Jeff's language log

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jeff_lindqvist
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Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2773
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Re: Jeff's language log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:36 pm

I have listened to a fair amount of the content available here:
http://www.loyalbooks.com/language/Dutch

There are some classics, say, Tales of the Arabian Nights, William Tell and so on. I haven't studied Dutch formally, and during the entire 2021 I never sat down to do anything else in the language. It was my plan but life came in the way. No real recommendations - I'm sure you'll find something.
12 x
Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

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jeff_lindqvist
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Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2773
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Re: Jeff's language log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Fri Jan 14, 2022 5:03 pm

2021 - Summary of week 52B

52B = 1-2 January.

I didn't finish any books in just two days.

IT: A new year means a new language for my walks. Just after midnight on New Year's Eve I made my final decision. I based it on how easy I could get listening material, and also the fact that I had given the language a thought during the past few months - as well as having the first Harry Potter novel collecting dust. For the time being, I listen to Loyal Books content during my walks. I've also started reading Harry Potter e la pietra filosofale.

NL: Harry Potter en de steen der wijzen. One paragraph at a time.

ZH: What now? Another language? A few months ago, I found the Youtube channel Mandarin Click, which has a bunch of playlists sorted by level.
Slow Chinese Stories (Newcomer - HSK 1/2) is the one I've chosen. The stories are short enough, (re-)use basic vocabulary, have pinyin and hanzi on screen, and offer subtitles (by clicking "C", as usual). Steps involved:
  • Blind-shadowing
  • Shadowing + reading the English translation (and glancing at the hanzi and/or pinyin)
  • Shadowing + reading hanzi (and glancing at the English translation if necessary)
  • Shadowing again
  • ...and maybe again (and again), if there's time.

I generally speed up the audio 2x. For anyone who is reading this - are there channels with short stories like these + text and translation?
17 x
Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

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Le Baron
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Re: Jeff's language log

Postby Le Baron » Fri Jan 14, 2022 5:30 pm

jeff_lindqvist wrote:I generally speed up the audio 2x.

May I enquire as to why you do this?
0 x

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jeff_lindqvist
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Re: Jeff's language log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Fri Jan 14, 2022 6:07 pm

Sometimes it's 2x, sometimes 1.5x... if the narrator speaks slowly (as they usually do in language courses), then that's a major reason to speed things up. I want to go through the content more times.
7 x
Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

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Le Baron
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Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=18796
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Re: Jeff's language log

Postby Le Baron » Fri Jan 14, 2022 6:15 pm

jeff_lindqvist wrote:Sometimes it's 2x, sometimes 1.5x... if the narrator speaks slowly (as they usually do in language courses), then that's a major reason to speed things up. I want to go through the content more times.

Ah...I didn't read closely enough. I thought this was regular content, as in 'native' content. Yes, the course material for some courses is quite slow, especially for false beginners and those with learning under their belts.
0 x

David27
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Re: Jeff's language log

Postby David27 » Fri Jan 14, 2022 9:22 pm

I like Mandarin click, I also follow their channel and study with their videos.
1 x

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jeff_lindqvist
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Re: Jeff's language log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Fri Jan 21, 2022 4:41 pm

2022 - Summary of week 1

I finished De kapabla, and started reading Konsten att läsa en bok (original title: How to read a book) by Mortimer J. Adler. It was recommended by professor Arguelles in a video just before Christmas.

Since I was still on holiday, I managed to squeeze in some games. One session of Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Skull & Shackles (solo), a 4.5 hour long game of Eldritch Horror with the other gaeilgeoir in the area. Then the Thursday Night group met again for a game of Mansions of Madness. The scenario for this week was Gangs of Arkham (a great scenario in two acts). Then a bunch of solo mode sessions for Hero Realms and its predecessor Star Realms.

IT: Loyal Books + Harry Potter. I understand a fair amount of written Italian, that's for sure.

NL: Harry Potter. I start reading one section in one of the HP languages, then the same in the other language. Then the other way around. The reason for this is that I don't want either language to take priority. So, sometimes a Dutch section makes more sense if I continue in Italian. Sometimes it's the other way around.

ZH: I really like Mandarin Click. It's almost like Assimil light. There are no dialogues (so far?), but the length of each lesson is perfect (2-3 minutes). This approach of slowly forcing myself to read Hanzi (again) has made a larger amount of daily Anki cards look more familiar. Sentences now make sense.

I ask again - is there anything like this for other languages? I mean, short monologues / dialogues / lessons, target language only, with transcript in the target language + subtitles (in English). Youtube is fine (there I can speed up the audio, if it's too slow).
15 x
Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

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tungemål
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Re: Jeff's language log

Postby tungemål » Fri Jan 21, 2022 5:01 pm

Italian, how unoriginal... :D

Do you jump right into reading books, without doing any formal study? Italian sure is tempting to learn, because I imagine it would be easy.
1 x

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jeff_lindqvist
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Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2773
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Re: Jeff's language log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Fri Jan 21, 2022 9:49 pm

tungemål wrote:Do you jump right into reading books, without doing any formal study? Italian sure is tempting to learn, because I imagine it would be easy.


Yes and no. It's not that I've studied it formally (say, in high school, at the university etc.), but I'm not a complete beginner. I've gone through a few courses on my own - at least two or three. And Duolingo. And then I have a background in other Romance languages.
6 x
Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

Llorg Blog - Wiki - Discord

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Le Baron
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Posts: 3505
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2021 5:14 pm
Location: Koude kikkerland
Languages: English (N), fr, nl, de, eo, Sranantongo,
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Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=18796
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Re: Jeff's language log

Postby Le Baron » Fri Jan 21, 2022 10:45 pm

I've been meaning to study Italian properly forever. It might even be that idea that it would be 'easier' than some other language which makes me imagine that I'll eventually get to it and breeze through it. I imagine there'll be a rude awakening with that at some point.

I have actually read through a couple of Italian Easy Readers in the past. I've also watched a lot of those 'poliziotteschi' films. I can't think why I haven't done Italian instead of Spanish. Just the notion of 'world Spanish' I guess.
3 x


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