NIKOLIĆ's log: An exercise in futility (Arabic, Romanian)

Continue or start your personal language log here, including logs for challenge participants
User avatar
NIKOLIĆ
Orange Belt
Posts: 219
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 11:11 pm
Location: Banat, Serbia.
Languages: Speaks: Cрпски (N), English, Română.
Learning: Italiano, Magyar, 中文, Levantine Arabic, Русский.
x 350

NIKOLIĆ's log: An exercise in futility (Arabic, Romanian)

Postby NIKOLIĆ » Mon Jul 20, 2015 1:50 am

I've decided to keep track of what I'm consuming in Romanian, just to stay on course. I've set some goals for 2016 such as: read 700 newspaper articles, listen to 150 podcast episodes, watch a total of 200 TV show episodes, but the rest will be just logging my progress with various courses, books, and other stuff that I'll add latter.

Saw this layout in Cavesa's log, liked it, modified it a bit.


ROMANIAN:

Courses & Textbooks:
Assimil Romanian: 101 / 101
Colloquial Romanian: 20 / 20
Modern Romanian: 25 / 32
Româna cu sau fără profesor: 22 / 32
Limba care ne unește I: 20 / 40; LCNU I - Workbook: 17 / 40
DLI - Romanian: 41 / 63

Reading:
Articole de ziar: 197 / 700
Robinson Crusoe: 204 / 270
Îngeri și Demoni: 36 / 137
Frăția Inelului - I: 1 / 12
Cei trei mușchetari: 7 / 36
Încleștarea regilor: 20 / 909
Harap Alb continuă: 3 / 21

Watching:
Nimeni nu-i perfect - SE1: 40 / 64
Las Fierbinți - SE1: 5 / 14
Băieți buni - SE1: 4 / 8
Pistruiatul: 10 / 10
Trăsniții - SE1: 3 / 15
Paleta - RTV: 5 / 10
Starea nației: 3 / 10
Documentare: 1 / 10
Filme: 4 / 10
Desene animate - 20+min: 17 / 50

Listening:
Teatru Radiofonic: 2 / 10
România în Direct: 3 / 10
Jurnal RFI: 26 / 50
Istoria Culturală a României: 31 / 50
40 de minute: 5 / 10
Miscelaneu - 20+min: 50 / 50


LEVANTINE ARABIC:
Colloquial Arabic - Levantine: 11 / 11
Colloquial Arabic - Levantine 3rd Edition: 13 / 13
Cours d Arabe - Palestinian Vol.1: 25 / 25
Cours d Arabe - Palestinian Vol.2: 19 / 23
Speaking Arabic - Palestinian: 17 / 50
Levantine For Non-Native Speakers: 20 / 29
A Course in Levantine Arabic: 30 / 30
Colloquial Palestinian Arabic: 6 / 10
Urban Arabic - Lebanese: 7 / 14
Syrian Colloquial Arabic: 5 / 8
GLOSS - Levantine Arabic - Level 1: 15 / 50
DLI - Syrian: 30 / 48
Pimsleur - Eastern Arabic I: 18 / 30
Eastern Arabic: 15 / 25
Spoken Lebanese Arabic: 6 / 15
DLI Levantine Headstart2 - Sounds and Script: 10 / 10; Military: 2 / 10
7ayy il-ma6aar: 15 / 150


VARIOUS ARABIC DIALECTS:
Egyptian - Kullu Tamam: 4 / 16
Kallimni Arabi - Bishweesh: 4 / 10
DLI - Egyptian: 5 / 48
Iraqi - Modern Iraqi: 8 / 20
DLI - Iraqi: 7 / 48
FSI Urban Hijazi: 16 / 50
Algerian - Manuel d arabe algerien moderne: 4 / 30

MSA:
Formal Spoken Arabic: 16 / 16
Assimil Arabic: 43 / 77
Living Arabic: 39 / 55
Ahlan Wa Sahlan: 11 / 30
Ultimate Arabic: 7 / 15
Standard Arabic - Elem - Inter: 4 / 28
Mastering Arabic 2: 1 / 14
Mastering Arabic 2 NE: 8 / 20
DLI - MSA: 29 / 141
FSI - MWA Vol I: 13 / 32

GERMAN:
Assimil German: 5 / 100
Pimsleur German I: 0 / 30
Glossika German - GSR 1: 8 / 104

HEBREW:
FSI Hebrew: 1 / 40

HUNGARIAN:
Assimil Hungarian: 5 / 85
Pimsleur Hungarian I: 3 / 30
DLI - Hungarian: 5 / 94
Glossika Hungarian - GSR 1: 4 / 104

ITALIAN:
Assimil Italian: 86 / 105
Pimsleur Italian I: 12 / 30

SPANISH:
Assimil Spanish: 3 / 109
Pimsleur Spanish I: 1 / 30
Glossika Spanish - GSR 1: 6 / 104

FRENCH:
Assimil French: 8 / 113
Pimsleur French I: 0 / 30
DLI - French: 2 / 85

RUSSIAN:
Assimil Russian: 11 / 100
Just Listen n Read Russian: 2 / 15
Glossika Russian - GSR 1: 16 / 104

SLOVAK:
Colloquial Slovak: 1 / 16
Audio - News, Podcasts, Interviews: 1 / 20

GREEK:
Teach Yourself Greek: 1 / 15
DLI - Greek: 2 / 100

MANDARIN:
Assimil Mandarin: 40 / 105
NPCR I: 8 / 14
Pimsleur Mandarin I: 15 / 30
DLI - Mandarin: 3 / 54
Glossika Mandarin - GSR 1: 9 / 104

PERSIAN:
Assimil Persian: 6 / 86
Easy Persian: 13 / 150

LATIN:
Oxford Latin Course - I: 1 / 16
Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata - I: 25 / 295
Last edited by NIKOLIĆ on Thu Sep 30, 2021 5:31 am, edited 897 times in total.
0 x
How yes no.

User avatar
NIKOLIĆ
Orange Belt
Posts: 219
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 11:11 pm
Location: Banat, Serbia.
Languages: Speaks: Cрпски (N), English, Română.
Learning: Italiano, Magyar, 中文, Levantine Arabic, Русский.
x 350

Re: NIKOLIĆ's: IT,RO,中文 log.

Postby NIKOLIĆ » Thu Jul 23, 2015 7:30 pm

ITALIAN:
Did Assimil lesson #75.

ROMANIAN:
Did Assimil lesson 31. There were plenty of new words, mostly words for limbs and describing facial features. It was kinda cool to see that Romanian and Serbian have the same word for "cheek", "obraz, pl. obrajii - образ, pl. образи" I also found a phrase that I use quite a lot in Serbian "N-am de gând!"(Не пада ми на памет!)

MANDARIN:
Finished Assimil lesson 27(他在北大)and lesson 28(Revision). Lesson 27 was much easier than lessons 25 and 26 because I knew all the words except "怪不得(no wonder), 当(have position) and 已经(already). This lesson stressed the importance of the particle 得(de). I read that many Mandarin native speakers sometimes don't know when to write "得" and when to write "的". I started using "New Practical Chinese Reader". Did lesson 1 and 2. I started from the beginning because I wanted to consolidate everything that I had learned before and maybe pick up some high frequency vocabulary that I might have missed in my other courses/resources.
Last edited by NIKOLIĆ on Thu Jan 28, 2016 12:42 am, edited 2 times in total.
0 x
How yes no.

User avatar
basica
Orange Belt
Posts: 221
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2015 12:07 am
Location: Australia
Languages: English (N), Serbian (A2ish)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... hp?&t=7335
x 412

Re: NIKOLIĆ's: IT,RO,中文 log.

Postby basica » Sat Jul 25, 2015 1:55 pm

NIKOLIĆ wrote:I wrote the word "did" a lot, and I started to question its meaning. Now I don't know what it means anymore.

did did did did did


I was (half) watching some news show once and they probably mentioned the phrase "no go zone" like 50 times in a matter of a few minutes and I had the same feeling. It started to feel like they weren't even words just random syllables :P (or like nogozone being a single word with the stress on go).
1 x
Glossika Fluency 1: 16 / 104

Learning or already speak Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian? Join us here! :)

User avatar
NIKOLIĆ
Orange Belt
Posts: 219
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 11:11 pm
Location: Banat, Serbia.
Languages: Speaks: Cрпски (N), English, Română.
Learning: Italiano, Magyar, 中文, Levantine Arabic, Русский.
x 350

Re: NIKOLIĆ's: IT,RO,中文 log.

Postby NIKOLIĆ » Thu Jul 30, 2015 5:52 pm

ITALIAN:
Did Assimil lesson #76 and watched Geronimo Stilton EP2.

ROMANIAN:
Did Assimil lessons #32,33 and 34, and I watched Nimeni nu-i perfect Season 1EP2.

MANDARIN:
Did Assimil lessons # 29,30 and 31. New Practical Chinese Reader did lesson #3.

I wrote the word "did" a lot, and I started to question its meaning. Now I don't know what it means anymore.

did did did did did
Last edited by NIKOLIĆ on Thu Jan 28, 2016 12:42 am, edited 2 times in total.
1 x
How yes no.

User avatar
NIKOLIĆ
Orange Belt
Posts: 219
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 11:11 pm
Location: Banat, Serbia.
Languages: Speaks: Cрпски (N), English, Română.
Learning: Italiano, Magyar, 中文, Levantine Arabic, Русский.
x 350

Re: NIKOLIĆ's: IT,RO,中文 log.

Postby NIKOLIĆ » Fri Jul 31, 2015 7:44 pm

SLOVAK:
Finished the first lesson of Colloquial Slovak. It was easy-peasy because the words looked like Serbian words with a couple of vowel changes and consonant elisions.

ENGLISH:
I interpreted a couple of minutes of "Oko magazin: Makedonska antička priča". If anyone wants to listen to the recording, it's right here. I did an ENG->SRB recording right after this one, but I'm not gonna post it. Lets just say that speaking your native language worse than a 10 year old is a very humbling experience. I don't know how those professional interpreters do it for 30 minutes.
2 x
How yes no.

User avatar
Radioclare
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2250
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 12:59 pm
Location: England
Languages: Speaks: English (N), Esperanto, German, Croatian
Learns: Russian
x 10434
Contact:

Re: NIKOLIĆ's: IT,RO,中文 log.

Postby Radioclare » Fri Jul 31, 2015 9:22 pm

Seems like a really interesting programme - have bookmarked it to watch properly another time. I was in Skopje last September so really interesting to see all the monuments I saw in real life on the video :)

And your English sounds amazing - really natural :)
1 x

User avatar
basica
Orange Belt
Posts: 221
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2015 12:07 am
Location: Australia
Languages: English (N), Serbian (A2ish)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... hp?&t=7335
x 412

Re: NIKOLIĆ's: IT,RO,中文 log.

Postby basica » Fri Jul 31, 2015 11:28 pm

Slovak is a great choice I think. I worked with a few Slovak guys and even back when I hardly knew anything at all in Serbian I could pick up a bit of what they said. It'll be interesting to see how it fairs for you! :D
1 x
Glossika Fluency 1: 16 / 104

Learning or already speak Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian? Join us here! :)

User avatar
NIKOLIĆ
Orange Belt
Posts: 219
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 11:11 pm
Location: Banat, Serbia.
Languages: Speaks: Cрпски (N), English, Română.
Learning: Italiano, Magyar, 中文, Levantine Arabic, Русский.
x 350

Re: NIKOLIĆ's: IT,RO,中文 log.

Postby NIKOLIĆ » Sun Aug 02, 2015 6:19 pm

ROMANIAN:
Finished Assimil lesson #35. I also got some Italian practice here, because the base language is Italian, so the explanations and notes are written in Italian.

MANDARIN:
Finished Assimil lessons #32, #33 and #34.

Notes:

I think I'm gonna start learning Greek and Slovak.

Reasons?

Greek music + it sounds like Spanish, but it isn't a Romance language.
A friend of mine speaks Slovak, Serbian and Slovak have a lot of cognates, might visit Slovakia one day.

This is a weekly schedule that I made, I decided to study 2 languages each day to make it more manageable for myself. This is a basic outline but I'm probably gonna change a couple of things depending on what I feel like doing that day.

1.Romanian / Mandarin (Assimil, read 5 pages, Listen 10-15 min. / Assimil, Pimsleur, lang8, 1 lesson read and record)
2.Slovak / English (Listen 10-15 min, 1 course lesson / Interpreting 5 min SRB->ENG, 5 min ENG->SRB, analyze errors)
3.Italian / Greek (Assimil, read 5 pages, Listen 10-15 minutes and write down words / 1 course lesson, Learn alphabet)
4.Romanian / Mandarin (Assimil, read 5 pages, listen 10-15 min. / Assimil, Pimsleur, write characters, 1 recording)
5.Slovak / English (Listen 10-15 min, 1 course lesson, read and record / Interpreting 5 min SRB->ENG, 5 min ENG->SRB, analyze errors)
6.Italian / Greek (Assimil, read 5 pages, Listen 10-15 minutes and write down words / 1 course lesson, Learn alphabet)
7.Miscellaneous
Repeat.

These are my long term goals (10 years +):

1.English - keep on learning more fancy words and practice interpreting
2.Romanian - get to a C2 speaking level
3.Italian - get to a C2 listening level, B2-C1 speaking
4.Mandarin - B2 speaking, recognize 3000+ characters
5.Slovak - B2 speaking level
6.Greek - B2 speaking level
Last edited by NIKOLIĆ on Thu Jan 28, 2016 12:40 am, edited 2 times in total.
2 x
How yes no.

User avatar
NIKOLIĆ
Orange Belt
Posts: 219
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 11:11 pm
Location: Banat, Serbia.
Languages: Speaks: Cрпски (N), English, Română.
Learning: Italiano, Magyar, 中文, Levantine Arabic, Русский.
x 350

Re: NIKOLIĆ's: IT,RO,中文 log.

Postby NIKOLIĆ » Wed Aug 05, 2015 1:00 am

ITALIAN:
Finished Assimil lessons #77 and #78 and I also did a couple active wave lessons. I noticed that I'm lacking grammatical accuracy. I'm probably gonna work through a grammar book with drills when I finish Assimil.

GREEK:
Finished the first lesson of Assimil - Il Greco moderno senza sforzo.

Some grammar notes for future reference:

simbathitikos- likeable (masculine)
simbathitiki- likeable (feminine)
simbathitiko- likeable (neuter)

o - the (masculine)
i - the (feminine
to - the (neuter)

omorfos- pretty (masculine)
omorfi - pretty (feminine)
omorfo - pretty (neuter)

1.to spiti - the house
2.ine - he/she/it is
3.poli - very
4.ala - but
5.ne - yes (I'm in for a world of trouble with this word)
6.ohi - no
7.mikro - small (duh)
8.meghalo - big
9.tus - their
10.dhen - not (for negation)

Radioclare wrote:Seems like a really interesting programme - have bookmarked it to watch properly another time. I was in Skopje last September so really interesting to see all the monuments I saw in real life on the video :)

And your English sounds amazing - really natural :)

I agree, I watch it from time to time. Thank you. :)

basica wrote:Slovak is a great choice I think. I worked with a few Slovak guys and even back when I hardly knew anything at all in Serbian I could pick up a bit of what they said. It'll be interesting to see how it fairs for you! :D

I hope I'll learn it as fast as my Slovak friend learned Serbian, but we'll see how it pans out. :)
Last edited by NIKOLIĆ on Thu Jan 28, 2016 12:39 am, edited 2 times in total.
1 x
How yes no.

User avatar
NIKOLIĆ
Orange Belt
Posts: 219
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 11:11 pm
Location: Banat, Serbia.
Languages: Speaks: Cрпски (N), English, Română.
Learning: Italiano, Magyar, 中文, Levantine Arabic, Русский.
x 350

Re: NIKOLIĆ's: IT,RO,中文 log.

Postby NIKOLIĆ » Thu Aug 20, 2015 6:29 pm

ROMANIAN:
Finished Assimil lesson #36.

I decided to join Basica in his John Grisham struggle today. (if he continues reading)

It's a lot easier for me to read this in Romanian, because there are tons of English and Italian cognates.

This is the first passage that I read (about 180 words) and I can pretty much understand everything after reading it 3 times.

light green - well known
red - unknown
Image

MANDARIN:
Finished Assimil lesson #36.

Notes:
I'm probably gonna watch a couple of episodes of some Italian TV show after posting this. I'm also watching about 20 American shows right now. I told myself that I won't download any more shows until I finish watching the ones that I've already downloaded, BUT...I...JUST...CAN'T...HELP...IT.
Last edited by NIKOLIĆ on Thu Jan 28, 2016 12:38 am, edited 3 times in total.
0 x
How yes no.


Return to “Language logs”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: MorkTheFiddle and 2 guests