Lingua's Italian All The Time Log

[lingua]

So much for my long weekend. I was so busy I studied hardly at all.

Italian

memrise: 3568/8174
book: still reading Cerco Sapori in Piazza Grande @ about 85% done so for sure I will finish it this week
I had no italki this past week

film:
MasterChef Italia Stagione 4 Episodi 1-8
A Case of Conscience: Missing Funds, Honor & Cowardice, Past Accounts (this concludes the second season which I had to watch as it will be removed from the MHz Choice after today and no longer be available)


Latin

memrise: 358/419


Thai

memrise: 1601/2362
film: Iron Chef Thailand: Season 4 Ep 5-6 (the episodes available seem to have no pattern so it makes it difficult to watch in order which is my preference)

no tutor last week

[lingua]

Italian

memrise: 3599/8174
book: didn't quite finish Cerco Sapori in Piazza Grande (still have about 5% left)
I had one hour italki session

film:
MasterChef Italia Stagione 4 Episodi 9-11


Latin

memrise: 397/458


Thai

memrise: 1601/2362
film: อร่อยสร้างภาพ #42-47 (cooking series)

Two hour tutor session where we spent part of the time going over the recipe I translated because I had some questions. It was a useful exercise and I felt as if the light bulb is starting to turn on for Thai.

[lingua]

As it turned out at 95% of Cerco Sapori in Piazza Grande I was at the last chapter so I completed the book last night. This book is written by Bruno Barbieri, one of the judges of MasterChef Italia. The premise of the book was 70 ingredients for 70 recipes. I liked the layout of the book. Each of the 70 ingredients had a chapter that included seasonal availability information, what to look for in quality, followed by 2-3 ways to use it or other items to pair it with followed by a recipe using the ingredient. Categories included vegetables, fish, herbs, meat, spices, cereals & legumes and fruit. It was very informative though it got a bit redundant at times. I would have preferred pictures of the finished dishes but there were none included.

cercosapori.jpg

I already started a new book called C'era una vodka: Un'educazione spirituale da 0° a 60° by Sapo Matteucci.

[lingua]

Italian

memrise: 3673/8187

film: MasterChef Italia Stagione 4 Episodi 12-24
After watching five seasons of this in about two months I don't think I will ever forget certain words or phrases even those that I will probably never have need for. There are two seasons of MasterChef Kids Italia that I will eventually watch but probably not until the new year. Time for some crime shows.

book: started a short easy book Il gatto Felics because C'era una vodka was a bit of a slog and I needed something a little lighter.

I had two hour italki sessions


Latin

memrise: 488/1481

I still haven't gotten back to the Latin course but plan to soon even if my plans don't always work out


Thai

memrise: 1601/2362

Two hour tutor session where we concentrated on pronunciation and having short conversations.

I did some writing/translating this weekend. I was surprised to find I didn't watch any Thai cooking shows this week.

[lingua]

I am off work for the next two weeks and hope to be able to spend more time on my languages but we seem to have quite a few social obligations during this time so I'm not sure how realistic it is.


Italian

memrise: 3710/8705
film: nothing this week
book: continued to read Il gatto Felics
italki: Two 2 hour sessions


Latin

memrise: 558/1481
mooc: finally did Lesson 6 (adjectives and numerals)


Thai

memrise: 1687/2504
film: nothing this week
tutor: 2 hour session

Our tutor has decided that we need to add diction to the weekly lesson so I have been focusing on the pronunciation and spelling of our assigned words this week.

We went to a party this weekend where I met a Thai women who was surprised when I greeted her in Thai but we exchanged a few sentences off and on throughout the evening. This is the first time I've had a chance to use my Thai outside of the home (or tutoring session) so I found it rewarding that she understood what I said.

[Bakunin]

How's your Thai coming along, lingua? I see you're watching a lot of cooking shows, how's that working out for you?

[lingua]

How's your Thai coming along, lingua? I see you're watching a lot of cooking shows, how's that working out for you?

It's coming along very slowly. I like the cooking shows. I pick up a few words (mostly food related) and the count downs (in the case of the Iron Chef Thailand). I think that if I can get my cookbook translation project done on a more regular basis I will learn more words that I will then recognize in the cooking shows.

[lingua]

Our Thai tutoring session this week was especially good. When our tutor said she would do diction I assumed she would say the words in Thai and that we'd write them. But instead she said them in English so not only did we have to write the Thai we had to actually know the Thai word. I knew what all the Thai words should be and spelled most of them correctly. I used the wrong tone mark on a couple of them which isn't surprising since tones still are a difficult thing for me. She also asked us questions in Thai and I was able to respond without searching for words in the book. In the past I had to sometimes find a word or two before responding. After a year of sporadic tutoring and self-study I'm finally starting to get it. I remember when I got to this point in Italian which was quite a bit sooner than a year. For me it's an exhilarating experience.

[lingua]

Italian

memrise: 3807/8705
book: finished Il gatto Felics and restarted Mangia come parli
italki: none ... took a two week break

film:
Anti-drug Squad (first two episodes ... the main character went under cover in episode #3 and it became too unbelievable so I gave up on it at least for now)
Don Matteo: State of Intoxication, The Little Angel, Awaiting Trial, The Fire of Passion, Accademic Crime, A Gamble, Branded SKin, Playing with Fire & The Coach ... so completed season 1 and started season 2 (there are 8 of them).


Latin

memrise: 690/1571

If only I could remember Thai words as easily as I can Latin. It seems the majority of the words are similar (or even the same) as Italian & English that it takes very little to remember them.


Thai

memrise: 1699/2504
tutor: none this week

I mostly reviewed words over the last week so no real net in number of words. In the new year my goal is to spend at least 50% of my language time on Thai and a little less on Italian & Latin. I feel like I am finally starting to get it so I want to take advantage of that and reinforce what I know.

[lingua]

I finally finished another Italian book called Mangia come parli: com'è cambiato il vocabolario del cibo by CInzia Scaffidi. This is a Slow Food non-fiction book and it's a type of dictionary. So we have a list of words such as agricoltura (agriculture/farming), fame (hunger), grasso (fat), naturale, qualità, turismo and so on with several pages on the subject in regards to how things used to be, how they are now and how to improve. Also, a bit on how the meaning of some words have changed over the years due to marketing. The tone of the book felt a little negative and preachy so not all that enjoyable. I am not really sure the author was talking about how food production has changed world wide or if it was supposed to be only about Italy. Still I learned a lot of new terminology so it was educational. I'm not sure I would recommend it unless you are into that sort of subject matter.

mangiacomeparli.jpg