TAC 2019 dEhiN

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TAC 2019 dEhiN

Postby dEhiN » 2019-01-01, 3:58

Welcome to my TAC 2019 thread.

I'm going to basically continue with my current languages of French, Spanish and Tamil. I'm thinking of focusing more on Spanish as well as continue my progress in Tamil. With French, I finally feel like (or perhaps recognize) that my level is pretty good and I just need to continue using it. There's still room for improvement, most notably in the areas of more advanced vocabulary, more advanced grammar, and listening comprehension at native speeds. But I no longer feel unconfident in my French ability.

I'm not sure what to do for Spanish for the next few months. A friend of mine here in Canada whose girlfriend lives in Columbia has asked me to help him with his Spanish. He used Babbel and Duolingo to learn some basics, and he does practice with her when he can. He also practices with her two sons whenever he goes down to Columbia to visit them. However, she knows English and so isn't as motivating as she possibly could be toward him learning Spanish. When he's back here in Canada, he doesn't get opportunities to practice or improve. He might ask me to actually teach him Spanish; I told him that I've only ever tutored/taught English and that I'm still learning Spanish. But since my level is higher than his, he said he might want to do proper lessons. Alternatively, we might just do something along the lines of a language exchange. In either case, I think this'll give me a good incentive to concentrate on improving my Spanish.

For Tamil, I think I'll continue with the Tamil Study Group lessons. I also joined a Tamil Whatsapp group comprised mostly of South African Tamils. They seem to be mostly intermediate or advanced level learners, though there are a few beginner level learners as well. There is also at least one native speaker. I intend to use this Whatsapp group, the Study Group and my parents to get myself familiar with basic Tamil, something akin to an A2 level perhaps.

Some goals for later in the year include possibly going through the Grammaire Progressive series for French from beginner to advanced as well as resuming my Portuguese studies. And of course, I'll continue to do Old English for fun, with the possibility of picking up or switching to another extinct language later in the year.
Native: (en-ca)
Active: (fr)(es)(pt-br)(ta-lk)(mi)(sq)(tl)
Inactive: (de)(ja)(yue)(oj)(id)(hu)(pl)(tr)(hi)(zh)(sv)(ko)(no)(it)(haw)(fy)(nl)(nah)(gl)(ro)(cy)(oc)(an)(sr)(en_old)(got)(sux)(grc)(la)(sgn-us)

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Re: TAC 2019 dEhiN

Postby dEhiN » 2019-01-10, 20:12

I haven't written anything more on here since the first post because I've been focusing on the Broken Translation Game. Translating from Tamil to Spanish was a lot of fun and also very hard! I did it into two steps - Tamil to English and English to Spanish. I tried doing Tamil directly to Spanish, going one sentence at a time, but it was painstakingly slow. I'm not that used to left-branching languages, and especially to parsing and recalling mid-length or long left-branching sentences.

For my Tamil to English translation, I had several tabs open. There unfortunately isn't just one dictionary that can be used with Tamil, so I use a combination of Agarathi.com, TamilDict.com and Google Translate. The first one is only Tamil -> English, but it uses several dictionaries as its source, so it's probably the most accurate one out of the three. The second one is Tamil <-> English as well as Tamil <-> German. There are times where the second site has a Tamil word but the first one doesn't, which is why I use it. And of course also because I can look up English words to find their Tamil equivalent. However, overall the site probably has less entries than the first site, so even looking up English words can be challenging. Finally, I use Google Translate for when neither of the first two sites contain the Tamil (or English) word.

Besides the challenge of left-branching sentences, there's a challenge in trying to parse individual Tamil words. Because Tamil is agglutinative, frequently I can't just look up a Tamil word as is. Sometimes I'm lucky and the specific form of the word exists as an entry in Agarathi or TamilDict, but often it's a related form. In these cases, I have to then figure out the difference(s) between the two forms. Sometimes, though, the entries in the dictionary aren't actually related but completely different words with just the first few letters the same. During these times, I really wish there were a complete list of all Tamil suffixes! Because there isn't such a list, though, during my translation attempt, in addition to the three dictionary tabs I had open, I also had two tabs open for looking up grammar stuff, such as various Tamil suffixes. I used both the Tamil Language in Context and the Tamil Paadanool sites.

All of this fanned the flames of my interest in continuing to learn Tamil. Going through the two grammar sites also made me think that perhaps the approach I need to take with Tamil is to focus intensively on Tamil grammar. Fortunately the TLIC site has a page with just the grammar lessons, so I don't have to worry about the videos and the vocabulary, and the TP site is only grammar.
Native: (en-ca)
Active: (fr)(es)(pt-br)(ta-lk)(mi)(sq)(tl)
Inactive: (de)(ja)(yue)(oj)(id)(hu)(pl)(tr)(hi)(zh)(sv)(ko)(no)(it)(haw)(fy)(nl)(nah)(gl)(ro)(cy)(oc)(an)(sr)(en_old)(got)(sux)(grc)(la)(sgn-us)

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Re: TAC 2019 dEhiN

Postby księżycowy » 2019-01-10, 21:38

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Re: TAC 2019 dEhiN

Postby dEhiN » 2019-01-10, 22:41

わからない
Native: (en-ca)
Active: (fr)(es)(pt-br)(ta-lk)(mi)(sq)(tl)
Inactive: (de)(ja)(yue)(oj)(id)(hu)(pl)(tr)(hi)(zh)(sv)(ko)(no)(it)(haw)(fy)(nl)(nah)(gl)(ro)(cy)(oc)(an)(sr)(en_old)(got)(sux)(grc)(la)(sgn-us)

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Re: TAC 2019 dEhiN

Postby księżycowy » 2019-01-10, 23:00

TP.

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Re: TAC 2019 dEhiN

Postby vijayjohn » 2019-01-11, 3:04

You didn't know about this?

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Re: TAC 2019 dEhiN

Postby dEhiN » 2019-01-12, 15:30

vijayjohn wrote:You didn't know about this?

No, I didn't. Though I think Agarathi uses Fabricius as one of its source dictionaries.
Native: (en-ca)
Active: (fr)(es)(pt-br)(ta-lk)(mi)(sq)(tl)
Inactive: (de)(ja)(yue)(oj)(id)(hu)(pl)(tr)(hi)(zh)(sv)(ko)(no)(it)(haw)(fy)(nl)(nah)(gl)(ro)(cy)(oc)(an)(sr)(en_old)(got)(sux)(grc)(la)(sgn-us)

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Re: TAC 2019 dEhiN

Postby vijayjohn » 2019-01-13, 1:27

Fabricius was what I used for translating into Tamil (well, that and Google). :P

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Re: TAC 2019 dEhiN

Postby księżycowy » 2019-01-13, 1:33

You used a dictionary from the 18th century?

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Re: TAC 2019 dEhiN

Postby vijayjohn » 2019-01-13, 1:43

I mean, the first edition was written in the 18th century, but this one was from 1972.

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Re: TAC 2019 dEhiN

Postby księżycowy » 2019-01-13, 1:46

So, it's been updated to what was used in the 70s at least?

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Re: TAC 2019 dEhiN

Postby vijayjohn » 2019-01-13, 1:49

I'm not sure. The data for this electronic version was apparently most recently updated in May 2002, though (not sure whether or to what extent that means the actual language data).

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Re: TAC 2019 dEhiN

Postby dEhiN » 2019-01-13, 4:22

vijayjohn wrote:I'm not sure. The data for this electronic version was apparently most recently updated in May 2002, though (not sure whether or to what extent that means the actual language data).

With dictionaries I always assumed updated versions meant at least some updated or new language data. Though, now that I consider it, it is possible a new version could be released that just contains aesthetic or UI updates.
Native: (en-ca)
Active: (fr)(es)(pt-br)(ta-lk)(mi)(sq)(tl)
Inactive: (de)(ja)(yue)(oj)(id)(hu)(pl)(tr)(hi)(zh)(sv)(ko)(no)(it)(haw)(fy)(nl)(nah)(gl)(ro)(cy)(oc)(an)(sr)(en_old)(got)(sux)(grc)(la)(sgn-us)

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Re: TAC 2019 dEhiN

Postby dEhiN » 2019-01-14, 23:18

This past weekend I was thinking about my language studies, and also about work. Now that I live outside Toronto, in a location where there isn't as big an immigrant population nor a student population, I find there aren't really any opportunities for ESL/English tutoring. So I've been considering either expanding my tutoring services to include other things such as computers, looking at some other area of work involving languages, or choosing something else completely different from teaching that doesn't involve languages. If I go with other work involving languages, I was thinking of translation.

To this end, I had the idea that perhaps I should focus solely on the written form of a language. Well, not solely, but mostly. I really enjoyed the BTG game and my attempt to translate from Tamil to Spanish. Perhaps instead of trying to develop all four skills in whatever language I want to learn, I could worry just about reading and writing. I'd still have to learn the grammar, the vocabulary, and along the way I could still learn the phonology. That way if I get an opportunity to try and speak the language, I'd hopefully have some ability. I feel like this would "cut in half" the time it'd take me to progress in any of my languages.

I still haven't come up with any weekly study goals. I also am not even sure what resource to use for any of my languages, except for Tamil. My girlfriend, her parents and I are preparing to sell our house and move in March. So, I'm not going to push myself to make weekly goals. In fact, I might wait until we actually move, or at least have things packed and the house on the market before I try to progress in my languages.
Native: (en-ca)
Active: (fr)(es)(pt-br)(ta-lk)(mi)(sq)(tl)
Inactive: (de)(ja)(yue)(oj)(id)(hu)(pl)(tr)(hi)(zh)(sv)(ko)(no)(it)(haw)(fy)(nl)(nah)(gl)(ro)(cy)(oc)(an)(sr)(en_old)(got)(sux)(grc)(la)(sgn-us)

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Re: TAC 2019 dEhiN

Postby vijayjohn » 2019-01-14, 23:32

I think reading and writing help with speaking a little bit, but they're definitely no substitute for listening and speaking. That also doesn't mean you necessarily have to develop all four skills at the same time, though (IINM most native speakers don't do this).

Good luck with finding a new job and moving! I need to find a new job, too. I should also figure out how to get the latest version of Mozilla working on my computer again, but I've been procrastinating a lot. :?

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Re: TAC 2019 dEhiN

Postby dEhiN » 2019-01-14, 23:36

vijayjohn wrote:I think reading and writing help with speaking a little bit, but they're definitely no substitute for listening and speaking. That also doesn't mean you necessarily have to develop all four skills at the same time, though (IINM most native speakers don't do this).

Good luck with finding a new job and moving! I need to find a new job, too. I should also figure out how to get the latest version of Mozilla working on my computer again, but I've been procrastinating a lot. :?

Thanks! What does IINM mean? And good luck to you as well on finding a new job. I'm really hoping that focusing more on reading and writing will help me to faster develop one or more of my languages to a point where I can use them for translation work. Do you know if there are language certifications that concentrate only on the knowledge needed for translation work? Most certs I'm aware of test all four skills.
Native: (en-ca)
Active: (fr)(es)(pt-br)(ta-lk)(mi)(sq)(tl)
Inactive: (de)(ja)(yue)(oj)(id)(hu)(pl)(tr)(hi)(zh)(sv)(ko)(no)(it)(haw)(fy)(nl)(nah)(gl)(ro)(cy)(oc)(an)(sr)(en_old)(got)(sux)(grc)(la)(sgn-us)

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Re: TAC 2019 dEhiN

Postby vijayjohn » 2019-01-14, 23:48

dEhiN wrote:What does IINM mean?

If I'm Not Mistaken
And good luck to you as well on finding a new job.

Thanks! :)
I'm really hoping that focusing more on reading and writing will help me to faster develop one or more of my languages to a point where I can use them for translation work. Do you know if there are language certifications that concentrate only on the knowledge needed for translation work? Most certs I'm aware of test all four skills.

Hmm...maybe this?

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Re: TAC 2019 dEhiN

Postby dEhiN » 2019-01-15, 18:56

Huh, thanks!
Native: (en-ca)
Active: (fr)(es)(pt-br)(ta-lk)(mi)(sq)(tl)
Inactive: (de)(ja)(yue)(oj)(id)(hu)(pl)(tr)(hi)(zh)(sv)(ko)(no)(it)(haw)(fy)(nl)(nah)(gl)(ro)(cy)(oc)(an)(sr)(en_old)(got)(sux)(grc)(la)(sgn-us)

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Re: TAC 2019 dEhiN

Postby księżycowy » 2019-02-02, 18:59

So, no to Tibetan? :doggy:

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Re: TAC 2019 dEhiN

Postby dEhiN » 2019-02-02, 19:46

księżycowy wrote:So, no to Tibetan? :doggy:

Not sure...never had a hankering for Tibetan. Maybe I'll check it out a bit. Have you guys started a study group for it?
Native: (en-ca)
Active: (fr)(es)(pt-br)(ta-lk)(mi)(sq)(tl)
Inactive: (de)(ja)(yue)(oj)(id)(hu)(pl)(tr)(hi)(zh)(sv)(ko)(no)(it)(haw)(fy)(nl)(nah)(gl)(ro)(cy)(oc)(an)(sr)(en_old)(got)(sux)(grc)(la)(sgn-us)


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