Little by little (TUR, DUT, ITA, FRE)

[Sonjaconjota]

December 2021

Dutch
- I watched
Vermist (I think this might be a whole series, but netflix had only one episode, as if it was a single film.)
De familie Claus
Windkracht 10
Neflix has also added a lot of strange introspective arthousy Belgian films, mainly from the 70s. There were a couple that I started and did not bring myself to finish, but I watched these entirely:
Pallieter
Boerenpsalm
Het einde van de reis
- I’m still working on my vocabulary flashcards.
I was surprised to see that the words for “flour” and “flower”, which are quite similar in English as well, are both “bloem”.
This blog explains that the word originally referred to “the best, the finest” part of the plant, not necessarily its blossom:
http://taalrijkleven.blogspot.com/2013/12/bloem.html
So it would refer to the grain, the part which the flour comes from.
- I finished listening to Tolkien: In de ban van de ring - De twee torens.

Italian
- I had found a little book in Italian called Tango per una rosa at a secondhand bookshop. It was about Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and sounded interesting, but I found it very boring. At least it was short.
- I watched:
Guida astrologica per cuori infranti
Le nozze di Laura (a very strange film, but also kind of sweet)
- I listened to some episodes of Alle otto della sera - Le scandalose.

French
- I watched
Romuald et Juliette (completeley over the top, but I loved it)
Soupçons, les dessous de l’affaire Wesphael
Pourris gâtés
-I read Maigret – Au rendez-vous des Terres-Neuvas
- I’ve started to watch the news updates by HugoDécrypte on youtube. My italki teacher had recommended him. The choice of “news” doesn’t always convince me, but it is nice to see what seems to be of interest for the French society.
- I listened to this month’s new episodes of Chroniques Criminelles.

Turkish
- I finished reviewing part 8/12 from my Turkish course.
- At the end of the first week, I came to the conclusion that I needed some regular input that I could come back to without thinking about it too much. So I decided I would watch at least half an hour of Kördüğüm on netflix per day. Even if I’m not enjoying it as much as Kara Para Aşk, I really need some hours of input.
I quickly got into Kördüğüm and felt like knowing how the story would proceed – success!
One funny moment: I’m watching it with subtitles, and at one point, a little boy was asking joke questions. According to the subtitles, he said: “What’s a chicken’s favourite country?” And the other person answered, laughing: “That’s easy: Egypt!”
I thought: Wow, lost in translation at its best!
I looked up “Egypt” in Turkish, and it turns out that the name of the country “Mısır”, is the same word that is used for "corn".
I investigated a bit further, and of course it is the other way round. Because corn was first imported to Turkey through Egypt, it was called "Mısır darısı" (Egyptian millet) or "Mısır buğdayı" (Egyptian wheat) in the beginning, which was later shortened to just “mısır”.

Others
Catalan
- I have read L’home de Sau, a childrens’ book that my boyfriend still has from his childhood days. It was a quick and fun read.

Swedish
- I really, really want to start learning learning Swedish, so I’ve been naughty and bought some resources …

[Sonjaconjota]

Goals for the beginning of 2022
I really have to get back to do some serious desk time if I want to advance with my language learning.
(Actually, I have to take it easy with sports for a while, because I seem to have overdone it and my right leg hurts a lot. Okay, more time for languages then.)
So, my goal for January is to actively study Turkish for at least 21 hours. That means an hour per weekday, with the possibility to catch up during the weekend if necessary.
I hope that I can finish the review of my Turkish course by the end of March, if I get a move on. So, that’s my medium-term goal.
After that, I want to take two months off from Turkish and concentrate on Italian.
I have a lot of beginners’ resources for Italian that are taking up space but that I do not want to give away before I’ve had a look at them. I think that’s what I want to concentrate on in April and May.

[Sonjaconjota]

Mid-month update:
I have been quite diligent and disciplined with my daily hour of studying Turkish.
There’s finally light at the end of the tunnel!

And ... I’ve started to learn Swedish. Yes, I know it wasn’t the wisest of decisions. But I have to say that it actually helps me to stay on track with Turkish, because I don’t allow myself to do any Swedish before I haven’t done my daily dose of Turkish.
I’m using two approaches in combination:
First I work through the coursebook Schwedisch mit System by Langenscheidt. I don’t like it, but that’s in part my fault, because I didn’t do any research beforehand.
I saw that this one was available, I was interested in trying a resource by Langenscheidt and just went and bought it.
I already got suspicious when I noticed that it claims to bring students up to level B1 in just 15 lessons.
I quickly understood the reason for that: Even in the first lesson, they just throw a long word list and a whole bunch of grammar rules at the learner. Man, I actually like grammar, but this is a bit too much to begin with. It’s definitely not a book for someone without self-studying experience.
Now I really appreciate the wonderful way my Turkish course was structured, presenting one grammar topic at a time and even dividing complex topics into several smaller blocks of explanations, with lots of exercises.
The second part of my Swedish language learning adventure (which I’m calling “dabbling” so far, because I’m not sure I’ll keep it up in the long run) is based on reading.
One of the reasons for my interest in Swedish was wanting to read the books by Astrid Lindgren, which played such an important role in my childhood, in the original version.
And I was thrilled when I realized that this did not have to be a faraway goal, but could actually be part of the learning process from day one!
I bought a German and a Swedish version of Alla vi barn i Bullerbyn, and the audio book in Swedish.
The language in this book is very easy, and the chapters are supershort, so I can work through one chapter in about half an hour. Yes, I do look up vocabulary, but I quickly started to recognize recurring words.
This part of the process makes me very happy.
All in all, Swedish is a strange experience after Turkish. On the one hand, it felt as if, after about four hours of studying or so, my reading comprehension was at the same level as my Turkish comprehension after a good two years.
The pronunciation, on the other hand, is … interesting, to say the least.
And I’m also worried that there might be mix-ups with Dutch. We’ll see.

[jeff_lindqvist]

One of the reasons for my interest in Swedish was wanting to read the books by Astrid Lindgren, which played such an important role in my childhood, in the original version.
And I was thrilled when I realized that this did not have to be a faraway goal, but could actually be part of the learning process from day one!
I bought a German and a Swedish version of Alla vi barn i Bullerbyn, and the audio book in Swedish.
The language in this book is very easy, and the chapters are supershort, so I can work through one chapter in about half an hour. Yes, I do look up vocabulary, but I quickly started to recognize recurring words.

Good job! Is Astrid Lindgren herself the narrator? (I know she has recorded a lot of her own books.)

[Sonjaconjota]

Good job! Is Astrid Lindgren herself the narrator? (I know she has recorded a lot of her own books.)

You are right, she is! I didn't realize it, but I just looked it up. That's supercool!

[Sonjaconjota]

January 2022
I’m very happy with what I managed to do during January. I strained the muscles in my right leg and can’t go dancing or hiking, but at least I’m putting the time to a good use.

Dutch
- I worked with my vocabulary flashcards and wrote 200 new ones.
- I listened to the real crime podcast De moord op de Indiaan.
- I finished reading Percy Jackson – De Vloek van de Titaan.
- I watched Baantjer, Season 5.
- I took one conversation class on italki.

French
- I worked on 4 grammar topics.
- I watched Une hirondelle a fait le printemps .
- I finished watching Zone Blanche. As I had suspected, I ended up loving it once I stuck to it.
One of the main characters’ nickname was Nounours. I didn’t realize it meant “teddy bear” until I paused netflix and saw it mentioned in the episode description in English. A very fitting nickname.
- I read Maigret – La danseuse du Gai-Moulin
- I took one conversation class on italki.

Italian
- I worked on 5 grammar topics
The last of the grammar topics I worked on was the conditional, and for once I experienced the ideal process of how to learn grammar, I guess. I had a conversation class with my usual italki tutor, and I wanted to make a sentence that required the conditional, but I didn’t know the correct form.
After the class, I worked through the chapter on the conditional in my beginners’ grammar book.
In the evening, before going to sleep, I read a couple of pages of the crime novel I’ve just started, and suddenly conditional verb forms started to pop up everywhere. The next day I reviewed the information from the grammar book and practised the forms with linguno.
- I read the magazine Adesso 1/22.
- I listened to the last episodes of the podcast Le scandalose.
- I watched
Stromboli (at the cinema!)
Summertime on netflix, which I enjoyed, although towards the end, season two dragged on rather too long for my taste.
- I took one conversation class on italki.

Swedish
- I read five stories from Alla vi barn i Bullerbyn.
- I worked through the first two chapters of Schwedisch mit System.
I don’t really know if I’m going to learn a lot from this book, but I’m going to stick to it for now.

Turkish
- My goal had been to do 21 hours of desktime study, and I actually managed to do 27! I reviewed part 9 of my course and started with part 10. I’m very proud of myself.
- I also worked with my vocabulary flashcards.
- I watched:
several hours of the telenovela Kördüğüm (I needed a break at some point)
season 2 of Kulüp
Babamin Kemani
this superawkward, but useful video for beginners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eKNEAPN7v8

Goals for February 2022
I'll go on concentrating on Turkish, doing as many hours of active study as possible.

[Sonjaconjota]

Mid-month rant:
So, I’m not feeling my best these days.
With my leg hurting and the stuff I take against the inflammation, and a wintery month with some grey, cold days even here in Barcelona, I’m kind of grumpy all the time. I lack energy and inspiration, and every stupid first world problem throws me off track.
So I thought I would let off some steam here halfway through February and try to wrap up the month on a more positive note in two weeks.
One thing that I’ve been kind of irritated by:
In January, I started a one month trial of Amazon Prime, mainly for the streaming service.
I had tried it before, and this time around it leaves me as frustrated as ever.
Because I couldn’t find a lot of material related to the languages I’m concentrating on, so far I’ve mostly watched some American movies I had not seen before.
Only yesterday, three weeks into my four weeks trial, I’ve found out how to filter effectively by languages – on Amazon’s main page instead of the Prime Video website. Really, why? What’s the point of that?
(And yes, I should have googled that before. I’m telling you, I’m not very sharp right now.)
There’s still not a lot of material, but I’ve found a couple of things in Italian and a Dutch police series. I’ll try to watch as many episodes as possible till the end of the trial period.
Another unsatisfactory experience:
When I got my first Kindle for Christmas in 2013, I thought: Wow, now I can get books in English with just one click? I wanted a classic, so the first book I ever bought was Manhattan Transfer by John Dos Passos. But after a few pages, I realized it was too difficult for relaxed Christmas days, and I never got around to reading it.
This January I bought the audio version on Kobo Rakuten, thinking that listening to it might be easier than reading it. In the end, I used a slightly reduced speed (0,8), so I wouldn’t miss anything.
When the narrator started speaking, I laughed out loud because of his accent.
I’m very much into accents from the British Isles and don’t really fancy American ones. And this one is one hell of an American accent. It sounds so yee-haw to me that I was envisioning the narrator, a certain Joe Barrett, sitting in the recording studio with a cowboy hat and boots. Interestingly, the internet tells me he is from upstate New York. Not many cowboys there. I obviously don’t know a thing about American accents.
By the way, it wasn’t the narrator’s fault that I didn’t like the book. I understand perfectly well what the author was trying to do: He used a kaleidoscopic narration to represent the disconnected, fractured life in the big city.
But his jumping between many characters in a lot of little scenes just means that, after finishing the audiobook, I still have no idea of who was who and what happened to them.
If I wanted to say honestly that I have read the book and know what it is about, I would now have to start to actually read the ebook. But I don’t think I can get myself to do it.
Okay, that’s it with the whining, I hope to go back to some more optimistic posting soon. Take care, everybody!

[StringerBell]

Only yesterday, three weeks into my four weeks trial, I’ve found out how to filter effectively by languages – on Amazon’s main page instead of the Prime Video website. Really, why? What’s the point of that?
(And yes, I should have googled that before. I’m telling you, I’m not very sharp right now.)

If it makes you feel any better, I've had access to Prime Video for years and this is the first I'm hearing about being able to filter by language... I genuinely had no idea this was possible - so thanks!

Btw, did you ever listen to the Italian podcast Veleno? It's a 7 or 8 part seriale with a transcript available. I highly recommend it! If you're interested, I can find links for you.

[Sonjaconjota]

Btw, did you ever listen to the Italian podcast Veleno? It's a 7 or 8 part seriale with a transcript available. I highly recommend it! If you're interested, I can find links for you.

Oh, I know it. It was great, although strong stuff. What a nightmare that incident must have been for everybody involved!

[Sonjaconjota]

February 2022
Okay, so … I managed to pick myself up after my last post, until … things happened in the world, and my mood went back to not great. But I’m bearing up!
I also had quite a lot of work this month, and I spent many hours culling and reorganising the music on my computer.
Considering there wasn’t much time left for language learning, I’m happy with what I managed to do, because in the end it adds up.

Dutch
- I watched four episodes of Smeris (in the end I kept Amazon Prime, at least for a year).
- I started both a novel and an audiobook.
- I wrote 100 new vocabulary flashcards.
- I took one conversation class on italki.

French
- I watched:
the first three episodes of season three of Les petits meurtres d’Agatha Christie
Le fauve est lâché
I learnt something funny through this film from 1959 – the German word “das Blockhaus”, meaning “log cabin”, translates to “cabane en rondins” in French. But the German word has also found its way into the French language, albeit with a shift in meaning. So the French “le blockhaus” means “bunker, fort”.
And it just got more freaky: I found out that the English word “blockhouse” seems to include both meanings.
The German dictionary Duden tells me that the German word is a loan translation from English:
https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Blockhaus
But this website says the English word might have come from Middle Dutch or German:
https://www.etymonline.com/word/blockhouse
Who knows?
- I listened to several episodes of Histoires vraies and Chroniques Criminelles. I’m a bit frustrated because Chroniques Criminelles has lately included one or two stories per month with crimes from the US. I skip these episodes, because I just can’t stand them. They use interviews in English, play them in the background and then overdub in French, so that you can hear both languages at the same time. This meddles with my brain, I just can’t!
- I took one conversation class on italki.

Italian
- I read the thriller La ragazza nella nebbia by Donato Carrisi.
- I watched Anni da cane.
- I worked through two grammar topics.
- I took one conversation class on italki.

Swedish
- I worked through one story of my Bullerbyn-book.

Turkish
- I watched
Beynelmilel
Unutursam Fısılda
Aşk taktikleri
- I finished the revision of part 10 of my course. So excited to be finished soon!

No new goals for March, I just want to keep up with Turkish. Final sprint!