Terracotta’s language log

[terracotta]

Hello everyone, I used to be active on HTAL - I spent more time lurking there than actually posting - when I studied linguistics and philology at university. I still spend a lot of time going through logs (and all the various Super Challenge discussions) on HTAL. Such a goldmine of information!

After spending years lurking on here too (I had an account here in 2016, but I can't remember my username), I have decided to start a log. Mainly because I am looking forward to the upcoming Super Challenge and also because - after years of studying in (disorganised) bursts - I have been systematically tracking my progress for a couple of months now. I finally feel disciplined enough to have a log.

When I studied linguistics and philology, I was consumed by a severe case of wanderlust that lasted years and, as a result, I have superficial (uneven?) knowledge of several languages/language families. In 2022, I found myself "studying" (read: exploring) six random languages and finally had enough. It took several months to figure out what I wanted to focus on, and by summer 2023, I realised I wanted to focus entirely on French. I was derailed by a lot of health dramas towards the end of the year, but somehow I have stuck to French - and it has been, for the most part, a rewarding experience.

My wanderlust brain has struggled to focus on just one language. I have many pros and cons lists in the notes app on my phone for various languages. I did a bit of Portuguese last autumn - I could only attend a couple of classes at an evening course at my local university before I fell ill. The teacher was great, they have a PhD in linguistics and the atmosphere in the class was very linguistic-y. I also watched YouTube videos during this period but it was all very haphazard, mainly because I felt like Portuguese was interfering with my French. Not surprising since I hadn't done a lot of French at this point (around 150 hours - a mix of textbook study and Arte documentaries). I didn't continue with Portuguese.

Now that I am over 450 hours into my French journey and have read nearly 1300 pages (most of this reading has happened since March), Portuguese suddenly feels accessible (and, more importantly, distinct enough from French), which is why I have decided to get back to it.

French
Input
I will continue to read books in French, watch documentaries and TV shows, and listen to podcasts.

Output
I try and speak to my tutor once a week (our conversations are usually centered around history, art history, and literature), and would like to continue with this. I usually write a bit before my convo classes - I need to do more of this.

Portuguese
Input
I will focus on European Portuguese for audio since I live in the UK and have spent time in Portugal (and I don't know if and when I will ever get to Brazil). For texts, I will try and focus on European Portuguese literature and translations - but since it is infinitely easier to get hold of Brazilian Portuguese books/translations, I will read them too.

Output
I will rejoin the Portuguese class offered by my local university. It is a group class, and I know I'll barely get to speak, but my focus is more on input at this point, so it will be perfect.

[terracotta]

French
This was a quieter week with it being Easter and all. We had a couple of sunny days here in the UK so I spent a lot of time outdoors - and away from French.

Books
Bel-Ami - I did not expect it to be this accessible. And hilarious! Georges Duroy is such a cad. I listened to the audiobook at the same time (I find that I read a lot faster this way).
Pages: 89

La Poule et son cumin - I had started it just before the Easter break so didn't back to it until the weekend. Such a great book, I came across it last month in one of the logs here
Pages: 108

Also, read a couple of pages each from Les Buddenbrooks (cannot wait to read this properly), Les Clés Retrouvées (Moroccan Jewish memoir), and Kiffe ta race (too political for me at this point).

Audio
I watched a couple of episodes of Ça commence aujourd'hui - the one featuring Camille, the wife of Charles de Bourbon des Deux-Siciles and their two daughters was particularly fascinating. I had no idea this family existed, and spent several hours after the show figuring out how they were related to the rest of European royalty. And thanks to my meanderings, YT now prioritises videos featuring this family in my search results.

Also watched/listened to the following (in part/entirely):
A Louvre Museum video about a Van Eyck painting (YT)
Antastesialit's videos on Madame Bovary and Gabriel Garcia Marquez (YT)

Podcasts:
Vénus s'épilait-elle la chatte episode
Giotto - Le baiser de Judas (France Culture)

Portuguese
Nothing since I decided to get back to Portuguese yesterday. Ha.

[terracotta]

French
These past two weeks, Portuguese has been the main focus, leaving less time for French. It's been a bit of a balancing act, and I haven't been able to give French the attention I'd hoped for.

Audio

Several episodes from L'Art est la matière (France Culture).
Several lectures from the Langues juives dans l’espace méditerranéen conference, organised by the Musée d'art et d'histoire du Judaïsme (available on Youtube)

Books

Finished reading La Poule et son cumin. Really enjoyed this, although I think it lost some of its sharpness by the end of it - maybe the ending could have been less rushed and clichéd. I do enjoy francophone literature from North Africa - I have always read this in translation so it has been great to have actually read something from this region in the original. I've pre-ordered the author's next book, Souviens-toi des abeilles.

Read a couple of chapters each from Sur une terre étrangère and Un nom pour un autre by Jhumpa Lahiri and Claire le prénom de la honte by Claire Koç.

Overall, I read 255 pages - and most of it was this week.

Portuguese
After my first class, I realized that my Portuguese group class had breezed through pretty much the entirety of the A1 textbook last term, leaving me scrambling to catch up (I had only done the first couple of chapters of the A1 book before I had to quit the class).

So, what have I been up to? Well, it's been a slow dance with grammar textbooks (specifically, Portuguese: An Essential Grammar) and working through the A1 textbook - and a bit of tinkering around with beginner-level European Portuguese videos on YouTube. Nothing too structured, just dipping my toes into the language system, getting accustomed to the sounds.

I've also started putting together a French-Portuguese glossary - I feel that sticking within the Romance family makes more sense than constantly referencing back to English.

Audio

Listened to a couple of Iniciação - Português Não Materna classes from RTP's Estudo Em Casa series
Random beginners videos on YT - quality resources for European Portuguese are hard to come by

Books
Surprisingly, delving into written Portuguese feels like stepping into a slightly simpler version of French, syntactically speaking. I'm sure I'll change my mind as I read more - this is just an initial observation.

Americanah - Read a random chapter. My new favourite words in Portuguese are chegar and cheirar (24 pages)
A Grande Ideia de Kristy - Haven't read this series in over 20 years! (5 pages)

I also went through a Wiki PT article on one of my favourite Renaissance painters (Raphael).

[terracotta]

A quick update because I'm struggling with TMJ and my neck and shoulder are equally sore!

Italian
I'm travelling to Italy soon— until very recently I wasn't sure if I'd be able to, but I can now, so I'm super excited. I have always been interested in Italian and over a decade ago I attended some classes at my local Italian Cultural Institute (which were badly organised, so I quit after a couple of weeks). I thought I might do a bit of Italian before my holiday. The Nuovo Espresso A1 textbook seemed relatively straightforward, so instead I went through the first couple of chapters of Grammatica pratica della lingua italiana by Susanna Nocchi and then jumped straight into Nuovo Espresso A2. I've done a couple of lessons and will try to finish this textbook before I leave. I'm doing all the exercises and going through all the audio activities—the series isn't bad, but it's not a patch on the Édito series. I don't know if I have the time—or mental capacity—to do a quick L-R with a novel that I'm familiar with (because unlike Portuguese, finding audio for books that I'm familiar with/enjoy is super easy) - but is something I'd like to try.

Portuguese
Classes are in full swing. We are now two chapters into the A2 textbook, but also continuously revisiting topics and vocabulary covered in the A1 textbook, so it's actually manageable at this point. I am trying to find a contemporary novel that I can read and listen to at the same time, but it seems impossible. There is such a frustrating lack of audiobooks for European Portuguese. The only audio I can find is for 19th-century literature, which I don't think is a good idea at this point.

French
I have done very little in French over the last couple of days. Since the start of the Super Challenge, I have mostly watched TV, but not every day, so I am definitely not going to be able to reach my usual monthly target of 50 hours of listening. This month is going to be challenging because I'm travelling and distracted by Portuguese and now Italian, but I think it's OK. This is a 20-month challenge, so I can afford to have a month when I'm not as focused.

[terracotta]

Since I last updated my log, I have been dealing with a lot of unexpected drama on the health front, and it has been a very difficult time. I haven't done a lot and don't expect to for a while until things settle down.

Before things really kicked off, I had been listening to my favourite series (L'Art est la matière on France Culture) and I read a couple of chapters from La Famille Han by Min Jin Lee. It reads like a contemporary 19th-century novel - and is exactly what I was looking for.

For Italian, I had made my way through the first 28 chapters of Grammatica pratica della lingua italiana (A1-C1) by Marco Mezzadri and read through a bit of Le voci della sera by Natalia Ginzburg. Such a beautiful book. Italian is such a gorgeous language. I am in love. French, be warned: you might just be replaced!

I'll next update when things are calmer. In the meantime, might watch some Bonus Family. I watched it on SVT several years ago, and recently discovered it on Netflix. And it will actually count towards the SC for Swedish!

[wallflower]

I'll next update when things are calmer. In the meantime, might watch some Bonus Family. I watched it on SVT several years ago, and recently discovered it on Netflix. And it will actually count towards the SC for Swedish!

It’s a good show to re-watch Have you seen the film they made as well, I think it was titled Länge leve bonusfamiljen. It had been on Netflix, maybe it still is, I don’t know.

I hope you are feeling and doing better very soon, terracotta.

[Severine]

Just wanted to say bon courage with respect to your health issues. They do have a way of dwarfing everything else. I hope all resolves as best it can and that you have more time for languages and other pleasures soon!

[Sonjaconjota]

There is such a frustrating lack of audiobooks for European Portuguese. The only audio I can find is for 19th-century literature, which I don't think is a good idea at this point.

Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but have you tried Kobo Rakuten? I've just had a look at audiobooks in Portuguese at their shop, and at first glance there was quite some stuff. I've seen authors like Stephen King and Agatha Christie, so quite well-known names. As I'm in Europe, I'm assuming those recordings are in European Portuguese, if there's no additional comment, but of course I don't really know. Most books seem to have the option to listen to a short sample, which might help.

[terracotta]

Thank you so much for your kind words Severine and wallflower! @wallflower - I haven’t watched that film, I saw that is was on SF Anytime last year but if it’s on Netflix now - yay!

@Sonjaconjota - Unfortunately, they are in the Brazilian accent! Wook.pt has some audiobooks for contemporary literature in EU PT but the choice is very limited.

[rowanexer]

Another Portuguese learner has made a list of EP audiobooks he's found. Looks like it could be useful!
https://lusobritish.blog/audio-store/