IronMike's 2023 log: Fewer means better, right? (EO & RUS)

Continue or start your personal language log here, including logs for challenge participants
User avatar
IronMike
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2554
Joined: Thu May 12, 2016 6:13 am
Location: Northern Virginia
Languages: Studying: Esperanto
Maintaining: nada
Tested:
BCS, 1+L/1+R (DLPT5, 2022)
Russian, 3/3 (DLPT5, 2022) 2+ (OPI, 2022)
German, 2L/1+R (DLPT5, 2021)
Italian, 1L/2R (DLPT IV, 2019)
Esperanto, C1 (KER skriba ekzameno, 2017)
Slovene, 2+L/3R (DLPT II in, yes, 1999)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5189
x 7264
Contact:

IronMike's 2023 log: Fewer means better, right? (EO & RUS)

Postby IronMike » Wed Jan 04, 2017 4:23 pm

Happy New Year!

I had a good 2016. Very busy with a move from Bishkek to Moscow. Lots of Russian practice, which I love. Tons of Esperanto, reading and listening at least. Almost attended a Zamenhof day, but then my cat decided to run-away. (He's back. We're happy.) Plenty of dabbling in other languages in 2016, to include Choctaw (Chahta), Mari, Lakota and Tok Pisin. What will 2017 hold in store for IronMike?

Well, I'm slowly getting over my reservations about meeting actual, real-life Esperanto-speakers. I'm not an introvert, far from it. I've got two major reservations about meeting Esperantists: a) my speaking ability in the language and b) the kookiness and peace-love-hippie-ness of (some?) Esperantists. I've long been "into" the language mostly for propaedeutic reasons: I truly think Esperanto is a great first foreign language for kids and adults alike. I'd like someday to teach the language and research its use in second language acquisition. But too often in FB groups and mailing lists the majority of Esperanto speakers come across as kooks, using the language to slam capitalism, America, the West, instead of sticking to the original aim of Zamenhof: human rights (I hardly ever hear Esperantists slamming ISIS and some governments in the world who treat women and homosexuals as second-class citizens as much as they love to slam America).

So, I may very possibly attend my first Esperanto gathering at the end of this month. Right now I'm going to bone up on my conversational Esperanto. The club apparently has a high level of Esperanto and krokodili is strongly forbidden! I'm also looking at a couple of Esperanto trips this year. I'd like to find one where my daughter and I can go and take classes during the kongresso. I've got my eyes on one in Edinburgh and one in France which would include KER tests at the end of the week.

I will continue my decades-long study of Russian. The classes at the embassy start up again at the end of this month and go through April. I will continue my daily 1-2 hours of Glossika spaced repetition. I love Glossika, it really works for me. I'll also continue to watch my favorite Russian television personality, Elena Letuchaya. She's beautiful, speaks clear and wonderful Russian, and she doesn't let those chefs get away with serving spoiled or expired food at their restaurants.

Once those classes end, I'll start reviving my BCS. We're taking a vacation to Montenegro in July so I want to get my language back up to snuff. It is my favorite Slavic language and I used to be a C1 in listening and strong B2 in reading and speaking. I'd like to find those brain cells again. I have HP#1 on the bookshelf (along with some Dan Brown and Ivo Andric) waiting for me, along with Serbian Glossika.

So that's my plan...as of now. Like the name of my log, so many languages...

Last year's log is here.
Last edited by IronMike on Sat Jan 07, 2023 10:48 pm, edited 22 times in total.
16 x
You're not a C1 (or B1 or whatever) if you haven't tested.
CEFR --> ILR/DLPT equivalencies
My swimming life.
My reading life.

User avatar
Radioclare
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2250
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 12:59 pm
Location: England
Languages: Speaks: English (N), Esperanto, German, Croatian
Learns: Russian
x 10433
Contact:

Re: So many languages, so little time. A(nother) language log (RU, EO, maybe some others)

Postby Radioclare » Thu Jan 05, 2017 9:35 pm

Sretna nova godina :)

I'm really looking forward to following the revival of your BCS.

Do you really manage to do 1 - 2 hours of Glossika? :shock: I guess that must be the secret to making noticeable progress through the sentences!

I understand your reservations about meeting Esperantists :lol: There are definitely some oddballs out there, and I think unfortunately those who participate most enthusiastically in online discussion groups etc are often the weirdest. I've long since unsubscribed from every Esperanto discussion list I've been a member of and don't follow the Esperanto group on Facebook because I find the constant petty arguments too depressing. But the people who talk the most and the loudest aren't necessarily representative of everyone and there are all sorts of people who have learned the language for all sorts of reasons. Once you've been to a few events I think you start to develop a sixth sense for the people you want to avoid (definitely anyone festooned in green!) and those who are more 'normal' (generally those who are accidentally missing the important lectures about the future of the Esperanto movement because they're too busy being in the pub) ;)

I will be interested to hear how you get on at the local club. In general I would hope people are moving away from the "ne krokodili" rule; at least at British events we would make a point of telling beginners to feel free to speak in English if they need to and repeating important information in English to make sure everyone has understood. But that's a positive move that has only started happening in the past 10 years, so possibly some other associations haven't quite got there yet. I had a friend who took his non-Esperanto speaking wife to an Esperanto event once; he told her that if anyone reprimanded her for speaking English she should say "Forfikiĝu strangulo!" I think that worked quite well :D

This would maybe clash with your trip to Montenegro but I would definitely recommend the Somera Esperanto-Studado as a good way to get a taste of an international Esperanto event, meet other newcomers and attend courses at different levels.
2 x

User avatar
IronMike
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2554
Joined: Thu May 12, 2016 6:13 am
Location: Northern Virginia
Languages: Studying: Esperanto
Maintaining: nada
Tested:
BCS, 1+L/1+R (DLPT5, 2022)
Russian, 3/3 (DLPT5, 2022) 2+ (OPI, 2022)
German, 2L/1+R (DLPT5, 2021)
Italian, 1L/2R (DLPT IV, 2019)
Esperanto, C1 (KER skriba ekzameno, 2017)
Slovene, 2+L/3R (DLPT II in, yes, 1999)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5189
x 7264
Contact:

Re: So many languages, so little time. A(nother) language log (RU, EO, maybe some others)

Postby IronMike » Fri Jan 06, 2017 1:00 pm

Radioclare wrote:Sretna nova godina :)

I'm really looking forward to following the revival of your BCS.

Do you really manage to do 1 - 2 hours of Glossika? :shock: I guess that must be the secret to making noticeable progress through the sentences!

I understand your reservations about meeting Esperantists :lol: There are definitely some oddballs out there, and I think unfortunately those who participate most enthusiastically in online discussion groups etc are often the weirdest. I've long since unsubscribed from every Esperanto discussion list I've been a member of and don't follow the Esperanto group on Facebook because I find the constant petty arguments too depressing. But the people who talk the most and the loudest aren't necessarily representative of everyone and there are all sorts of people who have learned the language for all sorts of reasons. Once you've been to a few events I think you start to develop a sixth sense for the people you want to avoid (definitely anyone festooned in green!) and those who are more 'normal' (generally those who are accidentally missing the important lectures about the future of the Esperanto movement because they're too busy being in the pub) ;)

I will be interested to hear how you get on at the local club. In general I would hope people are moving away from the "ne krokodili" rule; at least at British events we would make a point of telling beginners to feel free to speak in English if they need to and repeating important information in English to make sure everyone has understood. But that's a positive move that has only started happening in the past 10 years, so possibly some other associations haven't quite got there yet. I had a friend who took his non-Esperanto speaking wife to an Esperanto event once; he told her that if anyone reprimanded her for speaking English she should say "Forfikiĝu strangulo!" I think that worked quite well :D

This would maybe clash with your trip to Montenegro but I would definitely recommend the Somera Esperanto-Studado as a good way to get a taste of an international Esperanto event, meet other newcomers and attend courses at different levels.


Thanks for all Radioclare! Yep, I manage 1-2 hours a day of Glossika, which is easy when your voyage to and from work is about an hour each way! ;)

Any Esperanto event that includes a pub is of interest to me! There is an event that some Esperantists in the Czech Republic do called Biero. It's a Friday-evening through Sunday-morning event including a tour of a brewery. They had one (the 10th) in October, and now the 11th is in March. I'm hoping that's usual, because I think perhaps after a few IRL Esperanto-speaking opportunities, my language will be good enough by Oct 2017 for a weekend of beer and Eo!

I've looked at SES before for me and my daughter. It will indeed clash with our summer, but not with Montenegro. My other crazy hobby is open water swimming, and I'm on the docket to swim in NYC during that exact week. :D
0 x
You're not a C1 (or B1 or whatever) if you haven't tested.
CEFR --> ILR/DLPT equivalencies
My swimming life.
My reading life.

User avatar
Radioclare
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2250
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 12:59 pm
Location: England
Languages: Speaks: English (N), Esperanto, German, Croatian
Learns: Russian
x 10433
Contact:

Re: So many languages, so little time. A(nother) language log (RU, EO, maybe some others)

Postby Radioclare » Fri Jan 06, 2017 8:41 pm

IronMike wrote:Thanks for all Radioclare! Yep, I manage 1-2 hours a day of Glossika, which is easy when your voyage to and from work is about an hour each way! ;)


Impressive! My journey to work is also about an hour each way but I've never managed more than about 20 minutes of Glossika :lol: I tend to find listening to audio courses on the train sends me to sleep (although in fairness this observation is based on experience with Pimsleur) so when I was doing Serbian Glossika I only listened to it for the walking part of my commute. Maybe I should give it another go - I'm very tempted to get the Russian Glossika.

Any Esperanto event that includes a pub is of interest to me! There is an event that some Esperantists in the Czech Republic do called Biero. It's a Friday-evening through Sunday-morning event including a tour of a brewery. They had one (the 10th) in October, and now the 11th is in March. I'm hoping that's usual, because I think perhaps after a few IRL Esperanto-speaking opportunities, my language will be good enough by Oct 2017 for a weekend of beer and Eo!


Wow, that sounds like a cool idea for an event :) There are lots of nice pubs in Edinburgh and the British Conference normally involves a group pub excursion in the evenings. I normally find my Esperanto improves significantly after a couple of drinks :D
2 x

User avatar
IronMike
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2554
Joined: Thu May 12, 2016 6:13 am
Location: Northern Virginia
Languages: Studying: Esperanto
Maintaining: nada
Tested:
BCS, 1+L/1+R (DLPT5, 2022)
Russian, 3/3 (DLPT5, 2022) 2+ (OPI, 2022)
German, 2L/1+R (DLPT5, 2021)
Italian, 1L/2R (DLPT IV, 2019)
Esperanto, C1 (KER skriba ekzameno, 2017)
Slovene, 2+L/3R (DLPT II in, yes, 1999)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5189
x 7264
Contact:

Re: So many languages, so little time. A(nother) language log (RU, EO, maybe some others)

Postby IronMike » Sat Jan 07, 2017 9:01 am

Radioclare wrote:Wow, that sounds like a cool idea for an event :) There are lots of nice pubs in Edinburgh and the British Conference normally involves a group pub excursion in the evenings. I normally find my Esperanto improves significantly after a couple of drinks :D

Well, if the daughter and I manage to make it to Edinburgh, count me in! And my daughter will be almost 18 at that time, so perhaps she can partake if dad buys the pint for her? (Not sure what the law there says, but in some states in the U.S., a parent can buy the beer or wine and "serve" it to his/her kid.)
Last edited by IronMike on Tue Nov 14, 2017 4:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
1 x
You're not a C1 (or B1 or whatever) if you haven't tested.
CEFR --> ILR/DLPT equivalencies
My swimming life.
My reading life.

User avatar
IronMike
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2554
Joined: Thu May 12, 2016 6:13 am
Location: Northern Virginia
Languages: Studying: Esperanto
Maintaining: nada
Tested:
BCS, 1+L/1+R (DLPT5, 2022)
Russian, 3/3 (DLPT5, 2022) 2+ (OPI, 2022)
German, 2L/1+R (DLPT5, 2021)
Italian, 1L/2R (DLPT IV, 2019)
Esperanto, C1 (KER skriba ekzameno, 2017)
Slovene, 2+L/3R (DLPT II in, yes, 1999)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5189
x 7264
Contact:

Re: So many languages, so little time. A(nother) language log (RU, EO, maybe some others)

Postby IronMike » Sat Jan 07, 2017 9:03 am

Radioclare wrote:Wow, that sounds like a cool idea for an event :) There are lots of nice pubs in Edinburgh and the British Conference normally involves a group pub excursion in the evenings. I normally find my Esperanto improves significantly after a couple of drinks :D


And I guess I should have mentioned: If you guys there in Scotland arrange a BIER-o, I'd definitely participate! I think it would be neat to have a tour of a brewery in Esperanto. In fact, I just pulled out my illustrated dictionary to look up brewery terminology!
0 x
You're not a C1 (or B1 or whatever) if you haven't tested.
CEFR --> ILR/DLPT equivalencies
My swimming life.
My reading life.

User avatar
Radioclare
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2250
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 12:59 pm
Location: England
Languages: Speaks: English (N), Esperanto, German, Croatian
Learns: Russian
x 10433
Contact:

Re: So many languages, so little time. A(nother) language log (RU, EO, maybe some others)

Postby Radioclare » Sat Jan 07, 2017 10:22 pm

IronMike wrote:Well, if the daughter and I manage to make it to Edinburgh, count me in! And my daughter will be almost 18 at that time, so perhaps she can partake if dad buys the pint for her? (Not sure what the law there says, but in some states in the U.S., a parent can buy the beer or wine and "serve" it to his/her kid.


I think in the UK if you're 16-18 you can legally drink alcohol in a pub if you're having a meal, but not without. In reality it ought to be fine for you to buy her a drink though; if she was in a group of older people then I don't think anyone would question it.

I've never had a tour of a brewery in Esperanto but we did do a tour of a whisky distillery in Scotland once as part of a postkongreso, and I did Esperanto wine-tasting at vineyard in Hungary many years ago, which was also fun so who knows, maybe one day we will have a brewery tour :)
1 x

User avatar
IronMike
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2554
Joined: Thu May 12, 2016 6:13 am
Location: Northern Virginia
Languages: Studying: Esperanto
Maintaining: nada
Tested:
BCS, 1+L/1+R (DLPT5, 2022)
Russian, 3/3 (DLPT5, 2022) 2+ (OPI, 2022)
German, 2L/1+R (DLPT5, 2021)
Italian, 1L/2R (DLPT IV, 2019)
Esperanto, C1 (KER skriba ekzameno, 2017)
Slovene, 2+L/3R (DLPT II in, yes, 1999)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5189
x 7264
Contact:

Re: So many languages, so little time. A(nother) language log (RU, EO, maybe some others)

Postby IronMike » Sat Jan 14, 2017 6:15 pm

Well, just got home from my first-ever Esperanto get-together. It. Was. Great!

I was nervous as crap. I got to the place early and it was so damn crowded. Three stories of homoamaso...no, homoamasego! I couldn't find any tables with a little Esperanto flag, or recognize any of the Esperanto-speakers that I've seen online. So I went back outside and waited. At the same time my phone was dying and I'm single-parenting it this weekend, so I gotta keep an eye on the 13-year old.

Then I saw a kid who I recognized from the Moscow Esperanto Club pictures. Sure enough, after I followed him in, I met two other beginners, Alisa and Aleksandr. Alisa teaches Hebrew and Aleksandr (1) teaches English. The kid, Piotr or Petchyo, speaks fluently. It's incredible. He spoke with us for 5 minutes, then we went and got a table. The main organizer, E-o teacher Mirinda, showed up and we got to speaking. There were 8 of us: Mirinda, Petchyo, Alisa, Tanya, Aleksandr (1), Aleksandr (2), Aleksandr (3) and me.

It was a great two hours. Mirinda had us go through a Hilda Dresen poem. Some of the words were unknown to many of us like ganto, pinglo, kolumno, prunjo, boli. Mirinda wouldn't allow any of us to describe the word with our hands or use Russian. We did a bunch of other stuff, but the most important part of the entire evening was that we simply talked! Two hours of speaking practice. It was great!

I was happy that I was able to follow just about everything. I wasn't sure before showing up, but all the reading I've done apparently helps out with your speaking and listening. It was so much fun. I'll definitely go again!
5 x
You're not a C1 (or B1 or whatever) if you haven't tested.
CEFR --> ILR/DLPT equivalencies
My swimming life.
My reading life.

User avatar
IronMike
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2554
Joined: Thu May 12, 2016 6:13 am
Location: Northern Virginia
Languages: Studying: Esperanto
Maintaining: nada
Tested:
BCS, 1+L/1+R (DLPT5, 2022)
Russian, 3/3 (DLPT5, 2022) 2+ (OPI, 2022)
German, 2L/1+R (DLPT5, 2021)
Italian, 1L/2R (DLPT IV, 2019)
Esperanto, C1 (KER skriba ekzameno, 2017)
Slovene, 2+L/3R (DLPT II in, yes, 1999)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5189
x 7264
Contact:

Re: So many languages, so little time. A(nother) language log (RU, EO, maybe some others)

Postby IronMike » Mon Jan 16, 2017 1:54 pm

So the awesomeness continues. Mirinda wrote me about her next iteration of her beginner course, and as it turns out, she can't give the course unless she has enough students, and my 17-year old would give her the proper number. So to make sure, I asked the darling daughter if she wanted to take it and sure enough, she's psyched.

It's quite a metro ride from the house (one station change, not counting the marshrutka ride to/from the first metro station), and it is 3 hours per night, two nights per week, but I think it'll be worth it. That should be a good introduction for her and make her feel a bit more confident about Georgia at the end of March.

I've asked Mirinda if I could sit it to watch how she teaches. I do have this fantasy about teaching (something...Esperanto?) when I'm finally retired. I've done a bit of teaching in the service and loved it. It would be great if I could teach a language.

So, first class this Thursday. I'm sure my daughter will be nervous, but she's a fighter. I'm looking forward to experiencing her learning!
4 x
You're not a C1 (or B1 or whatever) if you haven't tested.
CEFR --> ILR/DLPT equivalencies
My swimming life.
My reading life.

User avatar
IronMike
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2554
Joined: Thu May 12, 2016 6:13 am
Location: Northern Virginia
Languages: Studying: Esperanto
Maintaining: nada
Tested:
BCS, 1+L/1+R (DLPT5, 2022)
Russian, 3/3 (DLPT5, 2022) 2+ (OPI, 2022)
German, 2L/1+R (DLPT5, 2021)
Italian, 1L/2R (DLPT IV, 2019)
Esperanto, C1 (KER skriba ekzameno, 2017)
Slovene, 2+L/3R (DLPT II in, yes, 1999)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5189
x 7264
Contact:

Re: So many languages, so little time. A(nother) language log (RU, EO, maybe some others)

Postby IronMike » Fri Jan 20, 2017 5:01 pm

Took the daughter to the Esperanto beginner class last night. IT was excellent. The instructors method is: the minute you walk in her room, no language allowed but Esperanto. Very immersive. Lots of pointing. Lots of "Kio estas tio?" (What is this?) It was two hours of excellence. My daughter's pronunciation needs work, and the poor thing can't twirl an R to save her life. But she got a lot out of it. And at the end of the two hours, the instructor had us all sit and she asked everyone in Russian what they thought of the class and would they want to continue. 5 of the 6 of us said yes. I didn't catch the reason #6 didn't want to continue as his Russian was blisteringly fast.

Taking the train back home after, my daughter said she loved it and thought the immersive method would work for her. I agree. I think she's learned more in that 2-3 hours lesson than she has in the months of looking through textbooks and doing Duolingo.

I'll report back after class #2.

N.B., I wanted to just sit and observe the instructor's method, as I want to someday teach the language, but she said, No, there will be no non-participants in my class. So I'm taking the class too. Which'll be nice as I think it'll fill in some gaps in my knowledge. ;)
6 x
You're not a C1 (or B1 or whatever) if you haven't tested.
CEFR --> ILR/DLPT equivalencies
My swimming life.
My reading life.


Return to “Language logs”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests