Radioclare's 2021 log (Russian, Croatian)

[IronMike]

That Whisperer book sounds really good. My family reading group has recently picked mysteries from other countries, so maybe this one will be my pick next!

[Radioclare]

It's definitely gripping - I accidentally read another 70 pages today! There are some quite dark themes in it though and in places it's quite gruesome. I generally prefer crime fiction in the vein of Agatha Christie where nothing too disturbing ever happens This is more the sort of book which wants you to be able to visualise the autopsy.

17 July
It's too hot. Or, at least, too hot for a country that doesn't have air con

Russian
I did some listening exercises from the B1.1 textbook this morning and found them quite straightforward. This was reassuring, because sometimes I don't feel like the Super Challenge has brought about any improvement in my listening at all, but clearly it must have done. I've finished the comprehension exercises in this chapter now, so will be onto the grammar tomorrow.

I also read a chapter of Sherlock Holmes over lunch and cleared my Memrise reviews, which I'd neglected for a couple of days. In the evening I watched another episode of 'Татьянин день'.

Total - Russian: 97 mins, Croatian: 155 mins

[Radioclare]

18 July
Still way too hot. But I didn't have any plans for today, so got through lots of language learning.

Russian
This morning I spent half an hour or so with the B1.1 textbook, starting the grammar section of my current chapter. The theme of this one is short adjectives and this is something I feel like I still haven't quite got the hang of, so the practice in the exercises was welcome. Of course, there are so many exercises that I only got a small way through them in half an hour, so expect to hear me talk about short adjectives for days to come

I also did a bit more Memrise and read another chapter of Sherlock Holmes. In the afternoon I watched a Russian Progress video/podcast with a medical theme. The theme was interesting in itself but it was another one of these videos which involved interviewing a polyglot speaking Russian and I just don't feel like I get a lot out of watching those. As in, however good the person's Russian is, I just think it's less useful than listening to a native speaker.

I'm also trying to get back in to practising writing after my dismal results for Q2. I managed to write 250 words in Russian this afternoon, but it was very painful. I wasn't sure back in Q1 whether forcing myself to write in Russian every week was useful, but I've come to the conclusion it must have been because back then I was managing to write 500 words every weekend, whereas today I felt like I could barely string coherent sentences together.

Croatian
Admittedly, I think that part of the reason I was struggling to write in Russian was because I'd spent quite a lot of time on Croatian today. I watched an episode of Croatian TV on the treadmill, spent at least 1.5 hours reading in Croatian and wrote 250 words in Croatian too. I'm also in the middle of trying to rearrange my Croatian vocabulary in Memrise. So I think maybe my head was too full of Croatian for it to be easy for me to write in Russian.

Total - Russian: 118 mins, Croatian: 166 mins

[Radioclare]

19 July
Worked from home today because didn't fancy the 'Freedom Day' party in the office.

Russian
That meant I had a nice long evening. I started with the B1.1 textbook, on the basis that it's best to get the worst thing over and done with first. I got through a whole page of exercises on short adjectives. It looks like the next grammar topic might be prepositions, but I didn't start the first exercise on these because I got confused by the instructions. In the picture below, can anyone tell me what "сущ." stands for?

b1.1.png

Otherwise I just kept up with Memrise (today was one of those days where I seemed to have an unfairly high level of reviews!) and read another chapter of Sherlock Holmes, which is just feeling far too hard now. Mercifully today's chapter only had 7 pages in it.

Total - Russian: 74 mins, Croatian: 112 mins

[IronMike]

...but I didn't start the first exercise on these because I got confused by the instructions. In the picture below, can anyone tell me what "сущ." stands for?

суща means noun. для сущ means for nouns. If that helps.

[vonPeterhof]

...but I didn't start the first exercise on these because I got confused by the instructions. In the picture below, can anyone tell me what "сущ." stands for?

суща means noun. для сущ means for nouns. If that helps.

Correction: "суща" isn't really a word. "сущ." is short for "существительное", which does mean "noun". I'd guess that the exercise is asking for examples of phrases where another noun is appended directly to the noun in the genitive, without the use of prepositions.

[IronMike]

...but I didn't start the first exercise on these because I got confused by the instructions. In the picture below, can anyone tell me what "сущ." stands for?

суща means noun. для сущ means for nouns. If that helps.

Correction: "суща" isn't really a word. "сущ." is short for "существительное", which does mean "noun". I'd guess that the exercise is asking for examples of phrases where another noun is appended directly to the noun in the genitive, without the use of prepositions.

Sounded weird when I was searching for the word. Stupid Google translate. Should have just gone to multitran.

[Radioclare]

...but I didn't start the first exercise on these because I got confused by the instructions. In the picture below, can anyone tell me what "сущ." stands for?

суща means noun. для сущ means for nouns. If that helps.

Correction: "суща" isn't really a word. "сущ." is short for "существительное", which does mean "noun". I'd guess that the exercise is asking for examples of phrases where another noun is appended directly to the noun in the genitive, without the use of prepositions.

Thanks both, that makes loads more sense now

20 July
Was able to work at home again today which was good, though it's still unbearably hot.

Russian
After work I carried on with the exercises in the B1.1 textbook, which are indeed now on the theme of prepositions. I got through another page and a half of exercises, so I think there is only one more exercise left, plus an end of unit test, and then I'll be able to start a new chapter.

I also spent over half an hour reading 'Знак четырех'. I was trying to get to the end of the chapter I was in, but then I realised belatedly that it's an absolute mega-chapter (the final chapter of the book) and so it was too much for me to manage in one go. I might finish it tomorrow, though. After that I'm going to read 'The Hound of the Baskervilles', which is included in the same paperback. I'm hoping I'll find that one a bit easier, because I'm more familiar with the story.

Total - Russian: 64 mins, Croatian: 76 mins

[Radioclare]

21 July
It felt a bit cooler today, thankfully

Russian
I reached the end of the second chapter in the B1.1 textbook. And I didn't score too badly on the test at the end

I also finally got to the end of 'Знак четырех', which has given me an extra 160 pages towards my Russian SC. Reading felt a bit better today than it did yesterday, but so far this is the most difficult book that I've read in Russian, even though it was also the shortest.

I have been neglecting the TV part of my SC recently, so I also watched an episode of Татьянин день this evening.

Total - Russian: 110 mins, Croatian: 114 mins

[Radioclare]

22 July
Today was too hot again. But it looks like we're going to get back to rain on Saturday, so that's something to look forward to

Russian
I started a new chapter in the B1.1 textbook today. The theme of this one seems to be education, so today I was reading some texts about the pros and cons of higher education, whether it's worth going to university etc, and then doing some comprehension exercises.

I also started reading 'Собака Баскервилей' (The Hound of the Baskervilles). It's probably not any easier than 'The Sign of Four' but I like the story more. The main word I looked up was "пустошь" which seems to be the word used to translate "moor" in the sense of "Dartmoor".

Croatian
I finished reading 'Šaptač'. I found it compulsive and have managed to sit reading it for over an hour at a time without getting distracted by anything else. But it was very dark and one of those books where there are so many twists towards the end that you finish it not being quite sure what's happened The other slightly weird thing about it is that it isn't clear where the story is set, there's almost a complete lack of place throughout. I assumed because the original was in Italian that it would be set in Italy, but on balance I think that it probably wasn't because a lot of the characters have names that don't seem remotely Italian. Overall I think I enjoyed it anyway and it's given me 472 pages towards my Croatian Super Challenge.

Total - Russian: 81 mins, Croatian: 108 mins