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劳伦的博客 - Epistolia Laurentii

Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2015 8:58 am
by lorinth
[continued from HTLAL as if nothing had happened but :cry: ]

For someone who was complaining about burning out, I've been fairly active. Reason #1: a radical cut in the time I devote to "formal" vocab study has freed a significant amount of valuable time to engage in other (more pleasant) activities. Reason #2: I will simply have more free time in the coming two weeks, so I'd like to make the most of it. After that, in August, it will be a very different story…

ZH

My only vocab-related activity has been to review characters in Skritter, without adding new items.

In fact, no. This has not been my *only* vocab-related activity. As I badly want a change from SRS, I've started a Golden Book. Working on a Golden Book requires that you sit down at your desk to enjoy the process of writing words. I have such periods now, but I'm not sure I'll be able to set aside half an hour every day to complete my books later on during the year. But I can try.

I've continued reading 《鬼吹灯》 (now in chap. 29/36) and enjoying it a lot. Three heroes, again, but different from those of the first part - a grave robber turned buddhist monk, an American priest and the last survivor of a cursed tribe - are attacked by a black smoke formed by microscopic flesh eating insects that can turn your body into pus (yuck!) - in horrible pain of course.

I've also read a few pages of 《中国哲学简史》(A Short History of Chinese Philosophy) with the help of the French translation. In fact, I almost did not need the translation: the text was surprisingly easy, even more so than that of a typical novel. Of course, it was just a general introduction. It could be another matter when/if I get further in the book.

For listening comprehension, I've also changed my routine a bit. As listening to Slow Chinese podcasts tends to be slightly above my level, I read the transcript of a podcast first and *then* listened to it for transcription. As it happens, I found this could be a bit *too* easy: reading the transcript presented no problem whatsoever, I didn't have to use a dictionary. After that, transcribing was easy too: there was only one place where I'd misunderstood. However, I noticed a few tone mistakes in my transcript. So it could be a good idea to continue like this for a time.

I've watched a few episodes of the anime 熊出没. I'll try to watch some every day - the kids are away: I won't have to fight for the possession of the TV set in the coming days :-) .

LA

I've continued reading Oerberg's abridged version of Livy, as presented in Roma Aeterna, chap. XLIV. It's about the complicated and interesting story of the last Roman king Tarquinius: story twists, betrayal, deception, bad omens, ax attacks, miracles, battles… How come this plot has never been turned into a movie (that I know of)?

The language has been noticeably more difficult, but I can't wait to reach the symbolic threshold of chap. XLVI, where you start reading Eutropius, Gellius, Sallustius, Cicero, etc.

Re: 劳伦的博客

Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 2:07 pm
by lorinth
LA

Finished reading Oerberg's abridged version of Livy, chap. XLIV, about the Tarquin family. It was hard but fascinating.

One of the fantastic things about Latin is that it sounds good: even in prose, to my ears, it's full of music, alliterations and mesmerizing rhythms. Take the final part of Livy's History of Rome, book I, chapter 48:

Foedum inhumanumque inde traditur scelus monumentoque locus est—Sceleratum vicum vocant—quo amens, agitantibus furiis sororis ac viri…


[It is said that a horrible and inhuman crime was committed, of which the place keeps the memory - it is called the Crime Alley - as Tullia, driven to madness by the wrath of her sister and her husband,…]

I can't believe Livy inadvertently accumulated so many alliterations (the "k" sounds), and then:

Tullia per patris corpus carpentum egisse fertur, partemque sanguinis ac caedis paternae cruento vehiculo, contaminata ipsa respersaque tulisse ad penates suos virique sui …


[… Tullia, they say, drove the cart right on the corpse of her own father, and, as the vehicle and herself were splattered with blood and flesh, she brought some back home…]

Here you have the "p"'s added to the "k"'s. A sentence like "Tullia per patris corpus carpentum…" cannot have been written by a historian who sticks to the facts. It was carefully devised by a poet.

The scene, as vividly depicted by Livy is truly horrible. And Latin is the only foreign languages that I just cannot read in silence: I often read it aloud, even prose when it's that good

Re: 劳伦的博客

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 12:38 pm
by lorinth
ZH: A roundup of the ressources I'm currently using

I've continued reading 《鬼吹灯》 (Ghosts Blow Out The Candle), and am now starting chap. 32/36. I'd love to finish this book by the end of the month. It's my third Chinese novel about tomb raiding -it's a subgenre in itself over there. You may say that it's not the greatest literature, but I can guarantee that pulp teaches you a ton of interesting stuff about Chinese history, geography, beliefs, dialects, everyday life, etc. Not to mention a dozen synonyms for "zombie". It may come handy.

Full online version of the series.

Watched a few more episodes of the anime 熊出没 (Bears On The Go, but I believe the title of the English version is Boonie Bears). With two bear brothers fighting a silly but obstinate lumberjack episode after episode, it's a bit repetitive - but that's good for language learning. The scenery (a forest) is suprisingly well rendered. 101 episodes are available on Youtube . Maybe I'll end up watching them all?

Worked on yet another Slow Chinese podcast, titled "李小龙与中国功夫" (Bruce Lee and Chinese Kung Fu). This one was noticeably more difficult. I started by reading the transcript, and there were quite a few words that I did not know so, probably, I wouldn't have understood much of the podcast if I hadn't read the transcript before. But even after having read the written version, I made many mistakes while transcribing, and there were parts I did not understand.

As a reminder, Slow Chinese is a truly vital resource for people learning Chinese, as it offers 145 podcasts (and counting) with transcripts about many aspects of China. The texts are interesting and they are read, as the title implies, slowly.

After that, I realised I had never seen a movie featuring 李小龙, so I found one Mandarin-dubbed version of 精武门 (Fist of Fury, 1972) on YouTube and watched it. There were subtitles in simplified hanzi, so it was a good exercise and the language was not too complicated. Of course there were many parts were I had no time to actually read the subs, and as the pause button of my remote takes 1 or 2 seconds to respond, pausing is not an option unfortunately. Anyway, great movie - if you accept the codes of the genre.

Re: 劳伦的博客

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 5:26 pm
by rdearman
谢谢!

These are some amazing resources, I'm going to use them straightaway.

Re: 劳伦的博客

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 5:39 pm
by Expugnator
Thank you for pointing to a safe and full link of Boonie Bears. Maybe it is time I give it a try. I watcheda few minutes and though I can't understand everything I may be able to follow the story. Sometimes I know the characters but just dont havê enough time to process the subtitles.

Yesterday I tried reading frim that Ant Tribes and I could read full sentenças. I understand more from Chinese than ftom Georgian or Russian when reading extensível, só maybe I a m doing something right.

Re: 劳伦的博客

Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2015 9:47 am
by lorinth
Thanks for the visit, rdearman and Expugnator. Expugnator, don't worry about not understanding Boonie Bears: the great thing is that the images are self-explanatory most of the time, the dialogues are often redundant :D

Re: 劳伦的博客

Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2015 10:41 am
by lorinth
LA - A roundup of Oerberg-related resources

Over the years, I have come to appreciate more and more Hans Oerberg's work and the method he devised. It's quite simple: lesson 1 of the first book "Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata" starts with a very easy text in which the meaning of all words and the grammar should be obvious because of the overal simplicity of the text, the cognates in many European languages, the pictures, the different contexts in which the words are used, etc. Building from there, Oerberg adds more and more words and grammar, using Latin itself to define new items with words already known, etc. (there's not a single word in any language other than Latin). As from lesson 2, you are introduced to a typical (well-off) Roman family living around the year 100, with its daily activities and problems (naughty children, intrigues among slaves, rude guests who get drunk, stolen money...), as well as its social context (strange sects arising, wars with Barbarians...) and its culture (myths, literature, beliefs, stereotypes...).

By the time you reach the last third of book 1, you have started reading extracts of "real" Latin texts written by classical authors.

But that's not all. By following Oerberg's method, you learn to read Latin as it was written, i.e. you don't follow a grammar oriented method (first look for the verb, then look for the subject, etc.), you just follow the sentences as they were written. Add to the mix the wit and humour of the Master and the result is that Lingua Latina is a real pleasure to read. I have often laughed out loud while reading it. Beware though, it's friggin Latin, so I'm not saying that reaching the end of Lingua Latina is easy: some work is necessary - though it's mostly a matter of reading again and again and doing some simple exercises.

In Roma Aeterna (i.e. book 2) you will be reading abridged and simplified versions, and then full versions of Virgil, Livy, Eutropius, Ovid, Gellius, Sallustius, Cicero, etc. All the usual - though great - suspects.

And finally, the great thing is that, in addition to Lingua Latina (book 1) and Roma Aeterna (Book 2), there's a myriad of additional resources: grammar manuals, workbooks, audio versions and many other books following the same method and carefully devised to be read when you reach certain stages in the two main books. There are so many resources, in fact, that I felt it was necessary for me to make a list putting everything in order.

I have four main sources for Oerbergised texts, i.e. books whose method and layout are based on Lingua Latina and Roma Aeterna:

    * Apart from Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata (book 1) and Roma Aeterna (book 2), Oerberg himself wrote several other ancillary books. You can find them on Amazon or buy them from the editor Focus Publishing.
    * The Accademia Vivarium Novum (Wikipedia, site of Vivarium Novum), in Italy, has published several books using the Oerberg method.
    * On its blog called Opus Scholaris, Ioannes Paulus Fluminis offers several PDF booklets with Oerbergised versions of classical authors (see in particular here). Unfortunately, it seems the blog hasn't been updated for a while though.
    * On the Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata (LLPSI) Google group, several members sometimes offer Oerbergised versions of classical texts.

What I'd love to see are Oerbergised versions of later authors and texts, for instance Boethius, Augustine, Ausonius, Gregory of Tours, the Gesta Romanorum, the Voyage of Saint Brendan, the Carmina Burana, Johannes Secundus, Erasmus, etc., etc.

So here's a full list of the Oerberg-related resources I can recommend - though I haven't read them all, far from it, in particular at the bottom of the list. Note that I have listed only literature, not grammar and exercise books, etc.

    * Familia Romana (Oerberg) - Start from here. While you are reading Familia Romana, also read:
      * Fabellae Latinae (Oerberg). Available online here
      * Colloquia Personarum (Oerberg)
      * Fabulae Syrae (Miraglia) - Fantastic book recounting many myths of the antiquity. Published by Focus publishing. Start reading it after lesson XXVI of Familia Romana.

    * Between Familia Romana and Roma Aeterna

      * Caesar: Commentarii De Bello Gallico (Oerberg)
      * Sermones Romani (Oerberg) - Certain parts are easy (new testament...) other are hard (Tacitus, Horatius...)
      * Plautus: Amphitryo Comoedia (Oerberg)
      * Lhomond: Epitome Historiae Sacra (Vivarium). The Bible abridged. Interesting for the religious vocab that you will find everywhere anyway.
      * Catullus: Lesbia (Opus Scholaris)
      * Also, on the LLPSI Google group, you can find Oerbergised versions of the Stabat Mater and the Dies Irae.

    * Roma Aeterna (Oerberg). And while you're reading Roma Aeterna, you can also read:
      * Vergil: Aeneis Libros I et IV (after Roma Aeterna, cap. 40) (Oerberg)
      * Ovid: Ars Amatoria (after Roma Aeterna, cap 40/45) (Oerberg)
      * Vergilis: Bucolica Carmina (after Roma Aeterna, cap 45) (Vivarium)
      * Tibulii Elegiae (after Roma Aeterna, cap 36-45) (Opus Scholaris)
      * Lucretius: De Rerum Natura (after Roma Aeterna, cap 45) (Vivarium)
      * Aulus Gellius: Noctium Atticarum I (De Viris) (after Roma Aeterna cap. 46) (Opus Scholaris)
      * Petronius: Cena Trimalchionis (after Roma Aeterna, cap 47) (Oerberg)
      * Bellum Punicum Secundum (additional material for Roma Aeterna cap. 48) (Opus Scholaris)
      * Aulus Gellius: Nocitum Atticarum II (De Scipione) (after Roma Aeterna cap. 48-49) (Opus Scholaris)
      * Appianus: Bellum Viriathicum (after Roma Aeterna cap. 51) (Opus Scholaris)
      * Florus & Plutarch: Bellum Spartacium (after Roma Aeterna cap. 53) (Opus Scholaris)
      * Sextus Pomponius: De Nominibus (probably after Roma Aeterna) (Opus Scholaris)
      * Sallustus & Cicero, Catilina (probably after Roma Aeterna) (Oerberg)
      * Horatius: Sermo I,I (probably after Roma Aeterna) (Opus Scholaris)
      * Horatius: Sermo I,IX (probably after Roma Aeterna) (Opus Scholaris)
      * Juvenal: Satura I, II, III (found on LLPSI, not sure where to place)


Don't hesitate to tell me if you find other Oerberg-related resources, and happy reading!

Update 24 Sept. 2015: Found another source containing texts with margin annotations in Latin:

    * Erasmi Roterodami Colloquia
    * Petri Mosellani Progymnasmata
    * Varii breves loci ad amicitiam pertinentes ex Senecae, Ciceronis aliorumque libris deprompti

Re: 劳伦的博客

Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2015 8:29 am
by lorinth
ZH

Contrary to what I wrote in rdearman's log, the show/podcast called 虹包论 does offer transcripts along with the mp3s. So it's an extremely valuable resource. The mp3s are high quality and the texts are of the educational type. I've just created an ebook with one of the shows: 小宝小贝理财记, it amounts to over 60 pages of transcript, divided in 16 chapters together with 16 mp3 files.

By the way, when reading the introduction to that particular show, I thought to myself that it's hard to believe that this comes from the very country where all people of my age have known the Mao years and the Cultural revolution. Basically, the podcast sets out to teach kids how to manage their money:

你没有想到有一个本事啊,它非常非常重要,非常非常必要,而又非常非常地至关紧要,它关系到你将来是不是生活幸福,是不是能够自立自强,是不是能够实现自己的人生理想……什么?别吊胃口了,好吧,竖起耳朵来,那就是——会赚钱、会花钱、会管理自己的钱。换一句正式的话来说:学会理财。


My translation: "There's a skill that's extremely important, extremely necessary, even vital. It concerns whether or not you will be happy in your future life, whether you will be independent, whether you will be able to make your dreams come true... What's that? Ok let's not make you languish any more, listen to this: it's about learning how to make money, how to spend money, how to manage your own money. To say it more formally, it's about learning financial management."

Note that I'm not criticizing or anything, I reckon that's an important skill. It's just that it's somewhat... weird.

As usual for me (unfortunately), while the transcript is at about my level, the audio file without the transcript is quite hard to follow. But I will "cheat my way" through it - emk's way.

Re: 劳伦的博客

Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2015 3:22 pm
by rdearman
Again, great resource. I'm not just cheating, I'm stealing it too. :)

EDIT: Grrrrr... Can't find the transcripts, can you give a link?

Re: 劳伦的博客

Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2015 5:59 pm
by lorinth
On the home page, at the botton of the column titled "小宝小贝理财记" , click on the button that says 点此进入小宝小贝理财记 and you will be redirected to the main page of the said podcast. Mp3s are already available there (click on "下载", Download). From there, click on the title of any episode to get the full transcript and the corresponding mp3. For instance, this is the link to the very short introduction of the show (episode 0). Tell me if it works.