As promised, I've decided to do a loose translation of my previous post, a review of Das grössere Wunder. I haven't re-read my previous post yet so I'm sure I'll noticed plenty of problems but I'll try to ignore them for now or I'll spend my whole life correcting my past mistakes :-)
Before you read my translation, I thought I'd include this review of the book I found on youtube by a bookseller who considers it to have been the book of the year for 2013. I found her enthusiasm contagious and also her high speed speech a bit challenging, so I may include a transcribed and translated snippet at some stage in the future of the bit I found the hardest. Anyway, here's her review:
Enthusiastic review from a German bookseller
As a checkpoint update before my translated review, I'm up to page 218. I think that means my average is about 10 pages a day which is a pretty slow way to read a 526 page book, but considering my limited time and the fact that I read quite slowly in English often, it's not that bad :-) I wouldn't mind finding some time to read big chunks of it at once though! And besides, the on again, off again way I read Der Beobachter meant that it took me more than a year to finish, so 2 months for this doesn't seem all that bad!
What follows is my (rough) translation which also covers up some of the original's mistakes. Don't rely on my German too much for your own learning!
***
Hello dear reader!
Today I'm trying out something new. I've decided that I have to spend more time "in German". The best place to start is here in my blog.
Well, as I mentioned earlier, I'm currently reading a very interesting and well-written book called "das grössere Wunder" (The Greater Wonder). I've only reached page 193, so this review has to be short.
On the whole the book is a story of a man and his youth. Right from the start we're in a chaotic scene at Mt Everest basecamp. The first two sentences set the mood for the first chapter:
"Yesterday stood clearly in front of him, the Present faded, dissolved, ethereal and consumed. The first corpse was carried past his tent, covered in a makeshift fashion with a tarpaulin which flapped in the wind."
I have to admit that already at this point I got a big shock because I didn't know two words in the first sentence! I was unclear about "Soeben" although it was obviously in contrast to "Yesterday". Also, the meaning of "zerfließen" wasn't coming to me. Terrible beginning! However, I just searched through a couple of word frequency lists and either haven't found the words, or [only] in the second half of a list containing 10,000 words. Here are a couple of word-frequency lists:
Taken from movie subtitles
Taken from who knows where
I read on anyway, and I'm really glad I did! In the early chapters I found everything to be a little improbably, and there were dialogues which didn't really ring true. I forgot to keep any examples, but it doesn't matter. The more I read the better I felt about it. The writing style is easy to read, even if I still lack a few words, and it is possessed [strange choice of phrase!] by a subtile, understated humour. And THANK GOD because there's also a lot of violence in it! In contrast to the things which I found improbable, I have kept a good example of the humour! On the 188th page can be found a scene in which the main character (named "Jonas") is recovering at basecamp after a health scare and his friend Marc takes him to a doctor who Marc recommends. The doctor has just taken blood from Jonas in order to check his "blood sats" [basically, to determine how well his body is absorbing oxygen at the high altitude] and is talking about the health risks at 7,000 metres, and whether people can recognise the signs [originally "Weise" here which makes no sense - hopefully "Zeichen" makes more sense now!] themselves:
"Two Australians arrived yesterday, who've already climbed up further today. Either they are lucky and notice it themselves in time, how lousy they're feeling - and by God will they feel lousy - or they spend the next thousand years up there. Now a band-aid so the kid doesn't have to cry. There. Be right back."
The doctor disappeared into the tent next door.
"Good guy", said Marc quietly. "A gifted doctor and a strange old codger. Even had the plague once."
"He doesn't appear to be so old."
"No, seriously."
"He had the plague?"
"Yeah, almost died from it."
"Where do you get the plague?"
"No idea. Some rats, perhaps??"
Don't know why I liked this scene so much. Just did.
That's it for today. I hope that I'll find the time to translate this post [I DID!].
In the meantime you can do it for yourselves!
I'm looking forward to your comments. Bye!
***
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Das grössere Wunder von Thomas Glavinic: eine kleine Rezension
Hallo liebe Leserinnen/Leser!
Heute probiere ich etwas neues aus. Ich habe beschlossen, dass ich muss mehr Zeit auf Deutsch verbringen. Hier im Blog ist der beste Ort damit anzufangen.
Also, als ich früher erwähnt habe, ich lese im Moment ein sehr interessantes, gut geschriebenes Buch, das heißt Das grössere Wunder. Ich habe nur bis zur 193en Seite erreicht, deshalb muss diese Rezension kurz sein.
Es ist im Großen und Ganzen die Geschichte eines Manns und seiner Kindheit. Gleich am Anfang sind wir in einer chaotischen Szene im Basislager von Mt Everest. Die zwie ersten Sätze stellen die Stimmung für den ersten Kapitel:
"Das Gestern stand klar vor ihm, das Soeben schwand, zerfloss, ungreifbar und verbraucht.
An seinem Zelt wurde der erste Leichnam vorbeigetragen, notdürftig bedeckt mit einer im Wind flatternden Plane."
Ich muss ja zugeben, dass gleich an diesem Punkt hatte ich schreckliche Angst, weil es im ersten Satz zwei Wörter fehlt! Soeben war mir unklar, obwohl es offensichtlich im Gegenteil zum "Gestern" stand. Dazu auch die bedeutung von zerfließen fällt mir nicht ein. Grauhafter Anfang! Ich habe aber gerade durch ein paar Worthäufigkeitlisten gesucht und habe entweder die Wörter nicht gefunden, oder in der zweiten Hälfte einer 10.000 Wörter beinhaltenden Liste. Hier gibt's ein paar Worthäufigkeitlisten:
Von Filmuntertiteln genommen
Von woher bloß weiß ich genommen
Ich habe trotzdem weiter gelesen, und da bin ich froh darüber! In den früheren Kapiteln fand ich alles ein bisschen unwahrscheinlich, und es gab Dialoge die nicht wirklich echt klang. Ich habe vergessen Beispiele zu halten, aber macht nichts. Umso mehr ich gelesen habe, desto besser ging es mir. Der Schreibstil ist leicht zu lesen, sogar wenn mir noch ein paar Wörte fehlen, und besessen von einem subtilen, untertrieben Humor. UND GOTT SEI DANK, weil eine Menge Gewalt steht auch da drin! Im gegensatz zu die Unwahrscheinlichkeiten, habe ich für den Humor einen guten Beispiel beibehalten! An der 188en Seite lass sich es finden eine Szene, in der die Hauptfigur (namens Jonas) erholt sich im Basislager nach einem Gesundheitsschrecken und sein Freund Marc ihn zu einem von Marc vorgeschlagenen Arzt bringt. Der Arzt hat gerade von Jonas blut genommen, um eine Blutsättigungswerte zu bestimmen, und redet über den gesundheitlichen Gefahr auf 7000 Metern und ob Leute die Zeichen selbst erkennen können:
"Gestern sind zwei Australier angekommen, die heute gleich weiter aufgestiegen sind. Entweder sie haben Glück und merken selbst rechtzeitig, wie mies es ihnen geht - und es wird ihnen bei Gott mies gehen -, oder sie verbrigen die nächsten tausend Jahre da oben. Ein Pflaster noch, damit das Kind nicht weinen muss. So. Bin gleich zurück."
Der Arzt verschwand im Zelt nebenan.
"Guter Kerl", sagte Marc leise. "Begnadeter Arzt und komischer Kauz. Hat schon die Pest gehabt."
"So alt wirkt er aber auch wieder nicht."
"Nein, im Ernst."
"Er hat die Pest gehabt?"
"Ja, fast wäre er dran gestorben."
"Wo kriegt man denn die Pest?"
"Keine Ahnung. Irgendwelche Ratten vielleicht?"
Weiss nicht genau, warum mir diese Szene so gut gefallen ist. Es ist nur so.
Das war's für heute. Ich hoffe, dass ich die Zeit finde, um dieses Post zu übersetzen. Inzwischen könnt ihr euch selbst machen!
Ich freue mich auf eure Kommentare! Tschüß!
Heute probiere ich etwas neues aus. Ich habe beschlossen, dass ich muss mehr Zeit auf Deutsch verbringen. Hier im Blog ist der beste Ort damit anzufangen.
Also, als ich früher erwähnt habe, ich lese im Moment ein sehr interessantes, gut geschriebenes Buch, das heißt Das grössere Wunder. Ich habe nur bis zur 193en Seite erreicht, deshalb muss diese Rezension kurz sein.
Es ist im Großen und Ganzen die Geschichte eines Manns und seiner Kindheit. Gleich am Anfang sind wir in einer chaotischen Szene im Basislager von Mt Everest. Die zwie ersten Sätze stellen die Stimmung für den ersten Kapitel:
"Das Gestern stand klar vor ihm, das Soeben schwand, zerfloss, ungreifbar und verbraucht.
An seinem Zelt wurde der erste Leichnam vorbeigetragen, notdürftig bedeckt mit einer im Wind flatternden Plane."
Ich muss ja zugeben, dass gleich an diesem Punkt hatte ich schreckliche Angst, weil es im ersten Satz zwei Wörter fehlt! Soeben war mir unklar, obwohl es offensichtlich im Gegenteil zum "Gestern" stand. Dazu auch die bedeutung von zerfließen fällt mir nicht ein. Grauhafter Anfang! Ich habe aber gerade durch ein paar Worthäufigkeitlisten gesucht und habe entweder die Wörter nicht gefunden, oder in der zweiten Hälfte einer 10.000 Wörter beinhaltenden Liste. Hier gibt's ein paar Worthäufigkeitlisten:
Von Filmuntertiteln genommen
Von woher bloß weiß ich genommen
Ich habe trotzdem weiter gelesen, und da bin ich froh darüber! In den früheren Kapiteln fand ich alles ein bisschen unwahrscheinlich, und es gab Dialoge die nicht wirklich echt klang. Ich habe vergessen Beispiele zu halten, aber macht nichts. Umso mehr ich gelesen habe, desto besser ging es mir. Der Schreibstil ist leicht zu lesen, sogar wenn mir noch ein paar Wörte fehlen, und besessen von einem subtilen, untertrieben Humor. UND GOTT SEI DANK, weil eine Menge Gewalt steht auch da drin! Im gegensatz zu die Unwahrscheinlichkeiten, habe ich für den Humor einen guten Beispiel beibehalten! An der 188en Seite lass sich es finden eine Szene, in der die Hauptfigur (namens Jonas) erholt sich im Basislager nach einem Gesundheitsschrecken und sein Freund Marc ihn zu einem von Marc vorgeschlagenen Arzt bringt. Der Arzt hat gerade von Jonas blut genommen, um eine Blutsättigungswerte zu bestimmen, und redet über den gesundheitlichen Gefahr auf 7000 Metern und ob Leute die Zeichen selbst erkennen können:
"Gestern sind zwei Australier angekommen, die heute gleich weiter aufgestiegen sind. Entweder sie haben Glück und merken selbst rechtzeitig, wie mies es ihnen geht - und es wird ihnen bei Gott mies gehen -, oder sie verbrigen die nächsten tausend Jahre da oben. Ein Pflaster noch, damit das Kind nicht weinen muss. So. Bin gleich zurück."
Der Arzt verschwand im Zelt nebenan.
"Guter Kerl", sagte Marc leise. "Begnadeter Arzt und komischer Kauz. Hat schon die Pest gehabt."
"So alt wirkt er aber auch wieder nicht."
"Nein, im Ernst."
"Er hat die Pest gehabt?"
"Ja, fast wäre er dran gestorben."
"Wo kriegt man denn die Pest?"
"Keine Ahnung. Irgendwelche Ratten vielleicht?"
Weiss nicht genau, warum mir diese Szene so gut gefallen ist. Es ist nur so.
Das war's für heute. Ich hoffe, dass ich die Zeit finde, um dieses Post zu übersetzen. Inzwischen könnt ihr euch selbst machen!
Ich freue mich auf eure Kommentare! Tschüß!
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Ideas for learning languages from some Ted talks
This post is a reall brief one just to summarise the main points from 2 TEDx talks about language learning. You can watch the talks at the links below, but these super brief summaries are here to help if you don't have much time :-) Notice there is some overlap in the ideas of the two speakers, Sid Efromovich and Chris Lonsdale. My (few) comments are in [] in italics. Let us all know your own thoughts in the comments below!
Sid Efromovich
Rule 1: Get things wrong - make mistakes.
Rule 2: Use own scheme to record phonology [Learning IPA is better really]
Rule 3: Find a stickler who won't let you get away with mistakes. They need to feel comfortable correcting you.
Rule 4: Shower conversations. He points out that you can have these conversations anywhere. You practice both sides of a conversation which helps with issues like knowing how to ask a question but not know how to answer it. If you find you don't know how to answer, you will figure it out and then practice again.
Rule 5: Buddy formula - find people to speak with.
Chris Lonsdale - become fluent in any language in 6 months
Myths:
5 Principles:
1) Attention, meaning, relevance and memory are interconnected in important ways
2) Use your language as a tool to communicate from Day 1
3) When you first understand the message then you will unconsciously acquire the language.
4) Language learning is not about accumulating knowledge - it's a physiological process. If your face doesn't hurt at the end of a session of practicing speaking, you're not doing it right!
5) Psycho-physiological state matters: Being in a happy, relaxed state matters. You need to learn to tolerate ambiguity!
7 Actions:
1) Listen a lot. Brain soaking. Put yourself in a context to hear tonnes of the languages to hear patterns and rhythms.
2) Get the action before you get the words. Read the body language to understand as much as possible before you know everything. Use patterns you already know from known language.
3) Get mixing. 10 verbs * 10 adjectives * 10 nouns = 1000 sentences.
4) Focus on the core. This means focusing on high-frequency content. 1000 words in English covers 85% of daily conversation, 3000 words covers 98% of daily conversation.
Week 1 - the toolbox: "What is this?", "How do you say?", "I don't understand", "Can you repeat that please?" - all in your target language.
Week 2 - "you, that, me, give, hot"
Week 3 - Glue words: "although, but, therefore". At that point you're talking.
5) Get yourself a language parent. They will use simple language with you and put up with your faults to help you move on. NO SPOUSES!
Rule 1: They will work hard to understand you even if you are way off-target.
Rule 2: Does not correct your mistakes.
Rule 3: Confirms understanding by using correct language.
Rule 4: Uses words the learner knows.
6) Copy the face. You have to get the muscles working right. You need to hear how it feels and feel how it sounds to have a feedback loop. If you can watch a native speaker and subconsciously absorb the facial patterns.
7) Direct connect to mental images. Don't make lists of words to connect to words in your native language - connect to pictures. [Not a bad idea for those few hundred concepts that have clear images but I've always found that (a) there are tonnes of words that are necessary for basic reading and listening, let alone an adult ability to express oneself, that are just basically impossible to use images for. Fire is an easy one to visualise, but what about showing the distinction between such simple concepts as "tears" and "crying" or "distraught" or even "grief", and I often find myself trying to remember between the multiple possible meanings of an image, which pretty much defeats the purpose, and (b) because this worked so well for Rosetta Stone. Of course, this is probably generally intended for beginners and those concepts should be a bit easier to distinguish although there can be confusion amongst images for even simple things like the prepositions. The suggestion for more advanced learners who prefer not to use their own language for initial support is to write definitions for new words in terms of words you already know in the target language. The flaw here is that it might not lead to much precision but it's an option. When I get a chance again to learn a new language I will try some of these ideas for sure, although it sometimes seems like trying to build an arch using only the stones already in the arch as opposed to using support stones first and then removing them one by one as it becomes possible :-) ].
Sid Efromovich
Rule 1: Get things wrong - make mistakes.
Rule 2: Use own scheme to record phonology [Learning IPA is better really]
Rule 3: Find a stickler who won't let you get away with mistakes. They need to feel comfortable correcting you.
Rule 4: Shower conversations. He points out that you can have these conversations anywhere. You practice both sides of a conversation which helps with issues like knowing how to ask a question but not know how to answer it. If you find you don't know how to answer, you will figure it out and then practice again.
Rule 5: Buddy formula - find people to speak with.
Chris Lonsdale - become fluent in any language in 6 months
Myths:
- Talent is important.
- Immersion is necessary.
5 Principles:
1) Attention, meaning, relevance and memory are interconnected in important ways
2) Use your language as a tool to communicate from Day 1
3) When you first understand the message then you will unconsciously acquire the language.
4) Language learning is not about accumulating knowledge - it's a physiological process. If your face doesn't hurt at the end of a session of practicing speaking, you're not doing it right!
5) Psycho-physiological state matters: Being in a happy, relaxed state matters. You need to learn to tolerate ambiguity!
7 Actions:
1) Listen a lot. Brain soaking. Put yourself in a context to hear tonnes of the languages to hear patterns and rhythms.
2) Get the action before you get the words. Read the body language to understand as much as possible before you know everything. Use patterns you already know from known language.
3) Get mixing. 10 verbs * 10 adjectives * 10 nouns = 1000 sentences.
4) Focus on the core. This means focusing on high-frequency content. 1000 words in English covers 85% of daily conversation, 3000 words covers 98% of daily conversation.
Week 1 - the toolbox: "What is this?", "How do you say?", "I don't understand", "Can you repeat that please?" - all in your target language.
Week 2 - "you, that, me, give, hot"
Week 3 - Glue words: "although, but, therefore". At that point you're talking.
5) Get yourself a language parent. They will use simple language with you and put up with your faults to help you move on. NO SPOUSES!
Rule 1: They will work hard to understand you even if you are way off-target.
Rule 2: Does not correct your mistakes.
Rule 3: Confirms understanding by using correct language.
Rule 4: Uses words the learner knows.
6) Copy the face. You have to get the muscles working right. You need to hear how it feels and feel how it sounds to have a feedback loop. If you can watch a native speaker and subconsciously absorb the facial patterns.
7) Direct connect to mental images. Don't make lists of words to connect to words in your native language - connect to pictures. [Not a bad idea for those few hundred concepts that have clear images but I've always found that (a) there are tonnes of words that are necessary for basic reading and listening, let alone an adult ability to express oneself, that are just basically impossible to use images for. Fire is an easy one to visualise, but what about showing the distinction between such simple concepts as "tears" and "crying" or "distraught" or even "grief", and I often find myself trying to remember between the multiple possible meanings of an image, which pretty much defeats the purpose, and (b) because this worked so well for Rosetta Stone. Of course, this is probably generally intended for beginners and those concepts should be a bit easier to distinguish although there can be confusion amongst images for even simple things like the prepositions. The suggestion for more advanced learners who prefer not to use their own language for initial support is to write definitions for new words in terms of words you already know in the target language. The flaw here is that it might not lead to much precision but it's an option. When I get a chance again to learn a new language I will try some of these ideas for sure, although it sometimes seems like trying to build an arch using only the stones already in the arch as opposed to using support stones first and then removing them one by one as it becomes possible :-) ].
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