I thought things were going to get calmer, but it actually got busier at work, or maybe it is just that some things take longer when you are teleworking, so in any case I have not been able to do as much language-wise as I would have liked. Still, I manage to do some Arabic studies every evening. When I have to choose, I stick to Arabic as my main focus, so there has only been the occasional foray into Classical Greek and Latin these last 10 days. I go very slowly with Apuleius - it is not the most difficult Latin I've ever read, but I still have to look up quite a few words and sometimes I am struggling with making sense of the syntax. I guess I should have found a commented edition, but the one I am using is a free downloaded e-book from
The Latin Library and it is just the text, no vocabulary lists, grammar explanations or parallel text. So it is more of a challenge, but it also makes the reading experience more pleasant when I do make sense of it.
In Arabic I am mostly doing repetitions and expanding my vocabulary before starting on Romeo and Juliet. When I do start I want to avoid having to look up every other word. As it looks right now I will probably start working on it closer to the Christmas holiday. This year will almost certainly be the first year we do not go to spend the holidays with family in Norway or Spain
, so I guess it will be a quiet couple of weeks spending a lot of time at home. We still have no idea what will be permitted and what not in a months time.
I have been reading a fair bit of Russian these days - it was about time, because I notice my Russian is still at a level where a continuous effort is needed in order to keep vocabulary and grammar knowledge fresh and expanding. I have a bunch of Russian books on my Kindle, and as I will soon finish the Dostoyevsky biography I will try to pick up a novel for once. I just have to decide if I go for a modern, "easy" novel or something more challenging like the good Dostoyevsky himself. I should also watch more Russian TV to get listening practice, but at least I have managed to watch a few snippets of news on Youtube.