Expug's 2017 Log - It's now and forever

[Expugnator]

On today's podcast episode, the author was being interviewed by a Chilean woman. Apparently standard media language from Chile is easy to understand.

I'm watching the 2nd subs-deprived Estonian episode in a row, and I notice I understand more than just a couple of words here and there. Since I'm also reading later each day, I expect my comprehension to improve soon. Estonian is a language where it's easy to associate letter and sound, like Italian, and I'm incorporating many colloquialisms in my repertoire thaks to the soap opera.

So the -ах is the adjectival ending for the prepositional plural, and -их for the genitive plural? I really hope I've cleared this mess in my head.

The new phone is ready to work. I could set it during the day, I could open its files at the computer - this is new too, just as with most videos, it used to be restricted.

Once again I got busy with other tasks, and yet managed to finish all the tasks, though nothing else. At least I can feel that in normal days chances are higher that I'll be able to do other things.

[vonPeterhof]

So the -ах is the adjectival ending for the prepositional plural, and -их for the genitive plural?

Could you give an example of -ах being used as an adjectival ending for the prepositional plural? I can't think of any. In my mind these two cases should have identical endings at all times, but there might be some exceptions I could be forgetting.

[Expugnator]

So the -ах is the adjectival ending for the prepositional plural, and -их for the genitive plural?

Could you give an example of -ах being used as an adjectival ending for the prepositional plural? I can't think of any. In my mind these two cases should have identical endings at all times, but there might be some exceptions I could be forgetting.

My bad, I had the ending for the nouns in mind. This can really be confusing, though not less now. Thanks.


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The weekend went on as usual. Some advancing on the non-fiction reading, which saved me important minutes today. The podcast I Provinziali has become a new favorite and I can say I have a weekend-podcast slot.

On the Clozemaster front, some important news: first, on my side. My new phone makes it much easier to type and swype; the app runs smoothlier. Moreover, as I (re)installed Clozemaster it was considerably updated: now the languages are grouped, not showing all levels for all levels at once. Languages that had already had their streaks met are checked. The very important feature that shows you are 1 or 2 letters from the right answer is now available on the app as well: this not only helps with the issue of divergent gender on the IT/ES/FR X Portuguese decks or the English you that accounts for several verbal forms in virtually any other language, but more critically in Greek and Russian; it also allows me to consistently and comfortably both swype and predict Russian, Greek and Mandarin. For those languages so far I couldn't use the predictability/almost correct feat ofthe desktop because I only used them on the app. Anyway, improvements for the better.

The day went pretty much well. For some languages such as Georgian and German, there is really a flow happening, and I barely notice I'm studying.

[Expugnator]

FInished the fist episode of the Estonian soap opera which I had to stream. All went well. It loads properly. I just have to give it a headstart of a few seconds and it won't trip up again.

In spite of the apparent confusion, my Russian is going somewhere. I'm getting used to the genitive. It's used very often, so my background helps with the feeling for what sounds right.

I like the concept of technocraft introduced in Vindeltorn:

«Teknomagien er brutal. Den røsker og river og etterlater seg løse tråder og stygge hull. For de med magisk otopati kan den være farlig.»
-----------/---------
“Technocraft is crude. It rips and shreds, leaving loose ends and ugly holes.
For those with magical otopathy, the strain of it can be dangerous.”

Speaking of Norwegian, it's the language that has progressing particularly well with Clozemaster. I'm almost done with viewing all sentences and i'm slowly mastering the lower levels. All text-input mode. The ongoing abstract nouns are finally starting to sink in.

[Expugnator]

Today I had an extra commuting time, thanks to taking the wrong bus (technically not a wrong one, but it takes a turn into downtown and so takes 3x as much time as usual). I used this time for reading Fremdsprachenlernen mit System extensively and I'm happy with the result, leaving very minor gaps in comprehension. It wasn't a critical subject for me (vocabulary acquisition and a particular passage where nothing new was being discussed), but overall I'm happy about the progress made in my German reading.

Russian is getting better. I understood most from today's Anzhelika's episode.

Accomplished Language Textbook: Teach Yourself Greek (1962)



It was a wise decision to go for an old TY Modern Greek edition, despite the orthography. Now I think I can tackle other resources in the old orthography, yet I don't think I have to go through all the ones available - I can keep FSI and DLI out of my usual list.

This old TY Greek was quite useful, but it was not so much consistent at the grammar-translation method, at least not as much as the other old TYs I've been through. There are some gaps in the explanation of grammar, leaving you a bit lost. There are not enough translation exercises, the ones based on short sentences. yet it's a good book.

Now the challenge of figuring out what comes next. I'll stick to the old Assimil edition. I am treating it more like a reader, even though I'm still planning on doing the version exercises. I'm sure a good deal of lessons overlap with the newer edition, and yet I think even at 80% of overlapping it will still be a great resource for reviewing. Besides, I want to keep the short-lesson model because I'm combining it with an audiocourse slot (currently the Kypros one, but next there might be Language Transfer; I also have Greekpod101 paused before the Intermediate level, as it became too demanding on vocabulary and I better consolidate A2 vocabulary so I can benefit more from it). I won't rule out going through several Assimil lessons on a day, the way I do with transparent languages, at least in the beginning; after all, I've already been through the newer Assimil edition.

Today I took the first lesson of the "advanced" level of the Kypros course. Unlike the Greekpod101 lessons, here the transition is smooth, with no great bump at all; the decision to call lesson #76 the advanced level being just numerical. The actual content is intermediate in terms of grammar, while the vocabulary is solidly intermediate, but it is presented with so much repetition that you don't notice the learning curve. It's quite an efficient level, though I recommend some warm up from basic textbooks (the same recommendation I make for Assimil.

After the initial shock, I'm starting to learn a couple of words from the Indonesian Clozemaster. Same as Turkish, no real grammatical progress. As for Catalan, the lack of graded levels makes things harder.

[Expugnator]

I decided I'm going to open more videos each day from TeleCuraçao. I have the goal of 3 watching 3 short news videos a day, but there's always one of them that is silent or just environmental noise or just Dutch, So it's better to aim for 3 while playing 5 of them.

I'm going to replace one of my commutes on feet by car. It's the one where I listen to the Argentinian podcast, the first one. I'll be taking the girls to school, then head for my class at another neighborhood then come back here (it's this one that is 20 min walk). I'll have to find a compromise, probably playing the podcast on my phone while driving from the girl's school to my class and then keep it playing while I walk from the parking lot to the company and then also the way back. Then when coming up here I am going to park even further away from the building so that adds up extra 10 minutes. All in all, I can reach almost 20 minutes just from walking from the parking lots to the buildings, and I might let go of listening while driving. It's a bit annoying to pause and resume audio all the time, but at least now I no longer have to rely on the bluetooth speakers. I really don't want to let go of the Argentinian podcast because it's so much fun.

Finished my first audiobook in Georgian, one by Paulo Coelho. It helped take my Georgian to a higher level, although it being abridged was a bit frustrating. Read Georgian is astonishlingly fast, faster than speech, but it was a great exercise. Now I've started a new one, but probably after that one I'll be back into just reading because I have cool young adult fiction lined up. It's Gabriel García Márquez' Crónica de una Muerte Anunciada. I'm following the Brazilian translation even though I could be reading the original, because of the speed of the audiobook reading and the overall difficulty of Georgian. I struggle to catch up, and reading in native language in parallel makes things just a bit easier. Yet I think my reading skills for Georgian are better than ever.

Thanks to my girls' school's library I got to know a cool Italian author of fiction for youngsters, but I forgot to take a picture or write it down. Better luck tomorrow.

[Expugnator]

Today was a busy Friday, but I finally solved pending issues. While waiting, I officially started Hebrew, through the book Hébreu - 40 Leçons, from langue pour tous. Unfortunately, I lack the audio. The feeling of starting a language from scratch is great, even if I've had two months of Hebrew lessons in the past. I have to relearn the written alphabet and learn the cursive, and this book is well-suited for that with its short lessons dealing with the letters by three.

While running errands I also managed to read my 10-page daily quota of Fremdsprachenlernen mit System, consolidating my ability of reading fluently in German, at least in a known subject.

Finally finished Le Mystère de La Chambre Jaune. A fine film, just not my cup of tea. Now I'm going to watch Eyjafjallajokull , starring Valérie Bonneton, from Fais pas ci, fais pas ça (which I'll be glad to resume once my current list of films is over).

The Italian author I got to know yesterday is Alberto Melis, and the series is Criptoanimali.

In spite of all the errands, I finished all my tasks.

[Expugnator]

The weekend was productive. I am having fun with Clozemaster, especially with Norwegian, which I do only as text input. Decks around 7000 sentences have the advantage that you get just the amount of practice you need for each level. With larger decks I'm stuck on the same subset of words for several weeks. With Norwegian, I'm noticing a considerable improvement on my active skills and on my ability to recall even words that are no English or German or Latin cognates.

I Provinciali is my dishes-sandwich making-podcast. I'm listening to 2-3 episodes during the weekend, that's not bad considering that it is a time I wouldn't be doing anything language-wise.

The weekend also brought me a headstart on non-fiction reading and some material gathering. Iron Fist has only 13 episodes, so despite having it fully in Georgian I might watch it in German instead. I'm watching a native German series now, You Are Wanted, but it's short and I don't have anything in mind. Der Tatortreiniger sounds good but I'd like something more dynamic, as I'm already watching comedies in Norwegian and German. Besides, watching dubbed series in German would help me reduce my to-watch backlog while allowing for an attempt to remove the subtitles for those dubbed series.

I also found time for reading the logs I haven't read for a long time. Still three pages left.

I shouldn't worry that much about not having time for my first commute podcast, the Argentinian one. Either if I drive or walk to here, I still spend 10 minutes preparing the desktop for working, my study material and other small tasks, all the while I keep listening to the podcast.

I was preparing to write that the García Márquez audiobook read in lightning speed in Georgian was over my head, but today it seems the language has "slowed down" again (meaning: I can understand it faster) and I could keep pace with it audio, text and Portuguese translation despite the speed. This exercise is showing to be quite productive. Besides, I like the style of the book! Looking forward to finally reading more from GGM, especially the omnipresent Cien años de soledad.

So, Hebrew it is. I'm almost officially studying it. Second lesson. The book is very keen on teaching the cursives, but only that. The words are presented only in the cursive form. This will force me to learn to write, which I'm already doing. There will be enough time to recall the letters I already know and fill in the missing gaps in the written script. i'm doing even less for Hebrew than I did for Estonian most of my time: less than 15 minutes, really short lessons, but interesting stuff and full motivation. It paid off for Estonian and I hope it will for Hebrew, too. i'm used to the idea that long study sessions in the A1-A2 levels, especially for opaque languages, do more harm than good. It's better to increase your load at the B1+-B2 ranges when you learn many new words in context, and then reduce again in the C range when you have fewer words per page/audio length.

[Josquin]

Wow, you're also starting Hebrew. Good luck with that!

I also started learning it recently, although I'm beginning with Biblical Hebrew before moving on to the modern variety. Should hopefully be no big problem though.

I'll be interested in how you're getting on. So far, I like Hebrew very much, but it isn't easy.

[jeff_lindqvist]

Iron Fist has only 13 episodes, so despite having it fully in Georgian I might watch it in German instead.

I'll like any post even remotely related to kungfu (no matter how fictitious the character or how mythological Kun Lun is).