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: Russian/Bulgarian/Hebrew + EN,FR,IT,DE,RO

Postby AroAro » Wed May 18, 2022 8:51 am

Russian – finished reading “Praktyczna gramatyka języka rosyjskiego” and now I’m going to work my way through the set of Russian grammar exercises. Last week, I had the opportunity to speak Russian for the first time ever – I went with my elder kid to the playground, he wanted to play on the slide but a girl of 6 was putting sand on it with a shovel, speaking Russian to herself while doing so. I asked her kindly in Russian not do it because other kids wanted to slide down. At the end I asker her if she “поняла?”, she nodded without a word and walked away. I should probably be grateful she didn’t come back with her parents! (by the way, I didn't know how to say "slide" in Russian and used the Polish equivalent instead). At this moment, some 20-25% of Cracow residents come from Ukraine and I can definitely hear Russian much more often than before. The reason is also the fact that the majority of people who arrived in the recent weeks never had the intention of migrating abroad and never considered learning Polish…

Bulgarian – lessons 41 in Assimil and "Говорите ли български?”. The inferential mood is driving me crazy a little bit, it seems that the present and past forms look suspiciously similar and have the same endings, just the root of the verb differs a little bit.

Italian – finished reading “Panorama” and reading “L’Espresso” that I bought in January last year but never really got around reading it. New words:

Schiacciamento – zmiażdżenie
Rogo – stos (dla czarownic, heretyków)


Reading – I’m still not done with that book about Hungary, I can’t believe it’s taking me so much time to finish it! It was Eurovision week anyway so it devoured most of the time I usually allocate to reading. My next book will be in Romanian, I haven’t still decided which one I’ll read though.
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DaveAgain
Black Belt - 1st Dan
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Languages: English (native), French & German (learning).
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Re: Russian/Bulgarian/Hebrew + EN,FR,IT,DE,RO

Postby DaveAgain » Wed May 18, 2022 9:31 am

AroAro wrote:Russian At this moment, some 20-25% of Cracow residents come from Ukraine and I can definitely hear Russian much more often than before.
That's a huge proportion. How are they being housed?
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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: Russian/Bulgarian/Hebrew + EN,FR,IT,DE,RO

Postby AroAro » Thu May 19, 2022 7:07 am

DaveAgain wrote:
AroAro wrote:Russian At this moment, some 20-25% of Cracow residents come from Ukraine and I can definitely hear Russian much more often than before.
That's a huge proportion. How are they being housed?


From what I can see around me, there are 3 main possibilities for refugees to get accommodation:
1) Many Polish people have taken refugees into their houses (some of my colleagues also did that)
2) Many Ukrainians are renting flats on the market (as a result, the prices are rising because the demand is high)
3) Others are staying in dormitories/council emergency houses and the like
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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: Russian/Bulgarian/Hebrew + EN,FR,IT,DE,RO

Postby AroAro » Fri May 27, 2022 6:56 am

Russian – doing the grammar exercises, watching a lot of YT videos. I started exploring the YT channel “Энциклоп”, I remember trying to watch the video on Udmurt language shortly after I started learning Russian (that must’ve been December 2020) and didn’t really understand a thing. This time however, my comprehension was much better, I’m so happy I’m finally enjoying videos aimed at native speakers.

Bulgarian – finished "Говорите ли български?” and now, I’m doing simultaneously Assimil and “Intensive Bulgarian 1” by Ronelle Alexander. It has only 15 lessons but they are very long and detailed. Each lesson consists of 8 sections: dialogue, basic grammar, exercises, additional grammar notes, sample sentences, sentences for translation, reading selection and cultural commentary. I think my work schedule will be: doing one Assimil lesson and 2-3 sections from Intensive Bulgarian, and I’m now at the lesson 45 from Assimil and in the middle of the first lesson from “Intensive Bulgarian 1”.

Italian – reading “L’Espresso”, new words:

Scriteriato – bezmyślny
Una zattera – tratwa
Un bozzolo - kokon


Reading – so I finally finished that book about Hungary and can read my third book ever in Romanian. I opted for “Dimineață pierdută” by Gabriela Adameșteanu, published in 1984. From what I understand, it is still widely read in Romania and new editions are published at regular intervals. I can definitely see its literary merits, because the writing is extremely dense, I get lost from to time and do not know who’s talking now. But the more I read, the more I like it and things and names are starting to make sense, even though I’m honestly scratching my head a lot because the author uses a spelling convention in which some words are shortened and merged together, something that doesn’t exist in “official” written Romanian. It’s especially true in the first 100 pages where the main narrator is a lady from lower class but when the book is narrated more and more by another lady with aristocratic descent, the spelling becomes more standard. It’s not a very big issue but it demands getting used to and slows down my reading process.

Here are some examples that I’ve written down:

Poa’ = Poate (she can)
Pân-la = Până la (until)
Acu = Acum (now)
Numa = Numai (only)
Parc-o vede ș-acu = Parcă o vede și acum (maybe he sees her now)
C-un = Cu un (with a)
Și-așa-și = Și așa își (and that’s how)
S-a-ntors = S-a întors (he came back)
Asta parc-ar fi omu-ei = Asta parcă ar fi omul ei (as if it were her husband)
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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: Russian/Bulgarian/Hebrew + EN,FR,IT,DE,RO

Postby AroAro » Mon Jun 06, 2022 2:09 pm

Russian – finished the grammar book (I didn’t do all the exercises though, just 2/3 of them). That was the last time I tackled Russian grammar. It doesn’t mean that I can, let’s say, conjugate all the verbs without error (far from that), I just don’t need to know all the intricate details of the Russian grammar for my reading and listening purposes. But I highly admire all of you who actually learn all those details! Now, I’m going to read some graded readers (Talk about any subject in Russian, Shkatulochka. Reading material, Adventures of foreigners in Russia).

Bulgarian – lesson 50 of Assimil which feels like a real milestone to me. I’ve also done so far 2 lessons from “Intensive Bulgarian 1” (the initial lessons are not that complicated if you already know some basics, that’s why they were not really time consuming).

Italian/German – I read half of my “L’Espresso”, now I’m reading the remaining part of my “Der Spiegel” issue from last year. New words:

La museruola – kaganiec
Insperato – nieoczekiwany
Hönisch – szyderczy
Der Komparse - statysta


Reading – I’ve read 55% of “Dimineață pierdută” (that equals around 300 pages). So the thing is that this book is too ambitious for me, one really needs to know a lot about Romanian history in order to know what’s going on, especially in the second part of the book that takes place just before WWI. And to be honest, nothing happens in terms of action so that doesn’t help either! But I persevere.
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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: Russian/Bulgarian/Hebrew + EN,FR,IT,DE,RO

Postby AroAro » Wed Jun 15, 2022 7:48 am

Russian – finished reading one of the graded reader I mentioned previously. Didn’t do much listening as I’m staying now at my in-laws with kids so I don’t really have 0.5-1 hour chunks of time I can spend peacefully on listening

Bulgarian
– I did the lesson 3 from “Intensive Bulgarian” and I’m at the lesson 57 of Assimil. I didn’t take with me “Intensive Bulgarian” because the format of the book is so unwieldy (it was definitely not conceived to be taken around for travels) so I’m working solely on Assimil these days.

German – finished reading “Der Spiegel” and now I’m going to read “Stern” for the first time ever. New words:

Fremdeln – czuć się nie swojo
Auf den Leim gehen – dać się nabrać
Unwirsch – opryskliwy
Die Behebung – eliminacja
(by the way, I’m still amazed at the scarcity of Latin based words in German, even Polish has borrowed considerably more words from Latin than German)

Reading – yesterday, I finished reading “Dimineață pierdută”. I think it’s one of those books that were written to be admired rather than to be enjoyed. I’ll make sure my next Romanian read will be more entertaining. And now it’s time for a Russian book – I’m going to read Ludmila Ulitskaya’s “Лестница Якова”, a book she mentioned in her interview for “Скажи Гордеевой” channel. It is 735 pages long though but I hope to finish it by the end of July (I know, I’m too optimistic!).
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AroAro
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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: Russian/Bulgarian/Hebrew + EN,FR,IT,DE,RO

Postby AroAro » Fri Jun 24, 2022 8:19 am

Russian – reading “Шкатулка”, watching a lot of YT videos – for example that interview with Manizha (the last Russian representative at Eurovision)

Bulgarian – I’m at the lesson 63 from Assimil, and I did the lesson 4 from “Intensive Bulgarian”. In each lesson, there is a cultural commentary that is supposed to familiarize the reader with Bulgarian customs, traditions and so on. One of the first things you read is that Bulgarians are afraid of “air currents”. Even the initial dialogues are built around this subject. I don’t know what to think of that :? I’ve never been to Bulgaria sadly so maybe “air currents” are a big thing there? But my sister dated once a half Polish-half Bulgarian guy and I never caught them speaking about air currents…

German – reading “stern” magazine, new words:

Schüren – podsycać
Unberechenbar – nieobliczalny
Hadern mit – narzekać na
(of course, I’ve met this word before but was not sure about its meaning)

Reading – read so far 38% Ludmila Ulitskaya’s “Лестница Якова”, and I love this book! It’s a family saga, and I always find such books very engaging. I feared it may be above my level, and of course there are some unknown words but they don’t hinder my comprehension. Besides, the phrases are not overly long, the style is very clear, I’m really amazed at how good this book is.
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LupCenușiu
Yellow Belt
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Languages: RO (educated sarcastic native) EN (emulating fluency) GE, FR(various degrees of incompetency)
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Re: Russian/Bulgarian/Hebrew + EN,FR,IT,DE,RO

Postby LupCenușiu » Fri Jun 24, 2022 12:57 pm

One of the first things you read is that Bulgarians are afraid of “air currents”. Even the initial dialogues are built around this subject. I don’t know what to think of that :? I’ve never been to Bulgaria sadly so maybe “air currents” are a big thing there


Most likely is an issue for elderly people. North of Danube as well, "air currents" are blamed by some for catching a cold, usually. If you want to practice your RO, https://www.arcadiamedical.ro/medinfo/pericolul-dintre-usa-si-geam-mituri-despre-curent or
https://www.sfatulmedicului.ro/Educatie-pentru-sanatate/te-poti-imbolnavi-daca-te-trage-curentuli-mit-sau-realitatei_16489. If not, in essence, the immune system is temporarily weakened by sudden exposure to the cold, making it easier for some pathogens to visit. Then "air currents" get the blame :)
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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 1791

Re: Russian/Bulgarian/Hebrew + EN,FR,IT,DE,RO

Postby AroAro » Mon Jun 27, 2022 9:21 am

LupCenușiu wrote:
One of the first things you read is that Bulgarians are afraid of “air currents”. Even the initial dialogues are built around this subject. I don’t know what to think of that :? I’ve never been to Bulgaria sadly so maybe “air currents” are a big thing there


Most likely is an issue for elderly people. North of Danube as well, "air currents" are blamed by some for catching a cold, usually. If you want to practice your RO, https://www.arcadiamedical.ro/medinfo/pericolul-dintre-usa-si-geam-mituri-despre-curent or
https://www.sfatulmedicului.ro/Educatie-pentru-sanatate/te-poti-imbolnavi-daca-te-trage-curentuli-mit-sau-realitatei_16489. If not, in essence, the immune system is temporarily weakened by sudden exposure to the cold, making it easier for some pathogens to visit. Then "air currents" get the blame :)


Thank you for the links! That's interesting, because when I think of that, my mother-in-law always tells me to dress my kids more warmly. Now I know it's nothing personal, she's just afraid of air currents :)
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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: Russian/Bulgarian/Hebrew + EN,FR,IT,DE,RO

Postby AroAro » Mon Jul 04, 2022 7:06 am

Russian – finished “Шкатулка”, reading now “Приключения иностранцев в России”

Bulgarian – lesson 67 from Assimil, did the lessons 5 and 6 from “Intensive Bulgarian”

German – read half of my “stern” magazine, and now it’s time to expand my Romanian vocabulary. Romanian magazines in paper format are hard to come by so I have to opt for online articles. New words:

Anecken mit – podpaść czymś
Die Vorgaben – wytyczne
A momi – mamić, wabić


Reading – read 83% of “Лестница Якова”, it’s a very good book but… the action takes now place in New York and it’s a little bit strange or even awkward to read about life in America in Russian, or maybe the parts that take place in Russia seem more genuine?
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