Elsa Maria's 2016 log (Danish & Latin)

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Elsa Maria
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Elsa Maria's 2016 log (Danish & Latin)

Postby Elsa Maria » Fri Jan 01, 2016 10:06 pm

I am a 51 year old learner. I started learning Danish when I moved to Denmark, and I have been stuck somewhere around B2 for a long time.
My writing skills are particularly weak, and I plan to emphasize writing for at least the first quarter of the year.

Danish:
I enjoy reading literature that was originally written in Danish, and I like reading online articles about Danish politics and culture.

I have a volunteer job that furthers my Danish, and I am trying to learn more business Danish for the meetings.

I also have some fundamental gaps, and I want to rectify that.

Latin:

I am definitely on the slow path with Latin, but I am ok with that. I am using a combination of the Latin for the New Millennium and Lingua Latina.
Last edited by Elsa Maria on Sat May 07, 2016 6:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Elsa Maria's 2016 log (Danish & Latin)

Postby Serpent » Fri Jan 01, 2016 11:40 pm

Welcome :)
Where in Denmark do you live?
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Elsa Maria
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Re: Elsa Maria's 2016 log (Danish & Latin)

Postby Elsa Maria » Sat Jan 02, 2016 9:00 am

Serpent wrote:Welcome :)
Where in Denmark do you live?


Serpent, thank you for the welcome message.
I live in Nordjylland (the northern region), and probably have a nordjyske accent :)

----
One of my projects in 2015 was to listen to several of the Queen's New Year's Eve speeches. I chose this idea when searching for things to listen to that also had transcripts available. It turned out to be a great project for me. I enjoyed it, and I was able to follow this year's speech easily. Mind you, it is broadcast with Danish subtitles which obviously modifies the accomplishment. But still. I was happy to get most of it on the first pass.

Yesterday, I read the transcript of the speech to look up the unfamiliar words. And I read some articles reacting to the speech.
I also read two articles about the traditional English short film (90-års fødselsdagen...known as Dinner for One in English) that is shown on New Year's Eve.

I also read one chapter (pages 84-91) of Skammerens Datter. This is a popular middle grades fantasy novel. After I finish the book, I will watch the film. I should be able to manage one chapter per day.

I went through a Latin drill yesterday. I wrote out all of the noun declensions and the pronoun declensions that I know. I still have to learn hic haec hoc and ille illa illud, and then I will have mastered all of the nouns and pronouns in my textbook.
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Re: Elsa Maria's 2016 log (Danish & Latin)

Postby Serpent » Sat Jan 02, 2016 2:33 pm

Awww :) I've not been to Denmark yet but I support the football team Aalborg (Aab). I have no idea how the nordjyske accent differs from others tbh :oops:
Can you give a link to those speeches? :)
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Elsa Maria
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Re: Elsa Maria's 2016 log (Danish & Latin)

Postby Elsa Maria » Sat Jan 02, 2016 3:28 pm

Serpent wrote:Awww :) I've not been to Denmark yet but I support the football team Aalborg (Aab). I have no idea how the nordjyske accent differs from others tbh :oops:
Can you give a link to those speeches? :)


Of course!

The text is found here on the official royal site:

Hendes Majestæt Dronningens Nytårstaler
http://kongehuset.dk/monarkiet-i-danmar ... ytarstaler

And the videos can be found on youtube by searching for Dronningens Nytårstaler.

What was nice about reading and listening to a batch of them is that there is some repetition but also always something new.
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Elsa Maria
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Re: Elsa Maria's 2016 log (Danish & Latin)

Postby Elsa Maria » Thu Feb 04, 2016 9:27 pm

I certainly meant to post more than monthly. Well then.

Most of my practical Danish usage occurs within the context of my volunteer job. I went to a meeting recently and had to introduce myself and explain our organization to approximately 20 people. It was probably only a one or two minute speech, but I was happy enough with it.

The meeting went on for more than two hours, but I did not have to speak any more. Sometimes I understood everything, sometimes I understood the main point, and sometimes I was completely clueless. Really, there were swathes of conversation that I found impenetrable. It is frustrating!

I was crushed with work for much of January, but things are better now. I had stopped reading my novel and just read news articles and documents related to my volunteer job. But now I am reading fiction again.
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Elsa Maria
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Re: Elsa Maria's 2016 log (Danish & Latin)

Postby Elsa Maria » Fri Feb 05, 2016 3:50 pm

I had a small victory today. I called the dentist and changed an appointment. I don't think I made any mistakes :)
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Re: Elsa Maria's 2016 log (Danish & Latin)

Postby Elsa Maria » Sat Mar 19, 2016 6:17 pm

I am back in Denmark after about a month out of the country. While I was gone, I worked on a little bit of this and a little bit of that.
When I am in DK, I really feel the (largely self-imposed) pressure to be better than I am with Danish. Being away made me realize that I had lost the joy of learning Danish.

I moved here so eager to finally learn a foreign language, and now I tend to get sucked into thinking about all of the Danish that I don't know. So...my goal right now is to start enjoying the journey again.

At long last, I have begun to watch Matador. I have seen nine episodes thus far. Gosh, I just love it. I do have to keep the Danish subtitles turned on. I wonder if I will ever be able to turn them off :(

Also recently watched:

Krigen
Kinamand
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Elsa Maria
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Re: Elsa Maria's 2016 log (Danish & Latin)

Postby Elsa Maria » Sat May 07, 2016 7:26 pm

Danish

I finally finished Skammerens Datter this week. It took me a very long time to read, but it was the first novel I ever read in Danish that I had not previously read in English and that I read with no English translation available to help me out. It was just me, the book, and my dictionary.

Yesterday, I read from a book of tales by Astrid Lindgren, Suser min lind synger min nattergal. I love these stories so much. This is not my first time reading them, but now they are pretty easy to read.

I plan to start a new book tomorrow: Sommerbogen by Tove Jansson. She is best known as the author of the Moomins (Mumitroldene på dansk).

Latin

I had to restart my studies. My foundation was too shaky, and I had too long of a gap. My textbook is Latin for the New Millennium (LNM), and I recently went back to the beginning and reworked Chapters 1 through 5. And then I did Chapters 1 and 2 of Wheelocks. I really want to stick with LNM as my main text, though.
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Re: Elsa Maria's 2016 log (Danish & Latin)

Postby Elenia » Sat May 07, 2016 7:32 pm

I loved Sommarboken! I hope you like it too! My favourite story was 'Tälten', ('The Tent'). I'll have to check out the collection of Astrid Lindgren stories, too. I love her writing, as well :)

Hope you're having lots of fun with Danish now, rediscovering the joy!
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