Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

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Radioclare
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Languages: Speaks: English (N), Esperanto, German, Croatian
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Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Sun Oct 24, 2021 8:39 pm

24 October
More travel planning today. Also my computer has upgraded itself to Windows 11- so far without any significant ill effects - although it does seem to have messed up my keyboard layouts and reinstalled US English.

Russian
I had something bizarre like 164 Memrise reviews today. I don't really get how this happens if I log in every day and only ever learn 10 words at a time, but never mind.

I read the final two stories and got to the end of the Russian short stories book - yay! What I learned from this is that a) I don't like short stories and b) these short stories would have been way too advanced for me to properly understand without the benefit of the parallel text.

Then I spent another half an hour or so on Russian grammar. Today I was learning about nouns of common gender (nouns that can be either male or female depending on the person they apply to) and indeclinable nouns of foreign origin. Indeclinable nouns are 100% my favourite nouns :lol:

Total - Russian: 71 mins, Croatian: 61 mins, German: 62 mins
7 x

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Radioclare
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Languages: Speaks: English (N), Esperanto, German, Croatian
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Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Mon Oct 25, 2021 9:09 pm

25 October
It's starting to feel cold now - for the first time this autumn I had to put a heater on while I was working earlier.

Russian
The Memrise reviews weren't too bad today. After dinner I started reading a new book called 'Светлый лик смерти' by Александра Маринина. I read one of her books earlier this year - I think in June - and that was the first actual Russian book I had read in Russian. This will be the second and it's from the same crime fiction series as the first. I only read one chapter this evening (that was enough, it took me nearly 40 minutes) so I haven't got as far as the murder yet, but it seems like it's going to be an interesting story. I think these books are just about the right level for me at the moment. The chapter I read today was complicated enough that I had to really concentrate and read slowly to understand, but not so difficult that that felt like an impossible task. And it wasn't full of obscure vocab like the short stories I was reading last week :)

Total - Russian: 57 mins, Croatian: 55 mins, German: 76 mins
9 x

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Radioclare
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
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Location: England
Languages: Speaks: English (N), Esperanto, German, Croatian
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Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Tue Oct 26, 2021 9:55 pm

26 October
Not so cold today :) I'm alternating between feeling excited about going away on Sunday and trying not to think about it in case something goes wrong.

Russian
After my Memrise reviews I started reading the second chapter of 'Светлый лик смерти', planning to do some grammar study once I got to the end of it. I quite enjoyed the reading, although I still haven't got as far as any deaths and it is taking a lot of concentration. I don't think I'd manage to read this book after a glass of wine!

Anyway, imagine my surprise when I checked my stopwatch at the end of the chapter and realised that it had taken me over an hour :lol: I decided to slack off the grammar study after that, because I've got a 1100+ page novel in German that I'm attempting to finish before the weekend as well, so didn't really want to devote any more of my evening to Russian.

Total - Russian: 75 mins, Croatian: 59 mins, German: 71 mins
9 x

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Radioclare
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Location: England
Languages: Speaks: English (N), Esperanto, German, Croatian
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Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Wed Oct 27, 2021 9:29 pm

27 October
Halfway through the week now. And almost halfway through the book I'm reading in German :)

Russian
Managed to resist the temptation to start reading in Russian as soon as I finished dinner, although it felt a bit unnatural. Cleared my Memrise reviews and then opened 'A Comprehensive Russian Grammar' and studied that for 20 mins or so. The section I was looking at today was masculine/feminine names for different professions; when there are separate words, for example, how the feminine words are formed and when the masculine word can be used for women too.

Total - Russian: 32 mins, Croatian: 59 mins, German: 100 mins
7 x

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Radioclare
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
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Location: England
Languages: Speaks: English (N), Esperanto, German, Croatian
Learns: Russian
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Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Thu Oct 28, 2021 9:56 pm

28 October
Starting to feel like going on holiday at the weekend might actually be happening :)

Russian
Another not very exciting update today, I'm afraid. I was strongly tempted to read in Russian this evening, but I managed to resist the temptation and plough on with the grammar textbook instead. The section I was reading today was about animacy which, like everything in Russian grammar, turns out to be more complicated than it initially looks. Among the bizarre niche points I learned today was the fact that snooker balls are animate in Russian :shock:

Total - Russian: 35 mins, Croatian: 56 mins, German: 107 mins
6 x

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Radioclare
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Location: England
Languages: Speaks: English (N), Esperanto, German, Croatian
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Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Fri Oct 29, 2021 10:04 pm

29 October
Went to the office today. I was a bit nervous about it because Friday is bring your dog to work day and I'm allergic to dogs :lol: But it turned out that only one dog had turned up today.

Russian
Today was one of those days when the Memrise reviews weren't too bad :) I had some wine with my dinner to celebrate the weekend, so I didn't feel like doing any grammar study afterwards. Instead I just watched an episode of 'Кухня', which was quite amusing, although one of the characters spent the entire episode being drunk and so I found it harder than usual to understand anything he was saying.

Total - Russian: 34 mins, Croatian: 49 mins, German: 129 mins
7 x

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AroAro
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Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby AroAro » Sat Oct 30, 2021 11:18 am

Radioclare wrote:29 October
Went to the office today. I was a bit nervous about it because Friday is bring your dog to work day and I'm allergic to dogs :lol: But it turned out that only one dog had turned up today.


I know that "blue jeans Fridays" exist but I've never expected to hear about "bring your dog to work day"! Honestly, I can't imagine what the poor creatures do in the office on that day :)
2 x
corrections are welcome

Caromarlyse
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Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Caromarlyse » Sat Oct 30, 2021 11:25 am

AroAro wrote:
Radioclare wrote:29 October
Went to the office today. I was a bit nervous about it because Friday is bring your dog to work day and I'm allergic to dogs :lol: But it turned out that only one dog had turned up today.


I know that "blue jeans Fridays" exist but I've never expected to hear about "bring your dog to work day"! Honestly, I can't imagine what the poor creatures do in the office on that day :)


I've heard of businesses offering a service whereby puppies are taken into offices to encourage staff to come back from working from home. You then have to book a slot to spend time with them.
2 x

User avatar
Radioclare
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2250
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 12:59 pm
Location: England
Languages: Speaks: English (N), Esperanto, German, Croatian
Learns: Russian
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Contact:

Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Sat Oct 30, 2021 5:02 pm

Caromarlyse wrote:
AroAro wrote:I know that "blue jeans Fridays" exist but I've never expected to hear about "bring your dog to work day"! Honestly, I can't imagine what the poor creatures do in the office on that day :)


I've heard of businesses offering a service whereby puppies are taken into offices to encourage staff to come back from working from home. You then have to book a slot to spend time with them.


Every Friday is "bring your dog to work day" in my office! Anyone who is allergic or who doesn't like dogs works from home that day, then they do a deep clean of the office over the weekend to hopefully get rid of any allergens before Monday. Some people seem to bring a blanket or basket for their dogs to sleep on, other people just seem to let them run around the office and cause mayhem :lol: I think the idea is that having dogs around makes everyone happier, but not sure how much fun it is for the dogs.

30 October
I'm going to Spain tomorrow! Hopefully. If nothing goes wrong.

Russian
I've really done the bare minimum in Russian today. I cleared my Memrise reviews earlier this morning and then I did some grammar study in a break between housework and packing. I revised the chapter on animate nouns which I studied earlier in the week, then I moved on to the next section which is about nouns that are always used in the singular.

After a bit of internal debate I decided not to take my grammar book on holiday. I normally pack study materials and tell myself that I'll have loads of spare time for Russian when I'm on holiday, but in reality I often end up carrying a heavy book all the way there and back without opening it. So instead I'm just bringing a novel in Russian and my plan is that I'll get my 30 mins in every day by a combination of reading and Memrise.

Total - Russian: 30 mins, Croatian: 53 mins
8 x

Caromarlyse
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Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Caromarlyse » Sun Oct 31, 2021 5:47 pm

That sounds like an excellent way to guarantee you work from home each Friday!

Hope Spain works out!
2 x


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