Learning by reading

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Nogon
Green Belt
Posts: 305
Joined: Sat May 13, 2017 6:21 pm
Languages: German (N), Swedish (C), English (?), French (A2), Esperanto (A2). Reading Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Afrikaans. Wanting to learn Polish, Yiddish
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=16039
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Re: Learning by reading

Postby Nogon » Sun Jun 27, 2021 6:57 pm

Week 25:
A little cooler, some rain and less work - so life felt better this week and I read quite a lot (even though the number of books read doesn't show that. The downside lf long books :roll: )

Danish:
Read Peter Høeg - Frøken Smillas fornemmelse for sne (Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow). As I wrote last week, I had read the German translation in the 90's and didn't like it much then. I still don't like the book much now - it's too slow for a really gripping thriller, and is too thriller-y for a literary novel. Furthermore I don't like the protagonist, Frøken Smilla. I dislike reading about people who live of their parent's money. I wish Smilla had told more about her life in Greenland, about ice and snow and the climate's impact on peoples' lifes. Those parts were utterly fascinating.
As I want to read more about Greenland, I chose Kim Leine - Profeterne i evighedsfjorden (The Prophets of Eternal Fjord) as my next read. Unfortunately it is even longer than Miss Smilla, which is why it has been standing unread in my bookshelf ever since it won the Nordic Council’s literature prize in 2013.

French:
Continued reading Alexandre Dumas - Le Comte de Monte-Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo). I've already read 430 pages, but have still 1000 pages left. The Count has recently started to wreak vengeance on his malefactors.
8 x
Assimil French : 65 / 113
Active wave : 15 / 113

Lawyer&Mom
Blue Belt
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Languages: English (N), German (B2), French (B1)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7786
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Re: Learning by reading

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Sun Jun 27, 2021 8:03 pm

I’m having major library envy reading your log. I’m very lucky to have access to one of the best library systems in the United States, which means I have a great selection of French and German contemporary fiction (and the other major world languages), but I can only dream of Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Afrikaans…
3 x
Grammaire progressive du français -
niveau debutant
: 60 / 60

Grammaire progressive du francais -
intermédiaire
: 25 / 52

Pimsleur French 1-5
: 3 / 5

Nogon
Green Belt
Posts: 305
Joined: Sat May 13, 2017 6:21 pm
Languages: German (N), Swedish (C), English (?), French (A2), Esperanto (A2). Reading Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Afrikaans. Wanting to learn Polish, Yiddish
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=16039
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Re: Learning by reading

Postby Nogon » Mon Jun 28, 2021 6:47 am

Oh yes, the Swedish libraries are great, not only regarding languages. Now of course I'm extra lucky having the International Library here in Stockholm, but even other libraries in much smaller towns have books in quite a lot of languages. And if they don't have "your" language, you can get books from the International Library via interlibrary loans for (I think) 10 Swedish Crowns (about 1 Euro). Childrens' books might be free.

Being German and a library freak, I naturally compare Swedish and German libraries, and there no doubt, who's winning the competition:

Some years ago, I visited my brother in Neukölln, one of the boroughs of Berlin, which has more than 300 000 inhabitants. I accompanied him to the borough's library - a really big and well assorted library according to my brother. And it was really nice, a place to spend much time at, browsing through their books.
I of course also checked the books in other languages and was less impressed. Quite many books in English, some in French, Russian, Polish, Turkish ... (even about a dozen in Swedish), but all in all I think it were less than 20 different languages. Now in Neukölln are living many, many immigrants, so that was a bit disappointing.

When travelling home to Sweden that year, I spent a couple of days in Ystad, a small town in Southern Sweden with about 18 000 inhabitants. Even there I visited the library, and gaped (or didn't gape, because I expected just that) at the amount of different languages available. I don't remember the exact number, but it was quite a bit higher than in Neukölln! Of course, they only had a few books in the smaller languages, but nevertheless ... So much better than the much bigger Neukölln!
Last edited by Nogon on Tue Jun 29, 2021 7:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
3 x
Assimil French : 65 / 113
Active wave : 15 / 113

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jeff_lindqvist
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3135
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Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2773
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Re: Learning by reading

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Mon Jun 28, 2021 3:30 pm

Nogon wrote:Oh yes, the Swedish libraries are great, not only regarding languages. [...]
When travelling home to Sweden that year, I spent a couple of days in Ystad, a small town in Southern Sweden with about 18 000 inhabitants. Even there I visited the library, and gaped (or didn't gape, because I expected just that) at the amount of different languages available. I don't remember the exact number, but it was quite a bit higher than in Neukölln! Of course, they only had a few books in the smaller languages, but nevertheless ... So much better than the much bigger Neukölln!


See also In what languages does your public library stock books? and my two posts for reference. (Data from 2017.)
5 x
Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

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Nogon
Green Belt
Posts: 305
Joined: Sat May 13, 2017 6:21 pm
Languages: German (N), Swedish (C), English (?), French (A2), Esperanto (A2). Reading Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Afrikaans. Wanting to learn Polish, Yiddish
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=16039
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Re: Learning by reading

Postby Nogon » Mon Jul 05, 2021 3:13 pm

Week 26:
Spent most of my free time in dusting and rearranging my bookshelves. As I have tons of books, that's not done in a few hours, so even as I spent a lot of time with my books, I didn't read much.

Danish:
Continued reading Kim Leine - Profeterne i evighedsfjorden (The Prophets of Eternal Fjord). The main character, a young norwegian-danish man is studying theology in Copenhagen in the 1780's. I expect him to be sent to Greenland as soon as he finishes his studies.

French:
Continued reading Alexandre Dumas - Le Comte de Monte-Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo). I'm almost a third into the book(s), and got into a reading slump, so I chose to read a (much) shorter book before returning to the Comte:
Read Jean-Claude Mourlevat - Jefferson (it's called Jefferson even in the English translation). It's a really good crime story for children "à partir de 9 ans", which also deals with friendship, courage and animal rights. It was easy to read although there of course were quite a few unknown words. (I don't expect that to change anytime soon.) Interestingly there were maybe a dozen or even more words which I couldn't find in my (quite old) French-German dictionary. That surprised me, as I've already read several books written by that author without encountering words unknown to my dictionary. (I do have a newer and bigger - and heavier - dictionary too, but I prefer using the other one due to the comfort of handling a smaller book.) So it seems that Mourlevat has changed his writing style? Not sure - it might as well be me changing the pattern of which words to check. I think I might have checked not only words which were actually critical to understanding the action, but even ones which caught my interest, even though I roughly could guess their meaning from the context.

Other:
Re-read Giovanni Guareschi - Carlotta und die Liebe (A Husband in a Boarding School). I read that book several times in my late teens, it's a very funny short novel about an Italian young woman who is forced to find a husband in a couple of days, originally written in 1944. I still found it really funny even now so I can imagine re-reading it in 10 or 20 years. The book reminded me of finding my mother sitting at the kitchen table one day when coming home from school, helplessly giggling. My mum wasn't exactly a giggly kind of person, so I was quite surprised. When asking what was going on, it showed that she happened to read this book :lol: .
6 x
Assimil French : 65 / 113
Active wave : 15 / 113

Nogon
Green Belt
Posts: 305
Joined: Sat May 13, 2017 6:21 pm
Languages: German (N), Swedish (C), English (?), French (A2), Esperanto (A2). Reading Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Afrikaans. Wanting to learn Polish, Yiddish
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=16039
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Re: Learning by reading

Postby Nogon » Mon Jul 12, 2021 2:46 pm

Week 27:
Work, work, work... :roll: and not much reading.

French:
Sloooowly progressing with Alexandre Dumas - Le Comte de Monte-Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo). The first 400 pages were really gripping, but the next 160 or so just bored me. Thankfully the storyline has left Rome now and I hope for some more exciting chapters.

Danish:
Continued reading Kim Leine - Profeterne i evighedsfjorden (The Prophets of Eternal Fjord). The protagonist has recently reached Greenland. I don't know yet what happened after his arrival, but I know that 6 years later he is utterly tired of Greenland and longing to return to Europe. A well written and interesting book. If only I had more time to read...
5 x
Assimil French : 65 / 113
Active wave : 15 / 113

Nogon
Green Belt
Posts: 305
Joined: Sat May 13, 2017 6:21 pm
Languages: German (N), Swedish (C), English (?), French (A2), Esperanto (A2). Reading Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Afrikaans. Wanting to learn Polish, Yiddish
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=16039
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Re: Learning by reading

Postby Nogon » Sun Jul 18, 2021 3:10 pm

Nogon wrote:Week 27:
Work, work, work... :roll: and not much reading.

French:
Sloooowly progressing with Alexandre Dumas - Le Comte de Monte-Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo).

Danish:
Continued reading Kim Leine - Profeterne i evighedsfjorden (The Prophets of Eternal Fjord).

That's a good summary of week 28 as well. Slowly progressing in both books. If I continue like this, I might be able to write about some new books in, say, February 2022. Frustrating. :roll:
Last edited by Nogon on Sun Oct 31, 2021 1:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
3 x
Assimil French : 65 / 113
Active wave : 15 / 113

jeffers
Blue Belt
Posts: 848
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Location: UK
Languages: Speaks: English (N), Hindi (A2-B1)

Learning: The above, plus French (A2-B1), German (A1), Ancient Greek (?), Sanskrit (beginner)
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Re: Learning by reading

Postby jeffers » Mon Jul 19, 2021 11:43 am

I'd never heard of Jean-Claude Mourlevat before reading your recent post mentioning him, but I'm always looking for recommendations. Which of his books did you enjoy the most?

When I did a search of his books on Amazon I found that there is a short 10 page book for free, La chambre de Jo, which is part of a set of short e-books offered for free by Gallimard Jeunesse for youth to read during lockdown: https://labiblimobile.gallimard-jeunesse.fr/fr. It's nice how one thing leads to another.
5 x
Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien (roughly, the perfect is the enemy of the good)

French SC Books: 0 / 5000 (0/5000 pp)
French SC Films: 0 / 9000 (0/9000 mins)

Nogon
Green Belt
Posts: 305
Joined: Sat May 13, 2017 6:21 pm
Languages: German (N), Swedish (C), English (?), French (A2), Esperanto (A2). Reading Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Afrikaans. Wanting to learn Polish, Yiddish
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=16039
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Re: Learning by reading

Postby Nogon » Wed Jul 28, 2021 4:41 pm

Can't say, which I liked most. Both Jefferson and La Balafre were really good (but keep in mind that they are childrens' books), and I loved La balade de Cornebique. Although that one I read when my French still was really bad, and my goal with reading it was just to understand the gist of the action. There were entire passages where I understood nothing more than the protagonist walking from one place to another. But why? No idea. So the book might turn out to be quite bland at a rereading. Or maybe it might be a masterpiece. I don't know.
5 x
Assimil French : 65 / 113
Active wave : 15 / 113

Nogon
Green Belt
Posts: 305
Joined: Sat May 13, 2017 6:21 pm
Languages: German (N), Swedish (C), English (?), French (A2), Esperanto (A2). Reading Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Afrikaans. Wanting to learn Polish, Yiddish
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=16039
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Re: Learning by reading

Postby Nogon » Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:40 am

I'm back!

Back to Sweden after a 7 week long, very well needed vacation which I spent first travelling through Finland - Estonia - Latvia and Lithuania for about two weeks (before Covid infection numbers rose again in the Baltic states; perfect timing!), and then staying 4 weeks at my siblings places in Germany. It was so good to meet them again after almost two years!

I'm back to books again! I can't believe the incredibly tiny amount of reading (in whichever language) I did throughout summer and early autumn. In August, I didn't finish a single book! That hasn't happened ever since I learned to read more than 50 years ago! There even could pass several days without me opening a book. Totally unheard of! I spent much time solving "Um die Ecke gedacht" crosswords by the "Zeit" newspaper.
But now I'm reading again, and I'm enjoying it!

So I'm back to languages again too. No formal studying, but reading, as usual.

And I'm (obviously) back to the forum. Some interesting discussions have been going on during my absence! (And I've yet only read a tiny amount of everything written here during the last months.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Week 43:

French:
Finished Fred Vargas - L'homme aux cercles bleus (The Chalk Circle Man), which was one of many books I started, but didn't finish in August. I read a chapter first in German translation (Es geht noch ein Zug von der Gare du Nord - stupid title!) and then I read it again in French. Far too many unknown words and too complicated sentence structure to read it without the help of a translation.

Started reading Tove Jansson - Contes de la vallée de Moumine (Tales from Moominvalley). It's my favourite among the Mumin books, so I know the stories quite well and can read it just with some assistance by my dictionary, without having to refer to the original (Det osynliga barnet).

Dutch:
Am reading Annet Schaap - Lampje (Lampie). It's a really fabulous children's book, well worth reading even for an adult. A gripping, unpredictable tale about the importance of accepting onself as the person one is, not trying to be what others (parents) want one to be. I'd be able to read it without a dictionary, but I check some words (especially adjectives) for a fuller understanding.

Other (Didn't read all of them this week, of course):
Read Saša Stanišić - Herkunft (Where You Come From). Best book I've read so far this year!
Read Richard Powers - Overstory. Didn't like it as much as I had thought and hoped I would. The story/stories themselves were interesting but I didn't like the manner he told them in. Too long-winded, too much stress on "shocking" effects.
Read Sumany Roy - Wie ich ein Baum wurde (How I Became a Tree). Not sure what to think about it. Not bad, but very strange. A compelling beginning, which made me buy the book: "At first it was the underwear. I wanted to become a tree because trees did not wear bras."
Reading Jessica J. Lee - Zwei Bäume machen einen Wald (Two Trees Make a Forest). Very fascinating. A mixture of autobiography, (family) history, nature writing and languages.
11 x
Assimil French : 65 / 113
Active wave : 15 / 113


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