November 2021
I’m really liking this format of monthly updates. I usually start to write the entry when I’m halfway through the month, making note of what I have done so far. This way I quickly notice if I have neglected one language or kind of activity, and I still have time to rectify.
This month I have rekindled my interest in cooking, and I’m increasing my time at the gym, so November started out with mainly listening.
Halfway through I noticed that I should move up a gear with my active Turkish studying, and that I practically hadn’t done anything for Italian yet, so I got a move on.
Dutch
- I have finished the chicklit novel
Voor mij by Jojo Moyes. I liked it. I don’t usually buy books from this genre, because I translate so many of them for my job, but this one worked for me.
- I finished listening to Tolkien:
In de ban van de ring – De reisgenoten and started with
De twee torens.
If I remember correctly, I had read
The Lord of the Rings three times before, once in German and (at least) twice in English. As I recall it, I always found it outstanding, but a slow read, a bit difficult because of its style. The first of the Dutch audiobooks did not give me that impression, and I might also have found it relatively easy because after watching the films several times, all the complicated names are easier to remember now.
In the second one I noticed that sometimes my thoughts start to stray in scenes with a lot of talking.
In both books I have not been too keen about all the songs which I didn’t remember at all.
The books are great to review vocabulary related to the landscape: heuvel, helling, rivier …
- I had one conversation class on italki.
- I watched season 4 of
Baantjer.
There was a funny moment when I was watching an episode with the death of an old woman that looked suspicious although she had died in her bed. So the characters started talking about her death and were repeating a word again and again that I interpreted as “sexy”. And I thought: I just don’t get it, there is absolutely nothing sexy about the whole situation. And again and again it came up, until it finally dawned on me that it would have to be “sectie”, meaning “autopsy”. I don’t think I will ever forget this word now.
- My stack of A2-vocabulary flashcards to review is quickly diminishing, which I am very happy about. Now I’m regularly adding sentences from a book with typical expressions from everyday conversations:
https://shop.hueber.de/de/sprache-lernen/niederlandisch/alltagstauglich-niederl-ndisch.htmlI also want to start reviewing my beginner’s grammar and add example sentences from grammar topics that are still a bit shaky.
Italian
Italian was put a bit on the back burner this month, but that’s okay.
- I had one conversation class on italki.
- Through a recommendation here on the forum I found
Alle otto della sera – Le scandalose, a radio programm by Rai radio 2, and listened to a couple of episodes.
- I watched
Generazione 56k (short and entertaining), and
Yara on netflix.
- I only studied one grammar topic.
French
- I had one conversation class on italki.
- I read Maurice Leblanc:
Arsène Lupin, gentleman-cambrioleur, which was short and sweet.
- I listened to a couple of episodes of
Chroniques Criminelles.
- I started watching
Zone Blanche on netflix and was very impressed by the first episode, but already lost interest with the second one. It seems like another one of those series where more thought and effort went into the setting and atmosphere than into the stories. It’s not a bad series and I guess I’ll come back to it, I think my expectations were just too high.
- I worked through three or four grammar topics.
- I completely forgot the vocabulary flashcards I wanted to write.
Turkish
This month I have been studying Turkish for exactly two years.
I really thought this would be another entry along the lines of “am burnt out, didn’t do much”, but something exciting happened:
- I go to dance school regularly, and after class I often have a beer with some classmates in a nearby pub. One of the waiters started working there only a year ago or so. He is always very friendly and makes an effort to speak Catalan, although it is obviously difficult for him. The last time I went there, I asked him where he was from. Actually I would have guessed Pakistan, because there are so many Pakistanis in Barcelona right now. But to my big surprise, he answered that he was from Turkey. Man, that was my big chance! I stammered a couple of sentences in broken Turkish, and he answered very graciously. I was actually so nervous that I didn’t get his name. I will have to ask him again, but I definitely want to try to talk to him again in Turkish.
I am an introvert and can sometimes be socially awkward, so that was a huge confidence boost for me! So happy!
- I watched
Kulüp on netflix. This is also a series with a better atmosphere than story, but I can’t be picky when it comes to Turkish, and I also have to say that the setting is spectacular! The series might be of interest even to people who don’t study Turkish, because some of the main characters speak Ladino, too.
- I advanced a lot with the review of part 8/12 of my course. The topics are easier than the ones of part 7.
- I took one half-hour conversation class on italki.
My “history” of conversation classes in Turkish: When I started my one-year-long distance course (which I actually finished after 13 months in Dec. 2020), there weren’t any conversation classes included. We were supposed to record ourselves speaking about certain topics, but as I did it at home, I was able to write things down and read them for the recording. Because I didn’t think that was enough, I booked four half-hour classes on italki when I was in the third quarter or so of the course and had the same conversation with four different tutors. It was the only conversation I could have at that time: I talked about myself and my family – names, ages, professions, where people live.
It was about everything I learnt to say with my course that was supposed to bring me to an A2 level. (I have the certificate, but definitely not the level …)
Then I booked one half-hour class in April 2021 to see how far I had come – not very far.
And I did the same again this month, with the same endlessly patient teacher. The good news is: I can speak freely about topics of my choice. The bad news: I sound like Tarzan, although I am usually able to get across the point.
December:
Considering how things have gone lately and that I’m going to visit my family for Christmas, I’m not defining any concrete goals.
I will try to plow ahead with Turkish and do a little bit for the other languages, whatever I feel like.