Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

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Carmody
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby Carmody » Tue May 21, 2019 10:02 am

Mork the Fiddle
I finished Book 2 of The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides today. Thucydides: The Peloponnesian War Book II was indispensible. Parts of Book 2 are easy peasy, but other parts are as hard as Ancient Greek gets, prose anyway. I aim to understand how everything works, using help if I need it, but sometimes I can't, expecially the speeches.


Congratulations and well done! Those of us who can only read it in the fully annotated English version edited by Roberet B. Strassler salute you!
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MorkTheFiddle
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Sun Jun 02, 2019 11:25 pm

Today I finished the first book of Arrian’s Anabasis (bio of Alexander the Greek) with much help from the translation of E. J. Chinnock.

In French I have set myself a personal challenge of listening to 150 hours of French in the next couple of months. Anything is fair game, and I count actual times for movies (and everything else). I turn on French subs where they exist. In the list below, I listened to the English subs of Il y a longtemps que je t’aime to rewatch the last 5 minutes so that I could understand what happened.

French autiovisual sources seen starting 21 May 2019, mostly in this order.
Italicized titles are movies.
Numbers in parentheses mark season and episode of a TV series.
* marks an audiobook, perhaps heard at several different times
The total time for watching/hearing these was 26:22 hours.

La royal navy et l’us navy face au flottes allemandes ey japonaises
Le temps retrouvé*
La bataille de Midway
Agatha Christie, l’étrange reine du crime
Un long dimanches de fiançailles
Le temps retrouvé*
Complement d’enquete : Sextos porn, la vie secrète de nos ados
La vie en rose (with subs)
Le temps retrouvé*
2d WW : Juin 1940, le Grand chaos
Peau sauvage 0101
L’ombre d’un doute : Qui était Jésus
Le dernière offensive d’Hitler
Dix pour cent (Call My Agent) 0101
Hero Corp 0101
Io
Blue (of Bleu – Blanc - Rouge)
Rouge
Histoire d’aviation: D’une guerre a l’autre
Indochine
Il y a longtemps que je t’aime
Bande à part
Dix pour cent (Call My Agent) 0102
Marseille 0101

I am (not totally) neglecting Spanish, but I will make it up in a couple months when I finish my French challenge.
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Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

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MorkTheFiddle
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Tue Jun 11, 2019 11:52 pm

Here are what I have listened to since last post. An x before the title means I do NOT recommend it, a plus means I liked it. (subs) means with subtitles, (0101) means season 1, episode 1, etc, (doc) means documentary (I used this when the status might not be clear):
Le dernier métro
Journal d'une femme de chambre
x Arès (subs)
Trois souvenirs de ma jeunesse
La trêve (0101)
Osmose (0101)
Dany Caligula: 2001 L'Odysée de l'espace
La philo selon Philippe episode 36
La guerre en couleur: Stalingrad (doc)
Stalingrad: L'Heure de la puissance (doc)
x Pickpocket
+++++ Jeux interdits. A masterpiece, IMO.
L'ombre d'en doute: Les artistes sous l'occupation
Dany Caligula (+ePenser) Le cosmos et le corps
x Journal d'un curé de campagne
La bataille de Normandie
+ Le jeu (Nothing to Hide) (subs)
Axolotl: le veritable Indiana Jones
William McGovern: 11 languages (doc)
x Iris
French Everyday Conversations with French subtitles
Totally Spies (0101)
Danse avec les stars (1hr 1min only)
La dame dans la voiture avec des lunettes et un fusil (1970)
----- Only at the end did I realize that the movie was dubbed, and only about half way through did I realize the female lead was British. I assumed she was fluent in French. In part I was misled in this because the theme song is sung in French by Petula Clark, who is also British and fluent in French e.g. (the quality could certainly be better)
.
----- Anyway, some of the actors may be French. :?
----- Later this week I will be watching a newer, completely French, version.
Moving on:
x À la manière de Sherlock Holmes (only 32 minutes)
x Outlander (dub) (0101)
+ Terra (doc) narrated by Vanessa Paradis
Osmose (for the second time: I forgot I watched it already) (0101)

I have not finished Book 2 of Anabasis. I am starting to gather materials for a similar Spanish challenge later in the year. In regards to that and to challenges in general, Coldrainwater posted an informative post here about his own Spanish challenge: [url]https://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=9829&p=142857#p142857
[/url]
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby DaveAgain » Wed Jun 12, 2019 6:40 am

MorkTheFiddle wrote:La dame dans la voiture avec des lunettes et un fusil (1970)
----- Only at the end did I realize that the movie was dubbed, and only about half way through did I realize the female lead was British. I assumed she was fluent in French.
I started watching this the other day. I knew Oliver Reed was british, so once he appeared I started looking closely at the actors mouths to see if they were speaking french or english ... I wasn't certain, but I thought french. :?

(didn't watch the whole thing).
-------------
An OK film I watched recently was "Le deuxième souffle", which is a tough-guy crime film.
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MorkTheFiddle
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Wed Jun 12, 2019 11:12 pm

DaveAgain wrote:
MorkTheFiddle wrote:La dame dans la voiture avec des lunettes et un fusil (1970)
----- Only at the end did I realize that the movie was dubbed, and only about half way through did I realize the female lead was British. I assumed she was fluent in French.
I started watching this the other day. I knew Oliver Reed was british, so once he appeared I started looking closely at the actors mouths to see if they were speaking french or english ... I wasn't certain, but I thought french. :?

(didn't watch the whole thing).
-------------
An OK film I watched recently was "Le deuxième souffle", which is a tough-guy crime film.

Even Oliver Reed I did not recognize, only from the credits. :oops: So I did not have the chance to check out their lips. I could have watched again, at least a little bit, but once was enough. Funny thing, I watched the 2015 version yesterday, and the female lead it is is a Scot, Freya Mayor! Her ability in French I do not know. The 1970 version is better, IMO, but only a little.
Our library owns "Le deuxième souffle" and I have it here on the sofa. I always look forward to a performance by Lino Ventura.
Thanks for the comment.
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Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

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MorkTheFiddle
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Mon Jun 17, 2019 11:48 pm

More French listening:
La forêt (0101)
La forêt (0102)
xAmoureux Solitaires
La Mante (0101)
ePenser+DanyCaligula: Votre ADN dans la Grand Pyramide de Cheops
Alice dans le pays des merveilles-Cartoon (0101)
Barbapapa - Cartoon (0101)
Bob Morane (the cartoon version) (0101)
Il était une fois l'Homme
La forêt (0103)
La forêt (0104)
L'été meurtrier
Total hours to date (since 5/21): 63h 36m (goal is 150h)
During this period I took a 3 day inclusive "hiatus" to let everything perculate and recharge batteries.
A reminder that x in front of title means NOT recommended. A + would be recommended. The rest meh.
Titles in italics are movies (only one in this batch).
Of the series I want to finish La forêt and La Mante.

Spanish
Probably going to go with dub of Kiefer Sutherland's series Designated Survivor. I test drove it yesterday, it seems suitable.

Ancient Greek
Finished Book 2 of Arrian's Anabasis.
Read a couple of very short lyric poems: Sappho's "The Apple" and Tymnes "The Dog from Malta."

Latin
Glanced at some lines of Horace quoted by Montaigne:
Odes, III, XXIX, 29-32 and 41-45 and Odes, II, 16
from Essais, Livre I, Chapitre 11, 5
M's comments concern knowing the future. The crux of his argument is that the present has enough problems without our knowing for sure what ills the future holds in store. It's a rant against fortune tellers and astrologers.

Mandarin
This thread https://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=10572&p=142675&hilit=defrancis#p142675 induced me to buy DeFrancis' Introductory Chinese Reader and order the two accompanying books. My goal is to reach A1 by the end of this century.
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Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

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MorkTheFiddle
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Wed Jun 19, 2019 11:13 pm

After spending an hour or two tearing out my hair trying to sync subtitles with Eric Rohmer's Ma nuit chez Maud, in the end I discovered I could understand a great deal of it without even needing the subtitles. An interesting plot with interesting characters looks at a religious/moral issue. Recommended, but beware it's a bit old and in black and white. Part of the hour or two spent was working with the same issue of syncing with L'été meurtrier. Finally I decided the principal female lead was acted and directed so ineptly that prepping it for subs2srs wasn't worth the trouble, even though there is lots of vernacular dialogue.
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Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

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MorkTheFiddle
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Sun Jun 23, 2019 11:50 pm

French Listening Comprehension since June 17
La forêt (0105-06)
La chalet (0101)

*+La nuit chez Maud

+Juste avante la nuit
Le deuxième souffle
WW2: Voutine vs Manstein

*La boulangère de Monceau
*La carrière de Suzanne
*La collectionneuse

Les grands myths: Médée, l'amour assassine

*Claire's knee: dark and creepy; in color and the cinematography is beautiful

F is for family (0101) (dubbed)
Bojack Horseman (0101) (dubbed)
L'ombre d'un doute: Napoleon
F is for family (0101) (dubbed) (2x)

Total time so far: 81h54m of a goal of 150h.

* A note about the starred films. These are 5 of 6 directed by Eric Rohmer, which he called "moral tales." I don't know how moral they are, but all are about men chasing women and/or vice versa. They grow darker film by film (though I have not watched the last--it was on loan to someone else). The fifth and last I watched, Claire's Knee, is more than a little creepy. You are warned.

F is for family is an adult animated series, funny, irreverent, coarse, provocative. It has high usefulness for improving listening comprehension, because the dialogue is quick, full of slang and colloqualisms, and accompanied by subtitles that catch the drift but are hardly precise. The viewer should be at least a solid A2 to follow this series. Some examples of the slang/colloquialisms/phrases I just didn't know:
faire un tabac to be a hit
oeuf mimosa deviled egg
crado nasty, dirty
tondeuse clippers, lawn mower
vous avez cap are you up for
ca va barder there will be hell to pay

Bojack Horseman is the same kind of comedy as F is for family, with maybe not quite so much slang or colloquial expressions.

A reminder that x in front of title means NOT recommended. + means recommended. The rest vary. Titles in italics are movies.

Spanish Reading
I finished the first book of Spanish translation of La Novela de Gengi. I am at Kindle location 14236 of 26776 total locations. Although not finished, this novel ranks for me with War and Peace and The Brothers Karamazov and One Hundred Years of Solitude, and I will be sorry when I finish it.

Mandarin
I thought I was a beginner in Mandarin, but it turns out I am a pre-beginner. Just downloading a Mandarin language pack was daunting, and once downloaded it altered unasked and unbidden my language of preference from English to German! Ach du lieber!

Ancient Greek
I am halfway through Book 3 of Arrian's Anabasis. It's mostly just Alexander kicking butt wherever he goes.
Poetry has gotten my attention, too. If there were an Ancient Greek equivalent of On Reading French Verse by Roy Lewis, I would gobble it up. As it is, there is a Guide to Latin Meter and Verse Composition by David J. Califf and John Traupman, whose approach may--fingers crossed--transfer over to Greek verse. One of the little poems that inspired me was this:

Τῇδε τὸν ἐκ Μελίτης ἀργὸν κύνα φησὶν ὁ πέτρος
ἴσχειν, Εὐμήλου πιστότατον φὐλακα.
Ταῦρόν μιν καλέεσκον, ὄτ’ ἦν ἔτι· νῦν δὲ τὸ κείνου
Φθέγμα σιωπηραὶ νυκτὸς ἔχουσιν ὁδοί.

--Tymnes

The stone says, the stellar Maltese hound here
is interred, the trusty watchdog of Eumelos.
We called it Bull, when was still alive. But now
the silent paths of night hold its bark.

(My loose translation).
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MorkTheFiddle
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Sun Jun 30, 2019 11:20 pm

French Listening Comprehension
Since 23 June, last Sunday.
La ligne Siegfried
Le conte de Monte Cristo (1979 mini-series-only 3h7m: very slow paced)
La mante (0102&03)
Les revenants (0102)
xImmoral Tales (20 min: this is just porn :roll: )
Le train d'Hitler
Bataille de France
xCamille Claudel 1915 (?) (24 minutes: a real downer)
+Violette Nozière

Film Series: Contes des quatre saisons by Eric de Rohmer
+Conte de printemps (cc)
+Conte d'été (cc)
+Conte d'automne (cc)
These three movies are now among my favorites. The characters in all of them seemed like people I could know who endured suffering and angst that I could identify with. Fine acting, at times gorgeous scenery, very few false notes.
There is a fourth, Conte d'hiver, but lacking closed captions. I did not want to spoil the effect of the other three by not fully understanding the last.

+Gemma Bovery. (cc)A few gems in the dialog and situations. The very end is droll. Note the -e- in Bovery.
Guerre et Paix (audiobook: 15 minutes)
+Chant du loup (cc) Well-done thriller and a good source of some navy terms (in case you are headed off to World War 3 in a French sub. :roll: )
Lady J. A period piece, with heavy overtones of les Liaisons dangereuses and an ambiguous (but in a good way) dénoument.
[x in front of a title means NOT recommended. + means recommended. The rest vary, neither good nor awful. Titles in italics are movies']

French actors in the main are not familiar to me, so sometimes keeping characters apart is a problem for me. :?

My listening time now stands at 100h34m, 2/3 of the way. I will take a short 3 or 4 day break to let my brain catch up. I have to say I don't feel like I have made much progress in comprehension, but I felt the same way after 100 hours of listening to dubbed French. Yet by the end of 150 hours I had made quite significant progress.

French Reading
I finished Ch. 19 of Vol 1 of Montaigne's Essays. It's 21% of the Kindle edition.

Ancient Greek
Finished Book 3 of Anabasis by Arrian. Mostly covers Alexander's campaign in Bactria.

Mandarin
The veritable flood of fine suggestions has almost overwhelmed me, and I am still shuffling through the resources so I can formulate a plan. Thanks to all who contributed!
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an onyme
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby an onyme » Mon Jul 08, 2019 3:49 am

Ah, La Mante! Would be interested in your opinion on it after you're done since I certainly have some. Though I did enjoy how sad and expressionless the main character was throughout. He was so sad!

I also do love the Bojack Horseman dub, but that may be a distortion due to how much I love the original. I even started saying "Ouais" in that exaggerated way thanks to Todd.
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