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Kerrie TAC 2015 Team Caesar SP BrPT ASL | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Kerrie Senior Member United States justpaste.it/Kerrie2 Joined 5180 days ago 1232 posts - 1740 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 241 of 246 21 December 2014 at 8:31pm | IP Logged | ||
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Over the past six months, I have also been re-evaluating the things I really want to do in the future, and traveling and languages is among that list, but they are not the only things. I've always been a writer. When I was younger, I actually wrote a lot. Now that life is busier, of course, that kind of thing falls by the wayside. One of the upsides of the Super Challenge has been that I've found the time to read again. Correction: I've MADE the time to read again, albeit in Spanish. This has rekindled my need to write, but it has also had an adverse affect. I find myself struggling to find the (English) words for what I want to say. Instead of finding the words, I see pictures. Which is cool, because I think it gives me much more to work with when I'm telling a story, but I have decided I need to go back to reading in English as well. Reading a lot helps me articulate my thoughts better, and to do that, I guess I need to return to my roots a little. :D 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Stelle Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada tobefluent.com Joined 3929 days ago 949 posts - 1686 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Spanish Studies: Tagalog | Message 242 of 246 21 December 2014 at 8:39pm | IP Logged | ||
Oh, me too, me too, me too. I want to read and write in English *a lot* more this year. I enjoyed your last two posts! I'm glad you're happy and in love - what a great way to start a new year. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Kerrie Senior Member United States justpaste.it/Kerrie2 Joined 5180 days ago 1232 posts - 1740 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 243 of 246 11 January 2015 at 3:17pm | IP Logged | ||
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(Introduction for new TAC 2015 teammates who don't know me)
For those of you who don't know me, my name is Kerrie. I've been around HTLAL for many years. I'm in my late 30s, and I live in the Midwest (USA). I'm a single mum with twelve-year-old twin daughters. As much as I love learning languages, there's not a lot of time for it when you work 40+ hours a week and run a household by yourself. I've studied Spanish off an on for many years, and I feel like I've made pretty decent progress the last year or two. I've played with French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Croatian, Russian, a little Dutch, Korean, Japanese, Turkish, and Esperanto - I'm sure there are plenty of others I'm forgetting. To varying degrees, of course. For me, learning languages isn't as much about communicating (like it is for a lot of people), but it's more like a puzzle. I like to figure out how they work. I've started getting the "itch" to speak and understand more though, so we'll see where that takes me over the next year. :) English 24 movies 24 books As I talked about in a recent post, one of my dreams is to become a writer. There are two reasons I am including English on my "goals" list this year. First, I often feel disconnected when it comes to movies and popular culture references. I've never been a big movie person. (My late fiancé was always amused that I'd never watched Pulp Fiction, the Star Wars movies, and tons and tons of other "classics" that are almost considered an integral part of my own culture.) I would love to hear about your favorite movies (old and new) that are in English. A lot of times, I will find the Spanish version of something new (like Divergent and Hunger Games), but there are some movies that really ought to be seen in English, such as The Green Mile. Second, I often feel lost for words when trying to describe things. I visualize things in my head, but I can't put them into words as easily anymore. A lot of this is because I don't "translate" when I'm reading in Spanish, and I have been reading a lot in Spanish the past few years. I will continue to read in Spanish, but I want to get back to reading in English again as well. My goal for 2015 is 24 books. I think about half of these will be non-fiction, as I've been working on building my own business online and generally improving my outlook on life, improving myself in many different areas. Many of the books I read focus on changing the way you think (in regards to positive thinking and motivation.) I want to get back into reading fiction as well, as I consider this one of the best ways to get back to being able to articulate myself and being able to put my (visual) thoughts into words. I might get back into Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. In which case, it might not be 12 books in a year, since they are about 5000 pages long each. :) With my other language goals, I imagine getting one non-fiction and one fiction book (in English) read per month will be a challenge enough. So my goal is one fiction and one non-fiction book per month, and two movies per month. Seems pretty doable. Spanish 80 film units (Super Challenge) 90 book units (Super Challenge) I want to finish the double Super Challenge with Spanish, which will not be a problem. I hope. I recently found El Internado on Youtube. It's hard-subbed in English. I kind of wish I had the option to turn off the subtitles, but I think I would still miss alot. I just finished season 4, and it keeps getting better and better. The episodes are long (85-90 min each). If you want to watch it, make sure to use the playlists, as they go automatically to the next video and there are less ads. I want to read La Mano de Fátima (Ildefonso Falcones) and La Sombra del Viento (Carlos Luis Zafón). I have started both of these and am enjoying them. I'm also reading Cien Años de Soledad, which has got to be the weirdest book on the planet. I have been reading books in translation so far with Spanish, and I really want to delve into some native books this year. Spanish reading is not on my priority list this year, though, so we'll see what else I get to besides those two books. I also want to work on my conversation skills. I am thinking about taking 2-4 weeks later in the year and going to Spanish-language school in Guatemala. I was looking at flight costs a few months ago, and it looks like I could get a round-trip ticket for $600-700 out of Chicago, and the school itself is not that expensive. I will be looking more into that in the next few months. ASL I think I mentioned in an earlier post that we have a young Deaf man at work. I really want to learn ASL so I can talk to him a little. I have no idea what it takes to become fluent in ASL, but I have started with some of the lessons at www.lifeprint.com. They have 30 lessons (about 30 minutes each). There are a lot of resources there, and I've found a handful of other sites as well. I am going to work on the LifePrint lessons first, then see what comes next. I've found one or two places locally that offer classes as well, so I might look into those once I'm done with these lessons. I don't imagine there will be a lot of stuff to learn to have basic conversations with him, but it would be cool to become fairly fluent. Apparently, being an ASL translator pays pretty well, and if I learn it to a decent level, I might be able to translate part-time. Portuguese I used to think Portuguese sounded like drunk Spanish. (Sorry to my Portuguese and Brazilian friends!) I still do, a little, but it has really grown on me. I went through most of the Michel Thomas course recently, and now all of a sudden I want more! I need to finish the last two discs of the Advance course, but my plan is to work through the Assimil courses (I have both the old and new brésilien versions). After I work through those, I want to do a lot of listening-reading, starting with books that are familiar. Probably some Harry Potter, maybe the Hunger Games. Part of me wants to commit to a Super Challenge (either 50/50 or 100/100) for Portuguese, but it's too soon to commit to that. My priority for January is to get through the 30 LifePrint ASL lessons, then February and March will be focused on Portuguese (Assimil). (When does the 6WC start? ) Maybe... French, Italian, German, Bosnian/Croatian, Esperanto, Korean, Japanese, and ... I want to get back to French. Even if I never learn to speak it, I'd still like to be able to read it. Just to use Assimil. :) My gf speaks Bosnian natively, and German (fairly fluently). It's possible I'll go back to one or both of these at some point this year. Both languages are on my wish-list, but ... you can only learn so many at a time. :D And she speaks English better than I do, so communication is not really an incentive to learn them. :) Korean, Korean, Korean. <sigh> I asked for the new Living Language Korean (Complete Edition) set for Christmas. It is beautiful. I wish there were 50 hours in a day, so I could learn all the languages I love! Japanese, Japanese, Japanese. See Korean above. Maybe we need 75 hours in a day so I can learn Japanese, too. :) I could go on, but I think I will stop now. Edited by Kerrie on 11 January 2015 at 3:19pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Kerrie Senior Member United States justpaste.it/Kerrie2 Joined 5180 days ago 1232 posts - 1740 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 244 of 246 01 February 2015 at 6:36pm | IP Logged | ||
Ask and you shall receive, I suppose. I couldn't find seasons six and seven on YouTube, so I had to find them elsewhere, without subs. I had no trouble following it, although there were times I didn't catch everything that was said. 
I finished watching El Internado about a week ago. Wow. The last two or three seasons just got better and better. Pure entertainment. I'm not normally one for freaky, mysterious, conspiratorial shows. While the storyline was definitely interesting, the character development and the acting kept me coming back over and over again, staying up late. I was utterly hooked. The story is about siblings Marcos and Paula, whose parents have mysteriously disappeared at sea and are presumed dead. They are sent to a boarding school (El Internado) under the guardianship of the school's headmaster, Héctor. Marcos is 16, and Paula is five or six. The interactions between Paula and her friend Evelyn are priceless throughout the whole series. At one point, they are looking at a (very adult) magazine about love and talking about G-spots and quickies. Of course, they have no clue what they are talking about, but it adds some comic relief to a show that is full of suspense and mystery. 
One of the recurring storylines from the beginning - actually, where the first episode begins - is the story of María, who escapes from the local nuthouse in search of her son, who was taken from her at birth. Her son, who becomes one of Marcos' best friends, is another integral part of the story. Marcos and his teenage friends really annoyed me at first. I'm not really into watching teenagers making out and acting like, well - teenagers. At first, all the teen angst was a bit annoying, but it soon turned into more. I really enjoyed watching these young people turn into adults, changing as life forced them to grow up. Their acting throughout the series, especially the interactions between Marcos, Carolina, and Ivan (at first), then the relationship and story arc with Julia and Ivan really impressed me. 
In addition to the little girls and the teenagers, there was another group of secondary characters. The adults, starting with Héctor and Elsa, María (the escaped mental patient, who becomes a maid at the school), Jacinta (an old lady who works in the kitchen), and a host of others. I feel like I can't really talk about "what El Internado is about" without giving away too many spoilers. All I can say is that I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the characters, and the acting. It is rare that I can say that about a television series. There were times when I laughed. Times where I held my breath in suspense, waiting to see what would happen. Times when my heart ached for the characters. Times when I cried, sometimes tears of sadness, other times tears of joy. Make sure you have a box of tissues for the last two episodes. I couldn't breathe, holding my breath to see who was going to live and who was going to die. I don't think I've ever watched a show where they kill off so many main and secondary characters. You know that no one is safe until the curtain drops. 
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| Stelle Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada tobefluent.com Joined 3929 days ago 949 posts - 1686 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Spanish Studies: Tagalog | Message 245 of 246 01 February 2015 at 7:00pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm only on season 2 episode 2 of El Internado. What a great show! Over the Christmas holidays, I watched an
episode every day, but now I'm so busy at work that I barely get through an episode a week. But I absolutely love the show, and I'm so glad to hear that it keeps getting better. And I agree with you - Paula and Evelyn are definitely highlights of the show! Evelyn makes me laugh out loud almost every episode. What's your next show going to be? I've heard really good things about El Gran Hotel - I think I'll watch that when I'm done with El internado. I also like Aqui no hay quien viva (a silly comedy show), but it's really not addictive in the same way that a good drama or suspense is addictive. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Kerrie Senior Member United States justpaste.it/Kerrie2 Joined 5180 days ago 1232 posts - 1740 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 246 of 246 01 February 2015 at 7:51pm | IP Logged | ||
Oh, I think I need to *not* look for a new show. I've already logged 150/200 "films" for the Double SC, and I have other projects I want to work on. My project for January was supposed to be to work through the ASL lessons on LifePrint.com, but somehow El Internado took over my life for a few weeks. I am thinking ASL and Portuguese need to become a priority now for the next few months. I need to continue doing something in Spanish, although it doesn't have to be anything intensive. I want a certain amount of regular exposure, so there are a few options. I'm reading "El Pasaje" (The Passage) by Justin Cronin, and it is interesting enough to keep me coming back when I have time, yet not enough to grab me (and turn me into an obsessive-compulsive crazy person). I want to go back and watch more of Suléiman, but it slowed down a bit, and I'm not sure it will grab me again. I like having something to sit down and "stare" at for a while once the kids go to bed - something that doesn't require a tremendous amount of brain power (because my brain has usually had it by that time of night!), but something that is not completely mindless. I was looking at El Barco, which is a bit similar to El Internado. Just reading the synopsis, it reminds me of the new show "The Last Ship" - which is based on a novel I read decades ago. "A global cataclysm, caused by a fatal accident in Geneva (Switzerland) during the implementation of the particle accelerator will lead to crew of vessel-school Estrella Polar to live the adventure of their lives." The girl who plays Julia (in El Internado) is in it. I really disliked Julia's character when she was first introduced, but she became one of my favorites as the show went on. Without giving away too much, her love story with Ivan was really well-done, and I think the actress did an amazing job at portraying . . . <sigh> NO SPOILERS. Suffice it to say, she did an amazing job with a very complex character. I think part of the reason that relationship hit me so hard was because I was watching that part of the show around the anniversary of when I lost my fiancé. It's been nine years (and I'm fine), but sometimes, something will make that pain hit again like a ton of bricks. The storyline, their relationship, and her portrayal of the character really hit me. I think El Barco is on YouTube, and I know it's "elsewhere" as well, so I may pick that as my new show to stare at. I'm just afraid I will get hooked and then get obsessed and crazy again. LOL For now, I am planning to focus on ASL and Portuguese for a month or two, and see where that takes me. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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