Suzie learns languages...every now and then

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DaveAgain
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Re: Suzie learns languages...every now and then

Postby DaveAgain » Tue Apr 11, 2023 5:18 pm

Suzie wrote:- "l'île au trésor" (R.L. Stevenson). My bathtub book for extensive leasure reading. About twenty years ago, I was told by a middle-aged man "Did you read "treasure island" as a child? Oh, of course you didn't, as a girl!". This has bugged me and my feminist heart ever since (because indeed I have never read it). So I am closing that knowledge gap once and for all.
Radio France have a radio adaptation of this.

I've had Alexandra Lapierre's Fanny Stevenson novel/biog on my reading list for ages!
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Re: Suzie learns languages...every now and then

Postby Suzie » Wed Apr 12, 2023 3:12 pm

Thank you, DaveAgain!

Honestly, your book sounds like a more interesting read than L'île au trésor. I consider swapping. There are only so many books that can be read in one's lifetime, so I might opt for the biography of an interesting woman instead of a children's novel.
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Re: Suzie learns languages...every now and then

Postby Le Baron » Wed Apr 12, 2023 9:57 pm

I've never actually met an English native who has read Ulysses. I'm sure some have and I just move in less-cultured circles, but it's hardly a yardstick for measuring English competence! It's funny you mention it really because it's now the third time in, say, 20 years that someone has mentioned it in the sense of being a test of 'proper' competence. Or that they felt it was a meaningful test.

As Iversen says it was also an exercise in vanguard literary style, which anyone can be forgiven for not being able to engage with (or care about). Not that I have anything against Joyce, but people who cite books like that in a superior way are certainly tiresome.
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Re: Suzie learns languages...every now and then

Postby Suzie » Thu Apr 13, 2023 5:28 pm

Thank you, Le Baron! I conclude from your and Iversen's remarks that giving away my unread "Ulysses" was indeed no loss. After some internet search for more information on James Joyce' works I feel there is no need to add any of his books to my bucket list (which is long enough anyway).
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Re: Suzie learns languages...every now and then

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Thu Apr 13, 2023 5:40 pm

The last chapter of Ulysses has merit, but as a whole the novel is a noble failure.
D. H. Lawrence claimed that Joyce was "too arty by half." (Reported by Frederic Prokosch in, I think, Voices: A Memoir)
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Re: Suzie learns languages...every now and then

Postby Picaboo » Thu Apr 13, 2023 5:53 pm

Suzie wrote:Thank you, Le Baron! I conclude from your and Iversen's remarks that giving away my unread "Ulysses" was indeed no loss. After some internet search for more information on James Joyce' works I feel there is no need to add any of his books to my bucket list (which is long enough anyway).


Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man is my favorite book. I've read Ulysses and it is more interesting from a technical/artistry standpoint than meaningful to me. Reading it as a language yardstick seems dubious at best.

Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man would certainly allow you to appreciate the beauty of English if you're level is above most natives and you enjoy such literary novels in your native language.
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Re: Suzie learns languages...every now and then

Postby Suzie » Fri Apr 14, 2023 4:09 am

Thank you both for your comments!
Picaboo, I will look at that one when I come across it. Thank you for the suggestion!

Both the Millenium series and the history book are easily accessible language-wise and well-written. I have already replaced the children's book with the novel from David Lagerkrantz as my go-to book for leasure reading. And I could finally read a few pages outside, enjoying the sun - the first time this year!
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Re: Suzie learns languages...every now and then [Fr]

Postby Suzie » Sun Apr 30, 2023 8:48 am

I have just completed the film part of the Super Challenge!

The last ten "films" mostly comprised several "Stargate SG-1" episodes, a French movie about the lockdown in 2020 ("8 rue de l'humanité"), a mini-series about the Notre Dame fire, the first episodes of "Disentchantment" (aborted, not my cup of tea), the first chapters of the "Harry Potter V" audio book, and finally, to celebrate this milestone of finishing the challenge and also my progress in listening skills, I listened to Macron's speech at the Sorbonne in 2017, "Initiative pour l'Europe". I remember the strong reaction from German media at the time, and the public regret over the complete absence of a reaction from German officials (driven solely by external factors and terribly bad timing; we did not really have a proper government for several months, and then the momentum was lost). I have now listened to the full speech with a five-year delay and am deeply moved, being a passionate European at heart. Also, Macron is a phantastic speaker and easy to understand. I believe this is not the last time I have listened to this speech, and I am going to dig out more from him.

Overall, the Super Challenge has definitely improved my listening skills. I am still far away from perfection, but am happy about the amount of original French material that I have finally dared to use (as opposed to the dubbed content that I usually prefer), and which I mostly enjoyed. "Lupin", well, actually anything with Omar Sy, has been a surprising highlight, and I don't think I would have watched this without the Super Challenge. When I read my log entries from 2021 and remember the difficulties I encountered with "Stargate Atlantis", I am pleased that "Stargate SG-1" does not pose any problem anymore, even without subtitles. Well, it's a rewatch, so this makes things a lot easier anyway.

What next? I am going to focus a lot more on the completion of the book part of the Super Challenge than before. Temperatures are finally rising, and I am looking forward to spending a long summer reading in the garden. For the listening part, I am continuing my Suzie Double Super Challenge that I merged a year ago with the 2022/2023 Super Challenge: 13796 minutes (153 films) done - 4204 minutes to go!
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Re: Suzie learns languages...every now and then

Postby Suzie » Mon May 01, 2023 8:34 am

Today marks the tenth anniversary of my first post at HTLAL. I went down the HTLAL/LLORG rabbit hole and was amazed to compare my aspirations at the time with today's reality. Highly motivated, I dreamed of being fluent in both French and Dutch, spending time in both communities in parallel during my time in Belgium. Reality hits hard; back in Germany, I am far away from being a confident speaker in either language. Moreover, I am struggling to work in German (which I never had done until three years ago), as I am not familiar with most technical terms, and thus feel uncomfortable presenting and discussing scientific topics with my colleagues. English, my primary working language for nearly two decades, has deteriorated as well due to reduced use. Still, despite large breaks and an extraordinarily high degree of inconsistency, my French has somewhat improved, even though it is far away from what I had dreamed of when starting my log a decade ago.

Re-reading my old entries, I realized something that I completely forgot: I never completed the Super Challenge 2014/2015! I was so convinced I did, but my documentation ended well before that, when I had read about 60 books (and was actually quite ahead schedule), so I must have aborted this around mid-term. I hang down my head in shame and promise to stick to completing the Super Challenge this time.

Summary of April activities and goals for May

French
Listening: See my previous post, no goals

Reading: (Update since April 11th)
"Millenium IV": 321 pages. Boy, am I happy about the switch from Rizzoli & Isles to the Millenium series! This is the first time I am actually not constantly bored. I mentioned a while ago that I am sometimes struggling with novels, because I cannot be be bothered to read about fictional people. So far, I fought the feeling because I know reading helps consolidating my French. Millenium IV, however, delivers on the promise that Millenium I-III made - it is a true page-turner, and the switch of authorship is barely recognisable (but then, I read I-III about 15 years ago, so there's that). Here, I actually care to learn about the outcome as well as about the fate of the main characters. Millenium V is already waiting on my shelf, and I will watch out for book VI during my next visit to Belgium. I am delighted to learn that book VII has just been published. I am hereby promising myself to choose more carefully in future what I actually wish to read.

"La grande histoire de la Belgique": 48 pages. I have read up on Belgium's history from the Stone Age to Charlemagne, learned a lot of interesting facts and added a few more places for future visits to my bucket list. On page 57, the language border has already been established, Belgium has fully converted to Christianity and the big abbies, like Sint Pieters in Gent and Sainte Gertrude in Nivelles, have been founded.

"L'île au trésor": 32 pages. Paused. I couldn't care less about the book. Maybe it's indeed because I am a girl - or maybe it's because I am a grown-up. Consider not only aborting the book but actually taking it to Belgium to donate it and make a child happy.

Super Challenge: 3176 pages read; 1824 pages to go -> 228 pages/month, 53 pages/week. Goal for May: complete "Millenium V" and read the second part of "La grande histoire de la Belgique" (until the beginning of the Burgundian era)

Intense studies: -

Dutch
Watched "De tweeling" on Netflix. Was a lovely deviation from my French mission; looking forward to dive a bit back to Dutch once the Super Challenge is over.
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Super Challenge French:
100 books: 100 / 100 complete
100 films: 100 / 100 complete

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Suzie
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Re: Suzie learns languages...every now and then

Postby Suzie » Mon May 29, 2023 8:03 pm

Logging my monthly update a bit earlier than usual, because I've just hit a small milestone with my French reading, and it feels like a good moment for a pit stop.

Finished "Millénium IV" (217 p.) and started "Millénium V: La fille qui rendait coup pour coup" (214 p.). I found the end of part IV a bit anticlimactic, and am starting to find the writing a tiny bit annoying at times - though I like the fact that the books are narrated from the perspective of multiple characters, the change of perspective would usually happen with a small cliffhanger that sometimes feels a bit forced to me. It took me a bit longer this time to warm up to the plot as well, but being halfway through, I am finally hooked. Found Millénium VI in a book shop in Belgium.

Read Part II of "La grande histoire de la Belgique" (37 p.). This part dealt mostly with the feudal system and was a bit boring. One sentence made me giggle though; the author described how the state of the Roman roads considerably deteriorated throughout the Middle Ages. Poorly maintained roads, that is a genuine Belgian brand just as beer and chocolate. In my quest to discover the origin of Belgium, have I found the missing piece?

Reading was a bit less than in April (468 p.), but I had anticipated that; a rheumatoid flare had me spend too much time on the couch in April, whereas the flare is over now, and I am happily catching up with gardening work instead of reading. I still made good progress. 3600 pages read and exactly 200 pages/month left.

Goal for June: Finish "Millénium V" and read about the Burgundian and Spanish era in my history book. This will be more than the 200-page average, but I will be on holidays and thus able to spend more time on reading than during the second half of the year.

Listening: nothing, apart from a conversation among my Belgian friends. I have one friend who speaks so terribly fast that I usually fail to understand her. I had hoped the second Super Challenge would change that but nope. This thread gave me a reality check. I may have spent about 500-600 hours on listening throughout the past decade, and have been quite proud about my achievements, but the level of listening skills that I dream of may require about ten times more than that. I really need to up my game here.
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100 films: 100 / 100 complete


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