Amerykanka's Adventures - A New Hope (ES, PL, RU)

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Amerykanka
Yellow Belt
Posts: 85
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:08 pm
Location: USA
Languages: Modern: English (N), Spanish (C1), Polish (C1-), Russian (B1+)

Ancient: Latin (advanced), Ancient Greek (advanced) (currently completing PhD in Classics); Akkadian (beginner)

Levels are based on assessment at university and/or summer programs
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=745
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Re: Amerykanka's Adventures - A New Hope

Postby Amerykanka » Sun Nov 06, 2016 5:01 pm

Well, it has been about 11 months since my last post. Yikes. My excuse is grad school applications. They have kind of taken over my life.

They have not, however, managed to eliminate my language studies. Latin and Ancient Greek are going strong (yay Ovid, Euripides, and Thucydides), and I have been reading El juego de Ripper by Isabel Allende and Nad Niemnem by Eliza Orzeszkowa in Spanish and Polish respectively.

On the TV show front, I started watching that (new?) Colombian show La esclava blanca. Mixed feelings but good for listening comprehension.
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Mooby
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Location: Scotland
Languages: English (N)
Polish, German, Turkish
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Re: Amerykanka's Adventures - A New Hope

Postby Mooby » Sun Nov 06, 2016 9:08 pm

Great to hear from you again Amerykanka.
Glad studies seem to be progessing.
(How are your Anki reviews going? :mrgreen: )
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Amerykanka
Yellow Belt
Posts: 85
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:08 pm
Location: USA
Languages: Modern: English (N), Spanish (C1), Polish (C1-), Russian (B1+)

Ancient: Latin (advanced), Ancient Greek (advanced) (currently completing PhD in Classics); Akkadian (beginner)

Levels are based on assessment at university and/or summer programs
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=745
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Re: Amerykanka's Adventures - A New Hope

Postby Amerykanka » Mon Nov 07, 2016 7:43 pm

Great to hear from you, Mooby! Hopefully I can become more active on this forum again.

Unfortunately, the news from the Anki Wars is rather grim. The Anki high command seems to have conspired with my grad school applications to ensure that skirmishes always occur on terrain highly unfavorable to me.

However, winter is coming, and I hope to receive some much-needed allies from the land of Christmas Vacation. :)
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Chmury
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Joined: Sat Oct 31, 2015 9:43 am
Languages: English (N)
Castellano (Adv)
German (Int)
Dutch (Int)
Polski - currently inactive, but I will return to it
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1516
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Re: Amerykanka's Adventures - A New Hope

Postby Chmury » Wed Nov 09, 2016 3:48 am

Amerykanka! So nice to see you back around these parts. I think I had a very similar length of time away from the forum and have slowly been becoming more active again. Good to see you've been busy with your Spanish and Polish. Still very envious of your handle of Polski, wish I had that kind of grasp of the language.

All the best with the grad school applications and hope you'll soon have some more free time for your languages!
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Amerykanka
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Posts: 85
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:08 pm
Location: USA
Languages: Modern: English (N), Spanish (C1), Polish (C1-), Russian (B1+)

Ancient: Latin (advanced), Ancient Greek (advanced) (currently completing PhD in Classics); Akkadian (beginner)

Levels are based on assessment at university and/or summer programs
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=745
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Re: Amerykanka's Adventures - A New Hope

Postby Amerykanka » Mon Nov 14, 2016 3:17 am

Chmury wrote:Amerykanka! So nice to see you back around these parts. I think I had a very similar length of time away from the forum and have slowly been becoming more active again. Good to see you've been busy with your Spanish and Polish. Still very envious of your handle of Polski, wish I had that kind of grasp of the language.

All the best with the grad school applications and hope you'll soon have some more free time for your languages!


I'm glad to see you're still around, Chmury! It's good to be back. I need to catch up on everyone's logs and maybe even update my own on a more regular basis.

Next semester I should have more free time, since I'll just be waiting nervously to hear back about my applications. So, language extravaganza!

Good luck with your studies!
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Amerykanka
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Posts: 85
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:08 pm
Location: USA
Languages: Modern: English (N), Spanish (C1), Polish (C1-), Russian (B1+)

Ancient: Latin (advanced), Ancient Greek (advanced) (currently completing PhD in Classics); Akkadian (beginner)

Levels are based on assessment at university and/or summer programs
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=745
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Re: Amerykanka's Adventures - A New Hope

Postby Amerykanka » Sun Feb 05, 2017 7:32 pm

I really wanted 2017 to be the year that I returned to the forum and kept a steady log. And now it is February and I haven't posted anything yet. Well, better late than never.

Before I describe my current goals, I want to make something clear (mostly to myself): I am going to avoid talking about my ancient languages in this log, since I am busy getting a degree in Classics and I don't want to confuse study and pleasure. I do, of course, enjoy Latin and Ancient Greek, but they are so associated with exams and applications in my mind that they can't give me the same feeling of relaxation and adventure that my modern languages do.

So. Over the last few years, I haven't been able to spend as much time on my modern languages as I would have liked - but now my academics have finally calmed down for a semester, so it is time for a resurgence. The principal players at the moment will be Spanish, Polish, and . . . Russian. After being at the top of my hit-list for years (really, since I was five), Russian is finally making an appearance. No matter what I do, the Slavic languages pull me in.

Spanish
Yesterday I FINALLY finished reading El juego de Ripper by Isabel Allende. I had been reading it for a really long time - at least half a year, probably longer - because I kept on leaving it in various locations and then never having it with me when I wanted it. But yesterday I sat down, told myself this was getting ridiculous, and read the last 200 pages or so. Can't compare with La casa de los espíritus, but pretty good. Now I have to figure out what I'm reading next. The likely choice is Carlos Ruiz Zafón's El juego del Ángel, but I also need to finish Como agua para chocolate and then I really want to reread Cien años de soledad.

As you can see, my main focus with Spanish right now is reading. But I've also been listening to a news podcast, and I should return to my beloved TV shows. I got mad at all of them and started watching Gilmore Girls, but now I am mad at Gilmore Girls AND I finished Downton Abbey, so I don't really have an excuse. Although The 100 is back, so that will take some of my time. Anyways, I still have several seasons of El internado and like 4 of Águila roja, not to mention La esclava blanca and Velvet (although I've been having trouble getting into Velvet). I should force myself to put away my anger and start watching them again.

Polish
Nad Niemnem arrived last week, and I am very excited to have a physical copy at last. The plan is to get back into reading Polish books again and then pull out my grammar books and work on reactivating my speaking and writing skills. Hopefully I will have more to report on this front soon . . .

Russian
I can finally read Cyrillic! Although I must say, all the "sh" and "ch" sounds are confusing me. I can't tell if they are equivalent to hard or soft sounds (are we talking about Polish sz and cz or ś and ć? Or both?). Щ is especially problematic, because the Polish websites I have looked at say the sound is szcz, but my English textbook says it is like "fresh sherbet". If anyone could offer some input, I would be very grateful. :)

I am taking a Russian class at the university - not because I expect to learn anything, but because this way I will have an easy class AND extra incentive to learn the language on my own. Our textbook is predictably frustrating, but I just ordered The New Penguin Russian Course for myself and I can work through that on my own.

So far I love Russian - which was to be expected. The main problem I am encountering is that I feel rather like I am reading Polish in the wrong alphabet. Particularly bad are words like ты and вы. Of course the two languages are very different, but my mind still feels betrayed and keeps rebelling.
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Amerykanka
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Posts: 85
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:08 pm
Location: USA
Languages: Modern: English (N), Spanish (C1), Polish (C1-), Russian (B1+)

Ancient: Latin (advanced), Ancient Greek (advanced) (currently completing PhD in Classics); Akkadian (beginner)

Levels are based on assessment at university and/or summer programs
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=745
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Re: Amerykanka's Adventures - A New Hope

Postby Amerykanka » Tue Feb 07, 2017 3:29 am

Let's see. What did I do today?

Spanish
Escuché un episodio del podcast "Radio Ambulante" por la mañana mientras montaba en bicicleta en el gimnasio. Se trataba de un periodista (español, si mal no recuerdo) que se mudó a Honduras y terminó por denunciar la corrupción policiaca. Hace varios años que no escucho "Radio Ambulante" (prefiero "Buenos Días América", es mi manera principal de estar al tanto de las noticias), pero debo hacerlo con más frecuencia. Los acentos suelen ser difíciles de entender y hay que practicar.

Otras cosas . . . pues repasé vocabulario en Anki, pero voy perdiendo la guerra de flashcards. Quizás sea el momento de recurrir a métodos más drásticos ya que me quedan unas cinco mil palabras y expresiones para repasar. :( (Y ahora, ¡a inventar métodos drásticos! O rezar por un milagro.)

Polish
Uf, trochę się odzwyczaiłam od pisania po polsku. Co zrobiłam dziś? Posłuchałam dwóch odcinków "Co w mowie piszczy", to naprawdę świetny podcast - chciałabym dodać więcej szczegółów, ale na mnie już czas. Więc tylko powiem, że też przeczytałam kilka stron Nad Niemnem.
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Amerykanka
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Posts: 85
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:08 pm
Location: USA
Languages: Modern: English (N), Spanish (C1), Polish (C1-), Russian (B1+)

Ancient: Latin (advanced), Ancient Greek (advanced) (currently completing PhD in Classics); Akkadian (beginner)

Levels are based on assessment at university and/or summer programs
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=745
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Re: Amerykanka's Adventures - A New Hope

Postby Amerykanka » Thu Feb 09, 2017 1:38 am

Not much to report, except for flashcards and podcasts. And of course I tutor Spanish, so I get a bit of grammar practice by explaining it to students. Every now and then I get an advanced conversation student who actually speaks Spanish to a decent level, and then I have some fun, but usually it is just imperfect vs. preterite and por/para all the time. Not that I mind - I love teaching - but it doesn't really help me to improve much.

I also spent an inordinate amount of time last night adding new flashcards to my Russian decks. Don't you love the beginning stage of learning a language, when you don't know how to say anything and you are continually thinking of new words that you can have the pleasure of looking up?

Now, alas, homework. Of course, in my case, homework means translating Euripides, but still . . .

EDIT: Perhaps I am jinxing this by posting about it too soon, but I am hoping to spend a month in Poland this summer. I'd like to do one of the Uniwersytet Jagiellonski's summer programs - it seems like a good way to brush up on my language skills and learn more about Polish history and literature. I was assessing the financial side of things this morning, and it just might be possible! Fingers crossed. :D
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Amerykanka
Yellow Belt
Posts: 85
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:08 pm
Location: USA
Languages: Modern: English (N), Spanish (C1), Polish (C1-), Russian (B1+)

Ancient: Latin (advanced), Ancient Greek (advanced) (currently completing PhD in Classics); Akkadian (beginner)

Levels are based on assessment at university and/or summer programs
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=745
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Re: Amerykanka's Adventures - A New Hope

Postby Amerykanka » Wed Feb 15, 2017 3:47 pm

After a bout of the flu or severe allergies or something, I am now capable of returning to normal life.

Spanish
Parece que enfermarse no es ideal para los estudios. ¿Quién lo habrá pensado? De todos modos ya estoy de vuelta (solo me duele un poquito la cabeza) y lista para empezar un libro nuevo. Tras mucha vacilación he escogido El amor en los tiempos de cólera de Gabriel García Márquez y leí las primeras páginas ayer. Hace tres o cuatro años que no leo ninguna obra suya y se me había olvidado cuán difícil puede ser su estilo y vocabulario.

Bueno, y quizás la situación de Anki no sea tan desastrosa - mis generales me informan que ya hemos derrotado unos 1500 mil soldados y solo nos quedan unos 3500. Pero todavía es muy temprano para hablar de victoria.

Polish
Ah yes. Being sick (and not being able to go to the gym and listen to my Polish audio) has really messed me up. But, on the bright side, I am now 99% sure that I am going to Poland this summer.

Russian
I now know my numbers (1-10), colors, and articles of clothing. And I have finished the first four lessons of The New Penguin Russian Course; I am just adding the rest of the vocabulary to Anki (I am supposed to be doing that right now, actually, instead of writing this post :? ). So far it hasn't been very hard - I am getting used to the alphabet, and the main thing is WHY ISN'T THERE A CONSTANT STRESS PATTERN???? I have been so spoiled with languages like Polish, Latin, Ancient Greek, and Spanish where stress is predictable or else marked. It is hardest for me in words like вино and улица where everything in me rebels and wants to put the accent on the second-to-last syllable. Hmm, whenever I actually get a chance to speak Russian to someone it will be interesting to see if they think I have an American accent or a Polish one . . .
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User avatar
Amerykanka
Yellow Belt
Posts: 85
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:08 pm
Location: USA
Languages: Modern: English (N), Spanish (C1), Polish (C1-), Russian (B1+)

Ancient: Latin (advanced), Ancient Greek (advanced) (currently completing PhD in Classics); Akkadian (beginner)

Levels are based on assessment at university and/or summer programs
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=745
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Re: Amerykanka's Adventures - A New Hope

Postby Amerykanka » Thu Feb 16, 2017 3:56 pm

Piękna polska piosenka ludowa :)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OZDJHrWVC60

Słowa:

Czerwone jagody
Wpadają do wody
Powiadają ludzie
Że nie mam urody .

Urodo, urodo
Gdybym ja cię miała
Miałabym ja chłopca
Jakiego bym chciała x2

Lecz mi matuś rzekła
Córuś moja droga
Przecież masz majątek
Na co ci uroda

Urodo, urodo
Gdybym ja cię miała
Miałabym ja chłopca
Jakiego bym chciała x2

Bo ta urodziwa
Nie jest pracowita
Czy to gospodyni
Panna czy kobita

Choć urody nie mam
O to się nie troszczę
wszystkim urodziwym
wcale nie zazdroszczę

Choć urody nie mam
ale czyste serce
przecież jakiś chłopak
za żonę mnie zechce

Urodo, urodo
Gdybym ja cię miała
Miałabym ja chłopca
Jakiego bym chciała x2

Czerwone jagody
spadają do wody
powiadają ludzie
że nie mam urody

Urodo, urodo
Gdybym ja cię miała
Miałabym ja chłopca
Jakiego bym chciała x2

Przepadam za muzyką ludową wszelkiego rodzaju - po prostu jest tak śliczna i wesoła. Proszę nie zwracać uwagi na seksistowskie podteksty.

EDIT: Grr, why can't I get the YouTube thing to work??
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