Xmmm's Log ...

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aravinda
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Re: Xmmm's Chaos and Failure Log

Postby aravinda » Sat Aug 18, 2018 8:44 am

Xmmm wrote:Thinking of getting a new Kindle. I'm on version 4.1 and can't upgrade to get Russian support. It's six years old, maybe it's time.

What kind of Russian support? I mean other than the device language. I know the device language could be set to Russian. Does it come with a Russian-English dictionary now? I haven't been able to find a good Russian-English dictionary for my kindle.
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Xmmm
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Re: Xmmm's Chaos and Failure Log

Postby Xmmm » Sat Aug 18, 2018 2:45 pm

aravinda wrote:
Xmmm wrote:Thinking of getting a new Kindle. I'm on version 4.1 and can't upgrade to get Russian support. It's six years old, maybe it's time.

What kind of Russian support? I mean other than the device language. I know the device language could be set to Russian. Does it come with a Russian-English dictionary now? I haven't been able to find a good Russian-English dictionary for my kindle.


Eh, thanks for this. I thought Russian support meant I got a Russian-English dictionary. I guess I should keep waiting ...
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Ещё раз сунешь голову туда — окажешься внутри. Поняла, Фемида? -- аигел

Xmmm
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Re: Xmmm's Chaos and Failure Log

Postby Xmmm » Sat Aug 18, 2018 8:22 pm

smallwhite wrote:I had said "chaos and failure" was not about your language learning (or others') but you keep thinking it was and keep giving me lessons.


You've got to stop living in the past ... :)

I'll tell you one thing. I'm very passionate about Russian and Italian -- I just love these languages. And I'm very obsessed about Turkish for some reason I don't understand yet. I want to learn them in a natural way, where I can intuit correct behavior based on massive exposure and really get a feel for them. ALG self-study is the right way to go here and I have no regrets.

But if I were going to learn an L5, I would need a more efficient approach and am open to flashcards+grammar+podcasts+transcripts, aka the smallwhite method. There's only so much time and I, alas, am not a mega-brain floating in a nutrient tank, awake 24 hours a day and able to receive input in eight languages simultaneously like reineke.

Unfortunately, as I've complained before, the smallwhite method is not properly documented. So I'd have to do "universe of memory" or whatever else I could find googling.
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Ещё раз сунешь голову туда — окажешься внутри. Поняла, Фемида? -- аигел

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smallwhite
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Re: Xmmm's Chaos and Failure Log

Postby smallwhite » Sun Aug 19, 2018 3:10 am

Xmmm wrote:
smallwhite wrote:I had said "chaos and failure" was not about your language learning (or others') but you keep thinking it was and keep giving me lessons.


You've got to stop living in the past ... :)

I'll tell you one thing. I'm very passionate about Russian and Italian -- I just love these languages. And I'm very obsessed about Turkish for some reason I don't understand yet. I want to learn them in a natural way, where I can intuit correct behavior based on massive exposure and really get a feel for them. ALG self-study is the right way to go here and I have no regrets.

But if I were going to learn an L5, I would need a more efficient approach and am open to flashcards+grammar+podcasts+transcripts, aka the smallwhite method. There's only so much time and I, alas, am not a mega-brain floating in a nutrient tank, awake 24 hours a day and able to receive input in eight languages simultaneously like reineke.

Unfortunately, as I've complained before, the smallwhite method is not properly documented. So I'd have to do "universe of memory" or whatever else I could find googling.

You're right, I can stop being bothered by the past as the present is enough for that.
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reineke
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Re: Xmmm's Chaos and Failure Log

Postby reineke » Tue Aug 21, 2018 1:29 am

Xmmm wrote:
I'll tell you one thing. I'm very passionate about Russian and Italian -- I just love these languages. And I'm very obsessed about Turkish for some reason I don't understand yet. I want to learn them in a natural way, where I can intuit correct behavior based on massive exposure and really get a feel for them. ALG self-study is the right way to go here and I have no regrets.

But if I were going to learn an L5, I would need a more efficient approach and am open to flashcards+grammar+podcasts+transcripts, aka the smallwhite method. There's only so much time and I, alas, am not a mega-brain floating in a nutrient tank...



I think you're doing great under the circumstances.
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neofight78
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Re: Xmmm's Chaos and Failure Log

Postby neofight78 » Tue Aug 21, 2018 8:46 am

Xmmm wrote:
reineke wrote:Yeah but where's the chaos? Where's the failure?


You're right. I've been losing focus.

Failure

4. I've spent almost 3 years on Russian but when I watch this lousy "other show" with the Sniffer, I can only understand 50% of what is said -- even though I've sort of specialized in watching cop shows.

5. My progress in reading Russian is even more alarming. I've finally found a non-fiction book in a light, journalistic style that I "can read" without a dictionary, but I only understand 60% and I still read less than 20 pages an hour..


You are mistaken my friend. This is success not failure.
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Xmmm
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Re: Xmmm's Chaos and Failure Log

Postby Xmmm » Fri Aug 24, 2018 9:07 pm

Italian

Finished listening to Un anno sull'altipiano. Great book! Comprehension 70%.

Listened to a Maigret audio book in Italian because I couldn't find any "gialli" audiobooks by Italian authors. Didn't work for me. The French names for everything kept throwing me off, and maybe Maigret is too subtle, moody and introspective for my current ability level.

Cristo si è fermato a Eboli is half finished. I enjoy it, but don't have time to finish it off right now.

Italian audiobooks are getting to be in short supply ... I'll have to start recycling them or find a new source pretty soon.

Russian

живой -- not bad. I didn't like the lead actress, and the story is formulaic, but it's mildly diverting. Not really recommended, but if you can't find anything else it won't kill you.

шуберт -- a rip-off of the Sniffer. Avoid.

лесник -- a weird combination of not-very-dramatic drama and humor based on how colorful rural folk are. Reminds me very much of Un Passo dal Cielo. Avoid.


Хождение по мукам -- Great historical miniseries available on youtube. Not a classic, more like a high-brow potboiler. Recommended.

I also got the b1-b2 graded reader with audio for Тарас Бульба from Red Kalinka. The sentence length and structure was too easy for me. The vocab was about right. The listening was about right. There are two more books at the same level, maybe I'll get those as well. I will finally have a couple Russian audio books I can understand.



Turkish

Not enough Turkish Tea Time, FSI, and Glossika.
Last edited by Xmmm on Fri Aug 24, 2018 10:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Ещё раз сунешь голову туда — окажешься внутри. Поняла, Фемида? -- аигел

StringerBell
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Re: Xmmm's Chaos and Failure Log

Postby StringerBell » Fri Aug 24, 2018 9:26 pm

I don't remember now if you listed all the audiobooks you've used, or if you only want to read originals and not translations, but if you are fine with translations, and you are looking for something sort of in the "gialli" category, I can recommend this option:

-La Zona Pericolosa by Lee Child (First in the Jack Reacher series). For some reason only the first one is translated into Italian.

This is available both as an ebook on Amazon and an audiobook on Audible. I bought the ebook/audiobook combo for extensive R+L a few months ago, and even though I don't ever read criminal mystery/thrillers in English, I really enjoyed it in Italian - lots of action, lots of good dialogue, lots of suspense. And the translation is pretty good.

I also took the original English version out of the library; my strategy was to read a chapter in English, then L+R that chapter in Italian a few times. I'm sure you'd probably forgo referencing the English version, but it could be helpful if you find a particular paragraph that's confusing.
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Season 4 Lucifer Italian transcripts I created: https://learnanylanguage.fandom.com/wik ... ranscripts

Mista
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Re: Xmmm's Chaos and Failure Log

Postby Mista » Fri Aug 24, 2018 9:32 pm

aravinda wrote:
Xmmm wrote:Thinking of getting a new Kindle. I'm on version 4.1 and can't upgrade to get Russian support. It's six years old, maybe it's time.

What kind of Russian support? I mean other than the device language. I know the device language could be set to Russian. Does it come with a Russian-English dictionary now? I haven't been able to find a good Russian-English dictionary for my kindle.


Yes, there was a Russian-English dictionary in the standard set on the Kindle I got for Christmas. I won't insist it's a good one, but it's a dictionary. My main problem with all the dictionaries I use on kindle is that they don't deal well with participles.
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aravinda
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Re: Xmmm's Chaos and Failure Log

Postby aravinda » Sun Aug 26, 2018 6:36 am

Mista wrote:
aravinda wrote:
Xmmm wrote:Thinking of getting a new Kindle. I'm on version 4.1 and can't upgrade to get Russian support. It's six years old, maybe it's time.

What kind of Russian support? I mean other than the device language. I know the device language could be set to Russian. Does it come with a Russian-English dictionary now? I haven't been able to find a good Russian-English dictionary for my kindle.


Yes, there was a Russian-English dictionary in the standard set on the Kindle I got for Christmas. I won't insist it's a good one, but it's a dictionary. My main problem with all the dictionaries I use on kindle is that they don't deal well with participles.
I stand corrected. Mista is right, the Kindle comes with (three?) Abbyy Lingvo dictionaries (RU-EN, EN-RU & RU-RU). I am not sure when they were added to the kindle dictionary collection but I was (mistakenly) thinking I had bought them myself. Sorry about that.

And regarding your progress in Russian (and other languages), I think you're doing very well. In my opinion, you would do significantly better if you add even a little bit of grammar study/exercises to your current regimen. (That said I can't bring myself to do some of the things you do like watching tv series despite being convinced these activities would help me.)
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