StringerBell wrote:Cavesa wrote: I've been thinking of a small transcription project. Everyone knows it is hard to find transcripts (=the precise version, not the subtitles. Even the subtitles in the original language for people with a hearing condition are often imprecise and sometimes even horrible). So I was thinking about doing such a longer "dictée" exercise. Why? I've found myself making too many notes while watching Incorporated in Spanish and wishing I was making notes during Lucifer in Italian. Anyone would like to join me and share transcripts of the episodes?
Are you thinking of doing the specific shows you mentioned, or other shows? Are you most interested in a Word Doc-type transcription file or do you have something else in mind?
Even though this sounds daunting, the masochist in me is very interested in attempting this for at least one episode of something in Italian. I could potentially convince my husband to check what I'm writing and correct anything that isn't accurate. I think this would be good (brutal) practice for me but there are some technological hinderances.
I mainly use Netflix for shows with Italian audio. With streaming from other sources, pausing and restarting a million times will probably be troublesome because that tends to screw things up with the file and it will probably freeze/crash. However, if there's a show you think would be particularly good, I will do a little sleuthing to see if I can find a solution.
I am thinking of those specific shows but I am open to other options too. Just something of good quality, there is a list of shows I definitely wouldn't consider or recommend (Blade, the DaVinci demons, and definitely lots of others, if only I tortured my memory for a while longer). The examples I've mentioned are shows that have recently made a very good impression on me both as a fan and as a language learner. But anything awesome works. I always welcome tips on new shows too
Yes, a simple .doc is what I've had on mind. A file easy to write and use, print, and so on.
I don't think I'll have a particular trouble with rewinding, I type fast (not fast enough to get everything at first try, sure, but definitely the second or the third at most), and I sometimes just listen to the tv series without looking anyways.
You're right, it might be brutal. Let's see how one episode goes and perhaps we'll continue, perhaps not.
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Every year, there is a huge sales weekend in September. This weekend. And every year, I realise more and more how foreign I am in my own country. How unsatisfactory is the offer of books (including language coursebooks) in the bookstores taking part in this, and how badly I look for nice clothes and anything in the czech stores. I do not belong here, I don't feel welcome. Even such a simple thing as choosing a sweater shows it.
I usually love bookshops. But this time, I realised how similar most of them are. Too similar. When it comes to language coursebooks, they all had the same stuff. There are perhaps two or three different ones in Prague, the rest is almost not worth another visit.
I should shop more on amazon. But it is just not the same.
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A new language teaching project: my small brother. I have already written a few times about the incompetence of the native teachers teaching my younger siblings. And he needs to improve for exams in April (exams allowing the more gifted 11 year olds to get to more demanding schools instead of rotting in the horrible basic ones). He'll need to know the grammar properly and all the stuff likely to appear in the exams. As a side effect, his overall skills should improve. Well, the natives have failed to teach him even the basic vocab (really, stuff like confusing "tired" and "thirsty" after six years of classes! Both in context and in translation. Those "teachers" should pay it all back + refounds for his lost time), reading aloud, speaking, anything productive. He understands extremely simple stuff quite well but that is still a poor result. Despite my advice, my parents have paid a lot for six years of "getting a good accent and listening to the natives" and he can't even pronounce "very" differently from "weary" and it is not his fault. The only classmates doing fine are those from bilingual families.
We've started with two grammar books. I have agreed to teach him, under a few conditions (my monolingual mother asked me to do this but immediately started sabotaging it with lots of bad and unsolicited advice and opinions. Staying out is the first condition for her ). He is definitely clever enough, it will be more about discipline. A promise of good results seems to motivate him a lot. Kids hate not seeing any results after years of trying, that's one of the main stupidities of the current ESL for kids business.
I'll let you know how it goes.
I am definitely profiting a lot from the logs of the homeschooling parents around here, especially Ani. Thanks for inspiration!