Persistence is Key (EN/DE)

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renaissancemedici
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Re: A chessplayer learns languages (German for now)

Postby renaissancemedici » Mon May 07, 2018 6:12 am

I also get a lot more done when I keep the pressure to myself low. I find that the quiet things we do usually bring more progress than the declarations of plans and intellectual passions. In fact I kept thinking about that very thing last night!

Well done for finishing that book!

I also love chess, but I am a complete patzer... Maybe one day I'll seriously try :lol:
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I use Assimil right now as a starting point, but at the same time I am building the foundation for further studies of German.

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hedgehog.chess
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Re: A chessplayer learns languages (German for now)

Postby hedgehog.chess » Thu May 17, 2018 7:53 am

Yes! I’m on a roll, just finished my second German book :) This time it was Ensel und Krete: Ein Märchen aus Zamonien by Walter Moers. It was the second book of the 6-books cycle about a fictional continent Zamonia. I wanted to read something from this cycle ever since I’ve seen a beautifully published Polish translation of Die Stadt der Träumenden Bücher. To be perfectly honest I picked the 2nd part because it has the smallest number of pages.(256 pages compared to 700 in Die 13½ Leben des Käpt’n Blaubär). The experience of leaving the unknown words behind and just going further with the story was really refreshing. I consider myself a slow reader, so the fact that I was able to sometimes read ~40 pages/day means that I was glued to my kindle for about 2 hours. The presented, somewhat absurd, humor was exactly mine kind of thing. The one thing that was quite disappointing for me was the ending. But up to that point it was very enjoyable and encouraged me to try other books of the same author in the future. On a side note he claims that he is just a translator of the works by Hildegunst von Mythenmetz, a world-famous author from Zamonia and a couple of centuries old dinosaur.

It seems that I’ve reached some kind of critical mass. Since like 2 weeks I’m able to more or less keep a “fluent” conversation with the teacher during classes, at least for some time (couple of sentences) Up to now I was struggling to do so it kind of struck me, that my mouth produced sounds without thinking:) It was a small success but gives me motivation to work further.
After that I’ve found a post from Cavesa. It seems I fall into the “jumper” category.

Cavesa wrote:Tons of listening practice. Don't despair. It may look like not budging but you might just be a learner that "jumps" instead of progressing steadily step by step. Like me :-) If you put in enough efforts and time, I am sure a breakthrough will come at some point. A moment of "hey, that's weird, I am suddenly much better than I used to be, a miracle!" and it will feel great! :-)


I finally decided to drop Clozemaster, one SRS (supermemo) is enough for me. Other than that, I’m reading , listening(audiobooks), going through the “The German Pronunciation Trainer” by Gabriel Wyner, and working at a pace on 10 lessons/month (each containing 36 sentences to translate, grouped by the topic) with a grammar book.
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hedgehog.chess
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Re: A chessplayer learns languages (German for now)

Postby hedgehog.chess » Fri May 25, 2018 6:33 am

YAT-Yet another trilogy :) This time it was “Reckless” by Cornelia Funke(Steinernes Fleisch, Lebendige Schatten , Das goldene Garn)(~33 hours) The action takes place in a parallel world resembling our world from the XVII-XIX century. One can get there by going through a special mirror. The whole cycle borrows a lot from brothers Grimm’s fairy tales(the name of the main character is Jacob, and his brother William). It was a conscious choice as the pages(or rather minutes?) were filled with witches (living in houses from cakes and candy) and a lot of artifacts known from the stories. The story, while being still a YA book, is addressed to older readers then the “Tintenwelt” trilogy. It was quite interesting, at least the first 2 parts. The third one is, in my opinion, the worst. And also the longest, which I think is the part of the problem. I was sometimes simply bored, too many words, too little content. A little spoiler: at first I thought it was a closed trilogy, but the 3rd book reached no definitive conclusion so the 4th one is probably being written. But I think I’ve had enough. Maybe my growing lack the of interest influenced my comprehension/concentration, while listening “Das goldene Garn”, as sometimes I was missing whole paragraphs. Usually when that happens I just rewind and listen to that part once again, but here I just let it be.

To check where I stand, I started listening to “Homo Faber”-a book I know quite well, as I’ve already listened 3 times to it in January and I can say that I understand a lot more than before. Taking another look at materials used before and seeing the progress helps keeping one's motivation high. I will see how will it go with the rest of the audiobook. So my comprehension seems fine and I have to accept that it will vary from one book to another, depending on the topic (vocabulary), readers voice and probably some other factors.

I will be taking a break from YA fiction fanstasy for a while. It’s seems that I’m oversaturated with the genre.

I’m enjoying having conversations in German more and more, although they don’t come too often. The best part is the opportunity to put the new acquired vocabulary to use.
Last edited by hedgehog.chess on Fri Jun 15, 2018 11:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
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hedgehog.chess
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Re: A chessplayer learns languages (German for now)

Postby hedgehog.chess » Fri Jun 15, 2018 8:36 am

A quick update about my media consumption in German.

Books read:
Der Richter und sein Henker & Der Verdacht by Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Two classical works by Dürrenmatt with Der Richter und sein Henker admittedly being far better known. The reason could be that it’s more closely related to a classical detective novel, whereas in Der Verdacht the whole investigation(against an alleged war criminal) in only a background for philosophical considerations about war and human nature in general.

Siddhartha. Eine indische Dichtung by Hermann Hesse
A classic story about searching one’s own path to enlightenment, fulfillment. Even after encountering Buddha and listening to his preaching, Siddhartha decides to look further.

Audiobooks listened:
Die Geschichte der Bienen by Maja Lunde (~13 hours)
I picked it up because I was totally convinced that the author was from Germany and wanted to check for myself what has made it to a bestselling book( Is the sentence correct?). After listening through I don’t think it’s so great( I was not the aimed target anyway), although I understand the reasons what made it so popular. A bitter-sweet story which could be summarized with something along the lines: “Your work and dreams are never pointless, even if they seem so.” At least I interpreted it that way.

During the last two weeks (night and afternoon shift) I listened for about hour a day at work Deutschlandfunk's Hintergrund and "Servus, Grüezi, Hallo" podcasts recommended by schlaraffenland in the German group thread. I find "Servus, Grüezi, Hallo" very interesting, as it features three hosts from three different German-speaking countries. They present how a given subject is perceived by their countrymen. And trying to understand what the guy from Switzerland is saying is a challenge in its own right.

Last but not least I’m doing my share of daily vocabulary learning through supermemo.com course. I won’t mention it more in further posts, unless I finish one, because it’s just a natural part of my routine.
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hedgehog.chess
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Re: A chessplayer learns languages (German for now)

Postby hedgehog.chess » Wed Jun 20, 2018 7:46 am

Another quick update:

Book read:

Eine kurze Weltgeschichte für junge Leser- Ernst H. Gombrich
Mr. Gombrich takes us on a journey starting literally from the beginning. The book is aimed at kids so the language is intentionally as simple as possible. But that I think is also the strength of that position, the author for example very clearly explains the foundations of main religions, main ideas of different eras and the reasons for some world-changing decisions. One more advantage for language learners is, that there are some words that repeat themselves, just like history repeats itself :) I would definitely recommend it to everyone who would like to have a quick, although a little bit biased and brief , overview of world history.

Audiobook listened:
Couchsurfing in Russland: Wie ich fast zum Putin-Versteher wurde- Stephan Orth (7.5 hours)
Stephan Orth makes a trip to Russia, visiting not only the most known places, but also distant federal subjects like Yakutia and Dagestan(also including Crimea). During the trip he spends most of his time far from tourist attractions, preferring interacting with the locals. This way he learns how Russians perceive the Western world, Vladimir Putin and their fellow citizens from another part of the country. This and the very light style, in which the whole book is written, make it not only interesting but also enjoyable read.

I’ve got the idea of switching the genre of audiobooks I listen to/ books I read on a more or less monthly basis(although nothing is set in stone). That should suffice to consume 1-2 books and 3 audiobooks. I hope this will get me exposed to a more varied vocabulary. And my brain will never know what’s coming so it will always have to be on guard . My reason also being that although I of course have preferences in my native language, I should still be able to almost effortlessly read all kinds of books.(ok, excluding specialist literature, but you know what I mean). Of course I don’t expect the same results here, but at least I will get some varied overview of German pop culture and expand my horizons a bit. That alone should suffice for a reason to give it a try. Now I’m in the process of exploring the (in)famous German sense of humor :)

I also attach a list of contemporary German speaking book authors. I posted in the German Group thread, asking for help in filling in the gaps, but it didn’t find much interest. Maybe here will it reach broader audience :)


Science fiction: Frank Schätzing, Andreas Eschbach, Andreas Brandhorst, Thomas R. P. Mielke
Satire/Comedy: David Safier, Marc-Uwe Kling, Ellen Berg, Florian Schiel, Timur Vermes, Tommy Jaud, Sebastian Niedlich
History: Rebecca Gablé, Ulf Schiewe, Sebastian Fleming, Daniel Kehlmann
Action and Adventure: (?)
Mystery(Krimi): Nele Neuhaus, Jacques Berndorf, Akif Pirinçci, Arno Strobel, Michael Moritz, Volker Kutscher, Klaus-Peter Wolf, Volker Klüpfel / Michael Kobr
Thriller: Sebastian Fitzek, Marc Elsberg, Martin Suter, Daniel Dersch
Biographies & Autobiographies: Udo Jürgens ('Der Mann mit dem Fagott'), Gregor Gysi ('Ein Leben ist zu wenig'), ('Hape KerkelingDer Junge muss an die frische Luft: Meine Kindheit und ich')
Fantasy: Walter Moers, Wolfgang Hohlbein, Kai Meyer, Markus Heitz
Young adult fiction: Cornelia Funke, Michael Ende, Kerstin Gier, Ursula Poznanski, Wolfgang Herrndorf ('Tschick')
Non-Fiction: Peter Wohlleben, Stephan Orth, Hamed Abdel-Samad,Hans Leyendecker ('Helmut Kohl, die Macht und das Geld'), Giulia Enders ('Darm mit Charme')
Roman: Karen Duve, Robert Seethaler, Robert Menasse
Last edited by hedgehog.chess on Fri Aug 31, 2018 6:27 am, edited 2 times in total.
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hedgehog.chess
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Re: A chessplayer learns languages (German for now)

Postby hedgehog.chess » Tue Jul 10, 2018 9:54 am

I’m currently experiencing some kind of low in my German learning. In my opinion I learn/read/listen as much as I can. It’s seems I’ve just reached the point where in spite of progress I see how much I still don’t know and start asking myself if this whole “language learning thing” is really worth it. Of course it is, so I continue but those thoughts seem to plague me especially after lessons when I couldn’t even express myself properly like today… And what worries me a little is that while writing posts for my log I have to check more and more words in dictionary and my English doesn't 'flow' as it used to.

Ok, quick summary. As I mentioned in my previous post I decided to delve into German satire/comedy :) I’m on 60% of another book but I will cover that later.

Audiobooks listened:
Und Gott sprach: Es werde Jonas-Sebastian Niedlich
God feels that the world is in need of a new prophet. His choice falls on the writer Jonas who, while dreaming about writing ambitious works, earns daily bread writing cheap romance books under a pseudonym. Ah, he’s also an atheist. He gains fame and followers worldwide after his appearance in the TV show. He there spontaneous formulates the motto ‘Sei kein A****loch’ which in opinion of many summarized the whole Bible. Warning: You really have to have a lot of distance to religious(Christian) subjects.

Du mich auch: Ein Rache-Roman-Ellen Berg
Three high-school besties meet again after 25 years at the reunion party. They confess to each other that their relationships don’t belong to the happiest to say the least. They blame their men and decide to take vengeance. Sounds kitschy? The book fulfills all the expectations :) There were a few funny moments but overall I don’t rate it very high. Below average I would say. But I was not the targeted audience anyway.

Die Känguru-Chroniken- Marc-Uwe Kling
Book in the form of short comedy sketches. The main characters are the author himself and a talking kangaroo, who also happens to be a convinced communist and a veteran of the Vietnam War. At first I was quite enjoying it, but the more I listened to it the more tired of the same thing I got. For me it was the case of a ‘too much of a good thing’. It would probably be the best to listen to it in about 10-minute segments.

Book read:
Mieses Karma-David Safier
Successful TV presenter dies in a peculiar accident after being awarded. She gets reincarnated in the body of an ant. To reach higher levels at the evolutionary ladder and get a chance to finally reunite with her family she has to collect good karma. Fun, light read.

Textbook finished:
Niemiecki w tłumaczeniach. Gramatyka 3 (B1)
Image
I’m now working my way through the 4th book (B2).
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hedgehog.chess
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Re: A chessplayer learns languages (German for now)

Postby hedgehog.chess » Wed Jul 18, 2018 7:39 am

Last post before I go on holiday. I picked up some short audiobooks, since I didn’t want to left something unfinished before the trip.

Audiobooks listened:

Vollidiot by Tommy Jaud
Quite shallow (sometimes even coarse) thoughts and adventures of a 29-years old single middle-class man. It totally contradicts with my view on life. Anyway, what surprised me is that, for quite a low-end entertainment I didn’t know a lot of words. Added some vulgar expressions to my (passive) vocabulary.

Im Reich der Pubertiere by Jan Weiler
A live comedy performance by the author himself based on the book . The jokes revolve around the troubles of living with a teenagers in adolescence. I didn’t like it at all, the jokes were sometimes forced and were based on clichés. Maybe I would have found it funnier when I would have a kid in similar age. For now I laugh out loud by jokes about babies. I hope the book itself is better.

Kinder sind was Wunderbares: Das muss man sich nur immer wieder sagen-Johann König
Another book dedicated to the miserable fate of a father. And another one stuffed with clichés and predictable jokes. And the unconvincing performance by the author who read the book himself doesn’t help.

Nicht nur zur Weinachtszeit by Heinrich Böll
A story about a woman who suffers a mental breakdown( he shouts for a week) after the Christmas tree collapses. The only way to her vulnerable psyche intact is recreating Christmas eve every day. Very good story, but Böll's style is quite hard.

Book read:

Er ist wieder da by Timur Vermes
A certain A. H. wakes up in modern Berlin. To his astonishment the city which he ordered to be destroyed, still stands. And it contains a surprising amount of people of foreign descent. He wants to regain his power and finds mass-media to be the perfect means to achieve his goal. He then starts his career as comedian in a popular TV show. You have to check yourself what happened next.
Language-wise it was the toughest book I’ve read to date. The sentences are complicated and in some I didn’t know 90% of the words. All in all the author gave himself a lot of trouble to be treated seriously and avoid being accused of having a bad taste. I don’t think it was possible considering the theme he tackled, but he really did his best to make it a highbrow book. A word of warning: Despite what I’ve written some of the jokes are politically incorrect and may hurt someone’s feelings.

Brief summary of a month with German comedy/satire:
I’m satisfied that I was able to grasp the majority of jokes, considering the abstract nature of some of them. My personal favorite is Und Gott sprach: Es werde Jonas by Sebastian Niedlich.

And it’s not true that the Germans have no sense of humor. But it is normal that every nation will find something else funny(except from some universal stuff, like banana peel thing:)) due to cultural differences. But to be honest it wasn’t an obstacle, except for references to some German celebrities, so maybe it not so big of a difference after all. And the level of humor also varies a lot from one author to another. Yep, Captain Obvious strikes again :) I complain about clichés and then use a whole bunch of them myself… Wel,at least you won’t find my name on a book cover.

Next stop: Biographies/Autobiographies
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hedgehog.chess
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Re: A chessplayer learns languages (German for now)

Postby hedgehog.chess » Wed Aug 01, 2018 6:35 pm

Just checking-in to say I survived the most mentally exhausting holiday of my life. To make a long story short our daughter is approaching the age of 2 and can’t handle her emotions well. The temperature approaching 30 degrees Celsius didn't help either. As for language learning I limited myself to SRS (I’m glad I stopped adding new cards for review since about a week before the trip. This way my reviews took only 10 min/day) and reading a book in German. I’m just glad no one suffered a nervous breakdown and I will be back to my normal studying routine starting from tomorrow.
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hedgehog.chess
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Re: Persistence is Key (EN/DE)

Postby hedgehog.chess » Thu Aug 16, 2018 2:02 am

Book read:

Der Mann mit dem Fagott: Roman-Udo Jürgens & Michaela Moritz

With roughly 700 pages it’s easily the longest book I’ve read in German. It’s also one of the best book I’ve ever read. It describes the life of Udo Jürgens, one of the most successful German-speaking singers of all times. It’s not a typical autobiography because besides his own story he tries to tell the story of his family. And what a family it is. His grandfather was a successful businessman in the Russian Empire. After the start of WWI he was suddenly declared an enemy of the state and tried to flee the country with his family. His father was mayor of Ottmanach during the WWII he was hold in prison by the Nazis. One of his uncles Werner Bockelmann was the mayor of Frankfurt, the other one Erwin Bockelmann was a chairman of BP Hamburg. Not to mention the author himself. I don’t seem to be too convincing but it’s really worth reading. Highly absorbing, it really has everything-something to laugh about, passages that will make you stop and think for a while, adventure, you name it.
Audiobook listened:

Sebastian Kurz: Die Biografie-Paul Ronzheimer
Author describes the road to power of the currently youngest prime minister in the world. The main emphasis is being put on the immigration crisis. The book although objective seems to be somewhat critical towards Kurz. And I must say I liked it because I was expecting a Wunderkind story, who achieves everything without much fuss. I also like the conclusion that getting to the peak of political power is only the beginning and the real challenges are still ahead of him.

I‘m also changing the name of this log to something that reflects my approach. And I don’t consider myself a chess player anymore. In fact I decided to sell, and already sold, most of my chess books, magazines etc. It doesn’t make me happy so why bother.
As for the persistence part-that’s probably my biggest asset. I’m not the most talented, but I sure am persistent. And I know this can take me a long way. Of course it’s nothing original, iguanamon holds the copyright I guess. I hope he won’t held a grudge against me for borrowing his slogan:) It just describes my "approach" too good, not to use it.
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StringerBell
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Re: A chessplayer learns languages (German for now)

Postby StringerBell » Thu Aug 16, 2018 2:39 am

hedgehog.chess wrote:The book is aimed at kids so the language is intentionally as simple as possible.


I've enjoyed reading through your log. I'm hoping that since your native language is Polish, you might be able to give me some suggestions. As I was reading through the types of children's/young adult books you've started with, I was thinking, "that's what I should be reading in Polish!" but I'm not sure where to start. Would you be willing to suggest some titles? So far, I've bought an ebook from Empik.pl (the Polish translation of one of my favorite novels, but it's not a children's book, it's a regular adult novel). It's extremely slow-going, and I've put it on the back burner for now. I've been using the resources from Mr.RealPolish (which are awesome) but I'd like to supplement those with some children's books. Any help or ideas you can give are much appreciated, even if it's non-book related (like good websites or youtube channels for articles, news, etc...)

BTW, as I was reading through your log, I could have sworn you were a native English speaker. Your writing is really natural. Only in little spots here and there where you write that you're not sure of a word are the only times when I'm reminded, "Oh wow, this isn't your first language!" I know I will never be able to reach such a proficiency with Polish, but I hope that one day I will at least be able to write well enough to not make people cringe when they read it!
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