Tristano's log 2017: Wanderland in the Netherlusts

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Tristano
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Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5141
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Re: Tristano's log 2017: Wanderland in the Netherlusts

Postby Tristano » Sat Sep 09, 2017 1:47 pm

reineke wrote:
Tristano wrote:
reineke wrote:
Tristano wrote:And pronto :)


And "chao". Cazzo... Wait, that one's not Spanish... I'm ready for another round of 800 hours in listening-only mode. A couple of days ago I started a Spanish interior monologue with "allora".


It can be worse, like talking with monolingual Italian people and filling sentences with "wait" and "even kijken hoor".


You could also have Scottish people when you let that one rip although I'm sure they would not mind.

Hago + faccio = haccio

This is gonna be fun.


It could cause misunderstandings with Tuscans.
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reineke
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Re: Tristano's log 2017: Wanderland in the Netherlusts

Postby reineke » Sat Sep 09, 2017 2:23 pm

Tristano wrote:
reineke wrote:
Tristano wrote:
reineke wrote:
Tristano wrote:And pronto :)


And "chao". Cazzo... Wait, that one's not Spanish... I'm ready for another round of 800 hours in listening-only mode. A couple of days ago I started a Spanish interior monologue with "allora".


It can be worse, like talking with monolingual Italian people and filling sentences with "wait" and "even kijken hoor".


You could also have Scottish people when you let that one rip although I'm sure they would not mind.

Hago + faccio = haccio

This is gonna be fun.


It could cause misunderstandings with Tuscans.


I'm more likely to run into a narwhal (another tusked animal). It happened after listening to a fascinating Italian summer song.
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Tristano
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Location: The Netherlands
Languages: Native: Italian
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Studies: German
Can't wait to put his hands on: Scandinavian languages, Slavic languages, Turkish, Arabic and other stuff
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5141
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Re: Tristano's log 2017: Wanderland in the Netherlusts

Postby Tristano » Wed Sep 20, 2017 3:23 pm

I've been absent for quite a few days. Are you familiar with the saying: "life happens"? My new project severally impacted my language learning routine. It gave me as much as two and a half hours of listening time per day during the week which is highly beneficial with languages where I have b1+ listening skills, but deprived me from any willpower in engaging in any other kind of language related activity. Long story short: I had good times listening to French, Spanish, Romanian and English, but I stopped studying Danish, since my related goals where about achieving reading competences. Now, one option would be to just say: "good like this", but that would make totally sense for someone who is more realistic than me.

I'm going to restart German, studying it in the car while going to work. I'm going to put myself on the punishment of doing Pimsleur once again (it can't be as bed as Hebrew lol). Then Michel Thomas. Maybe I will stop before. I live next to Germany so I'm supposed to learn some German sooner or later. It will also give me a boost for the Scandinavian languages.

--

A good comparison with language learning is working out at the gym. For one milestone reached (squatting a barbell with my own bodyweight loaded on it for 3x5) there are other things that require my attention (my deadlift is dreadful and my core is weak, my arms not great either). Ignoring them would stop me to improve also wherever I'm doing fine. Now, in my language learning it is evident that the Germanic branch need more love and attention from me. Going through it would give me the muscles necessary to go through more demanding language families.
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Tristano
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Location: The Netherlands
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Can't wait to put his hands on: Scandinavian languages, Slavic languages, Turkish, Arabic and other stuff
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5141
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Re: Tristano's log 2017: Wanderland in the Netherlusts

Postby Tristano » Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:37 pm

First German Pimsleur day. I did five lessons until when my brain disconnected. To help myself not to disconnect earlier I had fun by overemphasizing the sentences with a rather complaining and angry intonation. Entschuldigung!!!!!
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Tristano
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Re: Tristano's log 2017: Wanderland in the Netherlusts

Postby Tristano » Wed Oct 04, 2017 10:33 pm

So: almost three hours a day of practice in the car means a lot of practice, and skipping terribly annoying things on an easy language like the numerals means that I'm already at the lesson 22 after three days. The first day I was almost automatically replying in Hebrew but it's getting less and less. If I can keep this crazy schedule (which should partially be possible thanks to the huge vocabulary discount I have) I'll soon use a new audio resource. This time I would like to try using active resources first and passive später. I wonder if FSI German is adapt to this way of studying, without a textbook.
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reineke
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Re: Tristano's log 2017: Wanderland in the Netherlusts

Postby reineke » Sat Oct 07, 2017 6:45 pm

You know, Pimsleur German has 5 levels. You can use FSI recordings without a textbook. Did ProSieben stop broadcasting? I would also look into German resources. Google Deutsch für Anfänger. Youtube has some neat stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8Km0t ... IJF9HwPZMA
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Tristano
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Can't wait to put his hands on: Scandinavian languages, Slavic languages, Turkish, Arabic and other stuff
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5141
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Re: Tristano's log 2017: Wanderland in the Netherlusts

Postby Tristano » Wed Oct 11, 2017 7:53 am

Thanks for the hints! The YouTube channel is still too advanced for me to use, but its daily nature makes it low pressure and I can watch at most one episode a day. At a certain point I will understand more and more.
There are also other very nice podcasts, but before I want to study actively the most I can. I'm at Pimsleur 2x17 (it is too slow so I either skip every other lesson or go through only half lesson). I found only three levels, then I will move to Michel Thomas. That will also be finished very soon so I need more material. Germanpod101 is less active but also very good. I have to dig more into monolingual German resources for foreigners, maybe there is indeed something interesting.
I also ordered the methode 90, Both the versions with 50 and 90 lessons (I have the audio for the last one). Those are small books with some good material (the old spelling is not a problem for me). I can study an extra 10 minutes in a parking place before coming home I guess :D the 50 lessons one I can keep on my nightstand. I want to become a good intermediate and then consuming lots of resources. I'm not planning formal grammar studies for the moment (with drills and so). I'm afraid the FSI courses is way too dry for me, so if I have other alternatives I will pursue them.
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Tristano
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Location: The Netherlands
Languages: Native: Italian
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Studies: German
Can't wait to put his hands on: Scandinavian languages, Slavic languages, Turkish, Arabic and other stuff
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5141
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Re: Tristano's log 2017: Wanderland in the Netherlusts

Postby Tristano » Fri Oct 13, 2017 8:37 am

German is very similar to Dutch. For what is my limited experience, it has been very easy.
- Vocabulary: huge overlap with Dutch, English and Latin languages.
- Pronunciation: easy. The only thing I find tricky is to say so many ch and sch combined with other constants. Try to say "Ist wahrscheinlich das Schloss nicht geschlossen?", then take a big pint of beer and scream "PROST!!!"
- Listening: much easier than English, French and Dutch.
- Grammar: easy. The word order is very similar to the Dutch one, with some minimal change, but it looks somewhat less strict to me. The three gender system is not really a problem. The case system looks like a piece of cake. The only thing that looks painful to me is the prepositional system (that is quite painful in most languages anyway). The verbal system looks very easy to me.

I still don't see the reason of the placement as level II languages from FSI - but is maybe the reason that I'm just getting a boost from other 6 languages I already know and the FSI chart is based on native English monolingual speakers?
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Re: Tristano's log 2017: Wanderland in the Netherlusts

Postby Ogrim » Fri Oct 13, 2017 9:17 am

Tristano wrote:I still don't see the reason of the placement as level II languages from FSI - but is maybe the reason that I'm just getting a boost from other 6 languages I already know and the FSI chart is based on native English monolingual speakers?


I think you are right. I imagine there are three features of German which made FSI classify it as a level II language seen from an English speaker's point of view: Three genders without any straightforward rule to define the gender of a noun, the nominal case system and the fact that German has subjunctive.
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Tristano
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Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 7:11 am
Location: The Netherlands
Languages: Native: Italian
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Studies: German
Can't wait to put his hands on: Scandinavian languages, Slavic languages, Turkish, Arabic and other stuff
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5141
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Re: Tristano's log 2017: Wanderland in the Netherlusts

Postby Tristano » Sun Oct 15, 2017 6:19 pm

Yes the three genders thing is an annoying one, but I guess it is something that is going to fix by itself by having plenty of exposure. For the "in three months" kind of people can be quite a toll I guess.

I killed the Pimsleur course in no time. The third level is almost all about business vocabulary and no any new structure at all. Boring. To add insult to the injury, such vocabulary overlaps heavily with Dutch and English so I can understand all the dialogues without previous exposure. Tomorrow I'm going to start Michel Thomas. My guess is that I will devour it as I did with the Pimsleur.
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