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

Continue or start your personal language log here, including logs for challenge participants
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 + (LA,NL)

Postby Elsa Maria » Mon Sep 23, 2019 3:53 pm

PeterMollenburg wrote:Hi Elsa Maria,

How are you finding the Dutch Assimil course? (I will use it some day, perhaps next year I will get to it)

For me, Assimil is getting the job done. It is filling in some gaps and making my Dutch feel less hodgepodge.

I don’t use it as prescribed. I suspect that my time spent on many years of homeschooling has left me incapable of using ANY curriculum without making adjustments.

Also, it is only one track in my multi-track routine so my pace is slow.
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 + (LA, NL)

Postby Elsa Maria » Wed Oct 02, 2019 7:14 pm

Elsa Maria wrote:I am now full speed ahead on both Dutch and Danish, with just enough Latin to keep up with my class.


Quoted myself. Hmm, just enough Latin to keep up with my class is turning out to be more than I had bargained for. And I am not really keen on the class itself at the moment. It really doesn't suit me and the way I like to do things. If I quit, I am only out $50. But I might also lose the chance to take the National Latin Exam in the spring.

I think I would really like to just go back to Lingua Latina on my own. I always struggle through the process of "quitting" things, though.
2 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: Elsa Maria's Log: Danish + (LA, NL)

Postby StringerBell » Wed Oct 02, 2019 7:38 pm

Elsa Maria wrote:If I quit, I am only out $50.


Even if you don't quit, you're still out $50, right? So either way, the money is spent.

Is taking this class a requirement for taking the National Latin exam? If so, how important is the exam to you? Will taking the exam open doors to do other things you want, or do you just want to take the exam to see how you'd do?
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: Elsa Maria's Log: Danish + (LA,NL)

Postby Elsa Maria » Wed Oct 02, 2019 10:21 pm

StringerBell wrote:Even if you don't quit, you're still out $50, right? So either way, the money is spent.

True enough, and thanks for the reframing.

With regard to the exam, it is just a fun thing. I don't think an individual can sign up to take it, but I would have to look into that to be 100 percent sure because I seem to recall that homeschool kids could take it as individuals. I am fuzzy on the details - my child was enrolled in a Latin class when taking the NLE.

Eligibility note from the website:
Students who are enrolled in Latin or have completed a Latin course during the current academic year

Although I am not sure that I care enough to pursue it.
Last edited by Elsa Maria on Tue Jul 20, 2021 7:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
0 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 + (LA,NL)

Postby Elsa Maria » Mon Oct 14, 2019 1:47 am

LATIN
I have decided to continue forward with my Latin class. I spent the weekend getting caught up, and I am ready for this week's assignments.

Here is why I decided to stay in the class:

I am tired of being a false beginner in Latin.

This Latin sequence will, in due time, get me where I want to be. And yet it is, in fact, a very laid-back class. I think I was stressing myself out for no good reason.

Because Latin is the lowest priority of the three languages I am currently working on, I would end up not doing any Latin at all if I dropped the class.

DANISH
I finished another novel, De Nærmeste by Lotte Kirkeby. It was a better-than-average family drama. I had no trouble reading it without looking anything up, but since I read it on my Kindle I did highlight some things to go back and look up. I also highlighted a few sentences that confused me, and I will ask my tutor about those.

I found a series on DRTV that I am excited about: Øgendahl og de storre forfatter. Each 30 minute episode is about a famous Danish author.I think its target audience is Danes who don't actually read much literature but want familiarity with the big names, which makes it a great show for a learner whose top goal is to read the literature. It is rather lightweight in both content and style, which is fine for me. So far, I have watched the episodes about H.C. Andersen and Tove Ditlevsen. I have already read a lot of H.C. Andersen and I really want to read Tove Ditlevsen's books. Next up is Dan Turell, whom I know nothing about.

DUTCH
This has been getting the least attention. I admit that I have to force myself to do Assimil.
4 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 + (LA,NL,PT)

Postby Elsa Maria » Thu Oct 31, 2019 2:43 pm

I will soon be spending three weeks in Denmark / Netherlands. I have about ten days in each location.

I think that my Danish is much better than the last time I was there - three years ago.
I think that my Dutch is only slightly better than the last time I was there - 10 months ago.
It will be great to find out!

Meanwhile, I registered for the 6WC with Portuguese. I wanted to choose an absolute-beginner-language for the challenge, and I will focus on European Portuguese. A few months ago, I made an impulse buy of the Linguaphone course. I'll start with that. And I think I have a few units of Pimsleur that I got from Audible.

I only expect to have good scores in the Total Score column, since I will be spending half of the six weeks in other TL countries.
4 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 + (LA,NL,PT)

Postby Elsa Maria » Sat Nov 30, 2019 3:32 pm

Well, I was right about my assessment of both my Danish and my Dutch - see previous post.

DANISH

I spent ten continuous days in Denmark. I spoke a lot of English the first two days. It took some time for me to warm up and to build up my confidence. But every day, the percentage shifted toward more Danish, less English. The breakthrough came when I went to a cafe with two friends (native Danish speakers) and we spoke only Danish for two hours. After that, I used very little English.

I was in the midst of families and groups of friends (all native speakers), and my comprehension was pretty high. But I had to stay focused 100 percent. One brief lapse in concentration, and I was OUT. I did get lost at times when the conversations turned to politics, religion, or literature.

I understood the snatches of conversation that I heard on the street or while on transport.

I made a lot of speaking mistakes. I often knew my mistake as soon as I made it. I asked one of my closest friends for an honest assessment of my mistakes, and nothing that she told me was a surprise.

My confidence in Danish was really bolstered by this trip. I am not a C-level speaker, but I do believe that becoming one is within my reach.

Oh, and I will never again take it personally if someone switches to English on me. At least not in the tourist spots. While we were in the touristy parts of Copenhagen, people occasionally switched to English when talking with my born-and-raised-in-Copenhagen friend.

I'll give a shout-out to the 365 Day challenge. I have a perfect score thus far, and I do believe it has made a big difference.

DUTCH

I can order food and manage simple transactions. I can catch bits of random conversations. I did OK with train announcements. Suffice it to say, my level remains very low.

I have been trying to force myself through Assimil, and I don't like it. Which means that I avoid it. I was enjoying Dutch a lot more when I was working through the learndutch.org materials and going to classes. My subscription ran out at learndutch.org, and I will force myself to get through Assimil before I let myself buy the subscription again. And I will read. I have a sizeable stack of children's books to read, and I'm going to work my way through them in order of difficulty.

I plan to return to the Netherlands again in May. I'd like to see how much I can improve between now and then.

LATIN

I kept up with my assignments while I was away. I cut the relevant pages out of my textbook and took them along. The book would have been too bulky to take.

EUROPEAN PORTUGUESE


This is my 6WC language. I really only started to give it attention this week. I tried the Linguaphone course, but I can't tolerate it while also doing Assimil Dutch. Blech. After I finish the Assimil Dutch, I can try Linguaphone. For now, I am using Pimsleur and I just took a subscription to Practice Portuguese. I'll try Practice Portuguese for a month and see how that goes.
6 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 +

Postby Elsa Maria » Fri Dec 11, 2020 10:15 pm

I see that I have not posted an update in over a year. And it has certainly been quite the year...
Well, let's see if I can squeeze in a number of updates between now and the end of 2020.

Right now, I am spending a lot of time on language learning but that was not true for much of the year.

Here is a very brief synopsis:

DANISH +
My Danish is better than it used to be. But it is not where I want it to be, so I will keep working on it.

I've been playing around with Norwegian for the first time during this 6WC and it is quite fun to realize how quickly I can make progress. But do I want to invest much time into Norwegian? I'm not sure about that.

I'd like to come up with a long-term plan for learning Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic, Faroese, and Old Norse. I'm starting with a solid, if imperfect, base in Danish. If anyone wants to suggest an orderly pathway, I'm open to hearing it. I'm mostly interested in reading literature.

DUTCH
Dutch was set aside completely for several months. Now I am spending time on it regularly and I feel like I am making faster progress this time.

LATIN
I am taking class again, and it is going well.

PORTUGUESE
Nothing. Maybe I can start it soon, even just a little bit.
Last edited by Elsa Maria on Thu Apr 28, 2022 12:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
6 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 +

Postby Elsa Maria » Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:28 pm

I just watched the Danish PM do a livestream Q & A about the lockdown restrictions for the Christmas holiday. I understood 90+ percent with ease. There is of course nothing celebratory about the topic, but it was definitely a listening comprehension success.
6 x
Corrections are always welcome.

Ccaesar
Orange Belt
Posts: 216
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2018 2:47 pm
Languages: Danish (N) English (B2-C1) German (B1-B2) Italian(B1), Japanese (beginner)
x 264

Re: Elsa Maria's Log: Danish +

Postby Ccaesar » Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:57 pm

Held og lykke med det danske!
I am curious what ressources did you use to learn the basics? | Jeg er nysgerrig. Hvilket materiale brugte du til at lære det grundlæggende?
1 x
Hiragana practiced in hand : 48 / 48
Katakana practiced in hand : 48 / 48
Kanji : 50 / 2000
Assimil Japanese with Ease : 27 / 100


Return to “Language logs”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: jackb, MorkTheFiddle and 2 guests