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 May 23, 2021 11:00 pm

Thanks, Mista! I didn't know about Islex - such a fascinating site. And it has Finnish too! (Not that I know any Finnish, but I'm dreaming about learning it.)
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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 May 31, 2021 3:15 pm

Week 21:
This week I spent far too much time working for money, so there wasn't much time left for reading and languages. Nevertheless:

I read a few pages in my Icelandic and Faroese books.

Dutch:
Startid reading Jaap Robben - Birk. (You Have Me to Love)

Afrikaans:
Continued reading Dalene Matthee - Moerbeibos. Only 80 (out of 360) pages left so I think I'll finish it this week. Still enjoying it. (Mulberry Forest)

Other:
Continued reading Peter Godfrey-Smith - Djupsinne. Hur bläckfisken började tänka. (Other Minds: The Octopus And The Evolution Of Intelligent Life)
Continued reading Charles Dickens - Hard Times. Found a new word: fugleman. I wonder how many of you English native speakers know this word?
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MorkTheFiddle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
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Languages: English (N). Read (only) French and Spanish. Studying Ancient Greek. Studying a bit of Latin. Once studied Old Norse. Dabbled in Catalan, Provençal and Italian.
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Re: Learning by reading

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Mon May 31, 2021 5:29 pm

Nogon wrote:Continued reading Charles Dickens - Hard Times. Found a new word: fugleman. I wonder how many of you English native speakers know this word?

Not me, for sure. Hats off to you for reading Hard Times, something I can never do.
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Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

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Elsa Maria
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Re: Learning by reading

Postby Elsa Maria » Tue Jun 01, 2021 6:49 pm

No, I did not know fugleman.

As the Danish word for birds is fugle, I "saw" it as birds-man. So I think it will be easy for me to add fugleman to my native English vocabulary, thanks to Danish. It's not a big leap from bird(s)man to wingman, at least in my brain :)

I love your log! Reading is pretty much my favorite hobby, and I'm starting to read in more languages so I enjoy reading about your progress and activities. Astrid Lingdren is an author that I could endlessly re-read. She and Tove Jansson are reason enough for me to venture into reading Swedish. I can already read Danish, which will of course help a lot.
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Nogon
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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 » Tue Jun 01, 2021 7:10 pm

I also first thought "birdman" when encountering the "fugleman", but I didn't make the connection bird - wing. Thanks for that mnemonic, Elsa Maria! (Not that I expect ever finding a use for that word, but you never know...)

Good luck with your Swedish reading! Do you know Tove Jansson's "Sommarboken" (The Summer Book)? It not, do read it - it's absolutely adorable, and my favourite among her books. And it's quite beginner friendly, I think.
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Elsa Maria
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Re: Learning by reading

Postby Elsa Maria » Tue Jun 01, 2021 7:23 pm

Nogon wrote:Good luck with your Swedish reading! Do you know Tove Jansson's "Sommarboken" (The Summer Book)? It not, do read it - it's absolutely adorable, and my favourite among her books. And it's quite beginner friendly, I think.


Oh, that is one of my favorite books of all time. I read it in Danish (Sommerbogen). And I have also read 6/9 of the Moomin books (not the comics) in Danish (Mumitroldene på dansk). It is really, really hard to buy Swedish books in the USA, and I had nearly given up. But then I discovered that I could get some of Astrid Lindgren's through Book Depository or from the place I use for buying Danish books (saxo.com). I just ordered two Swedish Astrid Lindgren's through Book Depository. I just might have to wait until I can travel to Sweden or Finland to get Swedish versions of Tove Jannson :)
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Corrections are always welcome.

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 07, 2021 9:12 am

Week 22:
No work, much reading! :lol:

Afrikaans:
Finished Dalene Matthee - Moerbeibos (Mulberry Forest).
Read Olivia M. Coetzee - Innie Shadows (not translated).
According to the blurb it's "A page turning, gender and genre-bending novel set on the Cape Flats in Capetown, South Africa; a story of people who live in a place of violence which involves drugs, corrupt clergy, queerness, friendships - and how these survive in a society that is dysfunctional due to historical social problems; very much a novel of now, the 21st century." Strangely enough this blurb is printed in English on the back of the book, although the novel itself is written in Afrikaans.
The beginning was a bit difficult to read as it is written in the Kaaps dialect, and I had to figure out the main differences to standard Afrikaans before being able to process the text well. After about 20-30 pages that was no longer a problem.

Dutch:
Finished Jaap Robben - Birk. (You Have Me to Love)
A story about a boy living on a tiny island in the North sea together with his parents and one neighbour. In the aftermath of his father's death by drowning, both he and his mother have to fight mental health problems. Great beginning and end but the middle part lacked a bit. Worth reading though.
With this book I have (almost) met my Dutch reading goal for 2021.

Faroese:
Slowly progressing in Inger Edelfeldt - Bókin um Kamalu. I usually read one (short) chapter per day.

French:
Reading Jean-Claude Mourlevat - La balafre (not translated).
After moving to a remote village, a boy was attacked by a ferocious dog. Strangely his parents didn't hear the dog's deafening bark. I don't know yet the secrets of the dog, the four year old, suddenly vanishing, girl and the strange old neighbour, but I'm coming closer as I only have 50 pages left to read.
In the first chapter the boy, who narrates the story, tells about his family's life both before and after the stay in that village. "Mon père avait été muté. Muté, mutation.." - What? I wondered. His father mutated? Might this be a horror story about werewolves (or weredogs), but the blurb not telling about that? As the narrator continued, I wondered even more. "Nothing had changed when we returned from that village. Except that I now have a big scar in my face." What? His father mutated, but "nothing had changed"? I started to suspect that I might have misunderstood something, so I re-read the paragraph and decided to check "muté" in the dictionary: His father had been transferred! :ugeek: :mrgreen:

Other:
Still reading Peter Godfrey-Smith - Djupsinne. Hur bläckfisken började tänka. (Other Minds: The Octopus And The Evolution Of Intelligent Life)
Read Robbie Arnott - The Rain Heron. An Australian novel set in an unnamed country devastated by both a coup d'état and climate changes. Loved the fairy-talish though quite grim atmosphere.
8 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 Jun 13, 2021 7:41 pm

Week 23:
A good reading week. :)

Afrikaans:
Started reading Willem Anker - Buys (Red Dog). The first few pages were really hard to read with lots and lots of unknown vocabulary, but then it got better. I've only read 30 pages though, so 400 left! :shock:
I'm not quite sure yet whether I like the novel - is the writing style great or pretentious? I can't decide yet.

Faroese:
Finished reading Inger Edelfeldt - Bókin um Kamalu. I read it parallel with the Swedish original, which I liked much better now then when I read it for the first time about 30 years ago. I think I was too close in age and forlornness to the protagonist then to really understand and appreciate the novel.

French:
I started reading Alexandre Dumas - Le Comte de Monte-Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo). This is the first French classic which I read in French! I'm quite proud about my level of understanding, even though there of course are lots of unknown vocabulary. A few times I even got "lost" in the structure of longer than usual sentences, but nevertheless... :)
From time to time I check sentences or paragraphs where I doubt whether I understand the meaning correctly in the Swedish translation (an uinabridged one, which I read about 10 years ago). That was necessary for example in the description of Mercédès:
Une belle jeune fille aux cheveux noirs comme le jais, aux yeux veloutés comme ceux de la gazelle, se tenait debout adossée à une cloison, et froissait entre ses doigts effilés et d’un dessin antique une bruyère innocente dont elle arrachait les fleurs, et dont les débris jonchaient déjà le sol ; en outre, ses bras nus jusqu’au coude, ses bras brunis, mais qui semblaient modelés sur ceux de la Vénus d’Arles, frémissaient d’une sorte d’impatience fébrile, et elle frappait la terre de son pied souple et cambré, de sorte que l’on entrevoyait la forme pure, fière et hardie de sa jambe, emprisonnée dans un bas de coton rouge à coins gris et bleus.

Unknown words en masse of which I checked about five which then let me understand the other words. What I didn't understand though was the underlined phrase "un dessin antique" - that is, I understood the words but not their meaning in this sentence. I had to read the translation to realise that the phrase referred to her fingers.
It's slow reading but more effortless than I expected. I'm on page 215 (not bad for one week's reading, isn't it? ;) ), so there are only about 1250 left. I guess the Count will accompany me through the entire summer.

Other:
Finished Peter Godfrey-Smith - Djupsinne. Hur bläckfisken började tänka. (Other Minds: The Octopus And The Evolution Of Intelligent Life)
Read Douglas W. Tallamy - The Nature of Oaks. The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees. A great book about ... oaks.
Now reading Kerstin Ekman - Gubbas hage. I like Ekman's novels very much and I absolutely love her nature writing!
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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 Jun 20, 2021 4:20 pm

Week 24:
Horrible week! Far too much work in far too hot weather. Worst is that it doesn't cool down at night either. Last night's lowest temperature was 22°C! (Which is my ideal temperature for sitting in the shade of a tree, reading. Every degree above that is unendurable!)

Danish:
Reading Peter Høeg - Frøken Smillas fornemmelse for sne (Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow). Many years ago I read the German translation, some time in the mid-nineties. Back then I found it fascinating, but didn't really like it. Can't remember why.

French:
Continued reading Alexandre Dumas - Le Comte de Monte-Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo). I'm now on page 310, so still more than 1000 pages left.

Other:
Read a few chapters of Kerstin Ekman - Gubbas hage.
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DaveAgain
Black Belt - 1st Dan
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Re: Learning by reading

Postby DaveAgain » Sun Jun 20, 2021 4:56 pm

Nogon wrote:Week 24:
Horrible week! Far too much work in far too hot weather. Worst is that it doesn't cool down at night either. Last night's lowest temperature was 22°C! (Which is my ideal temperature for sitting in the shade of a tree, reading. Every degree above that is unendurable!)
Warm weather would be welcome in the UK, we've had our allotted five hot days for the year, and now it's jumpers in June again.

Danish:
Reading Peter Høeg - Frøken Smillas fornemmelse for sne (Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow). Many years ago I read the German translation, some time in the mid-nineties. Back then I found it fascinating, but didn't really like it. Can't remember why.
I'm reading this in German at the moment, and I've listened to the hörspiel many times. Smilla is a great character.

The first time I read this, probably back in the 90s, I remember feeling the ending was a bit of a disappointment. I think partly because I liked Smilla so much I was annoyed that the book did end. :-)
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