Rdearman 2016-24 You Can't Have Your Kate and Edith Too.

Continue or start your personal language log here, including logs for challenge participants
User avatar
rdearman
Site Admin
Posts: 7223
Joined: Thu May 14, 2015 4:18 pm
Location: United Kingdom
Languages: English (N)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1836
x 23092
Contact:

Re: Rdearman 2016/17/18/19/20/21 [One good deed is better than a thousand good intentions]

Postby rdearman » Tue Apr 06, 2021 10:17 pm

lingua wrote:I have read the first Camilleri book (La forma d'acqua) in Italian and found it easier than I was expecting since I had also read that it was difficult for Italians. However, I reread the English version at the same time, listened to the audito book and watched the same episode all at the same time. My sporadic Sicilian studies might help with the dialect as well.

Grazie. I'm reading the first one now. It isn't too difficult, but there are some words that are confusing. I'll have to reference this dictionary next time I run across an unknown word. :)
0 x
: 0 / 150 Read 150 books in 2024

My YouTube Channel
The Autodidactic Podcast
My Author's Newsletter

I post on this forum with mobile devices, so excuse short msgs and typos.

User avatar
lingua
Blue Belt
Posts: 951
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2016 11:23 pm
Languages: English (N)
Maintaining: italiano (B2/C1ish)
Studying: português, Latina
Dabbling: siciliano, Deutsch, français, piemontèis
Abandoned: ไทย, español
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=12257
x 2024

Re: Rdearman 2016/17/18/19/20/21 [One good deed is better than a thousand good intentions]

Postby lingua » Tue Apr 06, 2021 10:21 pm

I don't know if you have the English version but they have a glossary of some of the Siclian terminology but I notice that isn't in my Italian verison so if you have any specific questions you could post them and I can see if there is any additional information.

I should start the second book myself. I had intended to much sooner but I'm easily distracted.
0 x
Super Challenge 2022-23:
DE: books: 0 / 2500 film: 1654 / 4500
IT: books: 3065 / 5000 film: 5031 / 9000
PT: books: 2921 / 5000 film: 5010 / 9000

Output Challenge 2023:
IT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 84 / 3000
PT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 0 / 3000

PT: Read 100 books: 28 / 100

User avatar
rdearman
Site Admin
Posts: 7223
Joined: Thu May 14, 2015 4:18 pm
Location: United Kingdom
Languages: English (N)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1836
x 23092
Contact:

Re: Rdearman 2016/17/18/19/20/21 [One good deed is better than a thousand good intentions]

Postby rdearman » Tue Apr 06, 2021 10:45 pm

lingua wrote:I don't know if you have the English version but they have a glossary of some of the Siclian terminology but I notice that isn't in my Italian verison so if you have any specific questions you could post them and I can see if there is any additional information.

I should start the second book myself. I had intended to much sooner but I'm easily distracted.

I don't have the English versions. But I have been reading the first one for the last 2 days, and I've only just got to 50% of the book. Given that I have 30 books by Mr. Camilleri I seriously doubt I'll make an appreciable dent in them in only four days. Having said that, a couple of years ago for the Super Challenge I decided to re-read two Stephen King books. The Stand and Salem's Lot in French. It was probably one of the best things I ever did to progress in French. The novels are long (especially The Stand) and the level of writing is not difficult, but it does reinforce a lot of vocabulary. It is the reason I'll probably never forget poubelle (Trashcan Man). The other thing that helped was using the same author, because one person tends to express themselves the same way and repeat the same vocabulary. I'm hopefully that Mr. Camilleri will also express himself similarly for each book and reinforce the vocabulary I'm learning.

Since I'm planning "Extensive" reading, I'm not going to stress too much if I don't know a word as long as I get the point. I also have a gargantuan 3 novel set about Alexander the Great and one huge tome about Genghis Khan as well I want to complete.

I have all 8 seasons of Carabinieri, and I'm planning to use those for the "transcription" exercises. Also, I don't have any sub-titles for them, but my Italian conversation exchange partner said she would check my transcriptions against clips of the show.

I did a Listening Reading exercise a year or so ago where I watched a couple of episodes of Italian TV each night, or read an Italian book while listening to the English audio book. But that didn't get me as far as I wanted. I'm hoping drowning my brain in Italian will force it to swim or drown.
7 x
: 0 / 150 Read 150 books in 2024

My YouTube Channel
The Autodidactic Podcast
My Author's Newsletter

I post on this forum with mobile devices, so excuse short msgs and typos.

User avatar
IronMike
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2554
Joined: Thu May 12, 2016 6:13 am
Location: Northern Virginia
Languages: Studying: Esperanto
Maintaining: nada
Tested:
BCS, 1+L/1+R (DLPT5, 2022)
Russian, 3/3 (DLPT5, 2022) 2+ (OPI, 2022)
German, 2L/1+R (DLPT5, 2021)
Italian, 1L/2R (DLPT IV, 2019)
Esperanto, C1 (KER skriba ekzameno, 2017)
Slovene, 2+L/3R (DLPT II in, yes, 1999)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5189
x 7264
Contact:

Re: Rdearman 2016/17/18/19/20/21 [One good deed is better than a thousand good intentions]

Postby IronMike » Wed Apr 07, 2021 1:01 am

This is so awesome! I have to tell you, in 2019 when the USA-Canada Esperanto Congress was in Boston and I went, I had issues after two days of only Esperanto listening/reading/speaking, of coming up with ANY Russian at all!

One of the attendees from Canada had a Russian name so I asked her about it, sure enough she was from Ukraine. I mentioned, in Esperanto, that I spoke/speak Russian, then I tried to say something simple in Russian. N.b, that at the time I was (still am) a 2+ in Russian speaking, so not bad. I COULD NOT COME UP WITH ANY RUSSIAN AT ALL. What the heck? I'd been working on/studying/speaking Russian at that time for 33 years and Esperanto for only about 10. WTF?

Well, it was the immersion, of course.

So I am very excited for you and your 4-day Italian immersion and look forward to reading about your results! Buon suarte or whatever "good luck" is in Italian. (I can't remember.)
4 x
You're not a C1 (or B1 or whatever) if you haven't tested.
CEFR --> ILR/DLPT equivalencies
My swimming life.
My reading life.

User avatar
rdearman
Site Admin
Posts: 7223
Joined: Thu May 14, 2015 4:18 pm
Location: United Kingdom
Languages: English (N)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1836
x 23092
Contact:

Re: Rdearman 2016/17/18/19/20/21 [One good deed is better than a thousand good intentions]

Postby rdearman » Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:56 am

IronMike wrote:So I am very excited for you and your 4-day Italian immersion and look forward to reading about your results! Buon suarte or whatever "good luck" is in Italian. (I can't remember.)

It is an odd one, I'm not surprised you don't remember: in bocca al lupo

The expression in bocca al lupo seems to find its origin in the hunting world, where hunters were used to wish each other, for luck, to not end up in the wolf’s mouth, namely being devoured.
5 x
: 0 / 150 Read 150 books in 2024

My YouTube Channel
The Autodidactic Podcast
My Author's Newsletter

I post on this forum with mobile devices, so excuse short msgs and typos.

User avatar
rdearman
Site Admin
Posts: 7223
Joined: Thu May 14, 2015 4:18 pm
Location: United Kingdom
Languages: English (N)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1836
x 23092
Contact:

Re: Rdearman 2016/17/18/19/20/21 [One good deed is better than a thousand good intentions]

Postby rdearman » Tue Apr 13, 2021 7:57 pm

Well my experiment was a washout. The time alone didn't materialize, although I did manage to spend a significant amount of time with Italian, it wasn't a total immersion thing like I had hoped. Back to the drawing board.
5 x
: 0 / 150 Read 150 books in 2024

My YouTube Channel
The Autodidactic Podcast
My Author's Newsletter

I post on this forum with mobile devices, so excuse short msgs and typos.

User avatar
rdearman
Site Admin
Posts: 7223
Joined: Thu May 14, 2015 4:18 pm
Location: United Kingdom
Languages: English (N)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1836
x 23092
Contact:

Re: Rdearman 2016/17/18/19/20/21 [One good deed is better than a thousand good intentions]

Postby rdearman » Thu Apr 29, 2021 11:06 am

Hi, my name is Rick, and it has been 16 days since my last log entry.

I've been very lazy. Just about the only thing I've done is watch a couple of TV series in Korean and listen to some "Learn Korean with David" podcasts. I've done a lot more Italian conversation exchanges, I'm basically doing 3 a week now. Which to be fair is only an hour and a half, and people don't really correct me. They tend to feed me vocabulary, but that is about it. I watched a lot of Italian police dramas but that is about it.

I still have my French conversation partner, but that is only once a week. Most of the language exchanges drag out past an hour, but I can count on only about 30-40 minutes of TL for myself. I've subscribed to a couple of YouTube channels in French in hopes that I will at least on occasion watch something in French.

I'm currently reading a massive book in English called "Third world to first world" by Lee Kuan Yew; former Prime Minister of Singapore. It is very interesting, but doesn't really help with my language learning. However, it has reignited my desire to get back to learning Mandarin (since my visit to Singapore for a couple of months was the main trigger in the first place).
15 x
: 0 / 150 Read 150 books in 2024

My YouTube Channel
The Autodidactic Podcast
My Author's Newsletter

I post on this forum with mobile devices, so excuse short msgs and typos.

User avatar
rdearman
Site Admin
Posts: 7223
Joined: Thu May 14, 2015 4:18 pm
Location: United Kingdom
Languages: English (N)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1836
x 23092
Contact:

Re: Rdearman 2016-21 [Presto e bene non marciano insieme]

Postby rdearman » Thu May 06, 2021 1:50 pm

A significant milestone in my French speaking happened today. I told a joke in French and the person laughed. This means I have sufficient command of the French language to amuse people in it, rather than because of it. This has made me very happy.

I did an Italian language exchange with an older gentleman. He spent the entire hour speaking in English (and I couldn't even get a word in edgewise) and he had the camera of his tablet pointed at the ceiling. So I stared at the cobweb on his light for an hour while being spoke at for an hour in English. I spent almost the entire time thinking; I don't need anyone to make me sit and stare at the ceiling while they lecture me, I'm married that job is taken.
16 x
: 0 / 150 Read 150 books in 2024

My YouTube Channel
The Autodidactic Podcast
My Author's Newsletter

I post on this forum with mobile devices, so excuse short msgs and typos.

User avatar
Le Baron
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3480
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2021 5:14 pm
Location: Koude kikkerland
Languages: English (N), fr, nl, de, eo, Sranantongo,
Maintaining: es, swahili.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=18796
x 9315

Re: Rdearman 2016-21 [Presto e bene non marciano insieme]

Postby Le Baron » Thu May 06, 2021 5:31 pm

rdearman wrote:This means I have sufficient command of the French language to amuse people in it, rather than because of it.

:lol: It's the way you tell 'em. Congratulations too.

I remember making a quip in French (but not the quip itself) and then some fellow curious about the laughter coming from our table asked me to repeat it, but I couldn't and so I failed. Sort of like taking off on a hang-glider and soaring for about 20 feet before crash landing into a bush.
2 x

User avatar
rdearman
Site Admin
Posts: 7223
Joined: Thu May 14, 2015 4:18 pm
Location: United Kingdom
Languages: English (N)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1836
x 23092
Contact:

Re: Rdearman 2016-21 [Presto e bene non marciano insieme]

Postby rdearman » Tue May 18, 2021 2:07 pm

Well, this week is the polyglot gathering (online) and although I was going to do a presentation it is probably better for me to save it for the live event. Assuming of course it ever happens. When it was in Bratislava, and they announced they were going to change the venue I really hoped it wouldn't be Poland. Not that I have anything against Poland, but I was going there a lot for a job I had, mostly Poznań, and I was hoping for somewhere I hadn't been. There are a lot of places I haven't been, so why did they pick Poland? :cry:

I had not been to Berlin or Bratislava before, so it was nice getting to know new cities. Although the last two have happened at the desk in my house, which I'm getting a little sick of as well after all the bloody lockdowns.

I purchased this book at the last (in-person) gathering:

(I have added a scaleable image to the BBCode options, used above)

But I haven't used the book. I also have the USB with the audio and a couple of books for LR in Polish. What I lack is motivation!

Just a quick review of my language failures:
  • Korean - I have done very badly with Korean, just picking up some random phrases really.
  • Mandarin - Did it for a couple of years, but didn't study hard enough
  • Czech - Did this for about 2 weeks, discovered it was hard and quit.
  • Setswana - Persisted for a while, but lost motivation and quit.
  • Esperanto - Played about years ago, wasn't really interested and quit.

The only two I have been remotely successful with is Italian and French. I believe this is because I talk to people. I know it is a shock, but I am only interested in a language if I can talk to someone! :shock:

Speaking to people motivates me to learn some more and to expand my vocabulary through reading or films or whatever. So all the ones which I've bailed out on were mainly because there wasn't anyone to talk to, so it was boring, and I quit. Studying languages just for the sake of studying is not my thing. If I want to study then there are thousands of other topics I would like to know, electronics, physics, maths, astronomy, etc. Oh, and before someone suggests I learn physics via Mandarin, not going to happen. They have books in English which are easier to get!

I probably could do Polish because I know a lot of Poles both here in the UK and in Poznań. But lack of motivation is a factor. Learning languages is a drain mentally and physically long before you get to the point where you can have a reasonable conversation with someone. I frequently think I should just pick one. (I tend to shout this at other drivers on the motorway, "Three lanes! Pick One!")

I am still only on page 38 of this 874 page monster:


And about halfway through another French SciFi book. (which I can't find an image for)

I had a language exchange in Italian this morning, and I have another one in about 30 minutes time.

There is a lovely lady in China who was helping me with Chinese, but I can't actually speak with her other than in English. But because there is someone to speak with I've been half-heartedly reviewing all the Mandarin stuff I have. Recently I have been applying for jobs in Singapore because it would definitely give me a reason to learn Mandarin.

Well, gotta go get my brain prepared for more Italian and to stop this rambling.
10 x
: 0 / 150 Read 150 books in 2024

My YouTube Channel
The Autodidactic Podcast
My Author's Newsletter

I post on this forum with mobile devices, so excuse short msgs and typos.


Return to “Language logs”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests