SalzSäule's Multilingual Mess

Continue or start your personal language log here, including logs for challenge participants
SalzSäule
Orange Belt
Posts: 106
Joined: Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:17 pm
Languages: English (N), German (C2), French (?), Czech (Beginner)
x 352

Re: SalzSäule's German Log

Postby SalzSäule » Sat Sep 04, 2021 3:34 pm

Hello hello hellooo.

I am back after my long unplanned trip through France :lol: Some thoughts about my French when I went there:

* Wow I knew this already but the French are incredibly hard to understand when they speak to you ''on the street'' so-to-say. If people speak like 20% slower I get it, but otherwise no.

* I survived. I have never actually been to a country only being A2 in a language before (my first trip to Germany was B1 iirc, and for all other non-Germanic countries I just didn't speak any of the language and had to use English). I am already naturally quite sympathetic and empathetic to those who have to learn a new language when they move to a country, but this empathy grew even more when I was in France. To get up and communicate every day for several months knowing there's a huge chance you won't catch everything the person said to you takes an awful lot of courage.

* The French really do not want to speak English. I asked a security guard at some point if he could explain to me in English because I didn't understand :( and he came back and just carried on in French, so I just :?: tried to guess based on context.

* I do not understand this stereotype that the Parisians are rude. I found everyone in Paris incredibly friendly and polite to me, and none of them seemed to have an issue when I did have to switch to English to explain some things. I would happily visit Paris again.

* I intend to improve my French for the next few weeks even more and try again in Luxembourg :lol:

I'm also considering taking a trip to Czechia during November, and I actually did learn Czech a long time ago at university, so I will try and recuperate some of the basics from that.

The best thing honestly about learning French has been the confidence boost for my German. I came back to Germany and just thought 'wow isn't it nice understanding everybody and being understood at all times' :lol:
6 x
Da seufzt der Tropf im Purpur unter der unabwälzbaren Last seiner armseligen Individualität; während der Hochbegabte die ödeste Umgebung mit seinen Gedanken bevölkert und belebt.

SalzSäule
Orange Belt
Posts: 106
Joined: Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:17 pm
Languages: English (N), German (C2), French (?), Czech (Beginner)
x 352

Re: SalzSäule's German Log

Postby SalzSäule » Thu Sep 09, 2021 7:25 pm

Ey I need to get better at updating this haha.

So Czech is looking confirmed at this point. I've been researching a Masters programme to undertake in Germany next year, and I would like to do one that is either trans-national or involves some time abroad at some point to expand my horizons and linguistic skills. After a lot of exploring I've got a few options on the table, and most of the programmes are to do with European politics/culture in some way, with some purely language or linguistic options too. French is basically a necessity for me at this point because many of them are joint programmes with France (which makes sense from an EU perspective).

Czech is the wildcard because I'm also interested in East-West relations in Europe, and a pre-requisite to some of these (some you can learn when you undertake the masters) is to possess knowledge in a slavic language. This combined with my desire to travel to Czechia, and my distant knowledge of very rudimentary Czech, has basically set me up to have to learn this language... and rather quickly. They usually expect a B2 level in the language, which I know is going to be an absolutely herculean task within... not even a year, but the year will pass whether I learn Czech or not, and if I decide I do want to do East-West studies it will severely limit my options if I haven't acquired this knowledge. And either way, even I just get to B1 in like 9 months in a slavic language that's IMO pretty impressive, considering I have to balance this amongst :| everything.

Anyway, what's been happening lately:

* I have almost finished the Lingvist 5091 word deck for French! Plus my own deck of currently 100 words. Lingvist does cost money so I think I might have to move on from it at some point and use Anki for custom decks. Lingvist has stats, so I can tell you that I've ''learnt'' approximately 44 cards each day (or 115 an hour) I used Lingvist. In total it has taken 45 hours and 25 minutes to reach about 5200 words. The words I had the most difficulty with were: deviner (36 repeats), costaud (26), dingue (25), guérir (25), and moins (23).

* I can sorta feel my French becoming more natural. Forming sentences is still difficult and requires a lot of exertion, but I've noticed an improvement in my speaking skills and I find myself reading quicker than I did before.

* I've been going through Assimil French (I'm not sure of the title I'll find it later) and the one for Czech. The Czech one is only available in a French edition so reading it has been like getting two languages for the price of one.

* Yes Duolingo is back for Czech. I find it very hard to get a solid base in the language and Lingvist was always a blessing for me, but they don't have Czech. So Duolingo + making flashcards is gonna have to be how I drag myself there.

* Been flying through the coursebook I mentioned before for French, and it is a very good book. It's aimed at complete beginners though so, so far, it's been not too bad.

* Been back on Clozemaster again to practice French and Czech. For FR I do text input and CZ multiple choice because of the difficulty differences.

* I've been reading through a short story book I have for Cech for beginners. ""Das Erste Tschechische Lesebuch für Anfänger"" (I'm sure they have an English version too).

Now I need to start creating a proper study plan.
3 x
Da seufzt der Tropf im Purpur unter der unabwälzbaren Last seiner armseligen Individualität; während der Hochbegabte die ödeste Umgebung mit seinen Gedanken bevölkert und belebt.

SalzSäule
Orange Belt
Posts: 106
Joined: Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:17 pm
Languages: English (N), German (C2), French (?), Czech (Beginner)
x 352

Re: SalzSäule's German Log

Postby SalzSäule » Sat Sep 11, 2021 6:35 pm

Ahoj!

There, that's my Czech done for the day. :lol:

Honestly, mostly been French focus the past few days. I'm really trying to fly through all the books I have left here before I fly back to England, and in a few weeks I might be at a language exchange where it would be nice to try French. I don't think I will though :D

Today I did read some of Kafka though (Brief an den Vater and Das Urteil) in preparation for uni.

For French I've carried on with that textbook I mentioned before and I'm on page 40 maybe, and I'm also trying to finish Le Petit Prince. It's great how much easier it is to read it now compared to two or so months ago.

I'm also adding some more words to my lingvist custom deck for French, and will be sourcing them from the books I have left and maybe one or two magazines if I get that far.
3 x
Da seufzt der Tropf im Purpur unter der unabwälzbaren Last seiner armseligen Individualität; während der Hochbegabte die ödeste Umgebung mit seinen Gedanken bevölkert und belebt.

SalzSäule
Orange Belt
Posts: 106
Joined: Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:17 pm
Languages: English (N), German (C2), French (?), Czech (Beginner)
x 352

Re: SalzSäule's German Log

Postby SalzSäule » Mon Sep 13, 2021 9:36 pm

I've really been slowing down lately, primarily because I've been on-and-off ill for quite a few weeks now and idk what it is (I'm taking the British approach of refuse to go to a doctor unless I'm on my death-bed because I don't want to inconvenience :lol: ) but I am constantly drained and only have small periods of energy bursts.

I think for Czech I am going to purchase the e-course Assimil version in a few weeks. I'm giving myself a few weeks to deliberate on it. One of the reasons I stuck with lingvist is because I could do it on my phone when I was out and about, and for the paperbook version of Assimil Czech that's a bit too difficult. But at a ~£40 price tag, I will have to think long and hard about it. The main benefit is that I would absolutely use it at that price tag lmao.

Asides from that, I've been catching up on Duolingo Czech to where I was before (again, can't believe how much I still recall). I think I will be changing my strategy here from trying to max every skill (to 5, or I think there's platinum now) and instead just getting each skill to 1 to see as many words + phrases as possible. Right now consuming content is more important to me than production, and it's a similar approach I took in French. I prefer to improve production at the higher levels of language learning.

I've added a lot more French words to lingvist, been doing more and Clozemaster, and digitalising quite a few German flashcards. I've read some more of The Little Prince, which is a small struggle but not impossible, and I'm now starting to prepare for German debate classes at uni. I've also been helping out with some German words and quote translations on Wiktionary.
4 x
Da seufzt der Tropf im Purpur unter der unabwälzbaren Last seiner armseligen Individualität; während der Hochbegabte die ödeste Umgebung mit seinen Gedanken bevölkert und belebt.

SalzSäule
Orange Belt
Posts: 106
Joined: Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:17 pm
Languages: English (N), German (C2), French (?), Czech (Beginner)
x 352

Re: SalzSäule's German Log

Postby SalzSäule » Wed Sep 15, 2021 9:22 am

I read some more of The Little Prince (FR), and added some more words to the Lingvist deck. I've also been super into the Grundgesetz (DE) lately ... no idea why ... but I have a book on it so I've just been reading through that as well. I've also been trying to improve how much German content I consume and have been binging documentaries on YT. I'm slowly getting Czech Duolingo up to the point where I reached last time.

I came across Luca Lampariello's Bidirectional Translation method yesterday and I thought I'd try it for the sake of it, and what the hell? It worked super well, far better than I thought. I tried it out with French and couldn't quite believe how effective it was, and then I tried it with a very long paragraph of German and that worked as well. And then I thought maybe this is just a fluke, so I grabbed two Czech sentences from Tatoeba and lo and behold, also worked perfectly. I'm genuinely mystified.

There's a chance I'll go to Mainz today and use the time in the train to read through my A2-B1 French stories book, another book which I'm desperately trying to finish before my time in Germany is up.

And I think I'm gonna have to start using the pomodoro method again to get things done, because I'm lazy :D

Oh and in terms of illness, seems to be getting better. I hope the end is near !
3 x
Da seufzt der Tropf im Purpur unter der unabwälzbaren Last seiner armseligen Individualität; während der Hochbegabte die ödeste Umgebung mit seinen Gedanken bevölkert und belebt.

SalzSäule
Orange Belt
Posts: 106
Joined: Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:17 pm
Languages: English (N), German (C2), French (?), Czech (Beginner)
x 352

Re: SalzSäule's German Log

Postby SalzSäule » Wed Sep 15, 2021 3:10 pm

I returned some books back to a Public Bookcase today and then I saw these French books and couldn't resist. They're picture dictionaries and I will be spending the next week binging them 8-)

Image Image Image Image
3 x
Da seufzt der Tropf im Purpur unter der unabwälzbaren Last seiner armseligen Individualität; während der Hochbegabte die ödeste Umgebung mit seinen Gedanken bevölkert und belebt.

SalzSäule
Orange Belt
Posts: 106
Joined: Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:17 pm
Languages: English (N), German (C2), French (?), Czech (Beginner)
x 352

Re: SalzSäule's German Log

Postby SalzSäule » Thu Sep 16, 2021 4:19 pm

Currently debating whether I should be cheeky and buy another graded French reader even though I have 0 space in my luggage for home. But I just know the UK won't have anything this good, maybe I'm bias.

It would be "10-Minuten-Lektüren" by PONS for the B1 level. I read a lil' in the bookshop earlier and it was actually quite decent and confirms my belief that my reading is definitely further ahead than speaking/listening skills. I also had the A1 version when I started with Frenhc. Each of the books has a mindmap at the end of each chapter and they highlight & translate difficult words (ex. hereunder of A1 mindmap).

I have also officially put The Little Prince away in my luggage to focus on the other French book(s) I have. I've carried on reading the GG for some reason and I've also been reading Kafka for my literature module. Last night I read Das Urteil, Die Kaiserliche Botschaft, and Der Plötzliche Spaziergang and I'm now binging my way through Der Brief an den Vater but this time listening to the audiobook at the same time. I'm just over halfway (audiobook pt 51 out of 93). After this, I will be going back to Fenitschka again — the problem is I prefer to have a physical book, which is, alas, hundreds of miles afar in England.

Last night I did the next two exercises in Assimil Tcheque sans Peine and I tried Bidirectional-Translation with it. Again, amazing. I also am encroaching on where I got to Duolingo before when I gave up Czech. I think I got further than I thought actually, and got through about 25 skills instead of 15.

Today besides what I've already said, I will be trying to add more words to Lingvist French and to the German PPT I use with images. I also keep reading through Wiki's list of Geflügelte Worte for German (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_gef ... er_Worte/N) because I find the origins fascinating. This post was longer than I expected.

Image
4 x
Da seufzt der Tropf im Purpur unter der unabwälzbaren Last seiner armseligen Individualität; während der Hochbegabte die ödeste Umgebung mit seinen Gedanken bevölkert und belebt.

german2k01
Green Belt
Posts: 467
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2021 8:16 pm
Location: Germany
Languages: English, Urdu, and German
x 573

Re: SalzSäule's German Log

Postby german2k01 » Thu Sep 16, 2021 8:04 pm

It is not a long post at all however it would have been nice if you could describe the bi-directional method of Luca. How are you implementing it in your language studies? What exactly do you do with it?
0 x

SalzSäule
Orange Belt
Posts: 106
Joined: Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:17 pm
Languages: English (N), German (C2), French (?), Czech (Beginner)
x 352

Re: SalzSäule's German Log

Postby SalzSäule » Thu Sep 16, 2021 8:27 pm

german2k01 wrote:It is not a long post at all however it would have been nice if you could describe the bi-directional method of Luca. How are you implementing it in your language studies? What exactly do you do with it?


:D It was longer than I had intended.

Strange, I thought I had but I hadn't. The name is kind of apt, the aim is to translate a piece of text in your TL into your NL, and then use that to translate back into your TL (hence bidirectional). From there on, people debate whether you should translate straight away or wait until the next day. I think there was a thread on this forum before actually about it, or on HTLAL.

Right now I'm just playing around with it, but I'm starting to use it mostly now with Czech, because I have the greatest difficulty with this language. If I read a French sentence that I just can't get my head around because of grammar, and then eventually figure it out (either w/ or w/o tools) I will also use BDT on it.

I don't intend to use it so much with German, only really if I stumble upon i) a very useful formulation (e.g. in a thesis) that I might want to use, or ii) a collocation that I never in a million years would have guessed, or iii) if I just want to try and remember a beautiful piece of writing :).
0 x
Da seufzt der Tropf im Purpur unter der unabwälzbaren Last seiner armseligen Individualität; während der Hochbegabte die ödeste Umgebung mit seinen Gedanken bevölkert und belebt.

german2k01
Green Belt
Posts: 467
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2021 8:16 pm
Location: Germany
Languages: English, Urdu, and German
x 573

Re: SalzSäule's German Log

Postby german2k01 » Thu Sep 16, 2021 8:38 pm

What exactly are you studying in Germany I am just curious? As far as the bi-directional method goes, what are you supposed to achieve in the end?
0 x


Return to “Language logs”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests