Jeff's language log

[jeff_lindqvist]

2023 - Summary of week 33

Reading. Four books finished - volume two and three of the Binti series by Nnedi Okorafor, then Det dåliga samvetet by Pernilla Ericsson (part four in the crime series about Erlagruppen) and finally Dödlig lögn by David Baldacci - yet another series. Then I started reading The Power of Internal Martial Arts: Combat Secrets of Ba Gua, Tai Chi, and Hsing-I (by Bruce Frantzis). Who knows, maybe I'll take a look at some study material for Mandarin or Cantonese. Or not.

Another game night - this time we played Mansions of Madness. Scenario: The Jungle Awakens. Investigators: Daniela Reyes, Bob Jenkins and Sister Mary. A 3 star scenario. Investigation complete.

Saturday I attended a concert with a duo playing mostly Scottish music on harp and fiddle, plus some puirt à beul (or mouth music if you want) and a song in Gaelic.

ES: More Librivox.

[jeff_lindqvist]

2023 - Summary of week 34

Reading. Four books finished - the mystery Svart sabbat (The Burning Court) by John Dickson Carr, the Kritgubben (The Chalk Man) by C. J. Tudor (recommended!), Träden längs med bäcken by Olle Holmlöv and the BBC dramatized version of Fellowship of the ring (5/5).

Another game night - this time we played Dice Forge - a kind of dice-building game (as opposed to deck-building or hand-building), where the players roll their pair of dice and "improve" the faces along the way in order to end up with the most points. As abstract as it may sound, it was a very fun game. Two had played it before, and two others (myself included) were beginners. Excellent mechanics. Great design.

While switching between TV channels I found Möte med (romani) - a program in Romani. It is one of the recognized minority languages of Sweden. I decided to watch it till the end. As I don't know any Romani, I read the Swedish subtitles. I noticed that they clearly spoke different varieties - one interviewee used of a lot more words of Russian origin than the host. In another interview, the host even mentioned that they were speaking different dialects but met halfway.

ES: More Librivox.

[galaxyrocker]

Another game night - this time we played Dice Forge - a kind of dice-building game (as opposed to deck-building or hand-building), where the players roll their pair of dice and "improve" the faces along the way in order to end up with the most points. As abstract as it may sound, it was a very fun game. Two had played it before, and two others (myself included) were beginners. Excellent mechanics. Great design.

I've only played it once myself but it was a great game. I liked how innovative it was, in being a dice-builder. Not something I had come across before.

[jeff_lindqvist]

2023 - Summary of week 35

I've been on vacation since the beginning of August - hence a lot of reading. No game night this week. I played a lot of chess online, practiced flute, and did some martial arts (but far from my dream scenario).

Friday I was back at work. I heard Chinese outside the university, and in the library. There are still tourists around. During my morning walk earlier today, I heard people speak Russian.

ES: More Librivox.

[jeff_lindqvist]

2023 - Summary of week 36

Two books finished - En instängd man by Per Hellgren (amazing dual-timeline crime story), and Power of Internal Martial Arts (by Bruce K. Frantzis). That last book inspired me (for the nth time) to pick up Chinese again (and, to practice my routines).

Another game night - we played Isle of Cats where you rescue as many cats on your imagined ship as you can before an evil lord arrives. During the game, you draft cards to explore the island, study lessons, rescue cats, find treasures, and sometimes play other bonus cards. The cats you rescue have different shapes (think: Tetris), and the more rooms you cover on your "deck", the better.

ES: More Librivox.

[jeff_lindqvist]

2023 - Summary of week 37

Reading. One book finished - Den lodande människan by Patrik Svensson. It's a collection of essays about the ocean, the deep and the curiosity of mankind. 5/5

Another game night - we played Wingspan (mentioned several times in this log). I didn't win, but I also didn't come last. Highly recommended.

I also attended two concerts - one with two cantors in the area, one with Sveriges Ungdomskör (SVUK) (the youth choir of Sweden).

Not a lot of language study these days, unfortunately.

ES: More Librivox.

[jeff_lindqvist]

2023 - Summary of week 38

Reading. Three books finished: Den magiska cirkeln by Ola Skogäng - the seventh installment of the comic book series Theos ockulta kuriositeter; Bokens folk by Joel Halldorf - a cultural-historical overview about reading, writing and books; Jordens sång by John Sjögren - essays about J.R.R. Tolkien's world of thought. 5/5

I also finished the BBC adaption of The Two Towers. Highly recommended.

No game night for me this week.

One target language interaction at work (Spanish). One Tarzan speech exchange in Dutch.

The first episode of the third season of McDonald & Dodds was quite interesting from a language point of view. Alan Davies plays a linguistic anthropologist (!) who is into dialects. Siân Phillips plays his mother, and speaks some Welsh (!!).

ES: More Librivox.

[jeff_lindqvist]

2023 - Summary of week 39

Reading. Three books finished: Sista bilden (by Tina Frennstedt) - the fourth book in the Cold Case series; Rising Ground (by Philip
Marsden) - a kind of "travel book" on mythical and historical places in Cornwall; Svart varg (by Juan Gómez-Jurado) - the second book about Antonia Scott.

No game night for me this week either.

Another target language interaction at work - Serbian. OK, not really interaction - merely uttering 'srpsko' and 'Prijatan dan želim!'.

I watched the film Crazy Rich Asians and heard some Mandarin, Cantonese, and Hokkien. Earlier today I ran into a native speaker of Kirundi, and while doing shopping I heard something which I think was Dari.

ES: More Librivox.

[DaveAgain]

Rising Ground (by Philip Marsden) - a kind of "travel book" on mythical and historical places in Cornwall

Did you like this? I almost bought a copy as a Christmas present for someone last year.

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Kraut mentioned a German podcast, "Meine Challenge", one episode of which looks at board games Faszination Brettspiele: Was das Spielen mit uns macht.

[deekin]

Svart varg (by Juan Gómez-Jurado) - the second book about Antonia Scott.

I loved that series. Just finished the third book and was quite happy to finally have finished a series in Spanish. I only recently discovered that there are a couple other books that may be prequels(?). Either way, I'm definitely planning on reading more of his work. It has been one of the more accessible series in Spanish for me given that I don't have a ton of Spanish reading experience. Are you planning on reading any other books by Juan Gómez-Jurado?