Tea With Tarvos - Tarvos' Log 2019

[tarvos]

Shit posting here from the Czech Republic. I still speak Czech. Tomorrow I leave for Poland. How bad will I do? Find out on the next episode of Tea with Tarvosita.

[tarvos]

I got home yesterday from my trip and it was a whirlwind of languages. I have mostly spoken German, English, Czech and Polish, but also some Swedish and a few other languages when I was asked on stage during a conference in Brno.

I also brought home a textbook for Polish (in Czech) and some books in Czech and Polish as well as buying a few before the trip.

The truth of the matter is that my German functions as it always has (it's good, nothing special but it clearly gets the job done and in social situations I am fine). There's nothing new or special there as I visited my best friend in Berlin and I just spoke the usual German/English mix.

My Czech is all right and I've used it to sit in on lectures which I can follow in Czech so again, I'm fine here, though speaking Czech tires me out.

And when it comes to Polish I'm better than I thought I would be - I understand a lot, and I can only speak Broken Polish(tm) but with a dash of Czech and Russian (with a strong Czech accent) I can come quite far and buy things in shops and restaurants and argue about when I have to check out or buy train tickets - all in Polish. So the truth is that my Polish is at an A2 level - not excellent, but suitable for the basics.

[tarvos]

I'm currently not doing that much as my life is very busy, a whirlwind of different things are going on and the fact I am dealing with loads of emotions, med changes, life plans developing and a new relationship means that I don't have as much time for language study as I would like. This *is* going to change, though.

I have decided that in 2019/2020 I will go back to school (I am not too kool for skool) and study interpreting. The plan is to study Spanish as the language I am interpreting from (I could of course also interpret English/Dutch but this is kind of pointless). I don't know whether I will pass the admission test and go directly to the last year (the interpreting part) or that I will have to study translation as well, but I think we'll talk about that and see how this stuff works out.

The reason I've had to make this change in my life plans is because I have been recovering from my depression and anxiety for a long, long time. I'm in a situation where that isn't bringing in the cash I need it to bring in and I'm far below the level I'm capable of, and I need to ditch one of my jobs for a more, better-paying one; but the issue is the education that I have would force me towards being more corporate, and that's just not the way I want to go. I want to work with languages and do some good in the world at the same time. I'm also in a position where long-term plans are becoming sort of tenable ideas instead of a nebulous future.

But now that my depression and anxiety are manageable (they are still very existent and will continue to influence my ability to take on work load, along with my other physical illnesses), I need to take on more responsibilities, also because I have a partner and need to hold up my end of the deal. Not that they aren't content with who I am, but showing some ambition is good

In any case, what that means is that I've only read a bit in my Czech novel, Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále by Bohumil Hrabal (I hope for your sake you haven't read this, Cavesa), and yesterday my partner watched a movie which was mostly in Hebrew (with some English, Farsi and a few lines of German): Atomic Falafel (a satirical comedy about a nuclear war between Israel and Iran). It was hilarious, but one of the weirdest movies I've ever watched (and I don't know what my better half thinks about my taste in cinema after this...). With that said, I am going to try and read more Czech now because I fell asleep this afternoon when I tried to read it and I hope I am awake enough to internalize some stuff. The book isn't blowing my mind thus far, but I want to finish it.

[Cavesa]

I am so happy to hear of the improvements in your life! You've been through so much, and have always gotten through the best way possible under the given circumstances.

I hope your degree will be satisfying.

About the Hrabal book: I really liked the movie version, but I simply don't like reading Hrabal. No idea why, somehow he's not my cup of tea (or rather my glass of beer, as we're talking about Hrabal). Thinking of what Czech authors to recommend you: Ivan Kraus. Great sense of humour, stories about a huge family, mostly short stories. I am usually not much into short stories but I loved his works.

[tarvos]

Hrabal rambles. His sentences go on forever. It's hard to read...

[PeterMollenburg]

Good luck with your interpreting plans tarvos. I’m interested in how you progress, as I’ve been considering something similar, although perhaps not immediately. Glad to hear you’re depression isn’t weighing you down as much. ¡Buena suerte!

[tarvos]

There hasn't been too much going on, because I spent most of Easter on family duty (which is to say, talk to my parents and my partner's parents and the siblings and all that that entails), but I am nearly, nearly done with Hrabal. This book is taking me forever to finish. The downside of being so incredibly busy with other things means that I don't have much time for actual language study, especially as:

a) I am very active in my chess club, likely taking on the role of the editor of the club magazine, playing competitively both internally and externally
b) I have volunteer work to do, where, admittedly, I do get to use some of my foreign language skills
c) I do teaching work, where I do occasionally use some of my language skills
d) I have a partner which I like devoting time and attention to, and they're Dutch;
e) I spend time with music and going to concerts and so on
f) I have another job apart from all this

So the only time I get to do languages is on holidays, when I'm actually home, when traveling somewhere, and the occasional foreign language Netflix show at my partner's place (I'm planning to watch a Norwegian crime series called Grenselanden. Why, you ask? Well, why not, I answer. One track mind like a goldfish).

And honestly, reading and watching stuff right now is the most intense part of my language study. I do get to use my languages on holidays and I might get to use them at work, but since I'm all out of cash there's no iTalki classes going on, so I have to make do with what I can get for free. Which is still a lot given my multilingual environment, and that's how I maintain my languages, but actual study isn't really on the cards right now.

[tarvos]

NOB: Jeg har besluttet å jeg skal snakke på fremmende språk her igjen, så er det norsk nu. Jeg har kun sett sjuende episoden av Grenselanden (det er kun en avsnitt til) og jeg kan forklare for dere å det går fint å forstå den uten videre. Nå skulle det ikke overraske noen på grunn av at det her norsk vi snakker om men jeg må vel prøve å forstå den når jeg ser på tv også. Skulle det vare noe galt med norsken min så si bare fra, ingen problem der.

Apart from that, my partner and I watched Blade of the Immortal (based on a Japanese manga) this weekend, but since my Japanese is crappalicious I won't write in that here yet. 無限の住人 (Inhabitant of Infinity) is the Japanese name for this movie, but unless you're into gore I wouldn't really recommend it; it's definitely not my kind of thing. And my Japanese is still... eh, let's not go there.

I finished Hrabal and have moved on to Jorge Amado's Capitães da Areia which is in Portuguese, but since I haven't gotten very far yet, no updates on that for the time being.

And of course the obvious Russian and Spanish practice here and there. And German.

[tarvos]

I have been really wrecked the last couple of days. Mostly I've overworked myself and suffered from a nasty bout of depression. I haven't been working for the past three days and clearly I needed a rest.

I did watch a Chinese science fiction movie though, just because I could.

[tarvos]

I have mostly rested the past week, but this week I have been getting into a Polish detective series called Ultraviolet, which I am watching in Polish with Polish subtitles, which works (for the most part). Not that I understand every detail, but I understand enough to follow the plot, which is enough for me in Polish, as my Polish is not that impressive.

I'm still reading Capitães da Areia, and I also watched two episodes of Ice Fantasy, which is a Chinese fantasy series.