Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

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

Postby Radioclare » Thu Sep 02, 2021 9:30 pm

2 September
I was attending a training course about presentation skills today. I absolutely hate presenting and this was a very interactive workshop, so I've felt kinda tired this evening. And have to go back for part 2 tomorrow!

Russian
All I've done this evening is watch two episodes of Кухня, one while I was trying to get some extra steps in on the treadmill after work and another one to relax after dinner. I found it a bit better than Татьянин день for the treadmill, because there's a fair amount of music and that helps me go faster. I don't know how long I'll keep watching it, but for now I'm enjoying it and I definitely think I'm understanding a lot more than when I watched it first time around :)

Total - Russian: 50 mins, Croatian: 46 mins
7 x

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

Postby Radioclare » Fri Sep 03, 2021 10:25 pm

3 September
Survived the second part of the training course today but definitely feeling drained now.

Russian
I had plans after work, so didn't get home until 10pm. That means I really haven't done anything very interesting this evening; just watched another two episodes of Кухня. During the first one I felt like my comprehension was really good. By the second one I felt too tired to concentrate, so I really wasn't getting as much out of it.

Total - Russian: 52 mins, Croatian: 46 mins
3 x

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

Postby Radioclare » Sat Sep 04, 2021 9:52 pm

4 September
Spent most of today tidying and organising the house. We'd ordered a skip for the weekend so wanted to make the most of it.

Russian
That meant I didn't have much time for languages (or even much time to sit down :lol:) so another really boring update today; just two more episodes of Кухня watched. Will hopefully have a bit more variety to report tomorrow!

Total - Russian: 49 mins, Croatian: 49 mins
6 x

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

Postby Radioclare » Sun Sep 05, 2021 6:56 pm

5 September
A more relaxing day than yesterday, but still quite busy compared to a lockdown weekend. I had brunch with my parents and then went for a walk in a neighbouring town, so I've only really had this afternoon to think about languages.

Russian
I meant to get back to my textbook today but I kept procrastinating it and I just started drinking a glass of wine, so it clearly isn't going to happen now.

I did clear all my Memrise reviews earlier. I hadn't been religious about logging in every day this week, especially with the somewhat tiring course I'd been attending, so the reviews had built up a bit.

I felt tired when I got back from my walk, so I sat and watched the video version of a Russian Progress podcast. I seem to have missed a few of these because my spreadsheet tells me that the last episode I logged was number 47 and this was 51. Maybe I'll go back and catch up on the others some time. This one was okay but involved yet another interview with someone who isn't a Russian native speaker. Admittedly, that guy's Russian was absolutely amazing, but it still makes me a bit nervous listening to non-native speakers because I feel like I have enough mistakes of my own without accidentally absorbing anyone else's :lol: The benefit of watching the podcasts as a video is that you can turn the subtitles on and any mistakes the non-native speakers make are generally corrected in the subtitles, so I tried to focus on those.

Croatian
I'm still watching an episode of the telenovela 'Čista ljubav' on the treadmill every morning. I'm 83 episodes into it now, so almost halfway. Today's episode involved a bride being accidentally shot by her father at the end of her wedding ceremony. Accidentally, because he was trying to shoot the groom, a criminal with mafia links who blackmailed her into the marriage by threatening to kill the man she actually loves if she didn't comply. All very dramatic. Unfortunately the actor who played the hero changed a few episodes ago, because the first actor who played him appears to have been sacked for bad behaviour partway through filming the series. I knew this was coming because I'd read about it in the Croatian press at the time (this series is from 2017) but it's still annoying to have a character change heads halfway through :lol:

I'm also slowly working my way through 'Kraj' by Salvatore Scibona. I'd be lying if I said I was loving this. It feels like the sort of book you read for the sake of enjoying the writing rather than because of an interesting plot or because you feel empathy with the characters. I don't mind reading the odd book like that, the only problem is that I'm not actually enjoying the writing :lol: I don't know, it's hard to criticise a book when you read it in translation; possibly my Croatian isn't good enough to enjoy the writing properly or possibly it's writing that I wouldn't particularly enjoy in English either. I'm battling through though because I'm still several books off completing my Croatian Super Challenge.

Total - Russian: 45 mins, Croatian: 84 mins
6 x

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

Postby IronMike » Sun Sep 05, 2021 9:39 pm

Radioclare wrote:4 September
We'd ordered a skip for the weekend so wanted to make the most of it.

What does that mean? The "ordered a skip" part? I'd never heard that.
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Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby rdearman » Sun Sep 05, 2021 10:18 pm

IronMike wrote:
Radioclare wrote:4 September
We'd ordered a skip for the weekend so wanted to make the most of it.

What does that mean? The "ordered a skip" part? I'd never heard that.

A "skip" in the UK is what Americans call "dumpsters". Here you can order one for your house for a limited time and throw all your crap into it.
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IronMike
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Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby IronMike » Sun Sep 05, 2021 10:58 pm

rdearman wrote:
IronMike wrote:
Radioclare wrote:4 September
We'd ordered a skip for the weekend so wanted to make the most of it.

What does that mean? The "ordered a skip" part? I'd never heard that.

A "skip" in the UK is what Americans call "dumpsters". Here you can order one for your house for a limited time and throw all your crap into it.

Oh, thanks. Learned something new today!
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Radioclare
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Re: Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Mon Sep 06, 2021 9:33 pm

IronMike wrote:Oh, thanks. Learned something new today!

I learned something new today too - didn't know that skip was a British word :lol:

6 September
Worked from the office today. Thought it might be a bit busier now we're into September but there were only about 10 people in. After work I went to IKEA, which was quite exciting (I haven't been to IKEA for ages :D).

Russian
The trip to IKEA means that I still haven't opened my textbook :oops:

I did clear my Memrise reviews earlier while I was waiting for a lift. And then this evening... you guessed it... I watched another episode of Кухня.

Total - Russian: 35 mins, Croatian: 47 mins
6 x

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

Postby Radioclare » Tue Sep 07, 2021 9:42 pm

7 September
Worked from home today, which felt nice and relaxing :)

Russian
I cleared my Memrise reviews after work; there weren't too many today so I learned some new words too.

Somehow I still didn't get around to opening the textbook (I honestly don't know why I'm procrastinating it :lol:). But I did watch three entire episodes of Кухня. It's not often I get the urge to watch multiple episodes of Russian TV, so I think I just need to make the most of the fact that I'm finding it easy to watch this show at the moment :)

Total - Russian: 79 mins, Croatian: 55 mins
8 x

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

Postby Radioclare » Wed Sep 08, 2021 9:13 pm

8 September
Was working at home today. It's been so hot!

Russian
This evening I finally opened the Russian textbook. It honestly wasn't too bad; I spent half an hour on it and that was enough to get to the end of the chapter, so I get to start something new tomorrow :)

Otherwise I just spent 10 minutes clearing my Memrise reviews.

Croatian
I tried to make more progress with the novel 'Kraj' this evening. I felt like I'd been reading it for hours, but it was actually only 45 minutes :lol: I am definitely going to have to read something fun once I've finished this one!

Total - Russian: 40 mins, Croatian: 96 mins
5 x


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