Radioclare's 2022 log (Russian, Croatian)

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Radioclare
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Re: Radioclare's 2022 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Fri Jan 14, 2022 10:00 pm

14 January
Friday. I felt quite tired by the end of today, so I've had a night off from grammar.

Russian
I read two chapters of 'Убийство Роджера Экройда', which took me the best part of an hour. I'm 75% of the way through the book now, which feels like progress. With a book of this level, reading in Russian is getting closer to being enjoyable (rather than painful!) but I think all the other books in my to-read pile are likely to be significantly harder than this :D

Then I watched the latest Антон Птушкин documentary, which is about the Lofoten Islands and Svalbard. The Lofoten Islands look stunning and I feel like it's almost worth watching the video even if you don't speak Russian just to see the drone footage in particular. The segment on Svalbard was absolutely fascinating, including some footage of polar bears. You're not allowed to go outside the limits of Longyearbyen without some sort of firearm because of the danger posed by the polar bears and it was quite surreal to see scenes of people walking around in their daily lives carrying huge guns. The supermarket has special lockers to leave your weapons in while shopping :shock: I also learned that there are no cats allowed on Svalbard (to protect the birdlife) and that you're not allowed to be buried there (because corpses don't decompose in the frozen soil). But probably the most interesting bit was about Pyramiden, an abandoned Soviet settlement on the island which was originally built for coal mining. It was completely abandoned in the 90's, but the cold climate and lack of bacteria means that nothing has really decayed or become overgrown, so it's like a really well preserved Soviet ghost town.

As you can tell, I really enjoyed the video :) I watched it without subtitles, because I've watched a lot of Антон Птушкин videos now and got quite used to his voice and narration. At the moment there aren't proper subtitles, only the auto-generated ones, but I might watch it again at some point with those because there were definitely some bits that I missed.

Croatian
Nothing really to note except that the top theme of today's 'Dnevnik' was the initial results from the latest Croatian census. These show that the population has reduced quite significantly, from around 4.3m in 2011 to 3.9m in 2021. The news pointed out that this the equivalent of losing the entire population of Split and Rijeka in 10 years, which makes it sound quite dramatic. The decline is a combination of a low birth rate and significant emigration over recent years. I found it interesting anyway because I was reading the section on demography in the 'Hrvatska na prvi pogled' textbook just this week, but obviously that was all based on the 2011 census numbers.

Total - Russian: 133 mins, Croatian: 68 mins
10 x

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Radioclare
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Re: Radioclare's 2022 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Sat Jan 15, 2022 8:47 pm

15 January
I had great plans for how much study I was going to get through today, but it didn't happen! My other half is teaching an Esperanto course in the US this summer and I've got the opportunity to go with him, so I got a bit distracted this afternoon by booking the most expensive flights of my entire life.

Russian
Before I got distracted, I read three chapters of 'Убийство Роджера Экройда'. They were comparatively short chapters, but still good progress. I might even finish it tomorrow or Monday if I apply myself :)

I cleared my Memrise reviews and I'm afraid that was it. Weird how sometimes it's possible to get more study done on a working day than at the weekend!

Croatian
I watched an episode of 'Najbolje godine' on the treadmill this morning but for some reason it was only around 30 minutes rather than the normal 45, so I had to do the final part of my workout without anything to watch which was a bit boring. This evening I watched 'Dnevnik'. Today was the 30th anniversary of the international recognition of Croatia, so there was a lot on the news about that. There was some footage from 30 years ago, which was interesting to see.

Total - Russian: 55 mins, Croatian: 57 mins
6 x

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Radioclare
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Re: Radioclare's 2022 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Sun Jan 16, 2022 8:58 pm

16 January
Today was a bit better for language learning, but not loads better. I went for a walk in the countryside this morning and then I spent a bit of time this afternoon trying to improve the Esperanto translations I started last weekend.

Russian
When I got home I was freezing, so I did some Memrise reviews standing by the radiator to warm up. After lunch I sat down to read 'Убийство Роджера Экройда' and I ended up finishing it :) So that's my first book in Russian completed this year; 346 pages towards my target. I really enjoyed it but this was the only Agatha Christie in my to-read pile so I know all future books are going to be harder.

After some coffee I managed to work up the enthusiasm for some Russian grammar, but the next section of my book was a slightly obscure one titled "Constructions of the type все повернули голову". It was a discussion of whether the object is singular or plural in phrases like that. As with everything in Russian grammar, the answer seems to be "it depends".

Croatian
Because I knew I was going for a proper walk outside today, I didn't go on the treadmill and watch an episode of 'Najbolje godine' as soon as I woke up. I kinda missed the treadmill but I'd be lying if I said I missed 'Najbolje godine' :lol: I did a bit of Memrise later and watched today's lunchtime 'Dnevnik', which as expected ran with the Novak Đoković story as its main headline. I tried to make a start on the next section of my 'Hrvatska na prvi pogled' textbook, which is about the Croatian economy, but I got distracted by reading statistics about people attacked by bears in North America. Since booking these transatlantic flights I've developed a new appreciation for living on an island where the wildlife doesn't kill you :lol:

Total - Russian: 86 mins, Croatian: 22 mins, Esperanto: 56 mins (remembered to set the timer this time!)
9 x

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Radioclare
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Re: Radioclare's 2022 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Mon Jan 17, 2022 11:14 pm

17 January
Felt a bit grumpy today but they do say it's the most depressing day of the year, so I'll attribute it to that.

Russian
I was going to start reading a new book in Russian this evening but I ended up running out of time and/or motivation because I had to do some Esperanto accounting work instead (maybe this is why I'm grumpy :lol:).

I cleared my Memrise reviews after dinner and did a little bit of grammar study. I had an excellent section to study in 'A Comprehensive Russian Grammar' today about use of the nominative case. Russian grammar really doesn't get any better than the nominative.

I did start watching a new TV series called 'Фронт'. It's also a war series, which was the reason I chose it because I quite enjoyed the last series about spies in WW2. This one is set in Frankfurt an der Oder in 1943 and the plot is something to do with the Russians suspecting that the Germans are making some sort of atomic weapon. In particular, there's a Polish scientist who seems to have made some sort of mathematical breakthrough that will facilitate the building of a weapon and the Russians have got an undercover spy trying to recruit her to their side. At least, that's what I think it is about. I decided to watch it without subtitles because the only proper subtitles available were English or Polish. I would have used Russian subtitles if they existed but it felt a bit like cheating to watch it with English subtitles. Without subtitles I am definitely going to miss some finer points of the plot though, so I may have to reconsider this approach later in the week.

Croatian
Back to 'Najbolje godine' on the treadmill this morning. I didn't get as far as my Croatian textbook because of the Esperanto stuff I had to do. But I did manage to watch today's 'Dnevnik'. The Covid situation in Croatia was the main story again but the partygate saga in the UK did get a brief mention later in the bulletin. The second story was something about Croatia joining the Euro and I hadn't realised that this was happening quite so soon. I'm hoping I don't have a large pile of unspent kuna lying around somewhere.

Total - Russian: 85 mins, Croatian: 69 mins
7 x

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Re: Radioclare's 2022 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby IronMike » Tue Jan 18, 2022 12:21 am

Radioclare wrote:15 January
I had great plans for how much study I was going to get through today, but it didn't happen! My other half is teaching an Esperanto course in the US this summer and I've got the opportunity to go with him, so I got a bit distracted this afternoon by booking the most expensive flights of my entire life.

Wait, what? In North Carolina? OK...I may have to actually attend...
2 x
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CEFR --> ILR/DLPT equivalencies
My swimming life.
My reading life.

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Radioclare
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Re: Radioclare's 2022 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:05 pm

IronMike wrote:Wait, what? In North Carolina? OK...I may have to actually attend...

Yes, North Carolina! He's teaching the advanced course. I'm not signing up for the tuition but I'm going to come along and work remotely for the week, then take holiday and do some travelling for the next couple of weeks.

18 January
Feeling less grumpy today. Although one of those days when I didn't get quite as much done as I expected.

Russian
Fewer Esperanto emails this evening so I did have time to start a new book in Russian. I chose 'Код да Винчи' by Dan Brown, mainly because I thought this is not a novel which can be classed as high literature and so it ought to be easy to read. After half an hour and 13 pages I'd finished the first chapter and discovered that Dan Brown has a much more extensive vocabulary than Agatha Christie and this book actually seems very hard indeed :( I've definitely read it before, I think in English, but I don't remember the storyline well enough for that to be a massive help. It's also a much longer book than I remembered; nearly 550 pages in this Russian edition. Never mind, I'm hoping it will feel easier once I get a bit further into it. The main word I looked up today was "тумбочка" which seems to be a bedside table.

Otherwise I just did a bit of Memrise and watched the second episode of 'Фронт'. To be honest, I think this is too hard for me as well. There's one character who seems to speak without moving his mouth, so I had to turn on the English subtitles every time he spoke. In the middle of the episode I was starting to think about giving up, but then the episode ended with a surprise explosion so I'm very probably going to watch it again tomorrow :lol:

Total - Russian: 85 mins, Croatian: 67 mins
8 x

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Radioclare
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Re: Radioclare's 2022 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Wed Jan 19, 2022 10:55 pm

19 January
It was nice and sunny today, which helps with the January blues :) And I'm actually having a day off on Friday, so it's starting to feel like the end of the week already.

Russian
I'm not sure what my excuse is for not doing any Russian grammar tonight. I did have a few Esperanto accounts tasks to sort out, but I could still have fitted Russian grammar in if I'd been sufficiently motivated.

Never mind. I'm still learning 10 words every day in Memrise and I read two chapters of 'Код да Винчи', although that is less impressive than it sounds because the chapters are very short. Honestly, I think this book is pretty hard given it's the sort of fiction people sneer at. Some of the words I looked up today included "плоть" (flesh) and "епитимья" (penance).

Later I watched the third episode of ' 'Фронт'. There's still one character I have to turn the subtitles on for, but overall I felt like my comprehension was a bit better in this episode. Some of the dialogue is in Polish while other bits are in German; these are dubbed over in Russian and the voice doing the dubbing is really clear, so I seem to do better at understanding these scenes. An actress who had been in 'Кухня' cropped up towards the end, so that was quite funny. This series (and the previous one I watched) are definitely a lot harder than 'Кухня' but they're also a lot more exciting.

Croatian
The episode of 'Najbolje godine' that I watched this morning was actually quite exciting. I nearly fell off the treadmill when I spotted something that might actually be a plot :lol: Just my luck I had some sort of technical issue towards the end of the episode and couldn't get the last few minutes to play. I'll have to hope there wasn't some big revelation that I missed.

I finished reading a book in English last night so this evening I started my first Croatian novel of the year: 'Nova mis Čilea' by Hrvoje Šalković. I've never read anything by Hrvoje Šalković before, but this is a crime novel published under the label "Balkan noir" which I normally quite like, so I was expecting great things. So far I'm 38 pages in and I only have mediocre things. I mean, it's okay... I wouldn't say it was absolutely terrible... but it feels like the sort of book that if it had written in English would only ever have been self-published. The characterisation seems a bit shallow and something just isn't quite right with the dialogue. One character was set up with a potentially interesting backstory/mysterious past and then 10 pages later the entire mystery was cleared up in so much detail that it destroyed my will to read on :roll: Maybe it will improve as I get further in.

Total - Russian: 83 mins, Croatian: 114 mins
10 x

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Radioclare
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Re: Radioclare's 2022 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Thu Jan 20, 2022 10:16 pm

20 January
Finished work for my long weekend which is cool :) Though it was a comparatively busy day at work - always seems to be the way when you're trying to take time off.

Russian
I deliberately chose not to do Russian grammar this evening because I've got a slight headache. This also means I couldn't work up the enthusiasm to watch Russian TV tonight. I guess the January motivation has worn off :lol:

I did clear my Memrise reviews though and battled through another chapter of 'Код да Винчи'. I looked up a few words including "щель" (gap, opening) and "прут" (rod, as in "iron rod" in this context). It took me about half an hour to get through 10 pages which is sloooow. The print in the book is quite small print, which doesn't really help. I think I read faster in Cyrillic with larger text and/or better spacing.

Croatian
I spent nearly an hour reading 'Nova mis Čilea' this evening and I'm 100 pages into it now. I realised this evening that it's yet another book without chapters. Why do people think it's a good idea to write books without chapters? I don't think it should be allowed :lol: With or without chapters, it's not a book that reads well and that's come as a surprise to me because almost everything else I've read in Croatian has been exceptionally well written. The concept of the book is good though, even if the execution is lacking. It's about a girl who works in the police force in Zagreb, but whose family come from a Croatian community in the south of Chile. When her grandfather is murdered, she flies to Chile with a colleague to investigate his death. The rest of the action is set in the town of Punta Arenas, which has a significant Croatian population. All this is interesting to read about, because to be honest if I heard about Croatians from South America my first thought would be to assume that their ancestors were people who had a reason to leave Europe in a hurry in 1945. But by reading this book I've learned that Croatian migration to Chile significantly predates 1945 and in many cases the original immigrants were people from the Croatian islands/Dalmatia who left their homes as a result of some sort of plague that killed off their vineyards. So yes, really interesting theme and setting, but I think I'm going to struggle to give it more than 2 stars on Goodreads!

Total - Russian: 46 mins, Croatian: 126 mins
8 x

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Radioclare
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Re: Radioclare's 2022 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Fri Jan 21, 2022 10:49 pm

21 January
My other half and I have been together 15 years today and I had the day off work so we could have a weekend away to celebrate. We're staying at a cottage in Yorkshire for a couple of nights which is absolutely lovely... except when we arrived it was freezing cold and the boiler didn't seem to be working :shock: Turns out the heating runs off bottled gas and the bottles were all empty! Fortunately now all sorted but a slightly more eventful evening than I'd expected :lol:

Russian
I cleared some Memrise reviews before I left home this morning, but I still seemed to have a pile of them to clear when I logged in again this afternoon. In between the drama with the gas boiler this evening, I sat in the living room in my coat and read another chapter of 'Код да Винчи'. I think I hit a new low; 24 minutes to read a mere 6 pages :oops: I'm thinking maybe the cold slowed my brain!

Croatian
I spent half an hour reading in Croatian as well and I think I've only got 30 pages or so now to go before I finish the book. It's not getting any better; we've discovered who the murderer is now and he turns out to be a cannibal, which apart from being completely horrible also just seems to be too fantastical to be true. There were no hints about cannibalism or any indications at all that that was the direction the story was going to go in, so yet again it just seems quite poorly written :(

Total - Russian: 43 mins, Croatian: 39 mins
11 x

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Radioclare
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Re: Radioclare's 2022 log (Russian, Croatian)

Postby Radioclare » Sat Jan 22, 2022 10:37 pm

22 January
Fortunately the heating has been working as intended today :) And had a lovely walk by the sea in Whitby.

Russian
Being away for the weekend is great, but it definitely means that my language learning suffers. I logged into Memrise this afternoon and found I had 150+ reviews which was a slightly depressing figure since yesterday, but luckily most of them were quite easy words that I must have learned months ago.

I read two chapters of 'Код да Винчи', so a bit better than yesterday, but still finding it quite hard going.

Croatian
I finished reading 'Nova mis Čilea' this morning and honestly, it was terrible. Not only did it feature some completely unbelievable cannibalism, there was also a completely unbelievable aeroplane chase across Antarctica. I gave it one star on Goodreads and found a review from someone else who thought it was as bad as I did :lol: But looking on the bright side, it was only 160 pages so it was at least mercifully short.

Total - Russian: 56 mins, Croatian: 30 mins
10 x


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