Tea With Tarvos - Tarvos' Log 2019

Continue or start your personal language log here, including logs for challenge participants
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tarvos
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2889
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2015 11:13 am
Location: The Lowlands
Languages: Native: NL, EN
Professional: ES, RU
Speak well: DE, FR, RO, EO, SV
Speak reasonably: IT, ZH, PT, NO, EL, CZ
Need improvement: PO, IS, HE, JP, KO, HU, FI
Passive: AF, DK, LAT
Dabbled in: BRT, ZH (SH), BG, EUS, ZH (CAN), and a whole lot more.
Language Log: http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/fo ... PN=1&TPN=1
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Re: Three-Horned Bull from the Netherworld - Tarvos' Log

Postby tarvos » Mon Sep 24, 2018 7:06 pm

Ok, so in the meanwhile, while you were all partying and having steaming (queer) intercourse, during another rainy weekend, I moved on to the KATAKANA. These signs look so angular, I think I'm hooked on them. If you put them on a rod as bait, I think you'd catch fish. For sure. That's pretty much all I am doing with the katakana though as I haven't had time for much more stuff - I had to go to hospital this morning for an MRI scan (don't worry, it's painless, I am ok) and last night I finished Unter den Linden, which is a collection of three short stories (or should I say three pieces of incoherent rambling) by Christa Wolf. I was not impressed, except by the last one which was a 70s take on Geschlechtsverwandlung... by use of a magic masculinization pill. I think I smoked something while reading that. The book is worth reading for that last story alone, in all its weird, rambling glory. And it's nice, because it focuses on what is supposed to be a trans guy... except not entirely. Anyway. It's actually way creepier than that, but if you want to know more, you should just read it.

And now I have moved on to some Romanian fantasy literature, which isn't exactly going anywhere yet, but it's mildly interesting. I finished Las Fuentes Perdidas a few days ago, which was pretty good as far as fantasy goes (and I've read a fair few books), so I was chuffed about José Antonio Cotrina - Theo Anghel isn't yet living up to her Spanish colleague's promise.

And in other, semi-language related news; I am probably going to help out as a volunteer at the local LGBT organization with their language classes. Actually, I am going to help out as a volunteer there, just need to see how they do it and where I fit in. I also discussed some other LGBT volunteering opportunities just now; I will probably be doing more than that, working with refugees and asylum seekers who are LGBT is also on the list. And I managed all that because one of the boys at the chess club happens to be in this organization's board... it's a strange world, but what after-meeting drinks can do is a miracle. We call it networking. (I will probably also be doing some smaller stuff for the chess club, but that's not worth mentioning here).

What it basically comes down to is that I am slowly getting back on the road, finding my feet, all that, yadda yadda yadda. The nice thing is that it feels like I can be assertive and confident in what I do, something you desperately lack as a gender-confused twenty-three year old with a degree you didn't actually want to get, but finished for lack of better plans. (Dammit, I knew I should have gone for languages when I was 14... I seriously considered a language profile at school, but I was good at STEM subjects too and decided that'd give me more opportunities and went with that. I think that's probably the biggest error I've ever made, despite the fact I don't regret what I studied. And I should probably make up for it by studying Korean at Leiden University in my forties or some shit. Or Japanese. Or both. Because I can.) The only thing holding me back now is my liver illness, which is still being a proverbial pain in the known body part, but that's something I have to live with as a chronically ill trans girl. Life is a mess, but it's a more organized mess than two years ago.

Basically, I think I can finally say the worst of the depression that kept me chained for most of the first half of the year is over, and the mood swings due to the hormones have settled down now. This means that I can find my way. There's more physical pain and endurance to come in the coming years, but I'm taking it slow with the rest of the process (for good reasons; my health is fragile and I don't want to overburden myself). But it means I will probably actually learn ten more languages now. Preferably Japanese, just so I can annoy people with it at the next polyglot event.
13 x
I hope your world is kind.

Is a girl.

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tarvos
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2889
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2015 11:13 am
Location: The Lowlands
Languages: Native: NL, EN
Professional: ES, RU
Speak well: DE, FR, RO, EO, SV
Speak reasonably: IT, ZH, PT, NO, EL, CZ
Need improvement: PO, IS, HE, JP, KO, HU, FI
Passive: AF, DK, LAT
Dabbled in: BRT, ZH (SH), BG, EUS, ZH (CAN), and a whole lot more.
Language Log: http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/fo ... PN=1&TPN=1
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Re: Three-Horned Bull from the Netherworld - Tarvos' Log

Postby tarvos » Thu Sep 27, 2018 9:13 am

I've finished another book in Romanian. Yippee! Looks like I am catching up with the Goodreads challenge just a little bit. Probably still won't make it as I still have some 21 books to go, but I might hit 40 at least. (Goal was 50). It's understandable that I didn't manage, because I don't read a lot in my native languages (slows you down) and I've suffered from depression this year, but I still think that if I sprint I might be able to get quite far still.

I'm slowly improving my Japanese. Hiragana are becoming easier, I know a few katakana as well now but not finished with those yet. OH WELL. I also definitely have a few more phrases up my sleeve. My teacher is surprised that I know some kanji, but I come from Chinese as a background so knowing kanji is actually not that strange. What beats me is the weird readings...
4 x
I hope your world is kind.

Is a girl.

Lawyer&Mom
Blue Belt
Posts: 980
Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2018 6:08 am
Languages: English (N), German (B2), French (B1)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7786
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Re: Three-Horned Bull from the Netherworld - Tarvos' Log

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Thu Sep 27, 2018 4:23 pm

I think your handwriting is totally girly. Just saying.
0 x
Grammaire progressive du français -
niveau debutant
: 60 / 60

Grammaire progressive du francais -
intermédiaire
: 25 / 52

Pimsleur French 1-5
: 3 / 5

User avatar
tarvos
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2889
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2015 11:13 am
Location: The Lowlands
Languages: Native: NL, EN
Professional: ES, RU
Speak well: DE, FR, RO, EO, SV
Speak reasonably: IT, ZH, PT, NO, EL, CZ
Need improvement: PO, IS, HE, JP, KO, HU, FI
Passive: AF, DK, LAT
Dabbled in: BRT, ZH (SH), BG, EUS, ZH (CAN), and a whole lot more.
Language Log: http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/fo ... PN=1&TPN=1
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Contact:

Re: Three-Horned Bull from the Netherworld - Tarvos' Log

Postby tarvos » Sun Sep 30, 2018 10:37 am

Danke schön.

In the past days I have not studied that much when it comes to Japanese. I will continue with that today, but I have done some other things with languages.

First of all, I published a blog on how to learn vocabulary techniques as a guest blogger at jazykovy koutek, which is a website run by my Czech teacher colleague Lucie Gramelová (I also own one of her textbooks for Turkish, which I won in a raffle), a Czech polyglot who I met in Brno in March of this year. She also gave an interview to Czech radio, which I just finished listening to (in Czech, of course).

Second, I watched a nearly four-hour long movie by Theo Angelopoulos, called The Travelling Players, nearly entirely in Greek, though with some poetic silences and some phrases in English and German.

I've also started reading Medea and her Children in Russian by Lyudmila Ulitskaya. I haven't got that far yet with it.
2 x
I hope your world is kind.

Is a girl.

User avatar
tarvos
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2889
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2015 11:13 am
Location: The Lowlands
Languages: Native: NL, EN
Professional: ES, RU
Speak well: DE, FR, RO, EO, SV
Speak reasonably: IT, ZH, PT, NO, EL, CZ
Need improvement: PO, IS, HE, JP, KO, HU, FI
Passive: AF, DK, LAT
Dabbled in: BRT, ZH (SH), BG, EUS, ZH (CAN), and a whole lot more.
Language Log: http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/fo ... PN=1&TPN=1
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Contact:

Re: Three-Horned Bull from the Netherworld - Tarvos' Log

Postby tarvos » Mon Oct 01, 2018 9:51 am

On a completely different note:

Voor de Nederlandstaligen onder ons heb ik een gedichtje geschreven. Of nou ja, ik had het gedicht sowieso geschreven, maar nu kunnen jullie het lezen! Het is voor de verandering niet diep triest, eigenlijk best schattig.

Een hand

Een hand die wordt gestreeld
Zachtjes, jouw vingers
In de mijne

En soms staat de tijd stil,
Wanneer ik bedenk dat
ik in je ogen kijk,
En ze zijn net zo blauw
Als die van mij

Jouw hand in die van mij
Mijn hand in die van jou

Ik staar in een waas
Van donkerblond haar
En vervaagde mascara

Mijn hand dwarrelt weg
Tussen de bladeren
Gevallen uit de bomen
Op je kruin

Wat moet ik zonder de zon
Hij schijnt alleen vandaag
Morgen komt er een wolk
En waar ben jij dan?

Jouw hand (nog steeds) in die van mij
Mijn hand (nog steeds) in die van jou

En als ik bedenk
Wat de stilte zegt:
Ik vrouw van jou
Jij vrouw van mij
Zijn we allebei blij?
1 x
I hope your world is kind.

Is a girl.

User avatar
tarvos
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2889
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2015 11:13 am
Location: The Lowlands
Languages: Native: NL, EN
Professional: ES, RU
Speak well: DE, FR, RO, EO, SV
Speak reasonably: IT, ZH, PT, NO, EL, CZ
Need improvement: PO, IS, HE, JP, KO, HU, FI
Passive: AF, DK, LAT
Dabbled in: BRT, ZH (SH), BG, EUS, ZH (CAN), and a whole lot more.
Language Log: http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/fo ... PN=1&TPN=1
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Contact:

Re: Three-Horned Bull from the Netherworld - Tarvos' Log

Postby tarvos » Tue Oct 02, 2018 9:56 am

Apart from studying things, which is a thing I do, I also sometimes post pictures here of the things I study. This is me practicing katakana:

Image

And if you think my handwriting is gay, you would be correct. My handwriting is extremely gay.

In fact, I think it should be even gayer. That's probably a resolution for this log, next year. Make it 50% more gay.
6 x
I hope your world is kind.

Is a girl.

User avatar
tarvos
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2889
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2015 11:13 am
Location: The Lowlands
Languages: Native: NL, EN
Professional: ES, RU
Speak well: DE, FR, RO, EO, SV
Speak reasonably: IT, ZH, PT, NO, EL, CZ
Need improvement: PO, IS, HE, JP, KO, HU, FI
Passive: AF, DK, LAT
Dabbled in: BRT, ZH (SH), BG, EUS, ZH (CAN), and a whole lot more.
Language Log: http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/fo ... PN=1&TPN=1
x 6093
Contact:

Re: Three-Horned Bull from the Netherworld - Tarvos' Log

Postby tarvos » Fri Oct 05, 2018 9:24 pm

I am moving forward with my Japanese, which is nice. Reading this Russian book is slow, for some reason I keep falling asleep when I have read a bit, when it's not even that uninteresting, I just seem to always want to read when I am too tired for some reason.

Other than that I've started a new volunteer job (language-related), which is great not just because it's language related but also because it's queer-related, and sometimes I do need that around me, it will help me to feel better about myself. Probably because I'm not alone in being gay and trans and all that kind of stuff. They did ask me whether I spoke Farsi though, and I don't... yet :oops: Whenever I have time I will go ask druckfehler for some tips and then we can get forward.

That's pretty much it. I do use other languages in my social life, but you KNEW THAT ALREADY and it's not worth mentioning. :p
3 x
I hope your world is kind.

Is a girl.

User avatar
tarvos
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2889
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2015 11:13 am
Location: The Lowlands
Languages: Native: NL, EN
Professional: ES, RU
Speak well: DE, FR, RO, EO, SV
Speak reasonably: IT, ZH, PT, NO, EL, CZ
Need improvement: PO, IS, HE, JP, KO, HU, FI
Passive: AF, DK, LAT
Dabbled in: BRT, ZH (SH), BG, EUS, ZH (CAN), and a whole lot more.
Language Log: http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/fo ... PN=1&TPN=1
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Contact:

Re: Three-Horned Bull from the Netherworld - Tarvos' Log

Postby tarvos » Tue Oct 09, 2018 10:24 pm

I haven't been able to move forward with my Japanese, because there's no class this week, I am down with a cold, and there's a whole lot of other stuff that needs to be done (administrative things, health, other jobs, etc.) I'm kind of done with the hell I am always put through at some point or other.

I'm still reading about Medea, because I am really slow at the moment (like turtle slow), especially compared to my usual speed.
2 x
I hope your world is kind.

Is a girl.

User avatar
tarvos
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2889
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2015 11:13 am
Location: The Lowlands
Languages: Native: NL, EN
Professional: ES, RU
Speak well: DE, FR, RO, EO, SV
Speak reasonably: IT, ZH, PT, NO, EL, CZ
Need improvement: PO, IS, HE, JP, KO, HU, FI
Passive: AF, DK, LAT
Dabbled in: BRT, ZH (SH), BG, EUS, ZH (CAN), and a whole lot more.
Language Log: http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/fo ... PN=1&TPN=1
x 6093
Contact:

Re: Three-Horned Bull from the Netherworld - Tarvos' Log

Postby tarvos » Thu Oct 11, 2018 8:34 pm

I'm done with Medea. So now I'm watching a Taiwanese drama called V-focus, which is all in Mandarin, of course - but in Taiwanese Mandarin, which is just regular Mandarin with a funny accent, traditional characters and a couple different words (very different from actual Taiwanese). It makes me feel good about myself to understand so much Mandarin after having watched so much Korean, which is a language I am... erm... uncomfortable speaking. (Not that I dislike Korean or Japanese, I am just better at Mandarin).

The other thing I like about Taiwan is that it's got everything that's good about China, but much less of the bad stuff.
1 x
I hope your world is kind.

Is a girl.

User avatar
tarvos
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2889
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2015 11:13 am
Location: The Lowlands
Languages: Native: NL, EN
Professional: ES, RU
Speak well: DE, FR, RO, EO, SV
Speak reasonably: IT, ZH, PT, NO, EL, CZ
Need improvement: PO, IS, HE, JP, KO, HU, FI
Passive: AF, DK, LAT
Dabbled in: BRT, ZH (SH), BG, EUS, ZH (CAN), and a whole lot more.
Language Log: http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/fo ... PN=1&TPN=1
x 6093
Contact:

Re: Three-Horned Bull from the Netherworld - Tarvos' Log

Postby tarvos » Sat Oct 20, 2018 8:44 pm

No, I have not died. Yet. I am still here, but I have been busy the past few days and only watched some Taiwanese TV and done some Japanese. Even my reading has been in Dutch.

So, unfortunately, apart from me using some Chinese, nothing has really been going on. Still working on same ol', same ol'.
5 x
I hope your world is kind.

Is a girl.


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