2021: A Spanish Odyssey

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Skynet
Green Belt
Posts: 310
Joined: Wed Jul 18, 2018 6:37 pm
Location: San Francisco
Languages: English (N)
Shona (N)
French (DELF B2)
German (Goethe-Zertifikat B2)
Spanish (DELE B2)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=8686
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Re: SKYNET goes online! World domination log.

Postby Skynet » Wed Dec 26, 2018 9:54 pm

French Connection, UK.
After a night of Christmas carolling at the end of a prodigious church service in which the 'Nativity story' was re-enacted, I stumbled upon a whist-playing couple from the UK. I have to confess that I am always happy to bump into senior British people as they are very likely to play at least one card game (namely bridge). Call me a bit selfish, but the 2020 World Mind Sports Games are around the corner, and I would like to get in form for a hat-trick in 2020. Oh, I digress...Where was I? Oh, yes...

The husband said something to his wife in French (he complimented me, to his wife) and she responded. You should have seen their reactions when I replied in French. They said, "No-one speaks French in Zimbabwe!" with great incredulity, to which I responded mischievously, "No-one speaks French in the East Midlands!" (I had long-since picked up on their accents, and correctly guessed that they were from Norfolk). The man had lived in Rouen for two decades and had developed an incredibly native-at-least-to-me French accent, though different to the Paris-based podcasts that I have been listening to. Tonight, I was invited for dinner at their house, and lo and behold, they had a German-speaking (Hanover) senior couple come over. I really had to pinch myself, as the night ended with several rounds of scrabble and whist. This is the first time that I have played these games with human beings since I landed on the island in January. Playing against AI and online competitors is just not the same.

Trouble with French geography and demonyms
As someone who's a budding anthropologist, I had always prided myself in having a very good knowledge of geography and knowing the vast majority of demonyms in English. Sadly, I am yet to replicate this success with my French. Can you believe that I only found that Cyprus = Chypre in French in October? Where the heck was I living over the previous nine months? I can guess, for example, that the French demonym for Monaco is Monegasque, which is similar to English (Monagasque), and have noticed patters with suffixes -an (Eng) becomes -ain(e) (Fr), -a (Eng) becomes -ie/-e (Fr) and the unknown weird ones like Bajan (from Barbados). Perhaps this is a luxury for the C1/C2 student who has a specific interest in the subject, and I should not be so hard on myself. In time, Skynet...In time!

DLI Strikes Back...
After enjoying DLI Basic French during the summer, I have decided to do the German equivalent during the brief 30 day break between the Fall and Spring semesters. 92 lessons and 42 hours of German should increase my automaticity, and not interfere too much with my French studies. Speaking of which...

DALF B2 Exam March 2019
I will be sitting the exam in Amman, Jordan in March 2019 (reg. open Feb 2019) and will reward myself by going to see the ancient city of Petra after the exam. THIS IS NOW REALLY HAPPENING! I am ecstatic! Perhaps I should do FSI Basic French Volume 2 during this time too? Hmmm, I will decide before the New Year.
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Speakeasy
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Re: SKYNET goes online! World domination log.

Postby Speakeasy » Wed Dec 26, 2018 10:27 pm

Skynet wrote: … Can you believe that I only found that Cyprus = Chypre in French in October? …
Fascinating! I wonder what they call it the remaining 11 months of the year? ;)

EDITED:
Typos.
Last edited by Speakeasy on Wed Dec 26, 2018 11:08 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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User avatar
PeterMollenburg
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3229
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2015 11:54 am
Location: Australia
Languages: English (N), French (B2-certified), Dutch (High A2?), Spanish (~A1), German (long-forgotten 99%), Norwegian (false starts in 2020 & 2021)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=18080
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Re: SKYNET goes online! World domination log.

Postby PeterMollenburg » Wed Dec 26, 2018 10:49 pm

Keep those magical French connections coming! The German ones too! Just think of the entertaining you'll be doing when you have Dutch and Spanish under your belt too. Might have to make it a pretty large belt to hold onto all of that knowledge you're acquiring at lightning speed, Mr Skynet. Yes you may be quite the machine at churning through courses (jealous, PM? :evil: ), and okay, the clothes don't make the man (you oughta see how I'm dressed... :roll: ), but you're going to have to look the part, or else they simply won't engage with you, period! Top hat and large belt it is... oh and the rest of the appropriate covering coverage over-cover cover-ments, naturally. Oh, and before you take over the world, we're friends, right? Like allies, aren't we? I mean, I help you in these language battles, don't I? ;) I'm just thinking when world domination rolls out to all far reaches of the globe, don't forget who your allies, sorry, friends are! Very much enjoying your log Skynet! Have a great New Year! ;)
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SGP
Blue Belt
Posts: 927
Joined: Tue Oct 23, 2018 9:33 pm
Languages: DE (native), EN (C2), ES (B2), FR (B2); some more at various levels
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 30#p120230
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Re: SKYNET goes online! World domination log.

Postby SGP » Thu Dec 27, 2018 3:25 am

Skynet wrote:DLI Strikes Back...
After enjoying DLI Basic French during the summer, I have decided to do the German equivalent during the brief 30 day break between the Fall and Spring semesters. 92 lessons and 42 hours of German should increase my automaticity, and not interfere too much with my French studies. Speaking of which...
[...]Perhaps I should do FSI Basic French Volume 2 during this time too?


Since the DLI courses are "very pre-2000" ;), I wonder how exactly you deal with their not-so-current language usage when using them as learning materials.

Some information on the FSI courses:
https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 00#p127000
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Previously known as SGP. But my mental username now is langmon.

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Melkor
Yellow Belt
Posts: 56
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2018 8:15 am
Languages: US English*
German (Goethe A2)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=9161
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Re: SKYNET goes online! World domination log.

Postby Melkor » Thu Dec 27, 2018 8:54 am

SGP wrote:Since the DLI courses are "very pre-2000" ;), I wonder how exactly you deal with their not-so-current language usage when using them as learning materials.

The only things that have changed in the last 60 years are technology and words that are deemed to be politically incorrect like Fräulein. I suspect that these obsolete nouns would make up less than 0.1% of the entire course, implying that the DLI/FSI courses are still relevant today.
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Speakeasy
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Re: SKYNET goes online! World domination log.

Postby Speakeasy » Thu Dec 27, 2018 10:14 am

While I am a strong supporter of the FSI/DLI courses of the 1960’s, I readily acknowledge that these materials have their detractors. Nevertheless, given that this file is Skynet’s log, my recommendation would be that a wider debate on the usefulness of the FSI/DLI courses, or any other materials from that era, take place under the “General Discussion” sub-forum. There are numerous threads on this topic that one might wish to revive. Just a thought. ;)
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SGP
Blue Belt
Posts: 927
Joined: Tue Oct 23, 2018 9:33 pm
Languages: DE (native), EN (C2), ES (B2), FR (B2); some more at various levels
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 30#p120230
x 293

Re: SKYNET goes online! World domination log.

Postby SGP » Thu Dec 27, 2018 4:10 pm

Speakeasy wrote:While I am a strong supporter of the FSI/DLI courses of the 1960’s, I readily acknowledge that these materials have their detractors. Nevertheless, given that this file is Skynet’s log, my recommendation would be that a wider debate on the usefulness of the FSI/DLI courses, or any other materials from that era, take place under the “General Discussion” sub-forum. There are numerous threads on this topic that one might wish to revive. Just a thought. ;)

Just quoted you and Melkor in the DLI German thread, then replied as well.

https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 06#p127206

And I agree that Skynet's log wouldn't be the best place to discuss the DLI or FSI courses. As for my previous post, it was about a single thing only: asking him, as someone who knows him a bit, how he in particular would cope with something related to the DLI courses.
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Previously known as SGP. But my mental username now is langmon.

Log


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: SKYNET goes online! World domination log.

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Thu Dec 27, 2018 4:39 pm

Skynet, you are a treasure, and I look forward to following your continuing adventures in 2019.
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Grammaire progressive du français -
niveau debutant
: 60 / 60

Grammaire progressive du francais -
intermédiaire
: 25 / 52

Pimsleur French 1-5
: 3 / 5

Skynet
Green Belt
Posts: 310
Joined: Wed Jul 18, 2018 6:37 pm
Location: San Francisco
Languages: English (N)
Shona (N)
French (DELF B2)
German (Goethe-Zertifikat B2)
Spanish (DELE B2)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=8686
x 949

Re: SKYNET goes online! World domination log.

Postby Skynet » Mon Dec 31, 2018 1:38 am

PeterMollenburg wrote: ... Might have to make it a pretty large belt to hold onto all of that knowledge you're acquiring at lightning speed, Mr Skynet. Yes you may be quite the machine at churning through courses ... Very much enjoying your log Skynet! Have a great New Year! ;)


Lawyer&Mom wrote:Skynet, you are a treasure, and I look forward to following your continuing adventures in 2019.


Thank-you! May you both have a splendid New Year too!

Rick Dearman's 2019 Output Challenge could not have come at a better time! My speaking is by far my weakest skill in both of my languages, and I aim to remedy this in 2019.

Skynet wrote:LANGUAGES: French & German

CHALLENGES: Full DOUBLE* writing challenge + full SINGLE speaking challenge for both languages.

CURRENT LANGUAGE LEVELS: (French: B2?, German: A0)

WILLING TO CORRECT LANGUAGES: YES! Shona & English. Expect delays in getting feedback - I am exceptionally busy.

COMMENTS: 50,000 words/ (14 words per line * 30 lines per page * 24 pages per quire) = ~ 5 quires per language. In 2019, I am doubling my stakes and betting against the house. 100,000 words = 10 quires for each language!


Whilst I now have French speakers who I accost daily with whom I converse daily, the same cannot be said of German speakers - the couple lives too far away, and we meet only once a week and it also does not help that the few researchers at university who are German, would rather restrict our interactions to purely academic topics.

It is serendipitous that I begin my 30-day winter break, in which I would like to really work on my oral production skills, in the middle of January. I would like to make intensive use of pattern drill exercises, to wit, FSI and DLI. I do not have the patience to do either course for long periods of time and fear that I will be exsanguinated of my language avidity, so a short burst (a la summer 2018) is necessary.

Resources:

German: FSI German FAST (~3 hrs of audio), DLI German Basic (~40 hrs) and DLI German Headstart (~16 hrs)
French: FSI French Basic (~82 hrs)

FSI French Basic is gargantuan, and as such, I will only be doing the pattern drill and fill-in-the-blank exercises orally. I do not intend to write anything down except for exquisite verbs, nouns and idioms. German, on the other hand, is still new to me and I plan on completing everything.

What's next after my 30 day foray into insanity? Well, regular online partners, of course.
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addylad
White Belt
Posts: 28
Joined: Mon Jan 01, 2018 5:55 pm
Languages: English (N), French (B1?)
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Re: SKYNET goes online! World domination log.

Postby addylad » Mon Dec 31, 2018 7:26 pm

I thought I would post since you welcomed me in my log a couple of days ago. :D

You mentioned 40 hours of DLI German. At what rate are you planning to cover the material?

I'm going to follow this thread with interest. ;)
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