Con calma, a new and better log for 2017

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PeterMollenburg
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Re: Con calma, a new and better log for 2017

Postby PeterMollenburg » Fri Sep 29, 2017 8:46 pm

Pick the German course you think you'll get the most out of at this point and try to do it every day as your main target. How much time? Not sure. A min of 30 minutes, a max of one hour? Use the rest of your German time less strictly in terms of content, but still regimented into some kind of timetable.
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Cavesa
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Re: Con calma, a new and better log for 2017

Postby Cavesa » Fri Sep 29, 2017 9:34 pm

Good point! I think I'll chose the most easy going one from the pile for now. Which is Německy s úsměvem.
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Cavesa
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Re: Con calma, a new and better log for 2017

Postby Cavesa » Sun Oct 08, 2017 8:55 pm

Just a few points.

German:
I've started Německy s úsměvem. I'll rush through the real easy beginnings, to see what is being covered there, and I expect to find stuff I really need to review somewhere between units 5 and 8.

Spanish:
Estoy vivo is awesome!

French:
I've just finished an email. A french kickstarter like website is having a problem taking my money. Would you believe it? I want to pay and they don't want it! It's been blocked in my bank for a week, waiting for them to do something and it doesn't happen and I cannot just take it back and send it through different means. It is a stupid situation as I am not sure the person I promised it to believes me anymore. I look like a liar.

So, I got to the good old problem of finding a formule de politesse that would still be polite but cold enough to satisfy my annoyed and czech heart. :-D In the end, I put there sincèrement. Everything is a bit harder with emails without a clear address. If there was a particular person, it would be easier. But just emailing a company (Dear company, nice talking to you) is something I don't feel comfortable about in any language, including my native one. Really, how to be politely but clearly annoyed is a necessary, yet rarely addressed issue :-D Btw my quick google search showed me a few discussions about how the natives hate the overused word cordialement :-D Perhaps someone might like one of the results of my quick search: https://www.lalanguefrancaise.com/formu ... motivation the others were too focused on how to address a bishop or a general, not taking the simple ones into account :-D

Another issue that I tend encounter while writing after a long time: a few prepositions. I don't make mistakes in those while talking. I usually get them right while writing. But after a long time of no writing, I tend to hesitate over one or two in a text, depends on the length. I almost always guess correctly, but I simply hesitate, because I have a huge problem with writing and second guessing myself. It may be a psychological block, it may be a normal grammar weakness, I don't know anymore. I found this nice quick reference https://oraprdnt.uqtr.uquebec.ca/pls/pu ... dition.pdf which I can use with ctrl+f.
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Cavesa
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Re: Con calma, a new and better log for 2017

Postby Cavesa » Sat Oct 21, 2017 4:40 pm

I've been really lazy lately. A few episodes of series in Spanish and a tiny bit of German are all. But after today's results (elections), I am more and more motivated to also learn German, as the easiest option of where to go.

I have found a wonderful book series for Czech learners, I should probably mention it on their thread. Let me read a bit more first :-)
But a few short notes: The story happens mostly in Prague, the fantasy parts are not copies of the usual stuff, the sense of humour reminds me of Pratchett and Aaronovitch, even though this group of authors is much more blood thirsty :-)
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Theodisce
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Re: Con calma, a new and better log for 2017

Postby Theodisce » Sat Oct 21, 2017 5:01 pm

Cavesa wrote:I've been really lazy lately. A few episodes of series in Spanish and a tiny bit of German are all. But after today's results (elections), I am more and more motivated to also learn German, as the easiest option of where to go.


Nous sommes d'accord sur la politique, je pense.... While German is and will remain super useful, I was surprised to see the high minimum wages in Slovenia (https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten ... in-der-eu/) . I find that the minimum wages tell more about the overall situation in a country than average wages which tend to be inflated.
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Re: Con calma, a new and better log for 2017

Postby Elenia » Sat Oct 21, 2017 6:20 pm

Cavesa wrote:I have found a wonderful book series for Czech learners, I should probably mention it on their thread. Let me read a bit more first :-)
But a few short notes: The story happens mostly in Prague, the fantasy parts are not copies of the usual stuff, the sense of humour reminds me of Pratchett and Aaronovitch, even though this group of authors is much more blood thirsty :-)


Cavesa, I had been doing so well resisting Czech! Why are you doing this to me?!
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Theodisce
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Re: Con calma, a new and better log for 2017

Postby Theodisce » Sat Oct 21, 2017 6:37 pm

Resistance is futile :D To soften you up even more I'm posting a link to this wonderful website with affordable audiobooks: http://audioteka.cz/ .
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Re: Con calma, a new and better log for 2017

Postby Elenia » Sat Oct 21, 2017 7:33 pm

Theodisce wrote:Resistance is futile :D To soften you up even more I'm posting a link to this wonderful website with affordable audiobooks: http://audioteka.cz/ .


Thankfully, that site is still too expensive to tempt me! (This is the only time I've ever been able to say that with anything resembling triumph...!)

EDIT: I spelt 'too' wrong :?
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Re: Con calma, a new and better log for 2017

Postby Brun Ugle » Sun Oct 22, 2017 5:25 pm

Elenia wrote:
Theodisce wrote:Resistance is futile :D To soften you up even more I'm posting a link to this wonderful website with affordable audiobooks: http://audioteka.cz/ .


Thankfully, that site is still too expensive to tempt me! (This is the only time I've ever been able to say that with anything resembling triumph...!)

EDIT: I spelt 'too' wrong :?

There are a number of Czech audiobooks on YouTube. You will be assimilated.
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Cavesa
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Re: Con calma, a new and better log for 2017

Postby Cavesa » Tue Oct 24, 2017 7:53 pm

Brun Ugle wrote:
Elenia wrote:
Theodisce wrote:Resistance is futile :D To soften you up even more I'm posting a link to this wonderful website with affordable audiobooks: http://audioteka.cz/ .


Thankfully, that site is still too expensive to tempt me! (This is the only time I've ever been able to say that with anything resembling triumph...!)

EDIT: I spelt 'too' wrong :?

There are a number of Czech audiobooks on YouTube. You will be assimilated.


You will be UPGRADED! :-D
But I can also imagine Czech like a dalek, screaming EXTERMINATE!!! at the poor beginner :-D

I will soon post about those books I've discovered. And there is a Slovak version of them, actually a part of the series is originally in Slovak (but unfortunately translated to Czech).

I have been lazy, except for writing one email in French,but there is one thing I have been working on, thanks to my singing classes. The German pronunciation. The work with it and various options and ways to sing it is not only showing me some mistakes I am making while speaking (and that I couldn't figure out before, despite hearing the difference between me and a native audio example). It is breaking my habits and opening my brain and tongue to new options. This kind of work is interesting in my other languages too. Sure, there are drawbacks, if you are not careful (such as the usual French R not being used in most cases, or one shouldn't take the habit of pronouncing the endings to the normal world). But just the fact that there is a dozen ways to approach a word, to make it sound right both in terms of music and pronunciation, that is making me much more open and sensitive to the normal pronunciation. For example, a few songs in German are now training me to sound gentle in German (it is such a beautiful language. Too bad so many people don't give it a chance as they are only associating it with Gestapo talk in movies), to work with the consonants, to feel the structure (which I believe will be useful with the hyperlong words).

A special case has been Latin. My teacher and I agreed on "italianisation" of the pronunciation, as I dislike the central european version of the reconstructed pronunciation and I find it easier to sing this version. Yes, I know, I know. "But Cavesa, the whole idea of this official reconstructed pronunciation is a concensus, one correct version for everyone." Well, it doesn't work that way. We may not hear Latin spoken often, but it is being sung everyday. It is hypereasy to compare various versions of the same song on youtube. And I prefer to err on the side of making my Latin sound too Spanish/Italian, than too central european (Czech and German Latin is very similar for obvious reasons).
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