Kalliope’s Comments (group member since Dec 23, 2021)

Kalliope’s comments from the Language Learners and Polyglots group.

Sorry for being quiet here...

I just counted how I am doing:

Fine in Italian - four books but two of them read twice. The last is Il colibrì - I still have to write the review.

In French I am one behind - only four so far... Hopefully will start another soon. The last one was the Goncourt prize L’anomalie, which I loved, and for which I have done my review.

I am behind - have done nothing so far!!! - in my German challenge. We'll see.

Thank you, Berengaria for keeping this going.

I decided to reread Non esiste saggezza. My reviews have accumulated and I have not written this one yet... besides it is an excellent practice to reread books when learning a language.

Lenka wrote: "Berengaria wrote: "I'm so excited! Got two books in French yesterday...not that I need more books in French, but they were on super discount and I couldn't resist!


Oh I know that feeling! I got ..."

I second Berengaria.. please list those books.

I finished my March French book. L’anomalie.

A five star for me. I listened to the Audio version while I was reading.

Soon I will begin my April Italian book. I have chosen Il colibrì

I plan to also listen to the Audio version while I read the book.

Hello everyone.

I just finished my Italian book for this month. Non esiste saggezza. My first book by this author and a real find. I plan to read more by him.

In a couple of days I will begin my French book for March. I have chosen L’anomalie.

but I am behind in my German books challenge... Things have been a bit chaotic lately...

Berengaria wrote: "I think I'll read Grisham's "The Firm" for my next goal novel in Dutch. "De Avocaat van de Duivel".

It's fairly long, 400+ pages, so the longest I've ever tried in the language but I'm not expect..."

Good luck.

I will probably finish my February French book by tomorrow.

Not difficult but it did not engage me, although I very much liked another book by the same writer - Le Testament Français.

Makine is Russian but as a francophile, writes in French. I do like his descriptions.

I still have not decided what will I read in Italian and French during March.

Berengaria wrote: "Lenka wrote: "
Let me point out one often overlooked aspect of A/B/C levels: they are competence-based. There is actually no such thing as A2 grammar or C1 vocabulary - the fact that textbooks clai..."

I agree with this. Since the CEFR tried to establish comparable proficiency levels across languages and since these differ from each other, the levels were defined in terms of relative abilities, but once those have been established, then for each language there will be more concrete guidances or requirements for each level.

I am probably going to be taking the B2 exam in Italian at the end of May. As an example - we have added the Periodi Ipotetici #2 & 3 to the #1 that I studied in B1.

Lenka wrote: "I started my first non-English book of the year, Patria by Fernando Aramburu. It's going well, the chapters are short so it feels like I'm making good progress :-) But the book has over 600 pages, ..."

I have read this.

Stylistique Comparée Du Français Et De L'anglais

Stylistique comparée du français et de l'allemand

I recommend these two books. I have only read the first one, but many years ago.

Have the second one too but have not read it yet.

I am a bit behind in my challenge - still on my second Italian but hope to finish it this week and start my second French.

I am thinking of La femme qui attendait

Berengaria wrote: "Word-poor here means that many French words are made up of word combinations instead of a single word. Like "le X de Y". That significantly cuts down the actual words and ups the "circumlocations" or descriptive phrases for things.."

This is very interesting about French, Berengaria. Several comments on this:

I guess this is the result of the Académie (similar in Spanish too).

The joining of two words with a "de" - isn't that equivalent to the German sticking them together?

A good writer to read is Racine - whose vocabulary was limited (I think around 2k words) but whose plays are so very powerful.

French is still, so far, my preferred language.

Lenka wrote: " (I should set myself a separate challenge to read a few books in Czech, actually). ..."

This is also what happens to me with Spanish. I read very little in my own language, although I am currently reading one. I had also been thinking of adding 12 to my challenge.

Paul wrote: "And, now I'm still waiting on delivery of Agatha Christie's La Meurtre de Roger Ackroyd

..."

I read this recently, in the original. An interesting story that picks up the twist from The Shooting Party.

Reading Agatha Christie in another language is a good way to go. I read several of hers when I was on an intermediate in German. I was staying in a house in Bonn and they had a good collection. In German the usually shorter English sentences stayed short....

:)

Iamthesword wrote: "I finished the first book: Éric Vuillard's CONGO. An interesting take on a historical event (as all of his works). I liked it less than his book L'ORDRE DU JOUR, but it was still quite good."

Those look good. Thank you.

From what I have seen, it is Peter, Berengaria and I having chosen Italian as a language target.

I found this short video on Baricco and Melville... in case Peter and Berengaria want to practice listening to Italian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iqO6...

Berengaria wrote: "

Excellent! Let us know periodically how it's going for you as you read. :-)"

I am enjoying it so far. With this read I shoot two birds with the same arrow - an Italian book and also a Homeric on. This year I would like to reread the Iliad as well as a few rewritings of the epic. There are a few around.

As for this one - Baricco has a style that makes one think of fairy tales, but his language is rich. I am noting down several new words, or words that I understand but want to make more "active".

Hello everyone. I have started my February book in Italian.

Alessandro Baricco’s Omero.

Sportyrod wrote: "Epic fail. I was reading a short story and kept thinking how weird it was. Apparently a man goes around showing people a picture of a kiss and do they recognise one. Nope, the word was not kiss. It..."

Sportyrod - what language are you dealing with? there are so many being shuffled here...

Dave wrote: "I'm making progress on my Spanish A2 easy reader. It's been many years since my Spanish classes so it's a bit slow.
But the story is actually fairly good so far."

Any questions, Dave, I'll be glad to help.

Everyone is doing very well here.

I just finished my second read of Novecento. Un monologo. It is a short book so a second read is good for language practice. I hope to write the review today.

Now I have to think of my next Italian and French books for February.

I may read Omero, Iliade, given that Baricco's style is ok for me.

As for the French candidate I have several - will post the chosen one later on.