Back to the roots and water them with coffee

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Cavesa
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Re: Back to the roots and water them with coffee

Postby Cavesa » Sat Jan 02, 2021 10:14 pm

First day of the new year. Yes, it is officially the 2.1., but I didn't feel like learning yesterday :-D :-D :-D (Not that much due to alcool but rather sleep deprivation)

I got 2 half hours of Spanish in, and one of German today. A mix of Speakly and Clozemaster for now. I don't have any books with me, where I am now. Could do with some new method to keep track of my learning without much hassle.

Hmm, an excel table will do there is a checklist option, so I'll just use that for 365, and a normal table for SC. I'll have a look back in the log, whether I have actually done anything in the main target languages for SC. I think there was some Italian listening, but I am not sure.
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Cavesa
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Re: Back to the roots and water them with coffee

Postby Cavesa » Mon Jan 11, 2021 11:50 am

My SC "progress" sucks.

Yes, I've completed the French fun watching part (I made it a point that it was about fun! not medical stuff). No surprise, I understand fully, rarely encounter a new word,etc. It is nice to see how much I've improved since the last time I watched Engrenages and how often I recognize what seemed like weird slang before to be actually really common colloquial language. The only thing I've recently found challenging waas Baron Noir. Partially because I don't really enjoy the subject (so what, the main character has bought votes by "charity" and fraud. our prime minister owns the largest newspapers, dozens of large companies, even some healthcare facilities, a huge marketing team, and uses the government as another branch of his holding. Try to compete with that, fiction writers from the civilised countries! :-D ). Also the main protagonist has exactly the type or speech I find difficult. A man mumbling fast with a deep voice. Perhaps that's a good reason to revisit the show, it has been one of hardest listening exercises I've found in a long time. And I count my patients in that. Plus the cultural knowledge used (such as the election system, the structure of the political scene etc) is always useful to know a bit better. Don't get me wrong, I am not suggesting learning medicine from House MD, but I loved learning medical English from it. It's the same principle.

I was probably watching something in Italian or Spanish last year, I just didn't keep records. How foolish of me. Anyways, no big deal. I've "restarted" my Spanish listening challenge with dubbed Enola Holmes. I was pleased with my near perfect comprehension (just a few words or their uses were new to me) in spite of the long break. The movie is amusing, but you won't miss out on anything, if you don't watch it, it's not that great. I picked it because I wanted to watch it in some language, so why not in Spanish.

I cannot possibly do it all, I signed up for too much. So, THE SUPER CHALLENGE PRIORITY IS SPANISH. Main focus on original stuff of course. Anything else would be nice too.

Btw it's a shame Europe leaves vast majority of not only scifi but also fantasy, urban fantasy, mythology, etc to the US filmmakers. A large part of the inspiration comes from our tradition, and it would be nice to show it in a different light (also people couldn't complain so much that the US makers have dumbed something down again). I must have complained about this before. But we can watch dubbed Grimm (ideas based mostly on european folklore), dubbed Once upon a Time (mostly european fairy tales), and tons of others. Yes, they are great. But I would enjoy not only to have more original stuff in these genres in my target languages, but also to see them in modern european setting. There are tons of historical drama, police series, or hospital telenovelas all over Europe. But these genres are still mostly left to rot.
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Cavesa
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Re: Back to the roots and water them with coffee

Postby Cavesa » Mon Jan 11, 2021 2:08 pm

SC Spanish: Wynona Earp 1st episode, 43 min
-not sure whether I'll continue. But I feel like watching some adventure
-a bit harder Spanish than yesterday's Enola Holmes, which is a good thing. But still not an original series. I need some adventure, not necessarily historical. Still picking.
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Cavesa
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Re: Back to the roots and water them with coffee

Postby Cavesa » Sun Jan 17, 2021 7:55 pm

So, I wasn't able to focus on real learning much (hope to change that from tomorrow on, too many family and love issues), but I did binge watch Wynonna Earp in Spanish, up to the point at which there is no more Spanish (nor Italian) dubbing available. I am continuing in English, cause I'm curious and impatient. It is a good dubbing, some of the voice actors and situations are definitely stretching my ability, by vast majority is a very comfortable experience. I want something originally in Spanish (or Italian) next. But I keep finding only too serious stuff. I need some adventure, or perhaps comedy, or scifi. Something light-hearted.

But there are some good news! I managed to contact a real person at the Belgium ministry responsible for my reconnaissance professionnelle! Yes, I did it! I had been patiently waiting for 2 months. We are allowed to call just one morning per week, which means a total of 3 hours of availability per week. It was horrible. I managed to get into the waiting line this time, then I waited for 45 minutes. 45 minutes of the annoying waiting music, praying to fit in the 3 hour window. Then, the lady that got me had technical problems with her phone! I was so afraid she'd hang up, after several shouts "hello? are you there? I can't hear you!" but another one took over, apologized, and we solved all the problems (lost emails on their side, putting my paperwork on a wrong pile, a french bureaucrat not keeping their word and sending something just to me and not to them, etc). She was so nice! And I should have this part of paperwork done next week!!!! YAY!!!

So, my LL program for the new week: open the German and Spanish textbooks, get back to my SRS websites, and keep watching something fun.
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Cavesa
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Re: Back to the roots and water them with coffee

Postby Cavesa » Tue Feb 16, 2021 12:59 am

RANT ALERT!

I am extremely demotivated. What a surprise: I learn badly, when I am unhappy. I have done so little. The good news: I've got a new appartment. (this pleasure and relief is even bigger, as my recent airbnb turned to a disaster. After only passable, good, and excellent experiences, I've enountered a huge problem for the first time. Someone I wish I had met months ago as a hospitalised patient, not as my host. At the beginning, I was really afraid for my safety, now "just" for my sanity. But it is another proof of how much has my writing, and not only writing, improved over the last year. Nothing puts you to a harsher test, than a situation like this.). My new appartment is wonderful. Not really big, true, but nice and well placed, with normal contract and no airbnb, with an adequate rent, and lots of daylight! Now I need to buy some furniture :-)

The bad news: so many. The worst: my boyfriend and I got stuck in different countries and haven't seen each other for over a month. (I left for Belgium asap, as I knew the borders closure was just a matter of time. People around me were making fun of such "paranoia", but I was right. He was supposed to leave a week later.). And it looks bad. And we are at the edge of a break up, while most of the reasons are clearly caused by this dumb covid world I don't want to live in. Nobody does, I know. But I am so fed up. The life I was dreaming of and preparing for, and to which I sacrificed so much of my youth, is simply gone. I am losing hope. I no longer care about people dying or suffering, about the risk of me catching it and possibly getting long term consequences, I just want the vaccine to get some rights back, the end of the nonsense "safety" measures (my "favourites" are those, that actually create more crowds than they prevent), and crossing the borders at least for family members and for an unmarried couple (and yes, I am very angry he hasn't married me yet. Fuck romance, I just want to sign the piece of paper, that will give us basic rights). And I want people to communicate normally, because this covid world of emails and rare phone calls and no personal contact is turning absolutely anything into a mess.

What I manage to do: some paperwork, but I am extemely inefficient. The same is true about job hunting. When it comes to language learning, the only good news is moving my Spanish super challenge forward. German would be more useful right now (it would be so much easier to get a job in the field I want and with an awesome salary. If only I liked Germany. I like them less and less, as their dumb borders closures even for transit are right now destroying my life. I know it is the fault of my dumb compatriots with a totally incompetent and criminal government, but I still blame the Germans for not letting even the not dangerous people get out). Spanish or Italian bring me a bit of pleasure, even though I am not able to really focus on learning, German is a struggle. Out of the real learning tools, I managed to open a German coursebook, and do some Speakly. I'll be preparing my concours more intensely now, but I am not sure how it will go. I feel like I'm gonna fail at everything anyways, as usual.

So, sorry, but this was the best place to rant. I know you'll understand. It helps a bit to get it all out.
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Re: Back to the roots and water them with coffee

Postby rdearman » Tue Feb 16, 2021 1:30 am

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Re: Back to the roots and water them with coffee

Postby iguanamon » Tue Feb 16, 2021 1:46 am

Hang in there, Cavesa. I'm thinking about you and sending warm vibes from the Caribbean.
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Re: Back to the roots and water them with coffee

Postby IronMike » Tue Feb 16, 2021 8:44 am

Yes, hang in there! I too am tired of the covid restrictions and can't wait to get the vaccine.

Ranting is cathartic and always makes me feel better. If for any reason you want to rant but in private, feel free to PM me. I can not respond or respond, whatever you wish. ;)

Cheers!
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Re: Back to the roots and water them with coffee

Postby Language patzer » Thu Feb 25, 2021 11:07 am

Your rants seems perfectly fine to me, always honest and well written. I feel like if I ever met you, you'd be the same person you present yourself on the forum. How many people can say that?
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Cavesa
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Re: Back to the roots and water them with coffee

Postby Cavesa » Thu Feb 25, 2021 12:00 pm

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!

It means a lot to me. Here and in the private messages. These last weeks have been extremely rough. It's not finished yet, but some things are finally behind me.

I am right now doing the main part of the concours paperwork. It is annoying, difficult, and it is exhausting to battle all the fears and imposter syndromes, and bad previous experience, while trying to present myself in motivation letters and CVs. I am trying for a different faculty, than I had wanted so much initially, because I simply cannot deal with any more unresponsive people and unclear rules right now. I don't have the time anymore. The new choice is in some ways risky (the faculty is much more popular, there are likely to be more candidates), but the administration person communicates so well and fast!

My friends and I have noticed a huge fall of motivation in everybody, in various countries. So, after so many struggles with the local faculties, internet providers, real estate agencies, and everybody else, I am just amazed and excited, whenever I encounter a person actually doing their job! It is now so rare for people to care. To at least answer an email, and answer the real question, not something totally different. To find a simple and obvious solution to a problem, instead of just finding a ton of weird reasons to avoid it and blame everything on you. Ok, at least the local municipality workers haven't been calling me "chien" yet, this happened to a friend.

I am finally living in my own (rented, ok, but still) appartment, I've put a few ikea pieces together already, I've got the internet (after several attempts). It's a huge relief, I love this place. I got out from the horrible airbnb. Finally! After a few weeks of harassment by the host, I am out of there. It took a dozen airbnb support people, tons of stress. The rules are very unfair in this, I had the choice between losing all my paid money, and staying and enduring this, but I got the obvious solution (shorten and get a part of the money back) in the end, it just took much more time, stress, and effort, than I had anticipated. So, everything is hopefully closed now.

A few words of advice: don't be shy to ask for help, and to demand the responsible people to provide it. Don't just accept inferior "resolution offers" taking advantage of your struggles. Airbnb is paid for assistance too, not just for running the website. You don't have to face someone potentially dangerous on your own, even through the messages. And you should ask for help early enough, to avoid the other side throwing every piece of blame and lies on you. Take screenshots of everything, take photos of everything. Take note of the names of people assisting you over phone, there can be many. In some ways, you'll be helpless anyways. If you can pick from several offers, the cancellation rules should be important as a criterion.

A language related finding: I am now much better at dealing with trouble in French, including in writing. But my spoken English sucks. So, Language patzer, you'd probably be disappointed, because I am much less fluent and intelligent in spoken English, than in writing (or in French). :-D Not sure I want to do anything with it, probably not, there are other priorities right now.

My boyfriend wants to arrive, we'll at least talk about our issues in person and see, whether we can save our relationship and have a common vision of our future. But the plan can still fail, if the Poles decide to close the borders too, they are considering it. It sucks to have one's love life depend on governments of foreign countries. But if the Poles forbid transit, just like the Germans, I don't know what to do. I am fed up with everything, so I told him I don't care, whether he has to go by Turkey, or whatever. I just want him to show some initiative and find a way. We have the right to a reunion under the current rules, we'll pay for tests and everything. Now just to figure out how to physically get here.

I hope to share some more cheerful news soon.
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