Islandhoppers

An area with study groups for various languages. Group members help each other, share resources and experience. Study groups are permanent but the members rotate and change.
languist
Orange Belt
Posts: 164
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2018 8:55 pm
Languages: English (N)
Learning: Mostly, how to procrastinate + French, Spanish, Darija, Russian, Slovak, Circassian, Greek
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Re: Islandhoppers

Postby languist » Sat Jan 20, 2018 6:54 am

Hello everyone ! Apologies for my weeklong absence, I suddenly got sick and wasn't up for anything language-related (or anything at all, actually).

So happy to see you all are on board :) I have several ideas about different types of challenges and such, some more avant-garde & fun than others, but to start off with I think we should try something a bit traditional to see how people feel. So the first theme/prompt is lifted directly from when I used to offer this challenge to English-learners, although at that time, we had native speakers to correct them. This challenge however is entirely about encouraging output, rather than encouraging perfection. In that respect, @ tiia, please feel free to post in as many languages as you like. :)

Each theme will have a few prompts vaguely separated by proficiency level - that is, the assumed level of grammar and vocabulary needed to answer - but please feel free to respond to whichever you feel most drawn to, or to swerve them entirely if you feel inspired to share something else related to the theme. As for the length of your piece, it's up to you. To put an arbitrary quota for the sake of motivation, we can say that those at the 'beginner' stage of learning should aim for 50 words, 'intermediate' for 100, and 'advanced' for 150.

Welcome to Islandhoppers, I hope you enjoy building your first island :) !



      Image

      *Nature
      Beginner:
      Describe the nature in your area / tell us your favourite thing about nature
      Intermediate:
      Describe a memorable experience you had in nature / plan and describe a trip to your dream outdoor destination
      Advanced:
      Do you think modern people respect nature enough? Discuss the attitude in your area, or the problems facing the environment globally.

      * answer in written posts or audio posts !
      * challenge: update your adjectives ! take the word you know and find a more emphatic synonym !
      * suggested vocabulary: tree, forest, flower, plant, grass, field, mountain, sea, river, planet, sun, recycling, pollution, waste, urbanisation, farming, population, litter, climate, to explore, to climb, to walk, wild, peaceful, weather, exhilarating, adventure, afraid, etc



10 x

Spoonary
Blue Belt
Posts: 876
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:45 pm
Location: England
Languages: English (N)
Español (Adv), Italiano (Int), Esperanto (I try)
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Re: Islandhoppers

Postby Spoonary » Sun Jan 21, 2018 6:44 pm

What a great idea! Thank you for putting this together, languist. I will definitely write something about nature at some point this week, post it on my log and then link to it here, if that's ok?

You know, this whole thing reminds me of the month of writing prompts I took part in in January 2015 on Tumblr, 'A Polyglot New Year 2015'. :P
2 x

languist
Orange Belt
Posts: 164
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2018 8:55 pm
Languages: English (N)
Learning: Mostly, how to procrastinate + French, Spanish, Darija, Russian, Slovak, Circassian, Greek
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7523
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Re: Islandhoppers

Postby languist » Sun Jan 21, 2018 7:20 pm

Spoonary wrote:What a great idea! Thank you for putting this together, languist. I will definitely write something about nature at some point this week, post it on my log and then link to it here, if that's ok?

You know, this whole thing reminds me of the month of writing prompts I took part in in January 2015 on Tumblr, 'A Polyglot New Year 2015'. :P

Definitely write it on your log and even link to it, but c/p it here too please :) so this thread doesn’t end up just as a list of posts with links, as inevitably people may not have the time/energy/whatever to go through each one individually.

I’m glad you’re keen :) in theory I’ll post once a week, or twice a week (each prompt of a different variety) if people are engaging enough.

EDIT: Also, remember that anything you write here also counts towards any Output Challenge anyone happens to be taking part in.
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Elenia
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1888
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 1:22 am
Location: London
Languages: English (N), Swedish (C1), French (Massively Atrophied) German (lowly beginner, somehow learnt to read)


Finnish?!
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Re: Islandhoppers

Postby Elenia » Sun Jan 21, 2018 7:53 pm

This is great! I don't think I'll do each weekly challenge, but I think I'll dip in and out :D thanks for setting this up!
1 x

Christi
Orange Belt
Posts: 245
Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2018 7:56 pm
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Re: Islandhoppers

Postby Christi » Sun Jan 21, 2018 8:23 pm

I will also try to participate. Probably not every week though. Am curious to see how it will go :)
1 x
2020 resolution words learned: 472 / 1000
Pages read at end of 2020: 220 / 1500

languist
Orange Belt
Posts: 164
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2018 8:55 pm
Languages: English (N)
Learning: Mostly, how to procrastinate + French, Spanish, Darija, Russian, Slovak, Circassian, Greek
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Re: Islandhoppers

Postby languist » Sun Jan 21, 2018 9:52 pm

I guess I should start. :D

I decided to go for two of the languages I'm studying, as the other two are too basic to even try yet. As this is truly the first time I have created real output in these languages other than actually using them in conversation, I just aimed for 50 words or so, with the view to gradually building this up as we continue. (: Btw, how you format it, and whether or not you include an English translation is ultimately up to you. I think it's generally helpful to do so, for yourself and for others, so I'll try to do it. Also, mention if you're open to corrections, in case anyone happens to want to help. I'm open for corrections.

French - J’habite en ville, donc il n’y a pas beaucoup d’arbres ou d’herbe. C’est malheureux parce que j’aime bien d’être au milieu de la nature. En fait, on y a une rivière mais c’est assez loin du centre, et je ne la vois pas très souvent. Autour de la ville, il y a quelques belles collines qu’on aime monter et regarder par-dessus la vue.
I live in the city, so there aren't a lot of trees or grass. It's unfortunate because I really like to be amongst nature. In fact, we have a river but it's quite far from the centre, and I don't often see it. Around the city, there are several beautiful hills which we like to go up and look out over the view.

Slovak - Ľúbim hory. Keď som bola na Slovensku, mala som príležitosť isť do Slovenského raja. To bolo veľmi smiešné pretože bojím sa výšok, a plakala som veľa - ale to bol úplne skvelý výhľad. Aj cítila som výborná pretože robila som niečo pre mňa veľmi ťažké. Pršalo veľa a nemali sme daždniky, ale adrenlín nám dal energiu dokončiť.
I love mountains. When I was in Slovakia, I had the opportunity to go to Slovenský Raj ('Slovak Paradise'). It was very funny because I'm afraid of heights, and I cried a lot - but it was a completely amazing view. Also I felt great because I did something which is difficult for me. It rained a lot and we didn't have umbrellas, but adrenaline gave us the energy to finish.

(btw - I'm aware that my French is very basic, and my Slovak is riddled with mistakes. but that's the point ;) )
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Finolia
Yellow Belt
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Re: Islandhoppers

Postby Finolia » Mon Jan 22, 2018 7:48 pm

Here are my small texts in Vietnamese and Spanish ^^ I obviously tried to keep them free of errors but I can't guarantee anything :P

Thiên nhiên ở đây đẹp. Thành phố rất sạch và rào bằng đồi nhỏ và rừng. Ở rừng có nhiều cây lá. Tôi rất thích thiên nhiên ở mùa thu. Ban mùa thu cây lá nhiều màu. Khi trời đẹp tôi thích đi chơi bằng rừng.
Tôi muốn tìm khu rừng bị đốn với bãi cỏ màu xanh lá cây, một sông với nước quang đãng, vài núi đá và một thác nước. Tôi thấy rằng nó rất đẹp và lãng mạn.

Vivo en una ciudad pequeña. La ciudad es relativamente limpia y el aire es puro. Tenemos muchos cubos de basura que ayuda con mantener la ciudad limpia.
La ciudad está rodeada de colinas con unos bosques. Prefiero un paisaje con colinas de un paisaje plano porque me siento más seguro. Además, prefiero los árboles de hoja caduca. Ellos son los árboles que predominan en los bosques aquí. Son muy bonitos en el otoño – me encantan todos los colores. Me gusta también el aire fresco que nos invita a pasear por el bosque. Es más agradable que un calor agobiante.

Edit: Oh, I didn't even say that I'll take part xD So... I need to practice my writing skills and learn new words. As I like the idea very much and the way you made the first prompt I decided to take part :D Thank you for this thread, I always lack ideas :P
5 x
Please feel free to correct whatever I write :P

Elementary Vietnamese: 8 / 14

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tiia
Blue Belt
Posts: 735
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2016 11:52 pm
Location: Finland
Languages: German (N), English (?), Finnish (C1), Spanish (B2??), Swedish (B2)
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Re: Islandhoppers

Postby tiia » Mon Jan 22, 2018 9:11 pm

Oh I had to look up that lake on the picture and voilá: I've been at that particular lake long, long time ago. (I really had to search for a while, to find a picture proving this.) But to be honest, we were a bit disappointed when we saw the lake back then, because it looked like this: (photo taken by my Ex-partner, with whom I travelled, because I didn't take any by myself. So if you're having any problem with this photo, you know how to contact me directly.)
Moraine_Lake.JPG

The other lakes we had seen, looked just more beautiful - they didn't have lots of dead trees lying aroung and there were fewer people.

I decided to write the text in Finnish on the advanced topic this time. If I'm crazy (or bored) enough I may try to do something in Swedish or Spanish as well, but then I'd choose one of the easier tasks.
I may have gotten a bit further from the topic than I intented, but I just had too many ideas and so the whole thing doesn't really go into any depths, because it just grew too long. So you'll see I may have lost the thread a few times. But I'll leave it that way, as it's the first longer text I've written in Finnish for quite some time. At least I'll leave myself lots of space to improve my writing in future texts. So here we go:

Kunnioitetaanko me ympäristömme tarpeeksi?

Mistä ajatellaan kun kuullaan luonto-sana? Varmasti tulee useammin mieleemme meidän viime retki jonnekin kaupungin ulkopuolelle tai ainakin puistoon tai puutarhaan. Tietenkin me silloin nautittiin puhtaasta ilmasta ja lintujen äänten kuuntelemisesta. Ehkäpä me muistetaan häiritseviä hyönteisiä, mutta siinä se on. Sen lisäksi me muistetaan monivärinen auringonlasku tai ensilumi – tietysti me silloin huomataan luonnon olemassaolon.

Mutta arkielämässämmekö? Huomataanko me, että se mitä me ostamme supermarketissa vaikuttaa luontoon? Ettei se vain riittä viedä roskamme taas kotiin kun lähdetään retkeille? Kierräyksestä ainakin Euroopassa yleensä tiedetään, vaikka ero eri maiden välissä on jo suuri. (Niin en ole varma kuinka monta prosenttia ihmisistä oikeasti tietää siitä.)

Viime aikoina on puhuttu enemmän mikromuovista merissä. Ja meidän kaikkien vastuumme on, että joka päivä lisä muovi pääsee meriin, koska me esim. pestään vaatteita, jotka tehtiin tekokuiduista.

Meidän ruoka tulee kaukaista paikoista, niin kuin meidän sähkölaiteetkin.
Sen lisäksi enemmän hyönteiset kuolevat joka vuosi ja jos ei tehdä mitään, niin se vaikuttaa meitäkin niin, että jonakin päivänä sadot ei enää riittä, kun mehiläiset eivät enää ehti pölyttää tarpeeksi kasviksia. Toisinpäin ilmastonmuutos vie semmoiset hyttyset taas Europaankin, jolla aiheuttavat vaikuttavia sairauksia.

Niin mitä voi jokainen meistä tehdä suojelemakseen luontoa?
Pari ehdotuksia:
1. Älä osta vaatteita tekokuiduista, kun mahdollista.
2. Yrittää löytää kestävämpiä sähkölaiteita.
3. Kierrä roskasi ja mene rantatalkoihin, koska valitettavasti joka henkilö ei vielä viedä roskansa pois luonnosta.
4. Säästä energia.
5. Yrittää matkustaa ympäristöystävällisemmin, esim. pyörällä tai junalla. Välttää auto- ja lentomatkoja.

Tavallisesti on vaikein vaihda arkielämä, niin älä luovuta kun kuulostaa ensin mahdottomalta! Jokainen meistä voi myötävaikuttaa parempaan. Niin tehden myös meidän lapsenlapset voivat vielä nauttia luontoa.
(262 words)
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Maiwenn
Orange Belt
Posts: 243
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 11:26 am
Location: Grand Est, France
Languages: English (N) & French
focusing on: MSA & Moroccan Arabic
backburner: German
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Re: Islandhoppers

Postby Maiwenn » Tue Jan 23, 2018 11:45 am

Respektieren moderne Menschen die Natur genug?
******See here for tiia's corrections.******

(German)
Es gibt mehr und mehr Menschen, denen um die Umwelt kümmern. Unter meinen Freunden gibt es viele, die einen „Zero Waste“ Leben machen. Der „Zero Waste“ Leben ist einen Leben ohne Müll und Verschwendung. Sie versuchen, ihren Konsum zu reduzieren. Sie vermeiden Sachen mit viel Verpackung. In meiner Region, gibt es am Mindestens drei „unverpackt“ Läden. In diesen Läden kann man trockenen Lebensmitten von Massengütern kaufen. Jeder bringt seinen eigenen Behälter mit. Bevor der Behälter gefüllt wird, wiegt der Laden ihn. Also erlaubt der Laden wissen, wie viel Produkt der Kunde genommen hat.
There are more and more people who care about the environment. Amongst my friends are many who live a Zero Waste lifestyle. Zero Waste life is a life without trash and wastefulness. They try to reduce their consumption. They avoid things with a lot of packaging. In my region, there are at least three packaging-less stores. In the stores, you can buy dry goods in bulk. Everyone brings their own container. Before filling the container, the store weighs it. Thus allows the store to know how much of the product the customer took.

Nur unser Abfall reduzieren ist jedoch nicht genug. Man kann Kokosnussöl in diesen Läden kaufen, aber wovon kommt das Öl? Die Wirkung von seinem Versand ist vielleicht schlimmer als die Wirkung von einem Produkt mit eine Verpackung. Es ist noch besser, etwas von seiner Region zu kaufen. Viele Menschen haben gute Sinnen. Sie kaufen biologisch, aber sie vergessen, dass ihr Kaffee von weiter Land verschifft war. Zwischen biologische Äpfel aus Spanien und Äpfel aus Nachbarn, es ist besser die lokale Äpfel zu wählen.
Only reducing our trash, however, is not enough. You can buy coconut oil in these stores, but where did the oil come from? The effect of its shipping is perhaps worse than the effect of a product with packaging. It is even better to buy something from one's region. Many people have good intentions. They buy organic, but they forget that their coffee was shipped from far away. Between organic apples from Spain and apples from neighbors, it's better to choose the local apple.

Die Gesellschaft beginnt, auf ihre Auswirkungen auf die Umwelt zu achten. Wir verstehen, dass unsere Handlungen Konsequenzen haben. Leider verstehen wir nicht immer, wie wir unsere täglichen Gewohnheiten verbessern können. Viele Leute kaufen Bio-Lebensmittel für den Umweltschutz, aber sie kaufen auch jedes Jahr neue Handys. Wir brauchen große Veränderungen von Regierungen und Unternehmen.
Society is beginning to care about its effects on the environment. We understand that our actions have consequences. Unfortunately we do not always understand how our daily habits can be improved. Many people buy organic food for environment protection, but they buy new phones every year. We need major changes from governments and companies.

----------------------------------------
Akchour (Moroccan Arabic)

بغيت نمشي للمدينة أقشور. هي قريبا من المدينة الشفشاون في الشمال. بزاف ديال السيّاح يزاروا هذه المدينة في الصيف. هما كيخيّموا في الخيمة في الليل. في النهر هما كيتسارو في الجبال. هما كيعوموا في الضاية. ما عمرني خيّمت في الخيمة و بغيت نحوله. عوم كيعجبني بزاف و الضاية في أقشور زوينة بزاف. في العادية فوق ما نسافر في المغرب، ما نديرش بزاف الرياضة و نكول بزاااااف. في العادية، كنجري و كنعوم بزاف. اذا السفر ديال احلامي سفر فيه كندير الرياضة في منضر زوين.

I want to go to Aqchour. It's near the city of Chefchaouen in the North. Many tourists visit this city in the summer. They camp in tents at night. During the day, the hike in the mountains. They swim in the lake. I have never camped in a tent and I want to try it. I like swimming a lot and the lake in Aqchour is very beautiful. Normally when I travel in Morocco, I don't do much sport and I eat a lot. Normally, I run and swim a lot. Thus my dream trip is a trip where I do sport in a beautiful landscape.
Last edited by Maiwenn on Thu Jan 25, 2018 1:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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SC reading: 3819 / 10000 AR
SC reading: 3334 / 5000 FR
SC reading: 65 / 2500 DE :?

Corrections are always welcome. :)

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tiia
Blue Belt
Posts: 735
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2016 11:52 pm
Location: Finland
Languages: German (N), English (?), Finnish (C1), Spanish (B2??), Swedish (B2)
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Re: Islandhoppers

Postby tiia » Tue Jan 23, 2018 5:51 pm

Maiwenn wrote:Respektieren moderne Menschen die Natur genug?
(German)

Would you like to receive corrections for this text?
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Corrections for entries written in Finnish, Spanish or Swedish are welcome.
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