MONDAY, 19 MARCH 2018
Okay, it has been St. Patrick's Weekend and I honoured the patron of the Irish with a good Irish stew, some pints of Guinness, and listening to some Raidió na Gaeltachta on Saturday. This unfortunately resulted in a hangover on Sunday, but I got some studying done nevertheless. All in all, it was quite a fun weekend, but yesterday evening I was very tired and I still was quite moody today. Well, I also blame it on the weather, 'cause it's freezing cold and there's no trace of spring visible.
Gaeilge
As I said, I listened to Ardtráthnóna on RnaG. My listening comprehension apparently has improved, although I haven't done any Irish in quite some time. The programme was about Irish courses in Germany, most interestingly! I once more noticed how beautiful Irish is and how much I love it. I should really be doing more with it, but alas! I only have so much time available.
Ἑλληνική
And I'm on lesson 40. Greek with Kairós is still going pretty smoothly. I love the language and I can still apply a lot of prior knowledge from my studies with Reading Greek. This lesson's topic is predicative participles and cardinal numbers from 1 to 12.
עברית
I moved on to lesson 43, which deals with the hif'il, another verbal stem. The hif'il has mostly a causative meaning, which can be similar to that of the pi'el in some instances. In any case, it mostly conveys the idea of "making someone do something" or "letting s.o. do s.th.". For smoother translations, other verbs should be used though.
संस्कृतम्
Okay, some news on the Sanskrit front! First of all, I've already worked through this week's material, so no delay this time. I dealt with the external sandhi for consonants, which isn't as bad as it looks at first glance. There are some weird things happening, like n turning into ṃs, ṃṣ, or ṃś, depending on the following sound, but that's about the worst I've seen. More problematic, to my mind, is that sandhied words are written together, so word boundaries start to blur. This will probably even get worse, as there is more external sandhi to come in future chapters.
Second, however, I've found out there is a new German-based Sanskrit textbook available, which I ordered immediately. It's called Grundkurs Sanskrit - Einführung in die Sprache der altindischen Erzählliteratur by Felix Otter and has very good reviews on Amazon. I'll definitely check it out as soon as I receive it, which will hopefully be tomorrow.
I'm very excited about this! The Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit is an excellent resource, but it never hurts to use different approaches and as many good resources as possible.
ግዕዝ
Still no Ge'ez. I don't even know if I can technically say I'm dabbling in it right now. I have the books, but I just don't get to use them. I'm much too occupied with my other languages!
Josquin's Classical Log - Graeca non leguntur
-
Josquin
- Blue Belt
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- Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=737
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Re: Josquin's Classical Log - Graeca non leguntur
6 x
Oró, sé do bheatha abhaile! Anois ar theacht an tsamhraidh.
-
renaissancemedici
- Orange Belt
- Posts: 198
- Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2018 6:41 am
- Location: Athens, Greece
- Languages: Greek (N), English (C2), French (B2), Italian (A2), German (beginner)
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- x 381
Re: Josquin's Classical Log - Graeca non leguntur
I hope you don't mind if I post a song on your log.
It's a poem by Sappho, put in music by Hadjidakis and sung by Venetsanou (a good combination altogether!). From a cycle of songs called Ο Μεγάλος Ερωτικός (originally sung by Dandonaki). It's in the original language, with modern pronunciation of course. It's a difficult text because not only is it old, but it is not attic classical Greek people study. You might like it.
It's a poem by Sappho, put in music by Hadjidakis and sung by Venetsanou (a good combination altogether!). From a cycle of songs called Ο Μεγάλος Ερωτικός (originally sung by Dandonaki). It's in the original language, with modern pronunciation of course. It's a difficult text because not only is it old, but it is not attic classical Greek people study. You might like it.
6 x
I use Assimil right now as a starting point, but at the same time I am building the foundation for further studies of German.
Assimil German with ease:
Assimil German with ease:
-
Josquin
- Blue Belt
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- Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 2:38 pm
- Location: Germany
- Languages: German (native); English (advanced fluency); French (basic fluency); Italian, Swedish, Russian, Irish (intermediate); Dutch, Icelandic, Japanese, Portuguese, Scottish Gaelic (beginner); Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Sanskrit (reading only)
- Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=737
- x 1764
Re: Josquin's Classical Log - Graeca non leguntur
Ευχαριστώ, μου αρέσει πολύ!
I must admit I hardly understood a word, but I liked the song very much. Beautiful. Thank you!
I must admit I hardly understood a word, but I liked the song very much. Beautiful. Thank you!
1 x
Oró, sé do bheatha abhaile! Anois ar theacht an tsamhraidh.
-
Josquin
- Blue Belt
- Posts: 646
- Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 2:38 pm
- Location: Germany
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- Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=737
- x 1764
Re: Josquin's Classical Log - Graeca non leguntur
SATURDAY, 31 MARCH 2018
Okay, this will be a rather quick Easter update. I haven't been too diligent for the last two weeks, as I've mainly been busy with other stuff, especially a rehearsal weekend of my choir and my Easter vacation. I've taken my books with me, however, so, maybe, I'll be able to get some studying done next week.
Gaeilge
Tada - nothing!
Ἑλληνική
Still working on unit 40 in Kairós, although I've already progressed to the repetition unit that follows it. My vocabulary is still pretty shaky, but the grammar points are quite clear to me. It shouldn't take me too long, maybe one more repetition of the text, before I can move on to the next lesson.
עברית
Still working on lesson 43 in Lehrbuch Bibel-Hebräisch and verbs in the hif'il. Once more, it's not especially difficult to grasp the concept per se, but to memorize the paradigms. I must admit I absolutely can't tell verbs in the imperfect apart, because the rules are too confusing. I'm glad when I can recognize a verb and maybe what binyan it belongs to, but I really don't know the vocalization patterns by heart.
The readings are also getting more difficult as Lambdin offers unaltered excerpts from the Bible now, which he has only annotated with footnotes. This is getting tricky!
संस्कृतम्
The most I've done the last two weeks was for Sanskrit, although the online course is progressing rather slowly now. Consonant sandhi is dealt with very extensively, so this week is only intended for the exercises and readings of chapter 11. I've gone through the exercises already, as they mainly consisted of applying and untangling consonant sandhi. Not very challenging! What I need is practice sentences with sandhied words, so I can practise recognizing and reading them.
However, this unit offers no practice sentences at all. Instead, there are once again several readings from Sanskrit literature, which are a bit too difficult for my taste. Well, I'll have to live with it, especially as the Grundkurs Sanskrit that I ordered recently doesn't seem to be a superior alternative to The Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit. I'll probably use it as a supplement to the CIS, but I'll keep working with the latter as my primary resource.
ግዕዝ
Still no Ge'ez! I haven't even taken my Ge'ez books with me. But maybe it's better this way: Studying two Semitic languages simultaneously might only confuse me. I'll have a look at Ge'ez later, as soon as I've consolidated my knowledge of Hebrew.
To all of you: Happy Easter!
Χριστὸς ἀνέστη, ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη!
Okay, this will be a rather quick Easter update. I haven't been too diligent for the last two weeks, as I've mainly been busy with other stuff, especially a rehearsal weekend of my choir and my Easter vacation. I've taken my books with me, however, so, maybe, I'll be able to get some studying done next week.
Gaeilge
Tada - nothing!
Ἑλληνική
Still working on unit 40 in Kairós, although I've already progressed to the repetition unit that follows it. My vocabulary is still pretty shaky, but the grammar points are quite clear to me. It shouldn't take me too long, maybe one more repetition of the text, before I can move on to the next lesson.
עברית
Still working on lesson 43 in Lehrbuch Bibel-Hebräisch and verbs in the hif'il. Once more, it's not especially difficult to grasp the concept per se, but to memorize the paradigms. I must admit I absolutely can't tell verbs in the imperfect apart, because the rules are too confusing. I'm glad when I can recognize a verb and maybe what binyan it belongs to, but I really don't know the vocalization patterns by heart.
The readings are also getting more difficult as Lambdin offers unaltered excerpts from the Bible now, which he has only annotated with footnotes. This is getting tricky!
संस्कृतम्
The most I've done the last two weeks was for Sanskrit, although the online course is progressing rather slowly now. Consonant sandhi is dealt with very extensively, so this week is only intended for the exercises and readings of chapter 11. I've gone through the exercises already, as they mainly consisted of applying and untangling consonant sandhi. Not very challenging! What I need is practice sentences with sandhied words, so I can practise recognizing and reading them.
However, this unit offers no practice sentences at all. Instead, there are once again several readings from Sanskrit literature, which are a bit too difficult for my taste. Well, I'll have to live with it, especially as the Grundkurs Sanskrit that I ordered recently doesn't seem to be a superior alternative to The Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit. I'll probably use it as a supplement to the CIS, but I'll keep working with the latter as my primary resource.
ግዕዝ
Still no Ge'ez! I haven't even taken my Ge'ez books with me. But maybe it's better this way: Studying two Semitic languages simultaneously might only confuse me. I'll have a look at Ge'ez later, as soon as I've consolidated my knowledge of Hebrew.
To all of you: Happy Easter!
Χριστὸς ἀνέστη, ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη!
4 x
Oró, sé do bheatha abhaile! Anois ar theacht an tsamhraidh.
-
Josquin
- Blue Belt
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- Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 2:38 pm
- Location: Germany
- Languages: German (native); English (advanced fluency); French (basic fluency); Italian, Swedish, Russian, Irish (intermediate); Dutch, Icelandic, Japanese, Portuguese, Scottish Gaelic (beginner); Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Sanskrit (reading only)
- Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=737
- x 1764
Re: Josquin's Classical Log - Graeca non leguntur
WEDNESDAY, 11 APRIL 2018
Okay, this will be a quick update. I spent the past two weeks at my family's place in western Germany and then went to Berlin for the weekend. I had a lovely time walking "Unter den Linden", shopping at Dussmann's, eating delicious Vietnamese and Indian food, and celebrating Greek-Orthodox Easter with some friends.
Once again, I heard the traditional Greek Paschal greeting: "Χριστός ἀνέστη!" - "Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη!", which means "Christ is risen (from the dead)!" - "Indeed, He is risen!" This means I got to practise my Greek a little bit.
Also, I discovered two excellent cafes and had one of the best pizzas in my entire life.
All of this is to say I didn't have much time to spend on languages, but I made some progress nevertheless. Here's what I did:
Ἑλληνική
I finished lesson 40 and the repetition unit and moved on to lesson 41. It's a short story by Hesiod that's not too difficult to understand. The grammar topic is third declension sigma (σ) stems. They are a little bit more complicated than other third declension paradigms, because intervocalic sigma often disappears and the surrounding vowels merge. This creates forms like γένη, which is the plural of γένος and comes from γένε-σ-α > γένε-α > γένη. Still, I like Greek very much and don't find it too demanding yet.
עברית
I finished unit 43 in the Lambdin textbook. The topic was the introduction of hif'il stems and the continuation of the story of Moses and the burning bush. I'm getting better at Hebrew, but I still have problems with my vocabulary. I could read the reading excerpt quite fluently though. Some turns of phrase are still a little bit strange to me, but mostly I get the gist of the text upon reading it for the first time.
संस्कृतम्
I have mainly been busy with Sanskrit again. I finished the readings of chapter 11 and started working on chapter 12. This chapter deals with two verbal tenses at the same time, namely the imperfect indicative and the present potential. Both tenses mostly share the same endings, so it makes sense introducing them at the same time although their meaning is very different.
The imperfect in Sanskrit very much works like the imperfect in Ancient Greek, which is no surprise given that both are ancient Indo-European languages. However, Sanskrit is a little bit more sophisticated, because it has complete singular, plural, and dual paradigms and the augment can merge with a preverb according to the rules of internal sandhi. The potential is very similar to the Latin subjunctive. I can't say anything about Greek here, because I haven't dealt with the Greek subjunctive and optative yet.
Anyway, I very much enjoy the readings from original Sanskrit literature. Although a lot of annotations are needed, so a beginner can understand and translate them, they are real gems of interesting literature. I've got to like Sanskrit very much by now and will probably continue studying it after completing the CIS. I have already bought Lanman's Sanskrit Reader and I will also work through Grundkurs Sanskrit and maybe even Assimil Sanskrit.
The latter might be interesting because it comes with audio recordings, so I might get a better feeling for accurate pronunciation. At the moment, I don't really differentiate between dental and retroflex or aspirated and unaspirated consonants, so recordings of native Sanskrit speakers (yes, they exist!) might come in handy.
Okay, this will be a quick update. I spent the past two weeks at my family's place in western Germany and then went to Berlin for the weekend. I had a lovely time walking "Unter den Linden", shopping at Dussmann's, eating delicious Vietnamese and Indian food, and celebrating Greek-Orthodox Easter with some friends.
Once again, I heard the traditional Greek Paschal greeting: "Χριστός ἀνέστη!" - "Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη!", which means "Christ is risen (from the dead)!" - "Indeed, He is risen!" This means I got to practise my Greek a little bit.
Also, I discovered two excellent cafes and had one of the best pizzas in my entire life.All of this is to say I didn't have much time to spend on languages, but I made some progress nevertheless. Here's what I did:
Ἑλληνική
I finished lesson 40 and the repetition unit and moved on to lesson 41. It's a short story by Hesiod that's not too difficult to understand. The grammar topic is third declension sigma (σ) stems. They are a little bit more complicated than other third declension paradigms, because intervocalic sigma often disappears and the surrounding vowels merge. This creates forms like γένη, which is the plural of γένος and comes from γένε-σ-α > γένε-α > γένη. Still, I like Greek very much and don't find it too demanding yet.
עברית
I finished unit 43 in the Lambdin textbook. The topic was the introduction of hif'il stems and the continuation of the story of Moses and the burning bush. I'm getting better at Hebrew, but I still have problems with my vocabulary. I could read the reading excerpt quite fluently though. Some turns of phrase are still a little bit strange to me, but mostly I get the gist of the text upon reading it for the first time.
संस्कृतम्
I have mainly been busy with Sanskrit again. I finished the readings of chapter 11 and started working on chapter 12. This chapter deals with two verbal tenses at the same time, namely the imperfect indicative and the present potential. Both tenses mostly share the same endings, so it makes sense introducing them at the same time although their meaning is very different.
The imperfect in Sanskrit very much works like the imperfect in Ancient Greek, which is no surprise given that both are ancient Indo-European languages. However, Sanskrit is a little bit more sophisticated, because it has complete singular, plural, and dual paradigms and the augment can merge with a preverb according to the rules of internal sandhi. The potential is very similar to the Latin subjunctive. I can't say anything about Greek here, because I haven't dealt with the Greek subjunctive and optative yet.
Anyway, I very much enjoy the readings from original Sanskrit literature. Although a lot of annotations are needed, so a beginner can understand and translate them, they are real gems of interesting literature. I've got to like Sanskrit very much by now and will probably continue studying it after completing the CIS. I have already bought Lanman's Sanskrit Reader and I will also work through Grundkurs Sanskrit and maybe even Assimil Sanskrit.
The latter might be interesting because it comes with audio recordings, so I might get a better feeling for accurate pronunciation. At the moment, I don't really differentiate between dental and retroflex or aspirated and unaspirated consonants, so recordings of native Sanskrit speakers (yes, they exist!) might come in handy.
7 x
Oró, sé do bheatha abhaile! Anois ar theacht an tsamhraidh.
-
Josquin
- Blue Belt
- Posts: 646
- Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 2:38 pm
- Location: Germany
- Languages: German (native); English (advanced fluency); French (basic fluency); Italian, Swedish, Russian, Irish (intermediate); Dutch, Icelandic, Japanese, Portuguese, Scottish Gaelic (beginner); Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Sanskrit (reading only)
- Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=737
- x 1764
Re: Josquin's Classical Log - Graeca non leguntur
SUNDAY, 15 APRIL 2018
One more update for this week. I've mainly been busy with Ancient Greek and Sanskrit and put Hebrew more or less on hold. I'm absolutely falling in love with Greek and Sanskrit. I can hardly remember being this enthused about any language for a long time!
Not only do I enjoy the beauty of the languages, but also the cultures and literatures they represent. Although I have dealt with Ancient Greek philosophy and mythology a little bit, I used to know next to nothing about ancient India or Sanskrit literature, so I'm discovering a treasure trove of interesting literature right now and also a fascinating culture.
Superfluous to say that Sanskrit is a very beautiful language that's really captured me. Well, at the bottom of my heart, I am an Indo-European comparative philologer, so this is where I belong language-wise. Hebrew is also very interesting, but it doesn't thrill me the way Sanskrit and Greek do, so I'm not sure whether to continue studying Hebrew or rather concentrate on the former two. Well, one thing is for sure, Ge'ez is out of the picture for now.
Ἑλληνική
I have finished lesson 41 in Kairós now. While sigma stem nouns aren't very difficult, sigma stem adjectives are a tougher nut to crack, especially if they're combined with a- and o-declension nouns. The endings are still a bit counterintuitive and will take a little time to get used to, but other than that I'm fine with the grammar.
Lesson 42 will introduce the weak aorist passive. I have already gone through the grammar section and it doesn't strike me as very complicated. The aorist passive has the tense sign -θη- instead of the -σα- of the active voice. This leads to a little bit of complication with verbs ending in certain consonants, but otherwise it's pretty straightforward.
The strong aorist seems to be a little bit more complicated (no wonder!), but it won't be dealt with until unit 43.
I have ordered an annotated pupils' edition of the Iliad in the original Greek. I'm watching Troy - Fall of a City on Netflix right now and I'm enjoying it enormously. It has been my goal to read Homer in the original for a long time, so this is another incentive. I know it will still take some time till I'm there, but it never hurts to have the books. Yes, I'm a resource hoarder!
संस्कृतम्
As I said, I'm absolutely falling in love with Sanskrit. This language is so beautiful, nuanced, and interesting that I'm really excited about it! After memorizing the imperfect indicative and the present potential paradigms last week, I have now moved on to the exercises and the readings of chapter 12. The exercises went pretty smoothly, including the translations, and I'm even coming to terms with external consonant sandhi. It's not half as complicated as it looked like in the beginning. But there is more external sandhi to come, so I should be cautious saying something like that.
Tomorrow, I'll be able to collect my copy of Assimil Sanskrit from the post office. I'm very excited about it. I especially hope the recordings are any good. Otherwise, the CIS is an excellent resource - especially in combination with the online course -, but I miss a kind of "voice" that goes with the language. I have my own pronunciation in my head, but I don't know how accurate it is.
In the future, I'd like to read classical Sanskrit literature, such as the Mahābhārata, the Bhagavad-Gītā (which is an excerpt from the former), the Pañcatantra, the play Śakuntala, and so on. It should be very stimulating, if challenging, to read all of them in the original!
One more update for this week. I've mainly been busy with Ancient Greek and Sanskrit and put Hebrew more or less on hold. I'm absolutely falling in love with Greek and Sanskrit. I can hardly remember being this enthused about any language for a long time!
Not only do I enjoy the beauty of the languages, but also the cultures and literatures they represent. Although I have dealt with Ancient Greek philosophy and mythology a little bit, I used to know next to nothing about ancient India or Sanskrit literature, so I'm discovering a treasure trove of interesting literature right now and also a fascinating culture.
Superfluous to say that Sanskrit is a very beautiful language that's really captured me. Well, at the bottom of my heart, I am an Indo-European comparative philologer, so this is where I belong language-wise. Hebrew is also very interesting, but it doesn't thrill me the way Sanskrit and Greek do, so I'm not sure whether to continue studying Hebrew or rather concentrate on the former two. Well, one thing is for sure, Ge'ez is out of the picture for now.
Ἑλληνική
I have finished lesson 41 in Kairós now. While sigma stem nouns aren't very difficult, sigma stem adjectives are a tougher nut to crack, especially if they're combined with a- and o-declension nouns. The endings are still a bit counterintuitive and will take a little time to get used to, but other than that I'm fine with the grammar.
Lesson 42 will introduce the weak aorist passive. I have already gone through the grammar section and it doesn't strike me as very complicated. The aorist passive has the tense sign -θη- instead of the -σα- of the active voice. This leads to a little bit of complication with verbs ending in certain consonants, but otherwise it's pretty straightforward.
The strong aorist seems to be a little bit more complicated (no wonder!), but it won't be dealt with until unit 43.
I have ordered an annotated pupils' edition of the Iliad in the original Greek. I'm watching Troy - Fall of a City on Netflix right now and I'm enjoying it enormously. It has been my goal to read Homer in the original for a long time, so this is another incentive. I know it will still take some time till I'm there, but it never hurts to have the books. Yes, I'm a resource hoarder!
संस्कृतम्
As I said, I'm absolutely falling in love with Sanskrit. This language is so beautiful, nuanced, and interesting that I'm really excited about it! After memorizing the imperfect indicative and the present potential paradigms last week, I have now moved on to the exercises and the readings of chapter 12. The exercises went pretty smoothly, including the translations, and I'm even coming to terms with external consonant sandhi. It's not half as complicated as it looked like in the beginning. But there is more external sandhi to come, so I should be cautious saying something like that.
Tomorrow, I'll be able to collect my copy of Assimil Sanskrit from the post office. I'm very excited about it. I especially hope the recordings are any good. Otherwise, the CIS is an excellent resource - especially in combination with the online course -, but I miss a kind of "voice" that goes with the language. I have my own pronunciation in my head, but I don't know how accurate it is.
In the future, I'd like to read classical Sanskrit literature, such as the Mahābhārata, the Bhagavad-Gītā (which is an excerpt from the former), the Pañcatantra, the play Śakuntala, and so on. It should be very stimulating, if challenging, to read all of them in the original!
10 x
Oró, sé do bheatha abhaile! Anois ar theacht an tsamhraidh.
-
renaissancemedici
- Orange Belt
- Posts: 198
- Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2018 6:41 am
- Location: Athens, Greece
- Languages: Greek (N), English (C2), French (B2), Italian (A2), German (beginner)
- Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 25#p100832
- x 381
Re: Josquin's Classical Log - Graeca non leguntur
Good luck with your Homer plan. You put me to shame!
1 x
I use Assimil right now as a starting point, but at the same time I am building the foundation for further studies of German.
Assimil German with ease:
Assimil German with ease:
-
Josquin
- Blue Belt
- Posts: 646
- Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 2:38 pm
- Location: Germany
- Languages: German (native); English (advanced fluency); French (basic fluency); Italian, Swedish, Russian, Irish (intermediate); Dutch, Icelandic, Japanese, Portuguese, Scottish Gaelic (beginner); Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Sanskrit (reading only)
- Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=737
- x 1764
Re: Josquin's Classical Log - Graeca non leguntur
WEDNESDAY, 18 APRIL 2018
@renaissancemedici: Thank you! Well, we'll see about that. I have the books now, but that doesn't mean I will start working on them soon. First I have to complete both volumes of Kairós and also Reading Greek. Only then will I be able to dive into native materials, i.e. original Ancient Greek literature. But maybe you would like to join my Homer reading group once I start it.
Other than that, I have some news. No, it's still not the big news I have been announcing for months now, but it's good news nevertheless. I decided to put Hebrew on hold and get back to Japanese. I quit studying Japanese a few years ago (I honestly don't remember when it was exactly and I'm too lazy to look it up now) after completing both volumes of Genki and now I would like to resume my studies.
I have wanted to get back to Japanese for some time now, but never had the time nor motivation. Now that I've given up Hebrew for the time being, I can concentrate on a different language again. And it might not be the worst thing that this is a living language amidst my all-classical language portfolio.
日本語
Anyway, I'll have to repeat both volumes of Genki before I can move on to Tobira. I still speak and understand some Japanese, but it's got very rusty and there are holes in my vocab and my grammar. Let alone kanji! Anyway, now is the time to polish all of this up again.
頑張ります！
संस्कृतम्
Also, I have recieved my copy of Assimil Sanskrit and I'm excited about it. Thus far, I've done the first five lessons and it's very easy and pleasant. I especially like the recordings although they differ from my way of pronunciation quite a bit. Well, I'll try to get used to it and emulate them as closely as possible. It's a totally different way of learning than with the CIS. I hardly dare to say it, but Assimil is really fun!
I should probably say that I have been an Assimil scepitc for quite some time and never really understood the hype about it. However, the Sanskrit course seems to be excellent and I totally start to see why people love Assimil this much. It really eases you into the language. I'm pleasantly surprised!
To be honest, I'm thinking about giving Assimil a shot for other languages as well. There are courses for Ancient Greek and Ancient Egyptian that are really tempting me now!
@renaissancemedici: Thank you! Well, we'll see about that. I have the books now, but that doesn't mean I will start working on them soon. First I have to complete both volumes of Kairós and also Reading Greek. Only then will I be able to dive into native materials, i.e. original Ancient Greek literature. But maybe you would like to join my Homer reading group once I start it.
Other than that, I have some news. No, it's still not the big news I have been announcing for months now, but it's good news nevertheless. I decided to put Hebrew on hold and get back to Japanese. I quit studying Japanese a few years ago (I honestly don't remember when it was exactly and I'm too lazy to look it up now) after completing both volumes of Genki and now I would like to resume my studies.
I have wanted to get back to Japanese for some time now, but never had the time nor motivation. Now that I've given up Hebrew for the time being, I can concentrate on a different language again. And it might not be the worst thing that this is a living language amidst my all-classical language portfolio.
日本語
Anyway, I'll have to repeat both volumes of Genki before I can move on to Tobira. I still speak and understand some Japanese, but it's got very rusty and there are holes in my vocab and my grammar. Let alone kanji!
Anyway, now is the time to polish all of this up again.頑張ります！
संस्कृतम्
Also, I have recieved my copy of Assimil Sanskrit and I'm excited about it. Thus far, I've done the first five lessons and it's very easy and pleasant. I especially like the recordings although they differ from my way of pronunciation quite a bit. Well, I'll try to get used to it and emulate them as closely as possible. It's a totally different way of learning than with the CIS. I hardly dare to say it, but Assimil is really fun!
I should probably say that I have been an Assimil scepitc for quite some time and never really understood the hype about it. However, the Sanskrit course seems to be excellent and I totally start to see why people love Assimil this much. It really eases you into the language. I'm pleasantly surprised!
To be honest, I'm thinking about giving Assimil a shot for other languages as well. There are courses for Ancient Greek and Ancient Egyptian that are really tempting me now!
2 x
Oró, sé do bheatha abhaile! Anois ar theacht an tsamhraidh.
-
renaissancemedici
- Orange Belt
- Posts: 198
- Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2018 6:41 am
- Location: Athens, Greece
- Languages: Greek (N), English (C2), French (B2), Italian (A2), German (beginner)
- Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 25#p100832
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Re: Josquin's Classical Log - Graeca non leguntur
Count me in
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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.
Assimil German with ease:
Assimil German with ease:
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Josquin
- Blue Belt
- Posts: 646
- Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 2:38 pm
- Location: Germany
- Languages: German (native); English (advanced fluency); French (basic fluency); Italian, Swedish, Russian, Irish (intermediate); Dutch, Icelandic, Japanese, Portuguese, Scottish Gaelic (beginner); Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Sanskrit (reading only)
- Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=737
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Re: Josquin's Classical Log - Graeca non leguntur
THURSDAY, 19 APRIL 2018
Maybe, I was a little bit hasty to proclaim Japanese as my new language yesterday. In fact, I'm still thinking what to do and I might end up studying only Sanskrit and Ancient Greek for the time being. I do love Japanese, but I don't know if I have the time and energy to actively study three languages at the moment.
Instead, I might start dabbling on the side a little bit. After all, there's still Irish and I also might get back to Hebrew again after some time and then I've always wanted to take a look at Persian. But, honestly, I don't know if now is the right time for that. As I said, I might just as well concentrate on Greek and Sanskrit.
Also, I won't quit the Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit. Maybe that was given to misunderstanding in my last post. I will use Assimil as a complement, but my main resource will still be the CIS and the accompanying online course. However, the Assimil recordings are an invaluable resource, which I will use very thoroughly.
Other than that, I have read a little bit about the Bhagavad-Gita and I'm very taken by its thoughts and teachings. It will be interesting to deal closer with that and compare it to Western thought, especially Ancient Greek philosophy, so I ordered a translation of the Bhagavad-Gita and of the Upanishads and I will closely deal with Sargeant's interlinear translation of the BG once my Sanskrit is good enough.
To be honest, I have enough on my plate with two languages, a dissertation, a part-time job, my music, and other intellectual interests at the moment, so I might give myself a break for some time and just take it easy.
Maybe, I was a little bit hasty to proclaim Japanese as my new language yesterday. In fact, I'm still thinking what to do and I might end up studying only Sanskrit and Ancient Greek for the time being. I do love Japanese, but I don't know if I have the time and energy to actively study three languages at the moment.
Instead, I might start dabbling on the side a little bit. After all, there's still Irish and I also might get back to Hebrew again after some time and then I've always wanted to take a look at Persian. But, honestly, I don't know if now is the right time for that. As I said, I might just as well concentrate on Greek and Sanskrit.
Also, I won't quit the Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit. Maybe that was given to misunderstanding in my last post. I will use Assimil as a complement, but my main resource will still be the CIS and the accompanying online course. However, the Assimil recordings are an invaluable resource, which I will use very thoroughly.
Other than that, I have read a little bit about the Bhagavad-Gita and I'm very taken by its thoughts and teachings. It will be interesting to deal closer with that and compare it to Western thought, especially Ancient Greek philosophy, so I ordered a translation of the Bhagavad-Gita and of the Upanishads and I will closely deal with Sargeant's interlinear translation of the BG once my Sanskrit is good enough.
To be honest, I have enough on my plate with two languages, a dissertation, a part-time job, my music, and other intellectual interests at the moment, so I might give myself a break for some time and just take it easy.
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Oró, sé do bheatha abhaile! Anois ar theacht an tsamhraidh.
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