Lilly's log - French, Russian, Spanish and Italian

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Ani
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Re: Lilly's log - French, Russian and Spanish

Postby Ani » Sun Jun 25, 2017 2:59 am

Do you count audio books in your page count or were you listening/reading? And when you count hours of listening, does any of that overlap? I've been thinking about your page count/language level philosophy and wondering how well it matches my progress.
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blaurebell
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Re: Lilly's log - French, Russian and Spanish

Postby blaurebell » Sun Jun 25, 2017 7:22 am

Ani wrote:Do you count audio books in your page count or were you listening/reading? And when you count hours of listening, does any of that overlap? I've been thinking about your page count/language level philosophy and wondering how well it matches my progress.


I do count audiobooks because the language is still literary language and usually the readers speak clearly enough that I can actually hear new words. I don't listen to an awful lot of them though, because I tend to get restless. When I listen to audiobooks while doing film development, or editing pictures I tend to miss half of it too, because I have to concentrate on the process. For such activities I prefer to listen to podcasts, because it's not so important if I lose a word or sentence here or there. So, basically I only listen to audiobooks when I can actually concentrate on them just as much as on a paper book and that's not very often.
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blaurebell
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Re: Lilly's log - French, Russian and Spanish

Postby blaurebell » Sun Jun 25, 2017 3:45 pm

Ok, forget about what I said about getting back into my routine today. I'm totally exhausted and feel like sleeping all day, so we watched a Sunday movie, ate, slept, ate some more. Not exactly the most productive day, but hey, I walked like 28km in 2 days ...! I also learned two new expressions these days: One was "Your dogs must be barking ...", which apparently is some expression for "your feet must be hurting ..." Never heard that one before! And the other was the Argentinian slang word "falopa" for cocaine or also drugs in general. I tried to figure out the origins, but I only found that it's lunfardo and that there are different theories about how it came to be used. And since we're on the topic, the Argentinian podcast I'm currently listening to is a little stupid. It's good practice though with all the talking over each other and weird slang / inappropriate language.
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: 20 / 100 Дэвид Эддингс - В поисках камня
: 14325 / 35000 LWT Known

: 17 / 55 FSI Spanish Basic
: 100 / 116 GdUdE B
: 8 / 72 Duolingo reverse Spanish -> German

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blaurebell
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Re: Lilly's log - French, Russian and Spanish

Postby blaurebell » Mon Jun 26, 2017 1:12 pm

After I complained about that Argentinian podcast yesterday my husband reminded me that there is a really great Argentinian radio comedy program called La venganza será terrible (look for "venganzas del pasado") and we listened to two episodes. Every program is 2h long with about half an hour of music at the end, so 1.5h of spoken stuff, two comedy sections and one section of a more serious story which is usually about history. It's really quite funny and the humour is moderately high brow, so I occasionally struggle a little with the vocabulary. There is also a good measure of Argentinian slang in there and in many episodes there are also 3 people talking over each other, so it's quite challenging, perfect for my level. And the best thing: There are thousands of hours of this program available. At least 5 years of the program are online, more probably, 4 episodes a week of 2h and every week there will be 8h of new content. Who can possibly keep up with that? My husband used to listen to this one a lot and he was always about 2 years+ behind. My grammar mission is also back on track, did 40min of GdUdE in the morning!

Last night before going to bed I also continued reading Le Monde d'Edena which is really psychedelic. I'm definitely enjoying it and will continue with it for bedtime reading in the next few days.

In other somewhat related news: I actually started a new supplement, Choline. My memory was always atrociously bad and I have some other symptoms that might fit a choline deficiency, so I actually have some hopes for this one. And it should help with language learning too! I also ordered some new bluetooth headphones since my old regular ones have been a little broken for a while and the cable tends to drive me nuts. This should really help me with my listening goals!
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: 20 / 100 Дэвид Эддингс - В поисках камня
: 14325 / 35000 LWT Known

: 17 / 55 FSI Spanish Basic
: 100 / 116 GdUdE B
: 8 / 72 Duolingo reverse Spanish -> German

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Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3235
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Re: Lilly's log - French, Russian and Spanish

Postby blaurebell » Tue Jun 27, 2017 7:59 am

Spanish

Yesterday I managed 2 units in GdUdE B and watched another episode of El chapo, which I find mildly entertaining. It's not very long, but I suppose it's a start on Mexican content. The other day I realised that Luis Buñuel was of course involved with the Mexican film industry, so I'll have fun with Mexican movies for sure! I've also come to the conclusion that after my Spanish C1 mission I will actually sit the DELE C1 exam. I will use the DELE preparation books anyway, so I might as well make use of that preparation. The examination centre in the area offers C1 and it's actually just 15 minutes walk from here! And this way I can tell for sure whether my preparation method is effective or not. And if I ever need to apply for any university courses, this will be useful even for Master level courses.

Spanish hours: 1.32h

French

I listened to the anniversary episode of Transfert and now I've officially run out of episodes altogether. Such a good podcast, I can only recommend it! I also continued with Le Monde d'Edena by Mœbius. What a wild BD, I love it! I'm not sure whether it will be this BD or the next Irène Némirovsky book that will push me beyond my first 10,000 pages. In any case I'm super close now and I still have about 2 weeks before my first year of French is over. I have decided that I will also sit the French DALF C1 in 2019 after finishing the same plan for French as for Spanish, so that's a nice goal for the future. I don't actually need the exam, but again, if I do the preparation anyway, I might as well sit the exam.

French hours: 1.69h

Russian

It had been about 2 weeks without any Russian because of generalised stress and travel, but I managed to finish another chapter of my book yesterday. I also noticed while I was searching for something on a Russian website that I could actually understand most of the content. I was a bit surprised about that, because there are still passages in the book that are full of new vocabulary, but it seems that I can at least understand simple content that isn't description heavy. And since I'm getting tested for the other two languages I might as well consider the ТРКИ III eventually, which is the Russian C1 test. It will take time, but since this is a language I should have learned during my childhood I don't want to settle for less.

Russian hours: 2.01h

General

I'm still getting back into the swing of things, so I'm not really at my optimal concentration levels yet, but I'm happy that I at least managed to read a bit in Russian I hope that this week I'll get a bit more Russian done so that I still have a chance of reaching the first 500 pages read by the end of July.

Total hours: 5.02h
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: 20 / 100 Дэвид Эддингс - В поисках камня
: 14325 / 35000 LWT Known

: 17 / 55 FSI Spanish Basic
: 100 / 116 GdUdE B
: 8 / 72 Duolingo reverse Spanish -> German

Cavesa
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Re: Lilly's log - French, Russian and Spanish

Postby Cavesa » Tue Jun 27, 2017 9:59 pm

Wow, ambitious plans! But totally realistic in your case!

I am looking forward to having more time for Spanish again. Reading your log, and those of other Spanish learners of approximately my level or a bit higher, really makes me regret missing out on so much fun!
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blaurebell
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Re: Lilly's log - French, Russian and Spanish

Postby blaurebell » Wed Jun 28, 2017 12:31 pm

Cavesa wrote:Wow, ambitious plans! But totally realistic in your case!


Always trying to do "the impossible" is kind of a hobby of mine. And usually I succeed in my goals, even if sometimes it takes a little longer than expected. The 5 languages at C1+ is actually an old plan that I already had when I learned Spanish in just a few months. Funny that I then stayed at B2 for the next 7 years :lol: I'm really starting to enjoy Spanish a bit more now, it was more of a reluctant move in the beginning, but the more success I have with it, the more I enjoy it!
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: 20 / 100 Дэвид Эддингс - В поисках камня
: 14325 / 35000 LWT Known

: 17 / 55 FSI Spanish Basic
: 100 / 116 GdUdE B
: 8 / 72 Duolingo reverse Spanish -> German

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blaurebell
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Re: Lilly's log - French, Russian and Spanish

Postby blaurebell » Wed Jun 28, 2017 1:26 pm

Spanish

I managed about an hour of FSI yesterday, although I have to say that I was really struggling not to fall asleep. Insomnia really doesn't help with grammar drills! I did surprisingly well despite my tiredness though, so that's something! Later at night I was also a bit bored, so I decided to get a couple of tedious GdUdE lessons about numbers out of the way. I have now done 25% of GdUdE B and if I always do a few lessons when I don't feel like doing FSI, I'll finish it in no time. I guess I'm back to my good old procrastination method of studying. When I finish GdUdE B I'll get myself the Practice Makes Perfect: The Spanish Subjunctive Up Close course for further procrastination. With that thought in mind I went to check out my list of Spanish resources to have a closer look at the resources I shortlisted for my output challenge. After a closer look I took them all off the list because they were all meant for high school students and I can't bear "pedagogical", i.e. condescending texts like that. Instead I put 2 different resources on the list: The main resources I will be using is Curso de lectura, conversación y redacción. There are three levels, elemental, intermedio and superior, and I think I might actually follow all of them. If I then still feel like I need more work on that I will follow it up with Composición: Proceso y Sintesis - an American university textbook. This one is expensive like all university textbooks, but the quality usually makes up for it. It might also be closer to the format of writing that I will need for my actual work rather than just the C1 writing requirements. I will see how I feel after I go through the other course though, I might not need it in the end. And after wasting time with checking out resources, I also watched another episode of El chapo.

Spanish hours: 2.37h

French

I read a bit more of Les chiens et les loups by Irène Némirovsky and before bed I finished another story in Le Monde d'Edena. A couple more days and I should be finished with my first 10,000 pages! I also put a whole bunch of French resources on my wish-list, for example the CLE phonétique progressive course and a bunch of courses on writing in French. I won't have time for any of those anytime soon, but it feels reassuring to have them listed for the right time!

French hours: 2.40h

Russian

I finished another chapter of my book and I'm now 17% done. Slow going and one page was 30% new vocabulary - a description of a rather gory fight scene - but I'm making progress. 8288 known words in LWT by now. Slowly but surely!

Russian hours: 2.85h

General

My new bluetooth headphones arrived and this technical marvel will make my listening goals a lot more comfortable to achieve. Now I won't have an excuse not to bring my headphones. No mess with cables, they fold up, perfect! I can also switch between my phone and my computer fairly easily and they will even be useful in the darkroom once I tape up the status light. So far I'm very happy with that investment!

Total hours: 7.62h
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: 20 / 100 Дэвид Эддингс - В поисках камня
: 14325 / 35000 LWT Known

: 17 / 55 FSI Spanish Basic
: 100 / 116 GdUdE B
: 8 / 72 Duolingo reverse Spanish -> German

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Teango
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Re: Lilly's log - French, Russian and Spanish

Postby Teango » Thu Jun 29, 2017 7:03 am

blaurebell wrote:...since I'm getting tested for the other two languages I might as well consider the ТРКИ III...

I like it...thinking three level bosses ahead. Давай, буду за тебя болеть! (Go for it, I'll be rooting for you!) 8-)
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Re: Lilly's log - French, Russian and Spanish

Postby PeterMollenburg » Thu Jun 29, 2017 8:01 am

blaurebell wrote:My new bluetooth headphones arrived and this technical marvel will make my listening goals a lot more comfortable to achieve. Now I won't have an excuse not to bring my headphones. No mess with cables, they fold up, perfect! I can also switch between my phone and my computer fairly easily and they will even be useful in the darkroom once I tape up the status light. So far I'm very happy with that investment!


Sorry to rain on your parade, but I wouldn't touch bluetooth headphones with a ten foot pole. I do use bluetooth from time to time, but I no longer use headphones, too close to the brain for my liking.
Wi-FI / Bluetooth / DECT : pourquoi c'est dangereux ? - désactiver le Wi-fi et informer vos voisins par une affichette
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