TAC 2016 - Antea

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Re: TAC 2016 - Antea

Postby vijayjohn » 2016-01-13, 18:56

Antea wrote:I'm trying to read (some) news on the iInternet, although I know pretty well that the vocabulary of newspapers is difficult.

if I could at least understand it, I will be satisfyied :yep:

Are you trying to achieve a level of total fluency in all the languages that you study, or do you have different goals depending on the language? :hmm:

For me, it definitely depends on the language, since some of the languages I'm studying are highly endangered and so poorly studied (and ignored!) that there's no way anyone could possibly become fluent in them without at least living in the area where they're spoken. :P At this point, I'm not sure I'm even focused on any particular end goal but rather just try to improve my proficiency in all of the languages I speak (including English, probably!).

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Re: TAC 2016 - Antea

Postby dEhiN » 2016-01-14, 9:00

Antea wrote:Are you trying to achieve a level of total fluency in all the languages that you study, or do you have different goals depending on the language? :hmm:

That's a good question. I guess I've been trying for total fluency, which is maybe why I am so hesitant to start a new language.
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Re: TAC 2016 - Antea

Postby Antea » 2016-01-15, 7:07

Of course, the best would be to aim for total fluency. But I think that for some languages, if you don't have enough exposure to them -like living in the country- it's difficult to achieve that goal. And, in my case, living for a couple of years in Kenya or Tanzania it's really not likely to happen :nope:

I don't know :hmm: What do you think? Do you think it's possible to attain a level of proficiency in a language, without actually using it in the country, or with native people? :hmm:

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Re: TAC 2016 - Antea

Postby vijayjohn » 2016-01-15, 16:50

Antea wrote:living for a couple of years in Kenya or Tanzania it's really not likely to happen :nope:

I don't know :hmm: What do you think? Do you think it's possible to attain a level of proficiency in a language, without actually using it in the country, or with native people? :hmm:

For at least some of the more widely studied languages, yes, actually, I have found it possible to do that. For example, opportunities to use French here are rare over here, and I can't say I have ever been to a French-speaking country or region, but it's still one of the languages I speak best (and the one that I'd say I've been seriously studying for the longest period of time). I'm pretty sure I'd learned quite a bit of French before the first time I ever met a native speaker.

My parents had definitely learned English pretty well before they moved to this country, too. I don't think either of them had ever talked to a native speaker before that.

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Re: TAC 2016 - Antea

Postby Antea » 2016-01-16, 22:20

vijayjohn wrote:For at least some of the more widely studied languages, yes, actually, I have found it possible to do that. For example, opportunities to use French here are rare over here, and I can't say I have ever been to a French-speaking country or region, but it's still one of the languages I speak best (and the one that I'd say I've been seriously studying for the longest period of time). I'm pretty sure I'd learned quite a bit of French before the first time I ever met a native speaker.

My parents had definitely learned English pretty well before they moved to this country, too. I don't think either of them had ever talked to a native speaker before that.


Well, that gives me hope. You know, when I started to learn English or German, it was through regular classes, with a teacher, so I could say that in someway I had contact with natives from the very beginning, even if it was only for an hour or two per week (of course, that's still quite different from a full inmersion).

But, with a language like Swahili that I'm studying on my own, it's quite different I think. I don't know what the results will be. Who knows? Maybe this way of studying will turn out a more efficient way than the traditional one :hmm:

[flag=]sw[/flag]

Anyway, for practising my reading, everyday I'm reading a newspaper article in Swahili. So everyday, I read that there is a new terrorist attack in a different part of the world, with all the vocabulary that goes with it. It's all very depressing :doggy:

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Re: TAC 2016 - Antea

Postby vijayjohn » 2016-01-18, 20:24

Antea wrote:Well, that gives me hope.

Yay! :D
You know, when I started to learn English or German, it was through regular classes, with a teacher, so I could say that in someway some way, I had contact with natives from the very beginning, even if it was only for an hour or two per week (of course, that's still quite different from a full inmmersion).

That's true; that's contact with a native speaker, too. Probably the one language I find native speakers to talk to most often (other than Malayalam or English, of course) is Spanish. :lol:
But, with a language like Swahili that I'm studying on my own, it's quite different, I think. I don't know what the results will be. Who knows? Maybe this way of studying will turn out a more efficient way than the traditional one :hmm:

Well, at least most of its speakers aren't native speakers, either. ;)
[flag=]sw[/flag]

Anyway, for practising my reading, everyday I'm reading a newspaper article in Swahili. So everyday, I read that there is a new terrorist attack in a different part of the world, with all the vocabulary that goes with it. It's all very depressing :doggy:

Aww, that sucks. Pole! :( I guess I'm lucky in a way for not reading the news all that much. :para:

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Re: TAC 2016 - Antea

Postby Antea » 2016-02-11, 8:27

Well, after a pretty busy period, I'm back again :yep: As for my studium schedule, it's now a completely mess. Meaning that I'm going back and forth through many different languages, at a random order, with no defined goal. Here's my " résumé ":

[flag=]pt[/flag]

I suppose I should go for an oral test to set my level, but I'm a little bit scared of it. I cannot simply jump into the pool for the first time, only with theoretic lessons. I have to decide myself.

I have to say that I'm mostly scared of not having the correct accent. Yo know, many time ago I studied some Italian, and it was so confusing. You know, it's so familiar for us and so similar to other romance languages, that in our class, when we didn't know the correct word, people finally spoke like a mixture of Spanish, Catalan, French and Latin but with a perfect Italian accent :roll: . Because, you know, Italian accent is so agreable, musical and easy for us, that you could talk nonsense but with a perfect Italian accent. Well, now Italian accent is following me forever whenever I try to speak Portuguese. And you know, I have to be sure that I'm able to control this :wink:

[flag=]ru[/flag]

I continue with my classes, which makes me do at least some revisions. But I'm a little bit frustrated about it, as I think we're going into another grey zone again, like you know, an eternal study of an impossible grammar with no speaking, and therefore no practical use. :roll:

[flag=]hi[/flag]

I'm fighting to get into the language. In this case I have the opposite problem that I have with Russian. We go too fast, and I don t have time to assimilate. We're already reading simple texts :whistle:

[flag=]haw[/flag]

I still have no text book for Hawaiian, but I'm trying to do some study, mainly vocabulary, with online ressources

[flag=]sv[/flag] and [flag=]af[/flag]

Well, regarding these two I'm for the moment completely "out". I had plans to take some Swedish lessons, but finally that could not be possible. And regarding to Afrikaans, I still have to finish my study book :roll:

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Re: TAC 2016 - Antea

Postby OldBoring » 2016-02-12, 9:20

Antea wrote:people finally spoke like a mixture of Spanish, Catalan, French and Latin but with a perfect Italian accent :roll: . Because, you know, Italian accent is so agreable, musical and easy for us, that you could talk nonsense but with a perfect Italian accent. Well, now Italian accent is following me forever whenever I try to speak Portuguese. And you know, I have to be sure that I'm able to control this :wink:

Now I want to hear you! :lol:

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Re: TAC 2016 - Antea

Postby Dormouse559 » 2016-02-16, 23:03

Antea wrote:Well, after a pretty busy period, I'm back again :yep: As for my studium study schedule, it's now a completely mess. Meaning that I'm going back and forth through many different languages, at in a random order, with no defined goal. Here's my "résumé" (summary/recap):
Remember that quotation marks and most punctuation marks aren't separated with spaces.

Antea wrote:[flag=]pt[/flag]

I suppose I should go for an oral test to set gauge my level, but I'm a little bit scared of it. I cannot simply jump into the pool for the first time, with only theoretical lessons. I have to decide myself make up my mind / make a decision.

I have to say that I'm mostly scared of not having the correct accent. You know, many a long time ago I studied some Italian, and it was so confusing. You know, it's so familiar for us and so similar to other Romance languages, that in our class, when we didn't know the correct word, people finally spoke like ended up speaking a mixture of Spanish, Catalan, French and Latin but with a perfect Italian accent :roll: . Because, you know, the Italian accent is so agreeable pleasant, musical and easy for us, that you could talk say nonsense but with a perfect Italian accent. Well, now the Italian accent is forever following me forever whenever I try to speak Portuguese. And you know, I have to be sure that I'm able to control this :wink:

[flag=]ru[/flag]

I continue with my classes, which makes me do at least some revisions review. But I'm a little bit frustrated about it, as I think we're going into another grey zone again, like you know, an eternal study of an impossible grammar with no speaking, and therefore no practical use. :roll:
I'd use either "another" or "again", but not both (unless those classes have gone into a gray zone before, in which case they're fine).

Antea wrote:[flag=]hi[/flag]

I'm fighting to get into the language. In this case I have the opposite problem that I have with Russian. We go too fast, and I don't have time to assimilate (or "absorb") the information. We're already reading simple texts :whistle:

[flag=]haw[/flag]

I still have no textbook for Hawaiian, but I'm trying to do some studying, mainly vocabulary, with online ressources

[flag=]sv[/flag] and [flag=]af[/flag]

Well, regarding these two I'm for the moment completely "out". I had plans to take some Swedish lessons, but finally in the end that wasn't possible. And regarding to Afrikaans, I still have to finish my study book (?) :roll:
What do you mean by "study book"? "Study guide" maybe?
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Re: TAC 2016 - Antea

Postby OldBoring » 2016-02-17, 6:14

Maybe the book that she studies, so “textbook”?

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Re: TAC 2016 - Antea

Postby vijayjohn » 2016-02-17, 6:43

I think I'd just say "I still have to finish the book I'm studying from" (if that's what she meant).

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Re: TAC 2016 - Antea

Postby Antea » 2016-02-17, 8:05

Dormouse559 wrote:What do you mean by "study book"? "Study guide" maybe?


Thank you for the corrections :D

vijayjohn wrote:I think I'd just say "I still have to finish the book I'm studying from" (if that's what she meant).


Yes, that's what I'm tring to say :yep:

OldBoring wrote:Maybe the book that she studies, so “textbook”?


Well, in fact, it's not really a "textbook", but a "gramar book" :hmm:

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Re: TAC 2016 - Antea

Postby dEhiN » 2016-02-24, 6:45

Antea wrote:
vijayjohn wrote:I think I'd just say "I still have to finish the book I'm studying from" (if that's what she meant).


Yes, that's what I'm trying to say :yep:

OldBoring wrote:Maybe the book that she studies, so “textbook”?


Well, in fact, it's not really a "textbook", but a "grammar book" :hmm:

A grammar book can still be considered a textbook. But, in this case, you could also have said "I still have to finish my grammar book."
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Re: TAC 2016 - Antea

Postby Antea » 2016-03-15, 14:29

Well, I suppose it's time for an update. So, let's go.

[flag=]ru[/flag] It's the language that I'm most actively studying now. I mean, I go to classes, I watch some Russian YouTube programs, I'm trying to build up some vocabulary, and I'm also trying to talk to myself :roll: and to translate basic sentences to Russian. I'm also trying to read some easy texts. I think that I'm somehow progressing, but grammar it's tedious and difficult and I know there's still a long way over.

Regarding to classes, I think that my teacher is now more motivated because he feels that we want to progress. But, on the other hand, half of my classmates feel completely demotivated by the conversation class we had, and are considering to quit :roll: . Maybe it's better not talking at all :hmm:

I don't know what people really expect. So Ok, they have discovered that Russian it's difficult, and that they're not going to master it in one a half year with a 2 hour per week lesson. Well, it's that a reason to quit? :hmm:

[flag=]hi[/flag]

I carry ahead with my classes, but my teacher is really going to fast. I'm trying to keep on at the same pace, or at least trying no to get lost. I should really try harder with my homework, but writing just a sentence with the correct verb tenses and all it's still very difficult for me.

[flag=]kk[/flag]

Lately I have fallen in love with Kazakh language, and I'm just trying to get acquainted with it. But, no pressures. Just because I like it. I'm in no hurry.

[flag=]haw[/flag]

I have finally received my textbook, and I suppose I should be starting any day. For the moment, I'm trying to build up some vocabulary.

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Re: TAC 2016 - Antea

Postby Antea » 2016-03-16, 8:18

[flag=]pt[/flag] I have finished my Assimil book. Now I suppose I should review the verb tenses, and maybe do more listening. Reading would be also Ok. I suppose that when I could be something more into it (because just now my mind is too much busy with Russian :roll: ), I should try to pass a level test or something :hmm: in order to know in which level I am . And then, of course, try to practise it :roll:

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Re: TAC 2016 - Antea

Postby Antea » 2016-06-07, 9:22

Well, it has been a while now, and I suppose it's time for an update :D

[flag=]ru[/flag]

Beginning with this one, because this year I really had an important crush, "arrebato",or whatever you'd like to call it with this language. The question is that from february till now, all my free time (not much, btw :roll: ) was completely occupied by Russian language. So yes, I suppose I can say that I've made a real progression there, comparing it with the starting level.

So far I've reached the 50 th lesson (out of 70) of my Assimil book, that is studying by myself.

But I also feel disappointed, because in my classes we have only made grammar, and very little speaking, so :hmm: .

I made the final exam, and my teacher said that it was "very well", but on the other hand, it was plenty of grammaticals errors (the declensions of cases).

I should make a test in another academy to see if I'm really ready to start the third-year level, which I have some doubts about it. Anyway, it has been exhausting, and I really need a break in summer.

[flag=]hi[/flag]

Because my mind was fully occupied by Russian, I did very little in Hindi. But now I'm coming back, and I intend to catch up with the lessons.

[flag=]haw[/flag]

To give myself a break from Russian, and relax a little bit with something completely different, I'm planning to begin finalky with my book during summer.

But, for the moment the main goal is to brush up my Hindi, because I still have to pass the final exam :ohwell:

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Re: TAC 2016 - Antea

Postby Dormouse559 » 2016-06-07, 21:18

Antea wrote:Well, it has been a while now, and I suppose it's time for an update :D

[flag=]ru[/flag]

Beginning with this one, because this year I really had an important big crush, "arrebato", or whatever you'd like to call it with on this language. The question issue is that from February till now, all my free time (not much, btw :roll: ) has been completely occupied by Russian language. So yes, I suppose I can say that I've made a real progression progress here, comparing it with the starting level (or "compared to where I started").

So far I've reached the 50th lesson (out of 70) of my Assimil book, that is studying by myself.
What does "that is" mean in the last sentence? Would you translate it to French as "c'est-à-dire"? If so, I'd just put a comma after "is".

Antea wrote:But I also feel disappointed, because in my classes we have only made done grammar, and very little speaking, so :hmm: .

I made took the final exam, and my teacher said that it was "very well good" (or "and my teacher said that I did 'very well'"), but on the other hand, there were plenty of grammaticals errors (the case declensions).

I should make take a test in another academy to see if I'm really ready to start the third-year level, which I have some doubts about it doing. Anyway, it has been exhausting, and I really need a break in summer.

[flag=]hi[/flag]

Because my mind was fully occupied by Russian, I did very little in with Hindi. But now I'm coming back, and I intend to catch up with the lessons.

[flag=]haw[/flag]

To give myself a break from Russian, and relax a little bit with something completely different, I'm planning to begin finally with my book during summer.

But, for the moment the main goal is to brush up my Hindi, because I still have to pass the final exam :ohwell:


It sounds like you've had a lot on your plate, but it also looks like you've got a clear path forward. (Mixed metaphors! Yay!) I look forward to hearing more about Hawaiian. :)
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Re: TAC 2016 - Antea

Postby Antea » 2016-06-07, 22:12

Thank you for the corrections :D

Dormouse559 wrote:What does "that is" mean in the last sentence? Would you translate it to French as "c'est-à-dire"? If so, I'd just put a comma after "is"


Yes, that was what I wanted to say :yep:

Dormouse559 wrote:It sounds like you've had a lot on your plate, but it also looks like you've got a clear path forward. (Mixed metaphors! Yay!) I look forward to hearing more about Hawaiian. :)


Yes, I just hope I will stick to the plan. I will keep you informed :yep:

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Re: TAC 2016 - Antea

Postby IpseDixit » 2016-06-10, 9:08

Antea wrote:Yo know, many time ago I studied some Italian, and it was so confusing. You know, it's so familiar for us and so similar to other romance languages, that in our class, when we didn't know the correct word, people finally spoke like a mixture of Spanish, Catalan, French and Latin but with a perfect Italian accent :roll: . Because, you know, Italian accent is so agreable, musical and easy for us, that you could talk nonsense but with a perfect Italian accent.


Maybe you're overestimating your abilities. I've never ever encountered a Spaniard with a perfect Italian accent.

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Re: TAC 2016 - Antea

Postby Antea » 2016-06-10, 9:27

IpseDixit wrote:
Antea wrote:Yo know, many time ago I studied some Italian, and it was so confusing. You know, it's so familiar for us and so similar to other romance languages, that in our class, when we didn't know the correct word, people finally spoke like a mixture of Spanish, Catalan, French and Latin but with a perfect Italian accent :roll: . Because, you know, Italian accent is so agreable, musical and easy for us, that you could talk nonsense but with a perfect Italian accent.


Maybe you're overestimating your abilities. I've never ever encountered a Spaniard with a perfect Italian accent.


:rotfl: No, I don't say that I have a perfect accent. But for us, it sounds so nice, that it sticks to you. Even my children like to say some words or easy sentences in Italian, because they like the sound of it. Precisely, my teacher of Italian complained about this. That we used to employ whatever words they "looked" like Italian, even if they weren't, and then put the accent on it :ohwell:

Anyway, Portuguese accent it's not so easy for me :roll:


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