Balancing Act (German, French, Italian)

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BalancingAct
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Re: Balancing Act (German, French, Italian)

Postby BalancingAct » Sun Jan 29, 2017 5:25 am

Consumed a lot of media in the last ten days. First a lot of German, then a lot of French.

Italian has been relegated to third place after Jan. 20th. After finding out how it works (where it is different from French), I can now take it easy.

This week is almost entirely devoted to French. I found a lot of great TV programs that I was previously unaware of, simply because I was too focused on German in the last two years. It seems that French channels have made more of their programs available to audience overseas, either on their sites or on Youtube.

A few years ago, I had the dream of one day being able to watch and understand ARTE programs in both French and German. Now my dream has come true. This week I raced against time to watch the six episodes of the documentary series Le monde selon Luther / Der Luther Code before they got removed from the official site. In the middle of it, I had the good sense of checking Youtube and found the German version there. I decided to watch the French version first and manged to finish it in time. I could have started this series earlier, but I had judged the title on surface and thought it were about religion. Luckily I clicked open the first episode. And what a gem! Great work made in Germany! Constant clever juxtaposing past and present and lots of useful intellectual reflections on chosen themes.

These past two days I also watched a lot of past episodes of French Top Chef and Objective Top Chef on Youtube. I do not know why I did not think of checking Youtube for this before. There I also found Top Chef Italia with subtitle. Great stuff. Made me dash to supermarket, too.
Last edited by BalancingAct on Sun Dec 31, 2017 1:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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BalancingAct
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Re: Balancing Act (German, French, Italian)

Postby BalancingAct » Wed May 10, 2017 12:52 am

It is tough to read stuff of people who continuously mix up efficiency and effectiveness, although I know in some languages they use the same word for the two concepts.
Last edited by BalancingAct on Wed Aug 02, 2017 11:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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BalancingAct
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Re: Balancing Act (German, French, Italian)

Postby BalancingAct » Fri Jun 23, 2017 2:48 am

I don't have time to do all the things I want to do, even just within the language-learning domain.

Everything I do has an opportunity cost. This seems particularly pertinent this year, or this time of the year, since spring. Spring is the season when I can usually get restless. Language-learning can definitely be an escape, especially if it is an activity you enjoy and are good at.

Within language-learning, I find it difficult to take care of more than two languages at a time. Two is top, due to my mostly immersion approach - I create my immersion environment.

The last while (months) I ignored German quite a bit. The French elections revived intense interest in French media and I have been spending most of my time with French, picking up a bunch of useful expressions. Often, no sooner had I met them in written media than I encountered them again in broadcast media, since the major media outlets all talk about the same things for a while (both within a language and across languages, with slightly or very different angles and opinions). If I have conversations lined up and the relevant topics come up, I get to employ the new vocabulary in my output as I have good memory. I don't force topics and deliberately remain flexible. I know who is good to talk politics with and who is not. Sometimes the ideal person may not be available in a certain time frame. So be it. I intentionally build up a large vocabulary and have a wide interest; I am up for free running conversations.

Originally this post is to talk about something else, a trove I find. But now I am out of steam. Something is looming, something I have to do physically. In fact, writing here is an escape.
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BalancingAct
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Re: Balancing Act (German, French, Italian)

Postby BalancingAct » Sat Jul 15, 2017 2:03 am

Am binge-watching the French TV series Falco, trying to finish it before it gets removed from the website. Glad I watched Le Bureau des Légendes, Un Village Français, and a bunch of episodes of Plus Belle La Vie a while back in spring; they are now all gone.

Falco is a much more dynamic French remake of the German series Der Letzte Bulle. I didn't expect Falco to be so watchable. Glad I did check it out. I am now on the second season.

After this weekend, I'll have to concentrate on Italian for six week till the end of August. German continues to be on the sideline.
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BalancingAct
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Re: Balancing Act (German, French, Italian)

Postby BalancingAct » Thu Aug 03, 2017 12:39 am

Adjust some ways of doing things, based on past experience and recent reflection.

Valuable lessons learned through bitter experiences.

Took me a few seasons to figure things out and gain insight.

To completely block out French chauvinism and continuously gain decent / excellent conversational help.

No wonder some people don't state their true mother tongue(s).
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BalancingAct
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Re: Balancing Act (German, French, Italian)

Postby BalancingAct » Fri Aug 04, 2017 10:54 pm

I did not focus on Italian the last three weeks as planned, although I had all sorts of audio-visual material ready to be used.

It is really hard to pull myself away from French, because the momentum is still going strong after the French elections, due to finding excellent conversation help that really motivates me. Also, some books that I ordered a while back have finally arrived and I can see they are really worthwhile.

I now have a bunch of scheduled Italian conversations waiting for me. They can't be postponed any more. Still, I find it hard to stop everything to listen to Italian because it demands full concentration.
Last edited by BalancingAct on Sat Aug 05, 2017 1:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Pippa Butterfly
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Re: Balancing Act (German, French, Italian)

Postby Pippa Butterfly » Sat Aug 05, 2017 12:10 am

You are doing a magnificent job . I can not resist asking you about your journey with French. I just started to refresh my french. I really long to that moment where I can watch and understand native material. Will appreciated if you can tell me about your story. Thanks in advanced.
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BalancingAct
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Re: Balancing Act (German, French, Italian)

Postby BalancingAct » Sun Sep 03, 2017 2:00 am

First, say sorry to Pippa Butterfly - I am really not in the mood to write the sort of post that she desires to read. That would take much recollection, reflection, and thought organization. My mind is just not there.

So I finally got into the groove of learning Italian in the last ten days of August, when I was under immense pressure to produce. I finally finished a package of one-hour conversational classes that was to expire in late August. I am now deeply into this language again. A case of "l'appétit vient en mangeant"!

Of course this is partly due to the fact that the most captivating French series accessible to me have been finished and new episodes are not yet available. I have finished the third season of Le bureau des légendes and the seventh season of Un village français won't start until late October.

I do have at my disposal some action-thriller type American series dubbed in French. While lacking in flavour, they can still be of great help, given the substantial amount of quick dialogues. But I try to pace myself a little and not to let them engulf my Italian study.

I have met great Italian tutors. The first time I tried. I should cherish my luck and ride on the momentum.
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BalancingAct
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Re: Balancing Act (German, French, Italian)

Postby BalancingAct » Mon Sep 04, 2017 6:56 am

My German exchange partner has returned from vacation. But I am not ready to resume exchange. I have largely put German aside this summer, which is a shame since I love this language and the benefits it brings.

Have read in Italian tons of newspaper and magazine articles, segments of books, and Amazon book reviews in the past three weeks, yielding substantial increase of vocabulary as well as familiarity with various conjugations, which in turn enables quick grasp of videos subtitles. I will continue the same process to broaden my vocabulary in September. The only thing different going forward is spending more time on listening comprehension; which means cutting down French shows viewing time, something a bit hard to do.
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