Stefan's log [DE] [FR] [DK]

[kulaputra]

I watched that show's trailer and it makes me want to learn German just to watch the show, because it just looked like so fun

[Stefan]

Fack ju Göhte



Zeki Müller is released from prison a year after a bank robbery only to find that they built a sports hall on top of the buried money. Despite having no education, he manages to get a job on the school as a substitute teacher with the plan to have access and dig when no one is around.

Fack ju Göhte became a huge success and was the most viewed film in 2013. Naturally is resulted in a second movie 2015 and even a third movie 2017 which seems to have had a great opening week, making it the best theatrical release in 2017. Viewers either hate it or love it.

Elyas M'Barek and Karoline Herfurth did a good job with their acting but the plot was all over the place. There's the obvious love story, a debt to a criminal, a random student competition (think School of Rock), social services, students trying to pass the final exam and a lot more. The humour is over the top and reminded me about a child friendly version of a random American highschool movie. I wished they had toned it down, removed most of the annoying students and focused a bit more on developing the main characters. I have no plans on watching the second movie.

[Stefan]

Summary of 2018

Late summary but I reckon my future self would want it anyway.

The year went well up until August. I completed the splicing of Assimil Französisch ohne Mühe into correct audio files and was well ahead of my native media challenge. Then I bought a computer (first gaming PC in 13 years) and my language learning sort of dwindled.

With that said, I did watch more German media than previous years and I did progress with podcasts. I caught up with both Top-Thema and Slow German while incorporating Tageschau into my daily routine. I tried numerous other podcasts but besides the previously mentioned ones, Eine Stunde History is the only German one I listen to regularly.

I managed to get my hands on Babylon Berlin with matching subs and I did some research on setting up a private wiki. 6play.fr blocked my VPN so I never got subs for Tintin - Le lotus bleu and DR decided to geoblock all their YouTube channels around the same time. I made an attempt at resurrecting the German reading group but it failed so I completed the book by myself. Finally I purchased Tio lektioner i danska.

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Stats

Hours watched

Danish: 6
English: 138
German: 119
Swedish: 3
Total: 268 hours

Pages read

English: 2696
German: 789
Swedish: 961
Total: 4446 pages

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Takeaways from 2018

I seem to have a love–hate relationship with my Kindle. It's amazing technology to have all the books and built-in light in one small device. Unfortunately the software is severely lacking. If I look up a lot of words, it will crash and reboot every few minutes. My solution is to look up fewer words but I reckon it's not ideal for my language learning.

[Stefan]

Spent a few days in Denmark and had to refresh my knowledge on their counting system:

Senaste blogginlägget handlade om ordet halvannan, som betyder ’en halv från det andra’, alltså 1,5 . Förr kunde man också på samma sätta prata om halvtredje skålpund (2,5 skålpund), halvfjärde tum (3,5 tum) och halvfemte fot (4,5 fot). Men vad kan du ha för praktisk nytta av att känna till dessa utdöda räkneuttryck? Jo, de kan erbjuda helt nya möjligheter att genomskåda det danska räknesystemet.

Från 1 till 49 räknar danskarna precis som vi med basen 10, så det är inga konstigheter. Men från 50 till 99 bygger de danska räkneorden istället på ett system med basen 20. Om vi lär oss att sinds är ett äldre danskt ord för gånger, samma som vi har i ordet någonsin, följer resten med enkel huvudräkning. För 50 är ju 2,5 gånger 20 och heter följaktligen halvtredje-sinds-tyve*. Vill vi säga 60 får vi räkna 3 gånger 20: tre-sinds-tyve. Och 70 följer precis samma logik: det är 3,5 gånger 20 och får då heta halvfjerde-sinds-tyve. Vidare får vi fire-sinds-tyve för 80 och halvfemte-sinds-tyve för 90.

Sen är ju danskarna precis som alla andra språkbrukare ekonomiska varelser, som inte i onödan vill gå och säga långa haranger när man kan förkorta. Så sinds-tyve reduceras till ett s, och kvar får vi följande räkneord:

50 – halvtreds
60 – tres
70 – halvfjerds
80 – firs
90 – halvfems

51 – enoghalvtreds
75 – femoghalvfjerds

Nu återstår bara att komma ihåg att säga entalen först. 63 heter tre-og-tres och 99 heter ni-og-halvfems.

I guess it's some kind of logic, but come on. One and half three equals 51...

[Stefan]

Tatort 1037 introduced me to Oft Gefragt by AnnenMayKantereit.

Du hast mich angezogen, ausgezogen, großgezogen
Und wir sind umgezogen, ich hab dich angelogen:
"Ich nehme keine Drogen
Und in der Schule war ich auch"

[jeff_lindqvist]

I guess it's some kind of logic, but come on. One and half three equals 51...

If you find it very illogical, just learn what the tens are called (no need to understand why) and keep in mind that the single digits are said first (like in German - einundfünfzig). If you find that very confusing, just learn the two-digits as phrases.

Enogtyve IS how you say 21. Quatre-vingt-douze (in French) IS how you say 92 (4x20 + 12). Zweiundsiebzig IS how you say 72.

Just the the other day, I had a look at each car I met during my walk, and said the numbers out loud in Danish. After you've seen a couple of two-digit numbers in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, you have no problem blurting out seksoghalvtreds, otteogtres, treoghalvfjers, fireogfirs, enoghalvfems...

And if you still think the Danish system is illogical, remember how we tell time in Swedish:
Halv fyra - 3.30 / 15.30 (no "four" in sight)
Tjugo i två - 01.40 / 13.40 (no "two", and not really any "twenty" either)
Fem över halv sex - 5.35 / 17.35 (no "six")

Held og lykke!

[Stefan]

And if you still think the Danish system is illogical, remember how we tell time in Swedish

Not sure what you mean. Swedish is 100% perfect.

[Stefan]

About a month ago Speakeasy posted a long list of intermediate and advanced books for improving German reading skills, which I’m extremely grateful for. I ordered four of them and thought to give my first impression after skimming them.

A Reader in German Literature
Deutsche Denker und Forscher
Deutsche Literatur von Heute
Der Spiegel: Aktuelle Themen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

I received A Reader in German Literature first and immediately remembered how spoiled I’ve become thanks to modern technology such as LWT and Kindle. It includes authentic texts by 10 authors with idioms as footnotes, a two page commentary on each author and a long vocabulary list at the back. I estimate the list to include about 800 words.

It’s a bit silly to comment on but the only drawback is the fact that it’s a regular book. Authors such as Hoffmann, Mann and Kafka are in public domain so you can just import their texts into any modern reading device and get the benefits of quick lookup. It does include a vocabulary list, which I’m grateful for, but I have the feeling that the back will be ruined long before I finish the book. As I said, it’s a bit silly to mention. I ordered a book and got a book.

Deutsche Denker und Forscher is a bit more helpful. It consists of eight original essays on important Germans such as Grimm, Goethe, Mozart, Röntgen and a few others. Each chapter includes the essay (some vocabulary as footnotes), a handful of questions to see if you understood it, a vocabulary review (no translations) and a few ”practice sentences”. At the far back of the book, there are ten pages titled ”Translation Aids”. It’s basically a mix of important grammar and idiom explanations. You also have a vocabulary list of 500 important words.

I like that it includes some translations in the footnotes, so there’s a lot less going back and forth to the vocabulary list. The content is also unique and I look forward to learn more about them. I wish the vocabulary review would include translations as well.

Deutsche Literatur von Heute is a lot different by being divided into two halves. The second half includes 150 pages of grammar (verb tenses, strong verbs, etc) with exercises and a long vocabulary list. The first half consists of 22 texts. Each chapter has a brief author bio, a short list of active vocabulary (with translation), idioms, questions to think about when reading, grammar references (only page numbers), the text with translations in the margin, questions about the text and finally topic suggestions for class discussions.

As you probably have guessed by now, I love the fact that there are plenty of translations in the margin. I can’t comment on the quality but there seem to be a lot of content if you have the energy to make use of it. Grammar references for each text would probably benefit from a classroom environment though. I’m not sure how to make the most of it and I can’t seem to find any keys for the exercises which kinda makes them meaningless.

Der Spiegel: Aktuelle Themen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland reminds me a bit more about a traditional textbook (might be the format). It’s completely in German and includes audio if you somehow manage to find it. There are 40 authentic articles. Each chapter consists of an article (1-2 pages), questions to think about when reading, a list of cultural vocabulary (Boris Becker), a monolingual vocabulary list, questions about the text and three assignments divided into speaking, group assignment and writing.

My impression is that it’s a bit heavier to read in comparison with the other books. With this said, it seems great and the audio is a major bonus.