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nikolic993

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Posts posted by nikolic993

  1. A long due update.

    Italian:

    Assimil - Italian With Ease PW:64/105 AW: 8/105

    Colloquial Italian - Unit 5/17

    Romanian:

    Assimil - Il Romeno Senza Sforzo PW 23/101 AW: 0/101

    Colloquial Romanian - Unit 5/20

    Mandarin:

    Assimil - Chinese With Ease PW 18/101 AW: 0/101

    ChinesePod - Basics  15/100

    Persian:

    Teach Yourself Modern Persian 0/20

    Living Language Farsi 1/15

    PersianPod101 1/???

    Notes:

    Well, I decided not to sleep tonight in order to correct my sleep schedule, which has been all over the place these past couple of days. Therefore, I had a lot of time to work on my languages. I started learning Persian today. It sounds beautiful, and the vocabulary and grammar are very different from Italian and Romanian, so I won't have any interferences there. I think I'm gonna study them in pairs: Romanian and Chinese one day, and Italian and Persian the other.

    I started reading and deciphering some Romanian and Russian poems just for fun. I plan on devoting 10-15 minutes a day to Russian, just to see what my level of listening comprehension and vocabulary knowledge will be after 6 months. 

    I listened to a Russian

    by Pushkin today and I understood about 30-40%. I love this woman's voice, it's so soft and calming.
  2. This is what my usual schedule looks like:

    1. Listen to the audio with the book closed.

    2. Read the entire Italian text and highlight unknown and unintelligible words.

    3. Read the grammar notes.

    4. Listen to the audio while reading the Italian text until I understand everything.

    5. Just listen to the audio to make sure my listening comprehension is up to par.

    6. Finish the exercises.

    7. If I understood everything, I then usually listen to the last 2-5 lesson, depending on how much time I have.

    I only refer to the translation on the right side for single words, I try to get the jist just by reading the original and listening, and if that doesn't work, I look at the entire sentence.

  3. Thanks for the kind comments and for stopping by. I'm loving the Italian Assimil book. I'm up to lesson 59 now, and a lot of the grammar that wasn't clear before is suddenly starting to clear up. The lessons are fairly interesting and in the later ones you get a lot of texts about Italy itself, the education, job interviews etc. It's a pretty good book in my book. :D 

  4. bolded = new

    ITALIAN:

    Courses:

    Assimil - Italian With Ease  PW:47/105 AW:4/105

    Colloquial Italian - Unit: 2/17

    Movies & TV Shows:

    8. Il giovane Montalbano S01EP1

    7. La Grande Belezza

    6. Il commissario Montalbano S01EP2 -  La voce del violino

    5. Il Tredicesimo Apostolo S02EP2

    4. La meglio gioventù

    3. La vita è bella

    2. Il commissario Montalbano S01EP1 -  Il ladro di merendine

    1. Il Tredicesimo Apostolo S02EP1

    Books, Graded Readers & Magazines:

    7. Mafia, amore & polizia - 3 Livello (1500 parole)

    6. Amore in Paradiso - 2 Livello (1000 parole)

    5. Maschere a Venezia - 2 Livello (1000 parole)

    4. Fantasmi - 2 Livello (1000 parole)

    3. Il Signor Rigoni - 1 Livello  (500 parole)

    2. Pasta per due - 1 Livello (500 parole)

    1. Dov'e Yukio - 1 Livello (500 parole)

    Notes:

    ROMANIAN:

    Courses:

    Assimil - Il Romeno Senza Sforzo  PW:4/101 AW:0/101

    Colloquial Romanian - Unit: 2/20

    Notes:

    中文:

    Courses:

    Assimil - Chinese With Ease  PW:4/105 AW:0/105

    Notes:

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    From now on, I'm gonna be updating my log once a week.

  5. I come from a tribe that has a problem pronouncing R and L. I guess that it must be the shape of our tongues. If a letter has L and R then I hesitate before pronouncing it because I feel funny saying the word. It is not that I hate pronouncing it, things are just that way.

    I'm pretty sure the shape of your tongue has nothing to do with it, and that your tongue is normal. It's just because you were introduced to and tried to reproduce that sound later in your life and not when you were a little kid. I have trouble pronouncing the Arabic "ain". Does that mean that the shape of my throat is not suited for pronouncing it? No. It just means that I need to practice more.
  6. I have noticed that a lot of our brothers and sisters in neighboring countries have difficulty in pronouncing the letter R. Take for instance Koreans and Japanese and Chinese. They have a hard time pronouncing R. 1. Could it be that their language lacks the "R" sound? 2. Also, why don't they incorporate English into their educational system? What's wrong with English? Why do they hate it?

    1. Yes.

    2. They do incorporate English, but most of the professors are non-native English speakers.

  7. The correct term is "You and I" or "I and you", but everybody uses "me" instead in colloquial speech.

    "I" is a Personal Pronoun, "me" is an Object Pronoun.

    Edit: Some examples:

    As a PP:

    You and I are going to the bar tomorrow.

    What if you and I don't make it on time?

    As an OP:

    He gave the money to me and you.

    She said that she will kill me and you.

    So as a subject you would use "I" and as an object "me".

  8. I'll also try to write some greetings for informal and formal/polite situations. If I have made a mistake, please correct me.

    Greetings:

    Ciao - Hi (informal)

    Buongiorno / Salve - Good morning/afternoon / Hello (polite)

    Buonasera - Good evening (polite)

    Questions:

    Come va? - How's it going? (informal)

    Come stai? - How are you? (informal) 

    Come sta? - How are you? (polite)  lit. How is he/she?

    Responses:

    Bene, grazie. - Fine, thanks.

    Non c'è male. - Not bad.     

    Tutto bene. - All is well.     

    If your interlocutor asked you first and you responded with the above, then add "E tu? - And you? (inf.)" or "E Lei? - And you?(formal.) after the response. 

    Goodbyes:

    Ciao - Bye (informal)

    Ci vediamo - (informal)

    A presto - See you soon. (informal/formal)

    Arrivederci - Goodbye (informal?) lit. Until we see each other again. (A-rri-veder-ci)

    ArrivederLa - Goodbye (formal)

    Some other useful phrases:

    Si - Yes.

    No - No. (They are not pronounced the same.)

    Grazie - Thank you.

    Grazie mille. - Thanks a lot.  lit. A thousand thanks.

    Prego - You're welcome.

    Come ti chiami? - What's your name?

    Mi chiamo "name". - My name is "name". lit. I call myself..

    Mi dispiace,... (non parlo italiano) - I am sorry,... (I don't speak Italian)

    Per favore - Please.

    Capisco - I understand.

    Non capisco - I don't understand.

    Quanto costa questo? - How much does this cost?

    Dov'è ...? - Where is ...?

    Mi scusi, che ore sono? - Excuse me, what time is it?

    Buonanotte - Good night.

    A question for Italians, do you always say: "Buongiorno, buonasera etc." when you walk into a bar? Is it common to greet the waiters/staff?

  9. bolded = new

    Song of the day:

    Zaz - Je veux

    Courses:

    Assimil - Italian With Ease  PW:47/105 AW:4/105

    Colloquial Italian - Unit: 1/17

    Movies & TV Shows:

    7. La Grande Belezza

    6. Il commissario Montalbano S01EP2 -  La voce del violino

    5. Il Tredicesimo Apostolo S02EP2

    4. La meglio gioventù

    3. La vita è bella

    2. Il commissario Montalbano S01EP1 -  Il ladro di merendine

    1. Il Tredicesimo Apostolo S02EP1

    Books, Graded Readers & Magazines:

    7. Mafia, amore & polizia - 3 Livello (1500 parole)

    6. Amore in Paradiso - 2 Livello (1000 parole)

    5. Maschere a Venezia - 2 Livello (1000 parole)

    4. Fantasmi - 2 Livello (1000 parole)

    3. Il Signor Rigoni - 1 Livello  (500 parole)

    2. Pasta per due - 1 Livello (500 parole)

    1. Dov'e Yukio - 1 Livello (500 parole)

    Notes:

  10. bolded = new

    Song of the day:

    Indila - Dernière Danse

    Courses:

    Assimil - Italian With Ease  PW:46/105 AW:4/105

    Movies & TV Shows:

    7. La Grande Belezza

    6. Il commissario Montalbano S01EP2 -  La voce del violino

    5. Il Tredicesimo Apostolo S02EP2

    4. La meglio gioventù

    3. La vita è bella

    2. Il commissario Montalbano S01EP1 -  Il ladro di merendine

    1. Il Tredicesimo Apostolo S02EP1

    Books, Graded Readers & Magazines:

    7. Mafia, amore & polizia - 3 Livello (1500 parole)

    6. Amore in Paradiso - 2 Livello (1000 parole)

    5. Maschere a Venezia - 2 Livello (1000 parole)

    4. Fantasmi - 2 Livello (1000 parole)

    3. Il Signor Rigoni - 1 Livello  (500 parole)

    2. Pasta per due - 1 Livello (500 parole)

    1. Dov'e Yukio - 1 Livello (500 parole)

    Notes:

    Today's Italian reading practice:

    http://vocaroo.com/i/s1doLMCW8xYY

    Finalmente il grande giorno

    Così, qualche giorno fa sono arrivato a Milano,

    ti lascio immaginare com' ero emozionato.

    Il giorno fissato per il colloquio mi sono svegliato prestissimo.

    In realtà, non era affatto necessario, perchè l'appuntamento era solo alle tre.

    Mi sono alzato lo stesso alle sette, mi sono lavato i capelli, mi sono fatto la barba, mi sono vestito e mi sono pettinato.

    ..Insomma mi sono preparato con tanta cura che i miei amici mi hanno chiesto se il capo del personale era una donna!

    Mi sono presentato all'appuntamento con un buon quarto d'ora di anticipo; e quando mi sono seduto nella sala d'aspetto, mi sono accorto che avevo un calzino blu e uno marrone!

    Figurati come mi sono sentito imbarazzato.

    Ancora adesso mi domando se qualcuno se n'è accorto!

  11. Thank you for this, nikolic933. I will certainly write this down somewhere. I know this is becoming off topic, but I have one more question:

    If I choose Russian, does this automatically set your keyboard to Cyrillic letters? I know that Serbian uses both Latin and Cyrillic script, so I'm not sure about this one, though.

    It doesn't set it automatically, you need to select it from the bottom right corner.

    38phwb57bvmupdjzg.jpg

  12. Well, you certainly do make it sound so easy. My native tongue is Croatian, so another Slavic language and I found a lot of similarities with Russian, especially when I was browsing through your colours post and such. I can also read the Cyrillic from before, so it was a plus! Now I am really grateful to my teacher for stressing the importance of it.

    What's really good about Slavic languages is it's straightforwardness. You have pronunciation which matches the words. You also have cases, true, but these make it easier later on, not to mention that it helps when learning a foreign language.

    One question, how do you write in Cyrillic letters? My keyboard is pretty standard - just the Latin script, but I was wondering whether it can be adjusted to accept other letters, Cyrillic and Alphabet included.

    Control Panel -> Language -> Add a language -> Select language -> Click on the one you want -> Click "Download and select language pack"
  13. I studied translation & interpreting. However, I always focused on translation rather than interpreting. Not because I didnt like it, it's just really really difficult. However, I think it is a very interesting job, but as you mentioned before, it is very demanding too. Anyway, I wish you all the best in your 'quest' to become an interpreter! You can earn good money as an interpreter, that's for sure. :grin:

    Thank you very much! One of the reasons I want to become an interpreter is because it is such a lucrative job. If that fails or I change my mind (hopefully not), I can always fall back on working as a teacher. :)

    Did you have trouble interpreting into English because of German syntax? If I'm not mistaken the verb in German sentences is usually at the end, so I suppose you had to wait to hear the entire sentence in order to translate it?

  14. bolded = new

    Song of the day:

    Johnny Cash - Hurt

    Courses:

    Assimil - Italian With Ease  PW:45/105 AW:4/105

    Movies & TV Shows:

    7. La Grande Belezza

    6. Il commissario Montalbano S01EP2 -  La voce del violino

    5. Il Tredicesimo Apostolo S02EP2

    4. La meglio gioventù

    3. La vita è bella

    2. Il commissario Montalbano S01EP1 -  Il ladro di merendine

    1. Il Tredicesimo Apostolo S02EP1

    Books, Graded Readers & Magazines:

    7. Mafia, amore & polizia - 3 Livello (1500 parole)

    6. Amore in Paradiso - 2 Livello (1000 parole)

    5. Maschere a Venezia - 2 Livello (1000 parole)

    4. Fantasmi - 2 Livello (1000 parole)

    3. Il Signor Rigoni - 1 Livello  (500 parole)

    2. Pasta per due - 1 Livello (500 parole)

    1. Dov'e Yukio - 1 Livello (500 parole)

    Notes:

    I stared practicing simultaneous interpreting a couple of days ago, since I decided that it is the career path that I want to take. I'll be getting my master's degree in English in 3-4 years if everything goes according to plan, and because it is such a demanding job, I felt that I needed to start preparing for it as soon as possible. For now I'm trying to get up to 20 minutes a day (ENG-SRB + SRB-ENG).

    In this recording I made a lot of mistakes and mumbled a lot, but it's gonna be interesting to look back one day and see how much I advanced.

    ENG:

    SRB: http://www.mediafire.com/listen/r6ygzml45npy5k9/04.+ENG-SRB+16.12.2014+-+Mayan+Civilization.mp3

  15. bolded = new

    Song of the day:

    Fabri Fibra - Che cazzata

    Courses:

    Assimil - Italian With Ease  PW:43/105 AW:2/105

    Movies & TV Shows:

    6. Il commissario Montalbano S01EP2 -  La voce del violino

    5. Il Tredicesimo Apostolo S02EP2

    4. La meglio gioventù

    3. La vita è bella

    2. Il commissario Montalbano S01EP1 -  Il ladro di merendine

    1. Il Tredicesimo Apostolo S02EP1

    Books, Graded Readers & Magazines:

    7. Mafia, amore & polizia - 3 Livello (1500 parole)

    6. Amore in Paradiso - 2 Livello (1000 parole)

    5. Maschere a Venezia - 2 Livello (1000 parole)

    4. Fantasmi - 2 Livello (1000 parole)

    3. Il Signor Rigoni - 1 Livello  (500 parole)

    2. Pasta per due - 1 Livello (500 parole)

    1. Dov'e Yukio - 1 Livello (500 parole)

    Notes:

    Started a bit earlier with the Assimil active wave, I couldn't wait till lesson 50 as it was recommended.

  16. This is what my bucket list looks like:

    1. Serbian *

    2. Romanian * C2  (Mom is Romanian but I never learned the language)

    3. English C2

    4. Italian C1

    5. Spanish C1

    6. Russian C1

    7. Latin C1 (Only Reading)

    8. Mandarin Chinese B2

    Hopefully I will be able to achieve this in less than 10 years.

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