Mostly Arabic with Maiwenn

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Maiwenn
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Re: Mostly Arabic with Maiwenn

Postby Maiwenn » Mon Feb 01, 2021 11:11 am

My partner will be away the next few months (boo), so I've decided to take advantage of a sad situation by immersing myself in Arabic. Let's see what some serious MIA can do. For radio streaming, I'm using radio.garden and BBC Arabic. I've also got my trusty membership with Kitab Sawti for audiobook listening. I'll be trying out new dishes from the Arab world (using recipes/videos in Arabic, of course). The original plan was to do one country/month, but that went out the window pretty quickly.

February goals:
*Read حي بن يقظان for book club. This will be my first foray into non-modern Arabic writing. Written in 12th century Andalusia, it's supposedly one of the inspirations for Robinson Crusoe.
*Read 500+ pages total in Arabic
*Daily journaling in Arabic (at least 30 minutes writing every day)
*20 (ideally 24) hours of conversation lessons.

January roundup:
*I missed one day of journaling.
*Read 561 pages in Arabic, 786 in French.
*Finished إجاصة ميلا

I'm apparently reading 9 different books in Arabic at the moment. I suppose I should make it a goal not to add anymore until the number is a bit more reasonable. :D At the very least a "one in one out" policy should be used.
7 x
SC reading: 3819 / 10000 AR
SC reading: 3334 / 5000 FR
SC reading: 65 / 2500 DE :?

Corrections are always welcome. :)

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Maiwenn
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Re: Mostly Arabic with Maiwenn

Postby Maiwenn » Mon Mar 01, 2021 4:27 pm

February thoughts
24.5 hours of conversation lessons was... a lot... especially given that I had 10+ cancellations/rebookings (including 3 no-shows). I think it's probably ultimately more beneficial to me to have 1-2 conversation lessons a week where I prepare/focus on a particular topic. A lot of the lessons ended up being general conversation where I didn't necessarily challenge myself. It'd definitely be more economical to only do 1-2 lessons/week. Still, it was fun to do the italki challenge.

I finished up three books this month:
لا أنام by احسان عبد القدوس Summary: Nadia doesn't like other people having things she doesn't have. She manipulates everyone around her, casually wrecking other people's happiness, and then is shocked when she ends up miserable and alone. I did not enjoy reading this, but I acknowledge that it was masterfully crafted. I was annoyed with Nadia the whole way through.
ساق البامبو (The Bamboo Stalk) by سعود السنعوسي (Saud al-Sanousi) I had initially started reading the abridged version of this by Laila Familiar and was making slow progress due to focusing on doing the accompanying writing exercises. Early this month, I decided to read some of the original version to compare with the abridged version. I ended up skipping over to the original and finishing it. Oops. I really love this book. It's heartbreaking and beautiful. Lots of food for thought. Summary: Jose/عيسى is a the son of a Kuwaiti man and a Filipino woman who had worked in the Kuwaiti grandmother's home. Born in Kuwait, he and his mother are sent away to the Philippines with a promise from the father that Jose/عيسى will return to his country, Kuwait, to his rightful place. ~Things happen. (no spoilers)~ And he eventually returns to Kuwait, where things are not quite as his mother promised. I will eventually go back and reread the beginning of the original version.
رعب رأس السنة (Slappy New Year) by R. L. Stine. Goosebumps. 'nuff said. Fun fact, the translator wrote "!كل عام وأنتم مع سلابي" for "slappy new year!" in the text. (Slappy is a haunted puppet and at this point he is terrorizing a group of kids at a new year party.)

I watched a bunch of Sudanese cooking videos, where I learned the Sudanese word دكوة (pronounced dagwa, basically peanut butter) and the Sudanese pronunciation of water. I made some سخينة (vegan and tasty!) and watched ستموت في العشرين (You Will Die at Twenty).



BEFORE I FORGET (for the zillionth time), I've been doing a lot of reading through https://www.abjjad.com/ . It's a subscription service for $6/month that gives you access to thousands of books in Arabic. I read لا أنام، إجاصة ميلا، and موسم الهجرة إلى الشمال through it, along with other books I'm still making my way through. There are tons of popular books on it. You do have to use their app to read (android or ios) and there's no desktop version, which is annoying at times, but it's definitely a cheaper option if you want to test about a lot of different books. There are a few free books if you want to test out the app without paying. Earlier this year they added an option to look up a dictionary entry and/or google translation on words. Kindle is preferable to me on that score (hello Oxford dictionary), but this is a welcome addition. Also annoying is that your reading is not shared across devices. I have the app installed on my phone and on a tablet. If I read on one, my progress is not saved on the other. Similarly, and notes/highlights you make are not saved (if you remove the book from your device, all that is lost foreverrrrr).

February Recap
*read 715 pages in Arabic, 162 in French
*finished 3 books in Arabic (but not حي بن يقظان, I got halfway through and decided I didn't feel like finishing it)
*wrote in Arabic every day (but not necessarily 30 minutes)
*24.5 hours of conversation lessons blablabla

March Goals
*keep it up readingwise
*write in Arabic at least 30 minutes/day (TIMED)
*do more recordings for the output challenge

OH!!! And Morocco has a version of Best British Bakeoff out this year: أحسن pِâtissier. I've been watching it live Tuesday evenings on the 2mtv app. It's fun. 2m hasn't put their episodes up on youtube, but, um, you can find them there anyway.

Here's a teaser (including a guy who I've either erased from my memory or was erased from the show):


Lastly, the Gibert Jeune bookstores at the Place Saint-Michel in Paris are closing. The language bookstore was my absolute favorite. I went there when I was 16 during a month in Paris to buy my textbooks and abridged copies of Thérèse Raquin, Une Vie, and Lettres de Madame de Sevigné (with CASSETTES hahaha). A decade later, I went and bought Assimil Arabic there shortly after meeting my partner and thus began my Arabic learning journey. I always pass(ed) by Gibert Jeune when in Paris to check what deals they might have from used books (I have so many books with a yellow sticker on the spine designating it was a used copy purchased there). I will hopefully be going to Paris this month (but that depends on a lot of things out of my control) and will do a last goodbye visit.
6 x
SC reading: 3819 / 10000 AR
SC reading: 3334 / 5000 FR
SC reading: 65 / 2500 DE :?

Corrections are always welcome. :)

kundalini
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Re: Mostly Arabic with Maiwenn

Postby kundalini » Mon Mar 01, 2021 8:37 pm

Maiwenn wrote:Lastly, the Gibert Jeune bookstores at the Place Saint-Michel in Paris are closing. The language bookstore was my absolute favorite. I went there when I was 16 during a month in Paris to buy my textbooks and abridged copies of Thérèse Raquin, Une Vie, and Lettres de Madame de Sevigné (with CASSETTES hahaha). A decade later, I went and bought Assimil Arabic there shortly after meeting my partner and thus began my Arabic learning journey. I always pass(ed) by Gibert Jeune when in Paris to check what deals they might have from used books (I have so many books with a yellow sticker on the spine designating it was a used copy purchased there). I will hopefully be going to Paris this month (but that depends on a lot of things out of my control) and will do a last goodbye visit.


Very sad to hear that Gibert Jeune bookstores are closing. I absolutely fell in love with the bookstore when I went during a visit to Paris a few years ago. Multiple buildings stacked from top to bottom with used books! Entire floors dedicated to foreign language books! I, too, picked up a couple of Assimil books, and a few others as well when I went, but all too few. I entertained visions of returning to Gibert Jeune in a future visit to Paris, but I guess that won't come to pass.
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Re: Mostly Arabic with Maiwenn

Postby cjareck » Mon Mar 01, 2021 11:03 pm

I wouldn't know, but when I read about a yellow spine, I remembered something. And yes, Hausen's "Souvenirs de la Campagne de la Marne en 1914" with a preface from Charles Mangin has such a spine. I've bought it in Gibert Jeune when I was in Paris in about 2003. I'm pretty sure that I've bought there a book on the battle of Verdun also...
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Listening: 1+ (83% content, 90% linguistic)
Reading: 1 (83% content, 90% linguistic)


MSA DLI : 30 / 141ESKK : 18 / 40


Mandarin Assimil : 62 / 105

DaveAgain
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Re: Mostly Arabic with Maiwenn

Postby DaveAgain » Tue Mar 02, 2021 8:10 am

kundalini wrote: I entertained visions of returning to Gibert Jeune in a future visit to Paris, but I guess that won't come to pass.
Their Facebook page stresses that the company isn't closing, just a branch.
Parisiennes, Parisiens,
Merci pour vos messages de soutien !

La plus grande Libraire Gibert du quartier Latin ne ferme pas !
La librairie Gibert du Boulevard Saint Michel et ses 400 000 références est toujours là, au cœur du quartier latin. Et Gibert reste présent à Barbès, à Grande Bibliothèque, à Nation au sein de Printemps, sur la rive droite Boulevard Saint-Denis.

Ce que vous avez appris hier dans l’article du journal Le Monde, c’est le projet de fermeture de la libraire Gibert Jeune de la Place Saint-Michel qui marque effectivement un tournant dans l’histoire de Gibert Joseph/Gibert Jeune.

Nous savons combien vous êtes attachés à notre enseigne.
Gibert est une grande librairie, nous entendons le rester.

Gibert, c’est aussi des librairies installées en région, un site internet, une application.
Maintenant, sans vous, Gibert, ce n’est rien.

Notre combat de tous les jours est de continuer à vous apporter ce qui vous fait venir chez nous, des livres neufs, de l’occasion, des conseils, des coups de coeurs, des disques, des événements, de la culture, de la papeterie, du choix, de la passion.

Nous vous ferons savoir au fur et à mesure comment nous avançons et espérons que vous continuerez à nous accompagner dans cette formidable aventure, qui est bien celle de la culture, de la librairie indépendante, et surtout, celle du livre.

En attendant, vous pouvez nous suivre sur les réseaux sociaux, ou passer dire bonjour à nos libraires.

Quel que soit cet endroit, nous serons heureux de vous y retrouver.

« On vous attend »
Gibert

https://fr-fr.facebook.com/GibertOffici ... 860785803/
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Maiwenn
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Re: Mostly Arabic with Maiwenn

Postby Maiwenn » Tue Mar 02, 2021 9:32 am

Thank you DaveAgain! I should have been more clear that it was the bookstores at Place Saint Michel only that were closing (in particular the langues/V.O. store which is the one that was really special to me). I'll figure out where they move that section to and make my pilgrimage there. ;)

https://actualitte.com/article/98929/li ... ont-fermer

Quatre librairies de l'enseigne Gibert Jeune, situées place Saint-Michel à Paris, vont fermer leurs portes, consécutivement à un plan de sauvegarde de l'emploi (PSE) qui concerne 71 salariés du groupe. Les magasins du numéro 27 et du numéro 23 du quai Saint-Michel restent ouverts, ainsi que l'autre adresse parisienne, boulevard Saint-Denis.
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SC reading: 3819 / 10000 AR
SC reading: 3334 / 5000 FR
SC reading: 65 / 2500 DE :?

Corrections are always welcome. :)

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Re: Mostly Arabic with Maiwenn

Postby Cavesa » Tue Mar 02, 2021 1:05 pm

Oh NO! :-( The bookstores have been severely hit during the last year. A certain decline had been going on for some time, but the last year has really destroyed everything. The whole concept of going to bookstore and seeing many options to choose from, and encountering something by chance, is in peril.

When I moved to France, I hoped I'd get closer to such bookstores, like the GJ. Well, there came the travelling restrictions, and the everyday reality. I lived in a dumb culture-less village (officially a town, but not really), where people went for everything to nearby Germany, and vast majority didn't really demand much of culture in their everyday lives. But a German bookstore is useless to someone in love with the French books, and of limited use to a language learner wanting more than just German.

The bookstores in Nancy and Strasbourg were much better, but still extremely poor in the eyes of a language learner, and not too great for a fantasy/scifi lover either (pretty good at this compared to the small town bookstore, but still nowhere near GJ). Even the medical books sections are very poor nowadays these days, you are supposed to just buy online exactly what you were told somewhere, no option to just accidentally find something awesome you were not aware of. I did that all the time during my Erasmus in Bordeaux (moving all the books back was a challenge :-D ). No idea whether Bordeaux is really so much bigger, but my favourite bookstore definitely was much bigger and better. But it is also possible, that all the bookstores were different five years ago than now, after a year of pandemia

And now in Belgium, I am again rather disappointed. Even the bookstores in Brussels are rather disappointing, I had sort of hoped to find an equivalent of the GJ, as Brussels is the capital of Europe. Wrong. There are nice bookstores, sure, but they are mostly out of touch with all of my primary interests.

My last visits to Prague showed the same decline btw. It is a much wider spread phenomenon. But it will be worse in Prague and the rest of the coutry, as the government is much worse, and therefore the whole economy of the country is gonna be destroyed. People stop buying books, when they struggle to pay their rent.

So, I was looking so much to going to Paris after the pandemic precautions. To the museums and the GJ :-( And I don't know what I'll find.

Sorry about the bookstore situation rant, but it seems relevant to what is being discussed, and I'd be interested in hearing about other places. Perhaps I am too much of a pessimist and you see better bookstores in your area, and could share some hope.
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Maiwenn
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Re: Mostly Arabic with Maiwenn

Postby Maiwenn » Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:35 pm

FREE Arab(ic) Movies
For those of us in France learning/interested in Arabic, check out https://www.festivalscope.com/page/pcmm ... en-orient/ . You can stream the movies and documentaries for free with sign up! I watched 200 Mètres and it was very good (if heartbreaking). It runs through April 11th.

For everyone everywhere, aflamuna.online (<-- that is indeed the url) is streaming a new Arab(ic) film every week and featuring another every month.

Well, I didn't end up visiting Gibert Jeune. For one thing, the ones in Place St Michel had already closed prior to my scheduled trip. For another, Île-de-France is now under confinement so I never made it to Paris.

Re: bookstores in my town.
There is one that I've been fairly impressed with. It is more high-brow rather than selling sci-fi/fantasy/etc. There is another bookstore that does have some of that, but the section is more targeted to children/young adults (and is mostly French translations). There's not a university per se here, so things like medical textbooks are definitely lacking. The public library has a decent selection. That said, none of them come close to the giant beauty of a bookstore I grew up with. I think attractive, inviting libraries and bookstores are important for getting children excited about reading. Partner and I will be moving back to Alsace this summer and I'm definitely looking forward to rejoining the Strasbourg library system. (They actually have a number of books in Arabic! And you can borrow books from the neighboring German library in Kehl!) Books books books!
6 x
SC reading: 3819 / 10000 AR
SC reading: 3334 / 5000 FR
SC reading: 65 / 2500 DE :?

Corrections are always welcome. :)

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Maiwenn
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Re: Mostly Arabic with Maiwenn

Postby Maiwenn » Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:35 pm

بريد الليل by هدى بركات
Six intersecting stories written in the form of letters which have not reached their intended destination (and perhaps never will). There is a deep sense of longing, regret, and disconnect that permeates this novel. It takes place in an unnamed Arab country (or countries)/Europe/Canada.
ستشرق الشمس ولو بعد حين by تغريد النجار
This YA novel follows the journey of a young Syrian girl as her life is completely turned upside-down by the "situation" in Syria. It's hopeful, but also filled with some of the cruel realties of war.
Les Jango (الجنقو مسامير الأرض) by عبد العزيز بركة ساكن (Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin) translated by Xavier Luffin
Delightful look into a Sudanese town near the Ethiopian border. I'm not sure if there's an overarching story, but there are amazing character sketches and glimpses into their lives.

March Recap
*Read 600+ pages in Arabic, read 300+ in French (haven't done final tallies yet)
*(Started and) Finished بريد الليل by هدى بركات
*(Started and) Finished ستشرق الشمس ولو بعد حين by تغريد النجار (FINALLY. I had started reading it... a couple years ago. Enough time had passed that I decided I should probably start over. This was a nice confidence boost, because I could see how much my reading comprehension had improved thanks to all the vocab notes I made the first time.)
*Wrote every day, but not the timed 30 minutes.
*Did a reasonable number of italki lessons.
*Finished reading Les Jango, French translation of الجنقو مسامير الأرض by Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin, translated by Xavier Luffin.

I took a week off from reading while doing some house-hunting/staying with friends. It has been a struggle to get back into the reading mode.

April Goals
*Finals.
*Post-finals, I will give myself the reading challenge of attempting to read a whole book in Arabic in one day. (It will be a short book hahaha.)
*Write at least 200 words in Arabic every day. (This will also get me to do my word counts in a timely manner.... I have such a backlog I need to count up for the output challenge....)
*Survive the third lockdown in France and take full advantage of the 10km radius we have.

[EDIT 03/04 Les Jangos --> Les Jango]
Last edited by Maiwenn on Sat Apr 03, 2021 11:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
5 x
SC reading: 3819 / 10000 AR
SC reading: 3334 / 5000 FR
SC reading: 65 / 2500 DE :?

Corrections are always welcome. :)

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Re: Mostly Arabic with Maiwenn

Postby jimmy » Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:50 pm

hi @maiwenn haha very nice to see you are flying amongst all of those books :) :) :) (I appreciate ,also congratulate your this manner)
yes , definitely nice also to see your wordings :)

to be honest , I do not read textbooks / books these days, but I read somethings on the net instead.

do you know ,I do not think that you were not in the correct way.
because these days I have a very well ordered problem causing by working so long times cross the screen ,sitting on the chair. (sometimes I work 17 hours without break haha :) : ) that is really pleasure but these days unfortunately I have had back and neck pains.
I went to doctor today. she said that it was not important but really sometimes pains are severe.

anyway,I was trying to understand this webpage : https://journals.openedition.org/insaniyat/3692?lang=ar

maybe , taking the written pages of text materials on the net be good idea (reading them)
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