills, or the lack thereof! The writing part on the other hand should be fine, I get my writing checked and there are not that many corrections.

“Der Spiegel” – page 46/122.

Dutch – I’m halfway through “Say anything you want in Dutch” – the book is quite short but challenging to be honest, although it’s still A1-A2 level. There are many new words I have to learn and for me it’s a proof that reaching A2 level requires a lot of work, even though it’s “only” A2.

Clozemaster/Memrise
#Czech from English (Fluency Fast Track) => playing 1255, mastered 939 out of 8474 sentences
#Memrise Dutch Course – learned 421 words
#Memrise Corso di Portoghese (Portogallo) – learned 236 words

Reading – page 494/1280 of “Die Arena”. In the beginning, my reading speed was so disappointingly slow but at this point I can read quicker and I hope I will have finished the whole book before the exam (probably 22.06)