Xenops' Log

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Xenops
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Re: Xenops' Log

Postby Xenops » Sun Jan 01, 2023 1:44 pm

Cavesa wrote:Happy New Year 2023! May it be even more filled with success than the previous one, with growth, and a lot of joy.


Thank you Cavesa. :D Happy New Year to you, and I pray that you will have a lovely and successful year too.
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Xenops
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Unprecidented Update

Postby Xenops » Sat Jan 28, 2023 1:17 am

Good evening friends,

I finished my third week at my new job, and seems to be a decent fit. It is an orthopedic hospital, so no emergency rooms and OB/GYN. I work in a small lab, with probably less than 20 people counting all per diems. Currently I am training in blood bank, and since (most of) the surgeries are planned, it isn’t hectic as it would be in most hospitals. I think I would have loved working at a such a hospital when I first got my degree and was starry-eyed, but after working in a clinical lab during the pandemic and getting burnt out, I am slightly cynical--”the older and wiser girl”. I am familiar with American hospital dynamics, and again I’m finding again that the medical technologists are the “black sheep” of the hospital staff. However, the stress if lower, and employees will greet each other in the halls (at first I thought “am I still in Boston?”), and all of the lab members are more or less harmonious and close. It definitely has a small-hospital feel.

And I can say that I’ve been making language learning progress—just not the progress I expected.

Danish

It appears that Danish is staying for the meantime?

Before I went on the Scanditrip in August, I anxiety-purchased a (student) membership to SpeakDanish.dk, and then did not do a whole lot with it. I got back on it in December, and despite my purchasing it in July, the membership lasts until December 2023. Fint!

More regularly I have been putting sentences into Anki. I found a book + audio of Routledge’s Colloquial Danish, and that’s what I’ve been using for sentences. It seems like a good fit: dialogues aren’t too fast but also not sluggish, and the content is engaging and challenging. I would not recommend this for a brand-new beginner, but for someone with Norwegian experience, this fits the bill.

Recently I tried to find local Scandinavians in Boston. Tandem has not been fruitful—quite possibly because Scandinavians don’t feel the need for language exchanges. So I looked on Meetup: no luck, and it appears that it costs $$ a month to get a new group going. No thanks. Then I searched for nordmenn, dansk via my blank Facebook account: no hits for nordmenn, but there is a Danish Boston group. Okay, so I joined. Last week they had a once-a-month get together, and this is what I expected to experience, mostly based on past Spanish and general language exchange:


--I would feel a bit lost as I would try to find the group, and ackwardly tell them how I found them. The group would be surprised, but politely welcome me anyway. We would all get drinks, and I would sit silently in the group, mostly ignored as the members would chit-chat in Danish. I would leave after a couple of hours, and feel like I got some listening practice, maybe?

--What I experienced: I was outside the pub when I saw a group approaching, and “Denmark” reached my ears. I followed the group, and asked “Er dere dansker? Jeg hedder Xenops”, and the first dude seemed welcoming. Then the rest of the group noted my appearance, and they welcomed me and introduced themselves. We all got drinks. One part of the group spoke in Danish, and the other part included Danes but also a French and Brazilian lady, and they chatted in English. Everyone was curious about me and included me in the conversations, ranging in topics from “what physical activity should I get into?” to environmentalism. After arriving at 17:00, I finally left at 21:00, and two members asked if I would return next time. I hope I can say a few more things in Danish the next time we meet.


Japanese


I realized why my Japanese studies, possibly, feel more sluggish than they have to be: I have a difficult time ignoring kanji in practice exercises. The theory behind the Genki textbooks is that you would be exposed to many kanji, but you would only “study” kanji incrementally—say maybe 20 per chapter. I can’t do this—I need to look up and practice every kanji before I move onto the next exercise. This results in my taking forever to finish a single set of exercises, and feel like I’m not making progress.

So this lead to the decision: to really tackle Japanese, I would need to spend a dedicated amount of time to just kanji and vocabulary. I’m pretty happy with my cloze-deletion format for Anki cards, so this would be my weapon of choice.

Until then, however, something else came up…

Korean

This language has been haunting me for at least two years, maybe longer. I keep putting if off, because I don’t feel like I have a really solid reason to study it:

I like Korean guys, possibly because they have excellent hygiene? Maybe not.
I think Webtoons is the future of comics, and Korea is spear-heading this? Stronger, but not super strong.

Those are the strongest preference-reasons I can think of. I’m not a huge fan of K-dramas or music, or most of their pop-culture—actually, I’m pretty ignorant of such things. My little reasons didn’t seem to warrant the toil of learning this level-5 language. And yet as I mentioned here, I wonder if God is calling me to study this language. Using my logic, I have fought off this calling for months--”this doesn’t make sense”. And yet I recently had a low point in my life, and willingly submitted to His will, including Korean. Shortly after, I found myself wanting to study Korean. I have been using TTMIK’s Hanguel book and the (thick) pronunciation book. I know the rumor “you can learn hanguel in an afternoon”, but I’d rather focus on correct pronunciation rather than approximate. So I’m working on writing and listening right now. And something that I an only appreciate after working on kanji for so long, is the absence of kanji. I can read the text! I know spelling conventions have quirks and unpredictable sounds, but an approximate is still easier.

So that’s my unprecedented update.
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Re: Xenops' Log

Postby rdearman » Sat Jan 28, 2023 8:39 am

What is the meaning of the word "fint"?
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jeff_lindqvist
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Re: Xenops' Log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Sat Jan 28, 2023 9:02 am

rdearman wrote:What is the meaning of the word "fint"?


"Fine" (neuter singular of "fin" ). Nice. Great.
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Xenops
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Languages: English (N), Danish (A2), Japanese (rusty), Nansha (constructing)
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Dansk, jeg vælger dig!

Postby Xenops » Sat Mar 25, 2023 12:30 am

Well, it appears that the answer I’ve been seeking has revealed itself: which Scandinavian country and language to invest time in. I was researching Danish immigration options and also universities for healthcare programs, and it appears that Denmark meets criteria I was looking at:

1. On the immigration site, they specifically list “medical technologist” as a priority occupation for an immigrant. This is delightful and specific, and also applicable, so I might be biased. ;) Norway’s list includes doctors and nurses, but not MT’s. I don’t know how to evaluate these lists—if they mention 5 different medical professions, is it safe to assume that they would consider others not on the list? I don’t know. But the Danish list mentions my profession, and this gives me confidence.

2. Bonus point for Denmark (I think?): they have an evaluation period of the hopeful professional immigrant, and if the person passes, Denmark will help that person get a job. This is if I’m understanding the concept correctly. If so, I can use this to my advantage, I think. Norway, from what I can tell, only expects hopeful professionals to apply to jobs just like everyone else, with no particular help.

3. Healthcare programs I’m considering in Denmark are not limited to permanent residents, nor terribly expensive. In Sweden you can attend such programs, but they are expensive for anyone but a resident. In Norway they only consider residents.

4. Denmark accepts a GED in lieu of a high school diploma. In case you didn’t know, I was home-schooled for 9 years, and took a GED and went to college from there. A few years ago I contacted the Italian university system, and they would not accept a GED. Denmark and Norway do. I haven’t checked for Sweden.

So this is an answer to much prayer, and a salve to my much over-thinking: “where am I going to go?” I have had a very difficult time focusing on any language because I felt I had no strong direction. I’ve relied a lot on the sway of emotions and Romanticism, which are not trustworthy guides. To have a stark direction is very welcome: it’s like finding a rock above water when the current is unpredictable.

So now I’m left with the question: how do I get to B2-C1 in Danish?…

I am finding that methods I used for Norwegian are not available to me for Danish. First, I haven’t yet found an equivalent for the Norsk, Nordmenn og Norge textbooks—a solid set of grammar instruction. I don’t have a Mystery of Nils equivalent—the publishers promised a similar book for Danish, but the last update is from fall 2022, and nothing yet. I looked at Memrise decks, and most I’ve seen are not comprehensive or don’t have audio. And Duolingo is dead to me now—I wasn’t a huge fan of the characters, but the new format/design of the modules killed it for me. I relied on the old setup: it was easy to see which topic needed review, or “ah, I could go through that difficult family one again”. With the new design, it’s like I’m blind. I deleted the app from my phone. I lament that they hide the good content behind the gamification.

So for Danish, I would have to be more creative to make study materials, and I might have to make my own SRS cards. Which is annoying. So I have to decide whether to invest time in making a Memrise deck and hope they don’t get rid of user-decks, or go straight to Anki. I prefer Memrise because of the variety of testing. With Anki, unless there’s a special add-on, is just...Cards.

Something I wonder as I browse the web for Danish materials: is Norway more proactive in sharing their culture? Because I see more more comprehensive learning materials for Norwegian than for Danish. I also see more user decks on Memrise for Norwegian, whereas Danish is kind of sparse.

I do have an account on Saxo, and I successfully purchased the audio of the Old Testament. Unfortunately, each book is a single audio file. I will probably have to use Audacity to break them into chapters at least. I also purchased a sweet little grammar, “Danish: An Elementary Grammar and Reader”, which has IPA for words including the stød! I’m impressed. And I have still access to SpeakDanish.dk.

The title for this post means "Danish, I chose you!" As you can guess, I have been watching Pokemon Journeys in Danish with English/Danish subtitles on Netflix, and it is mostly enjoyable (enough). It's interesting watching Journeys, as these comprise of the latest seasons, as I wasn't aware that the first season was also available in Danish. It's interesting seeing the "time-skip" that the show has had over 20+ years. In Journeys, Ash is a mellowed-out, silly, but competent Pokemon trainer. I enjoy his Danish voice actor. His counterpart--who really is about catching the critters--is named...Goh. :roll: :lol: The subtitles for Journeys is an approximation, but both the Norwegian and Danish subtitles for Season 1 (Indigo League) are actually pretty close. Journeys I figured is for extensive/passive exposure, but I will use Indigo League for vocabulary training.

Japanese and Korean are still in the mix, but probably more time will be spent on Danish—unless I plan a trip to South Korea next year, which is possible...
Last edited by Xenops on Sat Mar 25, 2023 1:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Xenops' Log

Postby rdearman » Sat Mar 25, 2023 12:42 am

When people list the pros and cons of home schooling, I don't remember anyone mentioning the restriction to immigration!
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Re: Xenops' Log

Postby PeterMollenburg » Sat Mar 25, 2023 1:04 am

Well done on making a definitive choice on which country and language to focus on, Xenops. A few texts I'd be looking at include:

1. Assimil - Le danois
2. Colloquial Danish
3. Danish Tutor: Grammar and Vocabulary Workbook (Learn Danish with Teach Yourself)
4. Beginner's Danish by Nete Schmidt
5. TY Complete Danish.

That's a rather rudimentary glance, and I'm sure you're aware of these, but I thought I'd write something just to throw my hat in the ring of support. There's bound to be a fair amount to keep you busy in the above texts, even if they are mostly beginner's texts.

Have you tried looking for texts aimed at immigrants? The Netherlands and Norway have a good deal of content aimed at those integrating into their respective cultures (ie language learning course books and audio) and they're not just beginner's resources. Again, you're likely aware of this option for resources, but just in case. I'm not sure what Denmark offers in this respect. There may even be such things even if only older publications that have been made for the Greenland and perhaps even Iceland education systems.
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Xenops
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Languages: English (N), Danish (A2), Japanese (rusty), Nansha (constructing)
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Re: Xenops' Log

Postby Xenops » Sat Mar 25, 2023 1:31 am

rdearman wrote:When people list the pros and cons of home schooling, I don't remember anyone mentioning the restriction to immigration!


I should make it clear just in case: the universities of Denmark and Norway accept the GED. :D

PeterMollenburg wrote:Well done on making a definitive choice on which country and language to focus on, Xenops. A few texts I'd be looking at include:

1. Assimil - Le danois
2. Colloquial Danish
3. Danish Tutor: Grammar and Vocabulary Workbook (Learn Danish with Teach Yourself)
4. Beginner's Danish by Nete Schmidt
5. TY Complete Danish.

That's a rather rudimentary glance, and I'm sure you're aware of these, but I thought I'd write something just to throw my hat in the ring of support. There's bound to be a fair amount to keep you busy in the above texts, even if they are mostly beginner's texts.

Have you tried looking for texts aimed at immigrants? The Netherlands and Norway have a good deal of content aimed at those integrating into their respective cultures (ie language learning course books and audio) and they're not just beginner's resources. Again, you're likely aware of this option for resources, but just in case. I'm not sure what Denmark offers in this respect. There may even be such things even if only older publications that have been made for the Greenland and perhaps even Iceland education systems.


Mange tak!

I have investigated all but the Beginner's Danish, and sadly none of them are like Norsk, Nordmenn og Norge. Colloquial I started using, and Danish Tutor I just ordered from Alibris yesterday. Le Danois, like other out-of-print Assimil, are going for astronomical prices on eBay.

For immigrant texts, I'd have to look harder, because the ones I've seen online are rather basic. It seems the Danish government encourages new folk to attend in-person or government-funded courses. I'll have to see if they have textbooks for general use.
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Re: Xenops' Log

Postby dklinker » Sat Mar 25, 2023 3:15 am

Hi Xenops

This link takes you to a simplified version of the old testament. The audios are short, are at a manageable speed for language learners, have good sound quality and are accompanied by text. They have a lot of basic verbs and A1 - B2 sentence structure.

https://www.jw.org/da/bibliotek/b%C3%B8 ... -brev-lfb/
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Xenops
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Re: Xenops' Log

Postby Xenops » Sat Mar 25, 2023 10:36 pm

dklinker wrote:Hi Xenops

This link takes you to a simplified version of the old testament. The audios are short, are at a manageable speed for language learners, have good sound quality and are accompanied by text. They have a lot of basic verbs and A1 - B2 sentence structure.

https://www.jw.org/da/bibliotek/b%C3%B8 ... -brev-lfb/


Thank you! I'll take a look. :D
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