kanewai's book shelf (current: italian)

[kanewai]

July Update - I did surprisingly little last month. I'm already behind in the reading parts of the Super Challenge, but I'm not feeling the same motivation I've felt for past challenges. I think the group aspect of the first couple really helped. I'll keep tracking what I do, at least for my own interest.

Epic Greek
I've reached Lesson 15, and am working on the first ten lines of the Iliad. I'm going to need to make some flash cards and properly memorize the tenses and declensions we've learned so far. That was going to be my task last week, but I didn't get around to it.


German
Struggling with motivation. I want to already be at the level where I can read and listen to podcasts, but for some reason I don't find the actual studying of German as rewarding as I do for many other languages. It's not fun the way Romance languages are, and it doesn't have the exotic thrill for me that languages like Greek, Arabic, or Turkish have. And so I keep muddling on with Assimil when I'm feeling energized, and Memrise when I'm not, since I've come this far.


French
Finished Le temps retrouvé. This was by far the best of the lot. Each novel had some key moments; this had a dozen of them. Proust really did bring it all together in the end. I started Le Bureau des Légendes Saison 4, and so far the series is at the top of its form.


Spanish
Half way through La traición de Roma. I'd like to join the July book club, but I still have roughly 400 pages to go on this one. I also finished the Patria audiobook. It was challenging keeping track of which character was which, since the book jumps around so much, but once I settled in it was an excellent listen.


Italian
Just podcasts. I haven't even started reading for the Challenge.


Arabic and Turkish.
Mostly nothing, though I did spend a few evenings with Memrise II earlier this week.

[katsu]

Finished Le temps retrouvé.

Such a simple sentence to announce such a monumental accomplishment. Congratulations! This is something I hope to achieve someday.

How would you rank the difficulty of Proust's French among other classic authors? I'm now (barely) able to read Flaubert and Stendhal, and am wondering if Proust is in reach, or if I should wait until I'm at a higher level.

I started Le Bureau des Légendes Saison 4, and so far the series is at the top of its form.

Coincidentally, I just started this same season. It's currently hard to get French stuff here in Japan, but I managed to find a third-party seller on Amazon who would ship the DVDs to me at a not-too-exorbitant rate. I think this is my all-time favorite French series. I'm forcing myself to only watch one episode a day, so I don't finish it too soon.

[kanewai]

How would you rank the difficulty of Proust's French among other classic authors? I'm now (barely) able to read Flaubert and Stendhal, and am wondering if Proust is in reach, or if I should wait until I'm at a higher level.

Proust was surprisingly accessible. He's sort of the opposite of Flaubert in some ways. For Flaubert each sentence means something and moves the plot forward. In Proust it feels like the plot doesn't move at all, and yet at the end of each book you are stunned to realize how much actually happened.

The hard part with Proust is that his thoughts flow one into the other. I couldn't just pick him up and read him on the bus for ten minutes; I'd have to immerse myself in his world each time. Parts were definitely a struggle, especially when he was dealing with the politics of the Parisian salons. I just didn't care much about that. But other parts really were some of the most beautiful pieces of writing I've read in any language. If you can read, even barely, Flaubert, I'd say it's safe to dive in!

[Carmody]

Finished Le temps retrouvé.

Congratulations!

A magnificent accomplishment!

[Carmody]

kanewai

Could you suggest to me the best edition/publishing house that I should choose if I am going to read the
Le temps retrouvé in its entirety?

Congratulations and thanks.

[kanewai]

Could you suggest to me the best edition/publishing house that I should choose if I am going to read the
Le temps retrouvé in its entirety?

Probably the easiest is to get one of his oeuvres complètes collections on kindle. I've done this for a lot of the classic authors; it's affordable, and I'll have the book ready when I'm in the mood. I did an audiobook for the Albertine novels towards the end.

What was super-valuable was the Proust, ses personnages website. The series has an insane number of important characters who would disappear for hundreds of pages. Minor characters in one book become major characters in the next, and major characters fade away. I relied a lot on the website to refresh my memory on who was who. It's well laid out, so you can follow a character book by book, and stop before you are spoiled by anything. And since there are some true surprises in the books, I'd highly recommend avoiding spoilers!

[Carmody]

Regret to say I am the only person left who does not own a Kindle. Do you have suggestions other than that?

Thanks.

[Lianne]

Regret to say I am the only person left who does not own a Kindle. Do you have suggestions other than that?

Thanks.

I don't have a Kindle either. (I love my Kobo!) But you can read Kindle books in your browser, and there's also an app you can install on a phone or tablet. I don't do it much since it's not as nice as reading on a dedicated ereader, but it's handy when there's something that's only available as a Kindle ebook.

[Carmody]

Many thanks for the great idea, however, I am a guy that prefers the hands on experience of holding the book and writing in it.
Thank you.

[kanewai]

August Update - I seem to be on a three week cycle. I'll find a groove, it will work for me for almost a month, and then I'll lose the groove and try to find a new one. Part of this reflects how unsettled my life is (and all our lives are) at the moment. Last month I found myself doing more and more easy stuff (that is, Memrise), and not having the concentration to focus on anything more challenging.

Epic Greek
Only finished three more lessons. It's getting a lot more challenging ... there are so many cases tenses moods etc., many of which seem the same to me. I'm torn between just powering through, and taking a break.


German
I took a break and just did Memrise for a few weeks. For me that program does the bare minimum to keep a language somewhat fresh, but I don't think I make any progress with it. Rather, I think it just slows the rate of decline. I tried Speakly, but it was too hard and frustrating for the level I'm at. And so I'll go back to Assimil.


French
I started doing Kwiziq again last week, and it feels good to be studying properly. I'm a little bit embarrassed by how quickly my active skills slip, even though I can read and listen at a higher level.


Spanish
See French. I made three-quarters of the way through La traición de Roma, and then skimmed through until the end. Overall I think this is one of the greatest historical series I've read, but this last book was far too long. The first two books focused on the epic war between Carthage and Rome. This book covered what came next - wars in the east, wars in the west, wars in Egypt, family drama in the Escipion household, and lots of political intrigue in Rome. It was well written, and interesting enough - but not 800-pages plus of interesting. Imagine if Lord of the Rings went on for 800-pages after Frodo destroys the ring, and you'll get a sense for La traición de Roma.


Italian
I started in on Elena Ferrante's La vita bugiardi degli adulti. It covers some of the same themes as her Napoli quartet, though this time the main character is from an upper middle class family & the main friendship is between a teenager and her "brutta" aunt.


Arabic and Turkish.
I started in on Memrise again, but it always starts off as an easy way to pass the time, and then turns into a huge time and energy sink. And so I was going to stop, but then a friend sent me the newest video from Amr Diab and I could actually read a few of the lyrics, and I found myself dreaming about a trip to Turkey one weekend (when this drama is over) ... so we'll see.