A language learners’ forum

Radioclare wrote:

Serpent wrote:Definitely in my top 5 of Russian/Slavic native speakers' English accents https://www.euromag.ru/politics/kapitan ... j-zvezdoj/

I finally got around to listening to this and his accent sounds Irish to me I definitely wouldn't have guessed that he was Russian if that hadn't been clear from the context.

I don't know what your level of Russian is, apologies if this was already obvious to you, but in the article it mentions he studied in Dublin for a number of years. Despite that, I wouldn't say most Russian students in London sound English, so it's an amazing achievement. I would be interested to know how he pulled this off.

Occasionally his O's sound a bit Russian but that's the only give away that he's not a soft Irish speaker.

Oops no, I didn't read the article If he studied in Dublin that explains the accent a bit, but it's still really impressive

Serpent wrote:Definitely in my top 5 of Russian/Slavic native speakers' English accents https://www.euromag.ru/politics/kapitan ... j-zvezdoj/

Fair play to Vasily, his Hiberno-English phrasing and hesitations are spot on - outstanding!
Which non-Slavic speakers would fall in your top 5 for native-like Russian accents?

Honestly haven't thought of this... With non-Slavic speakers it's also harder for me to notice when something is only slightly off.

I've realized it makes no sense for me to care so much about books finished since I always have several in progress. I was very close to finishing two books on the last days of December, but it was soooo relieving to realize there's no need to finish them in time before 2020. (I might still finish one within a couple of hours as it counts for a reading challenge and the deadline is midnight EST)

Anyway, from now on I'll be posting progress bars for books here! Each one will be get two - the first one is the point where I was where the year began, and the second one the progress I've made. I definitely won't update them after every reading session or something. I'm just tired of feeling inadequate when seeing people's lists of 30-50 books finished (even if all are in L1). I have a lot more books in progress, I'll definitely add them as necessary.

: 132 / 226 : 183 / 226 Zinaida Lindén - U očekivanju potresa
: 200 / 630 : 325 / 630 John Foot - Calcio: storia dello sport che ha fatto l'Italia *
: 1 / 181 : 51 / 181 Antti Tervasmaa - The Life and Times of an Ordinary Captain: Forty Years of Flying **
: 38 / 216 : 95 / 216 Pier Vittorio Tondelli - Camere separate **
: 43 / 305 : 43 / 305 Dmitri Gluhovski - Metro 2033
: 193 / 302 : 207 / 302 Christiane F - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo

*I skipped some sections but I plan to come back to them
** I had to go back. Was on page 32 (Tervasmaa), 42 (Tondelli)

https://blog.usejournal.com/calendar-in ... da86a512dd
I don't think this is for everyone, but this part is 100% true:
More generally, work on any changes you’d like in your habits and temperament. But don’t plan around them till you have demonstrably established that you have changed. Be conservative when planning your days. Give yourself plenty of buffer. Staying on top of life is hard enough without mixing in other battles.

I need to update my reading progress

Serpent wrote:I've realized it makes no sense for me to care so much about books finished since I always have several in progress.

: 43 / 305 : 43 / 305 Dmitri Gluhovski - Metro 2033

: 4 / 10 : 8 / 10 Luka Modrić - Moja igra (chapters)*
: 22 / 166 : 24 / 148 Machado de Assis - Dom Casmurro (chapters)
: 8 / 15 : 8 / 15 John Foot - Calcio: storia dello sport che ha fatto l'Italia (chapters)
: 20 / 165 : 20 / 165 Erlend Loe - Naiv. Super
: 183 / 226 Zinaida Lindén - U očekivanju potresa
: 63 / 267 Stephen Clarke - How the French Won Waterloo (Or Think They Did)
: 22 / 203 Marko Annala - Värityskirja
: 51 / 181 Antti Tervasmaa - The Life and Times of an Ordinary Captain: Forty Years of Flying
: 207 / 302 Christiane F - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo
: 95 / 216 Pier Vittorio Tondelli - Camere separate
*the chapter length varies considerably

I've started a patreon https://www.patreon.com/polako

Obligatory disclaimer: this is a way to read more of my content (on various topics), and to support me specifically. This account is not affiliated with the forum in any way. (patreon doesn't seem like a very suitable platform for financing the forum btw) And of course I'll continue answering questions about Russian or linguistics on the forum.

Some of my patreon posts concern political issues, obviously don't discuss them here on the forum

Also, if you've ever wanted to request something but thought it was overkill, now there's a way to compensate me for it.

from The Now Habit, saving for personal reference

There are six questions for completing the work of worrying:

What is the worst that could happen?
What would I do if the worst really happened?
How would I lessen the pain and get on with as much happiness as possible if the worst did occur?
What alternatives would I have?
What can I do now to lessen the probability of this dreaded event occurring?
Is there anything I can do now to increase my chances of achieving my goal?

(from a summary actually, don't know if this is a direct quote)

sorry i haven't been around. computer issues and recovering from covid too

edit:
It’s as if you have your nose up against a skyscraper with the expectation that you have to get to the top in one exhausting leap. You’ve created a two-dimensional picture of your project – all work, all at once, with no time to catch your breath. This picture collapses the steps involved so that your body responds the energy to work on all three parts – beginning, middle, and finish – simultaneously.”
wow, i remember a daytrip to Kolomna in my second year of university. it was November 4, so midway through the semester, and I visited a church and had the feeling that catching up with my uni stuff was as impossible as jumping to the top of the dome. (for spiritual reasons I also got the feeling I could do this, but it was a great metaphor for how overwhelmed I was)

Glad to see you back, glad you're recovered.