An Opsimath's Log: DA, LA, NL, FR

Continue or start your personal language log here, including logs for challenge participants
avalon
White Belt
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2017 10:47 pm
Location: United States
Languages: English (native)
Latin (advanced)
Modern Greek (A1)

Dormant:
Czech (certified ILR 3)
German (certified ILR 3)
French (certified ILR 2+)
x 87

Re: An Opsimath's Log: Danish, Dutch & Latin

Postby avalon » Tue Jan 22, 2019 5:24 pm

Which level of the NLE are you signed up for?
0 x

User avatar
Elsa Maria
Blue Belt
Posts: 510
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2015 5:20 am
Location: USA
Languages: English (N), Intermediate Danish.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=6009
x 1275
Contact:

Re: An Opsimath's Log: Danish, Dutch & Latin

Postby Elsa Maria » Tue Jan 22, 2019 5:44 pm

avalon wrote:Which level of the NLE are you signed up for?

The Intro Level. That is the one that correlates with my class.
0 x
Corrections are always welcome.

StringerBell
Brown Belt
Posts: 1035
Joined: Mon Jul 23, 2018 3:30 am
Languages: English (n)
Italian
x 3289

Re: An Opsimath's Log: Danish, Dutch & Latin

Postby StringerBell » Tue Jan 22, 2019 8:45 pm

Elsa Maria wrote:How do you like to learn grammar?


Not at all!

I hate studying grammar and refuse to do it as much as possible. Yet another reason studying Latin doesn't make much sense for me!

Elsa Maria wrote:Anyway, back to the Cambridge Book. What is it that appeals to you about this particular book?


I ended up on the page for this Latin book unintentionally. For some reason, the reviews I was reading about this textbook made me really excited about it, maybe because it doesn't front load a lot of grammar (the exact reason you dislike it) and seems like it approaches Latin using engaging stories rather than boring declension tables, which I have no tolerance for (not even in Polish).

I studied Latin for only a year in high school and I remember liking it, but we somehow managed to avoid studying much of the grammar. I really liked memorizing the vocabulary, because much of it was already familiar since I'd studied French for many years. That was 20+ years ago, so I don't remember anything about the class except that the characters in the textbooks all had names based on numbers that reflected their birth order (like Octavius). Apparently, that really made an impression on me.

I think the main thing that appeals to me about Latin is that since it's a dead language, there's not much need for focusing on production (speaking/writing). I like the idea of being able to read lots of interesting texts written in Latin because I really like to read, in general.
2 x
Season 4 Lucifer Italian transcripts I created: https://learnanylanguage.fandom.com/wik ... ranscripts

User avatar
Elsa Maria
Blue Belt
Posts: 510
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2015 5:20 am
Location: USA
Languages: English (N), Intermediate Danish.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=6009
x 1275
Contact:

Re: An Opsimath's Log: Danish, Dutch & Latin

Postby Elsa Maria » Tue Jan 22, 2019 10:44 pm

StringerBell wrote:I think the main thing that appeals to me about Latin is that since it's a dead language, there's not much need for focusing on production (speaking/writing). I like the idea of being able to read lots of interesting texts written in Latin because I really like to read, in general.
Same here. I love reading, and the desire to read in other languages gives me most of my motivation.

You might like the Cambridge book! But I suggest also taking a look at Lingua Latina. It is fabulous for reading without studying grammar.
2 x
Corrections are always welcome.

avalon
White Belt
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2017 10:47 pm
Location: United States
Languages: English (native)
Latin (advanced)
Modern Greek (A1)

Dormant:
Czech (certified ILR 3)
German (certified ILR 3)
French (certified ILR 2+)
x 87

Re: An Opsimath's Log: Danish, Dutch & Latin

Postby avalon » Tue Jan 22, 2019 11:15 pm

Elsa Maria wrote:
avalon wrote:Which level of the NLE are you signed up for?

The Intro Level. That is the one that correlates with my class.


Which Stage are you on?

CLC doesn't correlate too well with the Intro level. Is your teacher supplementing the course with materials to help you prepare for the NLE?
1 x

User avatar
Elsa Maria
Blue Belt
Posts: 510
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2015 5:20 am
Location: USA
Languages: English (N), Intermediate Danish.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=6009
x 1275
Contact:

Re: An Opsimath's Log: Danish, Dutch & Latin

Postby Elsa Maria » Wed Jan 23, 2019 1:36 pm

avalon wrote:
Elsa Maria wrote:
avalon wrote:Which level of the NLE are you signed up for?

The Intro Level. That is the one that correlates with my class.


Which Stage are you on?

CLC doesn't correlate too well with the Intro level. Is your teacher supplementing the course with materials to help you prepare for the NLE?

We just finished Stage 8. I plan to work through all of the previous exams. I have already done 1999 and 2000, and I think the syllabus must have changed. There are future tense questions on these exams, but the future tense is not on the current syllabus. And I am also lucky enough to have some solid supplemental materials on hand - again, this is because two of my children took high school Latin and the NLE. I kept all of their stuff :)

That being said, I am open to suggestions for NLE prep. I want a perfect paper!
0 x
Corrections are always welcome.

indeclinable
Yellow Belt
Posts: 76
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2018 7:57 pm
Languages: Spanish (N), English (C2), German (C1), Latin (C1), French (B2), Ancient Greek (B1), Italian (A2).

Want to study: Japanese & Russian
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=8803
x 184

Re: An Opsimath's Log: Danish, Dutch & Latin

Postby indeclinable » Wed Jan 23, 2019 7:31 pm

StringerBell wrote:
Elsa Maria wrote:How do you like to learn grammar?


Not at all!

I hate studying grammar and refuse to do it as much as possible. Yet another reason studying Latin doesn't make much sense for me!




Might I suggest that you take a look at the Study Group? There's material that should be very interesting to you (aka LLPSI).
1 x
Omnis lingua usu potius discitur quam praeceptis, id est audiendo, legendo, relegendo, imitationem manu et lingua temptando quam creberrime. – Iohannes Amos Comenius

avalon
White Belt
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2017 10:47 pm
Location: United States
Languages: English (native)
Latin (advanced)
Modern Greek (A1)

Dormant:
Czech (certified ILR 3)
German (certified ILR 3)
French (certified ILR 2+)
x 87

Re: An Opsimath's Log: Danish, Dutch & Latin

Postby avalon » Thu Jan 24, 2019 1:30 pm

Elsa Maria wrote:
avalon wrote:
Elsa Maria wrote:
avalon wrote:Which level of the NLE are you signed up for?

The Intro Level. That is the one that correlates with my class.


Which Stage are you on?

CLC doesn't correlate too well with the Intro level. Is your teacher supplementing the course with materials to help you prepare for the NLE?

We just finished Stage 8. I plan to work through all of the previous exams. I have already done 1999 and 2000, and I think the syllabus must have changed. There are future tense questions on these exams, but the future tense is not on the current syllabus. And I am also lucky enough to have some solid supplemental materials on hand - again, this is because two of my children took high school Latin and the NLE. I kept all of their stuff :)

That being said, I am open to suggestions for NLE prep. I want a perfect paper!


Yes, the syllabus changes every so often, and the tests have become easier over the years. I recommend you take the previous exams in the opposite order: from 2018 backwards.

Perfect papers are hard to come by because of the random culture, history, and mythology questions. But I created a Google Doc for my students which contains lists of every expression, motto, and abbreviation that has appeared on the Intro level over the past 18 or so years. It also contains lists relating to housing, daily life, animals, places, etc. -- again, everything on these topics that has appeared since the early days of the exam. Not sure if I still have ancillary materials for history and mythology. PM me if you're interested!
2 x

User avatar
Elsa Maria
Blue Belt
Posts: 510
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2015 5:20 am
Location: USA
Languages: English (N), Intermediate Danish.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=6009
x 1275
Contact:

Re: An Opsimath's Log: Danish, Dutch & Latin

Postby Elsa Maria » Sat Jan 26, 2019 2:51 am

Thanks to LunaMoonSilver, I discovered the 24in48 read-a-thon that is happening this weekend. The idea is to log 24 hours of reading over 48 hours. I won't get nearly that much reading done this weekend, but I am going to play anyway :)

I plan to read in English, Danish, Latin, and Dutch.
3 x
Corrections are always welcome.

User avatar
Elsa Maria
Blue Belt
Posts: 510
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2015 5:20 am
Location: USA
Languages: English (N), Intermediate Danish.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=6009
x 1275
Contact:

Re: Elsa Maria's Log: Danish, Dutch & Latin

Postby Elsa Maria » Mon Jan 28, 2019 3:51 pm

The idea behind the 24in48 readathon is to read for 24 hours out of 48. Audiobooks do count. Reading Rockstars like LunaMoonsilver actually reach that target :)

Even though I finished the 24in48 readathon with only 9 hours and 46 minutes, I consider it a win. It was fun and interesting, and I read more than I would have.

Here is the recap:

I used ATracker to keep track of my time. I've been using ATracker consistently since January 1 for the 365 day challenge, so all I had to do to get started was add an English reading task. Most of the participants used the stopwatch on their phone to keep track of their total. I started out doing that, but I kept forgetting about it and decided to just use ATracker.

Saturday's total was 4 hours and 17 minutes. Considering that I had a two hour Dutch class in the morning, and a Big Social Event in the evening, I was quite happy with this number.

Sunday's total was 5 hours and 29 minutes. Considering that I had a lot more free time on Sunday than on Saturday, this number is somewhat disappointing. But I prefer to be nice to myself whenever possible, so my 5 hours and 29 minutes are just fine!

My totals were:

70% English
13% Danish
10% Dutch
7% Latin

Here is what I from in my TLs:

Danish:
A new-to-me H.C. Andersen story and Anne Franks Dagbog
This is the right level for me. There are new words, but not too many.

Dutch:

These are all books that Dutch-speaking children would use when learning to read, and I bought them on my recent trip to NL.
Het grote zelfleesbook
Het Woordenboek van Vos en Haas
Two Jip en Janneke stories

This was my first time trying trying to actually native materials in Dutch, and it was difficult but very satisfying.

Latin:
Lingua Latina Cap. I, II, and II (easy rereads, but good prep for the NLE)

Oh, and I got tired of my log being called "An Opsimath's Log" so now it is simply "Elsa Maria's Log" unless I think of something else :)
Last edited by Elsa Maria on Mon Jan 28, 2019 4:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
3 x
Corrections are always welcome.


Return to “Language logs”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Kraut and 3 guests