Re: Neurotip grapples with Greek
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 3:55 pm
Log post 7
Greek
Very pleased that I managed to get through a seven-day family holiday in Italy while only missing two days of the 365-day challenge in Greek. This was mainly through reading, yes the same book as usual, which up to now has been going at a rate of about two months to a chapter. Half an hour's reading gets me a couple of pages. Still it's all grist to the mill.
On balance I think it was quite helpful to be learning Greek while dealing with a lot of Italian; the accent and 'mouthfeel' of the two languages is similar enough that it's tempting to piggyback Greek on my Italian accent, so having the two side by side helped to focus the differences.
Yesterday I upgraded my operating system and realised too late that I'd gone the wrong way about backing up Anki, so I've lost my Greek and Icelandic decks. It doesn't really matter though, the effort of putting the words in is helpful in itself and at least it means I won't keep getting sent back to the old boring words I'd prefer not to admit I've forgotten
For the record, I'm coming towards the end of the third Living Language book (listening at least, I haven't been working through the books themselves as religiously), and am on unit 24 of FSI Basic Greek. The analogy between FSI and a vigorous workout continues to feel apt - it tires your brain
Oh, and I've found a series of YouTube videos entitled 'In Simple Greek' (Με Απλά Ελληνικά, or since languages are plural in Greek, 'In Simples Greeks'), in which a guy explains stuff using Greek which is 'simples' from a native's point of view, i.e. lacking in technical jargon, but doesn't make any other concession to the non-native. Let's be clear, it is too hard for me, but I can pick out just enough phrases that I can get the gist of most of it. Greek is kind to the learner insofar as you can generally hear each syllable, even if they go past very fast sometimes; Icelandic (and English, I suspect) was very much a game of 'how many syllables can you bury in a single "euur"?'
Italian
So we were self-catering in Tuscany for a week. Apart from a lot of 'two adults and one child please', I had perhaps a dozen conversations of a few minutes each with various native speakers (largely in shops while Mrs Neurotip and/or Master Neurotip were poring over various buyables) adding up to perhaps 45 minutes in all, and it all went rather well.
We had the radio on in the car a lot, and all the stations seemed to have a lot of talking, so I probably listened to several hours of native content as well. I was definitely aware that my accent had improved by the end of the week, without having tried at all (all my actual trying was reserved for Greek). I also read a few dozen pages of the Scerbanenco book and am continuing with this on and off - I definitely want to finish it.
There's no doubt now that my Italian is better than my French, and I suppose I feel more ownership of it because it was the first language I learned entirely of my own volition, not just as a subject at school.
Others
Nothing really. Really starting to view Arabic as a possibility but I'm not too tempted to wander off into it just yet...
Greek
Very pleased that I managed to get through a seven-day family holiday in Italy while only missing two days of the 365-day challenge in Greek. This was mainly through reading, yes the same book as usual, which up to now has been going at a rate of about two months to a chapter. Half an hour's reading gets me a couple of pages. Still it's all grist to the mill.
On balance I think it was quite helpful to be learning Greek while dealing with a lot of Italian; the accent and 'mouthfeel' of the two languages is similar enough that it's tempting to piggyback Greek on my Italian accent, so having the two side by side helped to focus the differences.
Yesterday I upgraded my operating system and realised too late that I'd gone the wrong way about backing up Anki, so I've lost my Greek and Icelandic decks. It doesn't really matter though, the effort of putting the words in is helpful in itself and at least it means I won't keep getting sent back to the old boring words I'd prefer not to admit I've forgotten
For the record, I'm coming towards the end of the third Living Language book (listening at least, I haven't been working through the books themselves as religiously), and am on unit 24 of FSI Basic Greek. The analogy between FSI and a vigorous workout continues to feel apt - it tires your brain
Oh, and I've found a series of YouTube videos entitled 'In Simple Greek' (Με Απλά Ελληνικά, or since languages are plural in Greek, 'In Simples Greeks'), in which a guy explains stuff using Greek which is 'simples' from a native's point of view, i.e. lacking in technical jargon, but doesn't make any other concession to the non-native. Let's be clear, it is too hard for me, but I can pick out just enough phrases that I can get the gist of most of it. Greek is kind to the learner insofar as you can generally hear each syllable, even if they go past very fast sometimes; Icelandic (and English, I suspect) was very much a game of 'how many syllables can you bury in a single "euur"?'
Italian
So we were self-catering in Tuscany for a week. Apart from a lot of 'two adults and one child please', I had perhaps a dozen conversations of a few minutes each with various native speakers (largely in shops while Mrs Neurotip and/or Master Neurotip were poring over various buyables) adding up to perhaps 45 minutes in all, and it all went rather well.
We had the radio on in the car a lot, and all the stations seemed to have a lot of talking, so I probably listened to several hours of native content as well. I was definitely aware that my accent had improved by the end of the week, without having tried at all (all my actual trying was reserved for Greek). I also read a few dozen pages of the Scerbanenco book and am continuing with this on and off - I definitely want to finish it.
There's no doubt now that my Italian is better than my French, and I suppose I feel more ownership of it because it was the first language I learned entirely of my own volition, not just as a subject at school.
Others
Nothing really. Really starting to view Arabic as a possibility but I'm not too tempted to wander off into it just yet...