Stirring up 2017 with Spoon [ Español | Italiano | Esperanto | Deutsch? ]

[Spoonary]

Ok, so there have not been any monumental changes thus far on the language front, but I have started doing a quick, 20 minute long beginners' exercise routine every couple of days, so I guess that's a step (and a lunge, and an attempt at a push-up) in the right direction.

I have made some more baby steps in the directions of German and Modern Greek as well, so let me tell you about those:

German - I have discovered another of the many brilliant Youtube channels aimed at German learners, Don't Trust The Rabbit. They make lots of videos about false friends between German and English, and about German vocabulary in general.

Greek - For a bit of fun, I downloaded the Write it! Greek app on my phone and have been playing around with it every now and again in an extremely casual attempt to ingrain the Greek alphabet into my mind.

In Spanish news, I am still* reading Crónica de una muerte anunciada by Gabriel García Márquez, which was one of the many books I was supposed to read while I was studying Spanish at university. I'm enjoying the fact that I can now almost fully understand what I am reading, as when I started it at uni I really had no idea... I think the book itself is great as well and I have never read anything like it. I am getting a bit confused by all the character names and overlapping time lines but I like the way each 'chapter' adds another layer to the events of the day(s) leading up to the death of Santiago Nasar (no spoilers because the death was, as the title says, foretold from the very beginning). I also appreciate the sense of humour that flows through García Márquez's narrative and I'm looking forward to reading more by this iconic author when I finish this, my first venture into his writing. I also have a student's guide to the reading of this book, which I plan to read shortly after I finish it.

Nothing new on the Italian or Esperanto fronts...

*I realise I have not mentioned it on my log yet, but I started reading this on the 12th May AND I picked it because it's so short!

[Spoonary]

My abandoned log is looking sadder with every month that passes between one post and the next

Just as I was starting to sort my life out, big changes at work threw a mahoosive spanner in the works and messed everything up again for me (nothing new there then ), sending me back to square one pretty much. Now I'm working late Monday - Friday each week, which you would think would be better than it was before, given that I now know which days I'll have off each week, and it is. However, the particular job I'm doing now (cold-calling essentially) is so mentally exhausting that I have almost 0 energy when I get home during the week, and thus cannot bring myself to do anything more than watch youtube videos in the evenings.

As you can imagine, this means I have seen almost no language improvement over the past few months. Indeed, I feel that my languages are atrophying and/or getting worse, which I find quite frustrating.

In a half-baked attempt to have at least some active contact with my target languages during the week, I joined an interesting Telegram group called ¿Qué idioma toca hoy? in which the lingua franca changes each day and cycles through English, French, Italian and Spanish. Everyone in the group is very friendly and I'm having fun chatting with them most days (I sit out on the French days), but I know that this sort of activity is only of limited worth in the long run.

I am also still reading in Spanish, more or less. I finished Crónica de una muerte anunciada a while ago and I recently started El fin de los sueños, a funky, sort of dystopian novel I bought in Spain in 2013/14. I have only read a couple of chapters up to now but so far so good! I am going to have to get a shift on with this book though, because I'm due to start reading 'Io non ho paura' with Stelle in July.

[Stelle]

I'm starting Io non ho paura NOW!

Let me know what you think of El fin de Los sueños. It has its flaws (as do most books), but I really enjoyed it.

[Spoonary]

I'm starting Io non ho paura NOW!

Let me know what you think of El fin de Los sueños. It has its flaws (as do most books), but I really enjoyed it.

Well I was going to play some Crash Bandicoot this evening, but knowing that you have already started reading has made me want to start too.

My plan will be to read extensively but to also look up essential vocab as I go. I'm going to try writing a vocab list, and if I find it distracting I'll stop and just go back to extensive reading.

I'm enjoying El fin de los sueños so far, but I know what you mean. Some of the writing is just lovely, while the world building seems a bit clunky in parts, I dunno...

I'm picking up Io non ho paura now!

[Spoonary]

While I have decided to copy Stelle's idea and write about my first day(s) reading Io non ho paura, I'm not going to calculate my reading comprehension or reading speed as that would take too much effort.

Between last night and tonight, I have read 13ish pages of the book/up until the bottom of page 18, and I have written down 47 words/phrases in my vocab book, with their English translations. I translated these words while reading, using the wordreference app on my tablet and its handy voice recognition feature which meant that I could simply say a word in order to search for it, thus saving me the hassle of typing each one in. Also, I don't know the science behind it, but I'm sure actually pronouncing these words as I search for their meanings will help my retention of them in some way.

The writing itself is great, full of fun similes and slang, and the narrative following this group of young friends as they go on 'adventures' and have fun as kids once did is wonderful. From what I have read in the blurb etc. I'm sure this relative innocence won't last, so I'm interested to see how the story unfolds.

In terms of difficulty, this is an extremely readable book at my current level of Italian. Not all of the vocab I wrote down was completely unknown and the majority of it I could have just worked out using context (which I tried to do first, before translating the words, of course), but I really want to crack down on my knowledge of Italian now, to make sure that I am actively engaging with the language and therefore improving constantly.

The print in my copy is also quite large so I'm sure its 230 pages will fly by (although I can't read more than a few pages of anything without falling asleep just recently).

I will try to come back and share more of my thoughts tomorrow.

[Stelle]

The writing itself is great, full of fun similes and slang, and the narrative following this group of young friends as they go on 'adventures' and have fun as kids once did is wonderful. From what I have read in the blurb etc. I'm sure this relative innocence won't last, so I'm interested to see how the story unfolds.)

Agreed! I'm on page 20, and it's a very fun read so far. I have a lot of empathy for poor Barbara. Girl needs some friends who appreciate her.

[Spoonary]

Io non ho paura - Day 3
11 pages and another 47 entries in my vocab book later (there were a lot of words relating to construction etc ) and I have reached page 30. So (and I'm talking to you here, Stelle!) stop reading here if you want to avoid spoilers up to that point.

Agreed! I'm on page 20, and it's a very fun read so far. I have a lot of empathy for poor Barbara. Girl needs some friends who appreciate her.

Yeah, I agree about Barbara. What happened next made my stomach churn and realise how much of a little rat il Teschio is.

I was pleased to find out that the narrator is an older version of Michele, looking back at (and questioning the actions of) his younger self. Great stuff!

[sgiandubh]

Sadly my copy of this book was apparently sent from Mars, becuase it has not yet arriived.
So I am sad and envious... However will i be able to catch up?

Hoping without reason that it will be sitting on the step when i get home

[Spoonary]

Sadly my copy of this book was apparently sent from Mars, becuase it has not yet arriived.
So I am sad and envious... However will i be able to catch up?

Hey Eva, thanks for popping by! Aww no, I hope your book gets to you soon. Don't worry though, I'm sure you'll be able to catch up. As I say, the font is quite large and the book is really readable so you shouldn't have any problems. Besides, I probably won't read any more tonight as I'm going out after work so I'm probably going to fall behind Stelle, meaning you won't be the only one trying to catch up

[Spoonary]

Another Io non ho paura reading update
I have just reached page 48 and finished the first chapter of this brilliant book. I don't really know what to say without writing about what happens and spoiling the book for anyone who still wants to read it. Let's just say that the mystery that was introduced in the last ~15 pages is very intriguing. I also love how dreams and past/future events are interspersed in the narrative, keeping it fresh while also effortlessly developing the small pool of characters.

The relationship between Michele and his sister clearly represents that childhood innocence I mentioned before, while the other events reflect the sinister undercurrent, just waiting to come to the fore. I'm loving it!

Edit: I almost forgot, I noted 37 new bits of vocab this time. I can't believe how many words languages are made up of, sometimes!