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Luso’s Silk Thread - Yürükler, TAC Rare | ||
Tags: Arabic (classical) | Sanskrit | Arabic | Total Annihilation Challenge (TAC) | Italian | German | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Penelope Diglot Senior Member Greece Joined 3650 days ago 110 posts - 155 votes  Speaks: English, French Studies: Russian, Turkish, Modern Hebrew | Message 121 of 162 15 May 2014 at 8:58am | IP Logged | |||||
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I have been also watching documentaries on pre-1948 Palestine , but mostly from a Hebrew point of view (because of the language of course). However I am very interested in the arabic side of things, and I believe culture includes every aspect of life. (Being faithful to my studies on this one).
It seems all roads lead to arabic: not only the connection to Hebrew which is both linguistic and historical, but also because of turkish. I don't have to tell you that they used arabic letters for centuries. Nowadays they are replacing arabic words with turkish ones (so called outdated words are mostly that) and the influence is enormous. Arabic is present everywhere. As school chlidren we were always told: it was the arabs who saved ancient greek knowledge for us today. We all learned to love and respect that particular culture. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Gemuse Senior Member Germany Joined 3863 days ago 818 posts - 1189 votes Speaks: English Studies: German | Message 122 of 162 01 June 2014 at 2:52am | IP Logged | |||||
Which book is this Henrique? Edited by Gemuse on 01 June 2014 at 2:53am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Luso Hexaglot Senior Member Portugal Joined 5842 days ago 819 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, French, EnglishC2, GermanB1, Italian, Spanish Studies: Sanskrit, Arabic (classical) | Message 123 of 162 01 June 2014 at 12:04pm | IP Logged | |||||
Introduction to Sanskrit - Part One by Thomas Egenes Motilal Banarsidass Publishers ISBN 978-81-208-1140-9 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Luso Hexaglot Senior Member Portugal Joined 5842 days ago 819 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, French, EnglishC2, GermanB1, Italian, Spanish Studies: Sanskrit, Arabic (classical) | Message 124 of 162 23 June 2014 at 11:41pm | IP Logged | |||||
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German
There's still not a lot going on, as far as the German language is concerned. I read occasionally pages in German in the net, but it's not something I'm seeking actively. The only upside is that I'm not feeling the stress of living up to being a C2 student. Italian Even though not posting a lot, Italian has been very present in my life. I did today my written test for the C.2.1 level. With both the presentation and the listening comprehension behind me, this was the final piece of the puzzle. For the time being, of course. Hopefully, I'll have some time now to get back on track with the Super Challenge. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| drygramul Tetraglot Senior Member Italy Joined 4249 days ago 165 posts - 269 votes Speaks: Persian, Italian*, EnglishC2, GermanB2 Studies: French, Polish | Message 125 of 162 26 June 2014 at 10:59am | IP Logged | |||||
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Ciao Luso,
ho scorso velocemente il tuo thread, pertanto mi scuso in anticipo se hai già menzionato quanto ti chiedo. Mi pare di capire che segui/vi un corso di tedesco pure per il C1/C2. Giusto per curiosità, che libri utilizzavate al corso? Edited by drygramul on 26 June 2014 at 11:00am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Luso Hexaglot Senior Member Portugal Joined 5842 days ago 819 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, French, EnglishC2, GermanB1, Italian, Spanish Studies: Sanskrit, Arabic (classical) | Message 126 of 162 26 June 2014 at 11:29am | IP Logged | |||||
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Ciao drygramul,
Io frequentavo il Goethe-Institut. Nel livello C2 non ci sono manuali, oppure due libri raccomandati dall'istituto, che cambiano da un'anno all'altro. Nel livello C1 abbiamo utilizzato il manuale Aspekte. Edited by Luso on 26 June 2014 at 1:22pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Luso Hexaglot Senior Member Portugal Joined 5842 days ago 819 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, French, EnglishC2, GermanB1, Italian, Spanish Studies: Sanskrit, Arabic (classical) | Message 127 of 162 15 August 2014 at 4:14pm | IP Logged | |||||
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German
Yesterday I met a tourist couple in a restaurant. She was from Berlin, he was from Gelsenkirchen. We started talking and ended up having a conversation that lasted for a couple of hours. I gave them a bit of tourist information and we parted ways. The interesting part is that we covered a lot of topics and had to resort to other languages just for half a dozen words. Since we had never met before, there was no pressure for perfection. Nothing of that oh-you-reached-C2-in-class-then-you-must-never-miss-a-case. Italian I ended up getting a grade of 15 (out of 20) for my C.2.1 class. It was without a doubt the lowest grade ever, but I wasn't really focused this semester. I'll try to do better next one. I'd better, since it's the last one anyway. Sanskrit Yesterday I was browsing at a local market and came across some handmade bags with Sanskrit inscriptions, as anything vaguely related to Yoga or Buddhism is a sure success. I managed to read the inscriptions (they were fairly obvious) and tried to check for cases and verb conjugations. I spend a bit of time doing that. The seller must have thought I was some kind of scholar or expert. On the way, I passed a Nepalese restaurant. At the door, amid the usual stuff, there was a sticker with Tibetan words on it. I recognised the "om mani padme hum" formula, based on the similarities between the two scripts. I like this idea of having a basic knowledge of a script and its culture. If you know what you're looking for, you can decipher a good number of basic quotes and formulas. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Luso Hexaglot Senior Member Portugal Joined 5842 days ago 819 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, French, EnglishC2, GermanB1, Italian, Spanish Studies: Sanskrit, Arabic (classical) | Message 128 of 162 17 August 2014 at 8:25pm | IP Logged | |||||
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This is an important post for me, as it structures my language learning for the foreseeable future.
I've learned languages for a lot of reasons: I had to; it was useful; it could become useful; it was fun; it was easy; as a way to meet people (girls, TBH); to stay agile mentally; to better my social skills; etc., etc. In the world I grew up in, being able to speak other languages (English and French typically) was a big plus. Only a minority of people in older generations did. If you knew German, you were a polyglot. Scholars knew Latin and Greek. Anything else, and you were a mythological creature. In school, language teachers were Portuguese people with diplomas. There were the typical foreign language institutions, and the idea I have is that each had a handful of native teachers (Brits, French and Germans) who had been living here for ages, and spoke Portuguese with very heavy, stereotyped accents. Some 20 years ago, the situation had changed. In the urban working environment, everyone claimed to speak English. Differentiation became difficult. Possible, but difficult. There were also more people learning languages as a hobby (that's how I started with German). Multinational companies from all countries opened subsidiaries here. Meeting someone from Japan didn't necessarily mean the ambassador. But overall, a good command of a language was still a good asset. Fast forward to 2014. Things have become black-and-white. Are you a native speaker? If yes, you're lucky. If not, it doesn't matter if you are a C2 and hold your own pretty well (I'm not complaining, just stating facts). Of course, language skills are valued. As a balance-tipper, perhaps. But they aren't a very important factor on their own anymore. How does that affect my language learning priorities? I've decided to stop investing in German and Italian and go into "maintenance" mode. Personal life permitting, I'll do the last semester of Italian, but that's it. My level in both languages is enough to envision living in native speaking countries, and that's fine by me. The extra effort to acquire an advanced fluency is just not worth the effort at this point. As I'm happy with the level and "freshness" of my other languages, this leaves Arabic and Sanskrit. Both are difficult, challenging... and rewarding. In both cases, I have a teacher (and a friend) available. The disparity of levels (a beginner of half a year with Sanskrit, a beginner of five years with Arabic) will provide me with the option to toggle between the two. It will be fun. In forum terms, this means I'll keep my Spaß and Forza TAC memberships until the end of the year but will not renew either one of them. Maybe I could join an Italian team for 2015, but I'll stick to the Super Challenge instead. Speaking of SC, I'm a lot behind schedule by now, but there's still a lot of time to go. I'm not one a "we're are all winners always" kind of person, but I think the SC is one of the few instances where that happens, if people have a modicum of honesty and perseverance. I hope this may be of help to someone in the forum. Knowing what not to invest in is important. It's up to each one of us to decide. One last note: while not starting to learn a new language in the foreseeable future, I'll keep an eye on this thread. Check it out. 5 persons have voted this message useful |
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