Language Learners and Polyglots discussion
Our 2022 Foreign Language Reading Challenge Group Status Chat
Calla Reviews wrote: "Completed 2 books 1.Arabic 1. FrenchThe Arabic Alphabet: How to Read & Write It
Une disparition mystérieuse
Reading 2 now
[book:Alif Baa: An Introduction to Arabic L..."
Completed 2 more french
French :4
Arabic:1
Calla Reviews wrote: "Reading 2 now
[book:Alif Baa: An In..."
Excellent! 👏 You can do it!
Sportyrod wrote: "By complete coincidence I bought a book that is half in Spanish."Now I'm curious to know which book that is 😄
Hello everyone!Just discovered this group thanks to Sportyrod 😉
To quickly introduce myself I think it's best to copy my profile text:
Reading the following word cloud will allow
To discover more about the person behind *Tau*
The number of items isn't chosen randomly, you know
If you count them up and do it right, tadaaa … my age* will show ;-)
* art (journaling) * beautiful colours * Belgium *blanket * blogging * board games * bubbles * bucket list * calm * challenges * collector * creative * culture * dark chocolate * discover * e-books * English * fantasy * fiction * Français * hsp * humour * hygge * inspiration * list maker * movies * my word of the year 2022: habits * nature * Nederlands * non-fiction * paper books * photography * pizza * Português * series * short stories * single (malt) * strawberries * travel * water * wine * woman *
*And yes, it's the answer to everything 😄
So, I'm from Belgium and I was raised bilingually in Dutch and French.
Still using these languages daily, both at work and at home.
But in the meantime English (which I learned at school since the age of 13) became my favourite language, as it provides more nuances. That's also why I read mostly in this language.
A few years ago I went to evening class to learn (European) Portuguese. But as I don't practice it often anymore, a lot of my of knowledge seems to evaporate. That's why I want to read at least 1 book (and hopefully many more) in Portuguese this year.
At school I also had a few lessons of German. Even though German resembles Dutch, there are quite some differences and thus it would be a good exercice to read at least 1 book in German too this year. There's already one waiting on my shelves since quite some time: the epistolary novel Gut gegen Nordwind by Daniel Glattauer. Although I'll probably buy the English e-book version (Love Virtually) too to compare and see if I understood everything 😄
My knowledge of Latin (6 years at school), French and Portuguese helps me to understand a lot of other Roman languages like Spanish and Italian.
Furthermore I always like to learn a few basic words/sentences of the languages of the countries to which I travel. That's why I have a very summary knowledge of different languages. But certainly not enough to read entire books.
By finishing Intermediate Italian Short Stories: 10 Captivating Short Stories to Learn Italian & Grow Your Vocabulary the Fun Way!" I ticked off my second foreign language (after Polish). Still books in French, Dutch, English and Russian on the goal list.
*Tau* wrote: "Hello everyone!"Hoi Tau! Wat leuk dat je bij ons bent gekomen. 👋
I've put you and your challenge on our list of participants.
We have several native German speakers here, and I'm a fluent (if not native) speaker of German. So if you have any questions, or there is a phrase you can't find a translation for, don't hesitate to post your question here.
Unfortunately, no one else here has Portuguese as a challenge or native language. 🙁
I know Gut gegen Nordwind, although I haven't read it. It was a fairly popular title when it was first published.
A number of the participants here are already finished with their challenges (like Sportyrod), but don't let that stop you from stopping by and letting us know how you're getting on!
Peter wrote: "By finishing Intermediate Italian Short Stories: 10 Captivating Short Stories to Learn Italian & Grow Your Vocabulary the Fun Way!" I ticked off my second foreign language (after Po..."Yay! Congratulations, Peter! 👏 2nd goal language down!
That collection looks quite good. It's always such a problem to find interesting stories on one's level, isn't it? Glad you found some. I've noted it down to rec to others if they ask for something in Italian.
Berengaria wrote: "Hoi Tau! Wat leuk dat je bij ons bent gekomen. 👋"Dankjewel, Berengaria 😄
Het ziet er hier een fijne groep uit!
Berengaria wrote: "We have several native German speakers here, and I'm a fluent (if not native) speaker of German. So if you have any questions, or there is a phrase you can't find a translation for, don't hesitate to post your question here. "
Thank you, I'll keep it in mind 😉
Berengaria wrote: "A number of the participants here are already finished with their challenges (like Sportyrod), but don't let that stop you from stopping by and letting us know how you're getting on! "
Actually, this is an ongoing challenge that I set myself 😉
Just like reading more in French, as I don't often choose books in this language. Probably that's because I don't know a lot of French writers and I prefer to read books in their original language as important nuances are often lost in translation (and thus read more in English).
Oh, I also forgot to tell that I'm reading around the world too.
A few months ago I was totally inspired by the TED-talk of Ann Morgan and decided to broaden my horizon by trying to read (at least) one book of every country in the world.
This is also an ongoing challenge, as I want to change my reading habits permanently and discover as many lesser known titles as possible.
The only requirement for the books I pick for that challenge is that the story has to take place in the country of origin of the author. Because only then you immerse yourself totally in another environment/culture.
Already found some real gems and it turns out to be an interesting way to learn new languages as well. Recently I finished the Barbadian book In Time of Need by Shakirah Bourne and most of the stories were written in Bajan, an English-based creole language that I'd never heard/read before. Loved both the stories and the authenticity of the language in which they were written!
Excellent work Calla and Peter on your recent books!! Welcome *Tau*!!! This sounds like the right group for you. So many languages you have dabbled in. Impressive.
So we are doing anotjer similar challenge. I am also reading one book set in every country. I prefer to choose books where the author is from the same country but sometimes I see a ‘hard to find’ place and just grab the book. Feel free to raid my books for ideas. I have about 40 countries left.
Berengaria, I haven’t finished my language goal yet :). I have one Bahasa Indonesian book left to go. I borrowed two children’s books from the library and they were too hard (hides face). So I need to go over my how to learn books more and I have one ready to go similar to the one we read. Now that I am on uni break, I will get back into a Swedish book I started a few months ago. The Lionheart Brothers by Astrid Lindgren.
Sportyrod wrote: "I haven't finished my language goal yet"I thought you'd read a "Flirting in Bahasa Indonesian" for that goal around March, if memory serves? I remember teasing you about it. 😁
If I understand correctly, you've found a short stories for learners book in BI?
I did read that one but I didn’t count it towards my tally as it was more a vocab phrase book. My plan was to read a harder level book. Maybe I should have counted it. Either way, I set a low target but I plan to read more language books over the break and even more in Nov/Dec.
*Tau* wrote: "Actually, this is an ongoing challenge that I set myself 😉"Glad to hear it! Me too, actually. I started this group because I'd been doing a similar challenge just for me. It'd been so helpful, so I thought it might be nice to have an interactive group and encourage others to spend more time with their languages.
I already read novels in German, Dutch, Swedish, French, Spanish and Italian, besides my native English. I'm working on adding Icelandic and Welsh, but am not good enough in those yet for anything other than easy readers.
(And trying to find easy readers or any basic reading material in Icelandic is harder than learning the language, I'm convinced!)
With the exception of German, I'm entirely self-taught. No classes or anything.
My personal life goal is to be able to read books in 10 languages and be a lay expert in the Germanic language family. The only real one I'll have left after I get Icelandic is Afrikaans. That's why I'm strengthening my Dutch now. Getting ready for the Big Boer Challenge! 😅
Cool that you were able to get 6 years of Latin! I had 1 year in school (all they offered) and taught myself up to A2 with the fantastic Cambridge Latin Course for self-learners.
You're absolutely right, having a good Latin vocab helps not only with the Romance langs, but also with academic English. Can't tell you how many more obscure English words I understand now that I have decent Italian/beginner Latin!
Sportyrod wrote: "Welcome *Tau*!!! This sounds like the right group for you. So many languages you have dabbled in. Impressive."Thank you, Sportyrod 😉
Well, it's not really impressive when you know that lots of Belgians speak several languages. We have 3 official languages (Dutch, French and German) and at school everyone learns English. Some scholars are even lucky to be able to choose Spanish or another language (sadly enough, that wasn't the case when I was young).
Sportyrod wrote: "I prefer to choose books where the author is from the same country but sometimes I see a ‘hard to find’ place and just grab the book. Feel free to raid my books for ideas. I have about 40 countries left."
If you've got difficulties to find books for some countries, don't hesitate to tell me.
I already discovered some interesting books for most (albeit not all) of them. It's fun to go on a 'treasure hunt' like this 😄
Berengaria wrote: "Sportyrod wrote: "I haven't finished my language goal yet"I thought you'd read a "Flirting in Bahasa Indonesian" for that goal around March, if memory serves? I remember teasing you about it. 😁"
And was it effective, Sportyrod? 😋
Berengaria wrote: "I started this group because I'd been doing a similar challenge just for me. It'd been so helpful, so I thought it might be nice to have an interactive group and encourage others to spend more time with their languages."That was a very good idea of you, Berengaria!
Some of my books are already waiting waaaay too long here.
So I decided to pick one and to begin today (why wait any longer?) 😉
My first Portuguese book is a bilingual one: Contes et chroniques d'expression portugaise : Edition bilingue français-portugais
On the left there's the original story in Portuguese and on the right page there's a French translation. That way I don't have to take a look at the dictionary every time there's a word or expression I don't know.
I'm in no hurry to finish it, as I always read several (read: too much) books at the same time. But if I read at least one page a day, it wil be a good immersion in the language 😉
Berengaria wrote: "I already read novels in German, Dutch, Swedish, French, Spanish and Italian, besides my native English. I'm working on adding Icelandic and Welsh, but am not good enough in those yet for anything other than easy readers.
(And trying to find easy readers or any basic reading material in Icelandic is harder than learning the language, I'm convinced!)"
Wow, that's impressive!
Both the number of languages as the fact that you're trying to read Icelandic. Not easy. Just like Irish Gaelic. Although one of the hardest languages to learn imho is Hungarian. I don't remember a single word of it. It just doesn't show any resemblance to other languages. Take a look at the days of the week for example: hétfő, kedd, szerda, csütörtök, péntek, szombat, vasárnap.
Berengaria wrote: "The only real one I'll have left after I get Icelandic is Afrikaans. That's why I'm strengthening my Dutch now. Getting ready for the Big Boer Challenge! 😅 "
Never read something in Afrikaans, although I think it must be rather easy for me as Dutch is my mother tongue.
And as you speak German fluently, I'm convinced that it must be doable for you too!
Really looking forward to read about your reading experience.
Do you already have a book in mind?
You made me totally enthusiastic to read a book in Afrikaans for the South Africa-entry in my 'reading around the world'-challenge! 😄
Berengaria wrote: "Cool that you were able to get 6 years of Latin! I had 1 year in school (all they offered) and taught myself up to A2 with the fantastic Cambridge Latin Course for self-learners.
You're absolutely right, having a good Latin vocab helps not only with the Romance langs, but also with academic English. Can't tell you how many more obscure English words I understand now that I have decent Italian/beginner Latin!"
Yes, I consider myself very lucky that those lessons were given.
Even though it's a 'dead' language, the knowledge of it really helps to understand so many other things like medical language, ...
I just read my first one of the challenge. I'm home sick with covid right now so I thought I'd ease myself in and read a book in Dutch that I got as a present a few years ago. I didn't know anything about Annelies Verbeke's "Dertig Dagen" and only realized she's Belgian because of the content. As a teenager I was very fascinated by Belgium and especially the language policies, and when I went for my exchange year I was at first a little sad I ended up in the Netherlands instead... Anyway, the book was really good! Wel raar... Ik snap dat het niet voor iedereen is.
I got a few mor Dutch books on my bookshelf, but I think I should pick up a Norwegian one next.
I've just finished Capsarius: Historischer Roman
, A present-day German time travels to the Germania of Emperor Domitian's time.
Jane wrote: "I've just finished A present-day German time travels to the Germania of Emperor Domitian's time."Congratulations! This is your...2nd or 3rd novel in German this year?
Lea wrote: "I just read my first one of the challenge. I'm home sick with covid right now "Sorry to hear you're sick. Get well soon!
Berengaria wrote: "Jane wrote: "I've just finished A present-day German time travels to the Germania of Emperor Domitian's time."Congratulations! This is your...2nd or 3rd novel in German this year?"
2nd. I can always reread several I have here, though.
Berengaria wrote: "I just discovered that the French publisher "Points" puts out very economical editions of some really great novels. And rather recent ones at that!!! Points prices are as low as 6.50 euros which ..."
France has a vast paperback market with several important publishers, you should especially check out Folio.
I did a lot of rearrangement of my list of French books to read due to what I took with me to France and what I acquired here (I'm here for a month for work)So, 7/11: Amélie Nothomb - Cosméthique de l'ennemi: Quick read, quite engaging, nice twists, but way to much explaining of everything. Not bad, but could have easily been made more complex.
Iamthesword wrote: "I did a lot of rearrangement of my list of French books to read due to what I took with me to France and what I acquired here (I'm here for a month for work)So, 6/11: Amélie Nothomb - Cosméthique ..."
Rearranging is always allowed! You've probably found some good stuff in France you'll be wanting to add.
I've seen Folio, but they seem to mostly publish highbrow stuff which doesn't interest me too much. I'm one who goes right for the Krimi rack. That's more Points, Pocket and J'ai lu, I think?
elias wrote: "Hej allihopa! My name is Elias and I'm cartwheeling in super late. It's so cool to meet others who are doing the same thing as I am - there's a certain scarcity of language nerds in my life so it's..."Hej Elias och välkommen!
There is one other in our group on your level in Swedish: Sportyrod.
I bet you are just ploughing through the Lätläst books, aren't you? That's great! The Greta book sounds really sweet. Jag läser också svenska men inte i år. Kanske näste år.
I'll put you on our roster. Just hop in from time to time and let us know how you're coming along. Some people are already finished with their challenges and others only stop by every so often. It's best if you set it so you are notified when someone posts on this thread so you can join in conversations.
elias wrote: "I actually had to Google it as I wasn't sure what the Lättläst series was and as it turns out I've only read one! For the most part I'm just brute forcing my way any book that looks interesting, is..."Cool! Gets around having to make do with what bookdealers in one's country have on offer in Swedish, which normally is not a lot and lätläst. Are the loans from Malmö free and how do you get a library card there? I don't see any pricing.
If anybody else is interested, the link is: https://malmo.elib.se
Just finished the Icelandic mystery Les fantômes de Reykjavik in French. It's a pretty good mystery if you like Scandi Noir or just Icelandic stuff in general. Dark and delving into the historic underbelly of Iceland, and quite well done. 2nd in the series. AND that's also my French challenge of 4 novels complete! Woo hoo!
Now it's just 1 in Dutch and 2 in Italian left to go on my year goal.
I've decided to start Hennig Mankell's "La falsa pista" (Villospår) in Italian next/soon. It's fairly long, but from just giving it a glance, it doesn't seem as if it will be toooooo challenging.
elias wrote: "Berengaria wrote: "elias wrote: "I actually had to Google it as I wasn't sure what the Lättläst series was and as it turns out I've only read one! For the most part I'm just brute forcing my way an..."I'd be interested in that, but perhaps later in the year? Swedish is deffo on my challenge for next year and I might start on that once I finish up this year's challenge. Probs around November.
How is Greta coming?
Berengaria wrote: "Iamthesword wrote: "I did a lot of rearrangement of my list of French books to read due to what I took with me to France and what I acquired here (I'm here for a month for work)So, 6/11: Amélie No..."
Yes, Folio does a lot of classics, but they have a fair share of contemporary authors, too (like my beloved Leïla Slimani -> CHANSON DOUCE might be to your liking). But yeah, Points, Pocket and J'ai lu are better for crime novels.
8/11: Claude Simon - Le tramway. I didn't like this one very much. It's pieces of memory floating in what I'd call stream of conciousness extreme. Very long sentences, describing anything, but no plot to give it any kind of structure. Perhaps I shouldn't have started with his last book.
Hey Everyone, I am checking in now to say hi to everyone. My reading challenge is progressing slowly at the moment. I am plodding through my Lionheart Brothers book in Swedish. My Indonesian is dropping off (but bit forgotten).
Great job iamthesword on your recent progress. You’re smashing it.
Well done Berengaria on your Iceland challenge. That muat be a tough one.
Välkommen Elias!!! Trevligt att träffas dig. Hur mår du? Jag bodde i sverige for ett år i 2004-5 och jag försöker fortsätte lär mig. Min svenska är bara okej med många fel men jag gillar skriver och pratar språken som jag kan. It would be fun to chat some more with you and exchange ideas. I will look up your library link some time. Welcome to the group. Jag kommer ifrån australien i tasmanien. Peope here say we have three heads, but don’t pay any attention: we have four 🤓
Har det så bra, vi ses.
Rod
Today I finished Wybór nowel (Selected short stories) by Bolesław Prus and Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney and wrote reviews for both of them. This is my second book in Polish and first book in English. Still Dutch, French and Russian on the goalsheet.
Peter wrote: "Today I finished Wybór nowel (Selected short stories) by Bolesław Prus and Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney and wrote reviews for both of them. This is my second..."Excellent, Peter! Well done! 👏
I saw your review for Wybor nowel and liked the part where you said that Polish school children who had to analyse the stories had it hard, whereas you as an adult could just enjoy them.
I had a Polish friend who complained bitterly about the literature she had to read in school. Turned her off of reading for a number of years and still she won't touch certain genres.
From her description, the reading selections do sound awful. Or, at least, not meant for youngsters.
I just read your reviews too. Great job.
Berengaria wrote: "I had a Polish friend who complained bitterly about the literature she had to read in school. ."It seems like a truism that secondary school level reading in one's native language doesn't make it onto a curriculum unless a teacher can make it painful and unpleasant.
It’s so true. They really push kids away from reading.
'Reading around the world' really changes my reading behaviour and expands my knowledge enormously.And then there's this inspiring group that motivates me to give other languages a try.
My initial goal was to read 1 book in Portuguese and 1 in German.
But I think I'm going to broaden my scope:
- 1 book in Bajan (already read that one)
- 1 book in Afrikaans
- 1 book in Spanish
Afrikaans is quite similar to Dutch, so that must be doable.
I think it'll be somwehat comparable to Bajan versus English. As I found that a very nice reading experience, I'm sure I'll love this too. Looking forward to it!
Although I don't really know Spanish, my knowledge of Portuguese and French helps me to understand a lot of words. And to be sure I understand (almost) everything, I'll also use Google Translate to check.
The reason why I want to read in this language, is my 'reading around the world'-challenge. Some of the countries don't seem to have books that are translated in English, Dutch or French.
There's a book from Costa Rica that I want to read now, so I bought the Spanish version. With less than 200 pages it's not too long and I'm totally going for it 😄
*Tau* wrote: "'Reading around the world' really changes my reading behaviour and expands my knowledge enormously."Cool! I had to look up Bajan as I'd never heard of that dialect before. Great that you were able to find something written in it!
I've tried to have a Dutch - Afrikaans written exchange with a South African, and it didn't work so well.
It's like Yiddish, I suspect. If you know good German, you can understand about 60% of "pure" Yiddish with no problems. That's enough to get the general idea, but the details are lost because those are generally in Russian or Hebrew.
With Afrikaans, I'd guess the same. I could be mistaken but that's what it looked like when we tried those exchanges.
I'll put you down for Spanish and Afrikaans.
What is the book from Costa Rica?
Berengaria wrote: "Cool! I had to look up Bajan as I'd never heard of that dialect before. Great that you were able to find something written in it!"Me neither, before I read this book a few weeks ago.
I can really recommend it btw!
In Time of Need by Shakirah Bourne
My review will follow (yes, I know, a major backlog) 😉
Berengaria wrote: "I've tried to have a Dutch - Afrikaans written exchange with a South African, and it didn't work so well."
When I read a sneek peak of a book written in Afrikaans, the first thing I thought was: "When I read this silently it seems like Chinese to me, but when I read it aloud it's as if someone is speaking in a heavy dialect and I suddenly understand a whole lot more." 😄
Berengaria wrote: "It's like Yiddish, I suspect. If you know good German, you can understand about 60% of "pure" Yiddish with no problems."
Hadn't heard that before. Interesting!
Berengaria wrote: "What is the book from Costa Rica? "
En Una Silla de Ruedas by Carmen Lyra.
Apparently she was the first prominent female Costa Rican author and she wrote this book before the age of 20.
I've been doing so much reading and I've been so busy that I'm STILL not quite finished SHORT STORIES IN SPANISH (it won't be too much longer though!). BUT, I've written my review in Spanish and posted it on Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Don't know if it'll be possible to add following book to the Goodreads database, as I don't find any ISBN number: https://www.kobo.com/za/en/ebook/bitt...But I read it and really enjoyed reading in Afrikaans for the first time in my life!
It was fun and I'm certainly going to read the other novellas in this series too 😄
Actually it seemed like I read some kind of Dutch dialect written down on paper. Once I got used to it, it was remarkably easy to understand everything even though I can't speak the language.
So, while the challenge isn't going great for me, I actually finished my first french book this year and wanted to share this achievement! :) maybe others will follow?
Anna wrote: "So, while the challenge isn't going great for me, I actually finished my first french book this year and wanted to share this achievement! :) maybe others will follow?"Well done, Anna.
*Tau* wrote: "Don't know if it'll be possible to add following book to the Goodreads database, as I don't find any ISBN number: https://www.kobo.com/za/en/ebook/bitt...But I read it and really enj..."
That's really cool! Congratulations. 👏 I'm glad to hear that a good understanding of Dutch transfers over to Afrikaans once you've got the differences down. Gives me hope that I'll be able to put Afrikaans in my language bag later on without much problem!
Anna wrote: "So, while the challenge isn't going great for me, I actually finished my first french book this year and wanted to share this achievement! :) maybe others will follow?"YAY! You got to one and that's fantastic. 👏👏👏 It's all about the time spent with the language. :-)
Paul wrote: "I've been doing so much reading and I've been so busy that I'm STILL not quite finished SHORT STORIES IN SPANISH (it won't be too much longer though!). BUT, I've written my review in Spanish and po..."We've missed you, Paul! Glad to see you're still around with the Challenge. 😉
Great work everyone on your recent achievements.
I just realized that I marked two books as 6/11 (and changed it). So this is already 9/11: Édouard Louis - Histoire de la violence. Sexual violence is a tough topic, but I liked the sociological perspective Louios induced in this autobiographical story. A very nuanced and often surprising book about trauma and the reasons for violence (in a highly specific setting). The day might come when I get annoyed with Louis always writing about himself, but today is not that day.
Iamthesword wrote: "I just realized that I marked two books as 6/11 (and changed it). So this is already 9/11: Édouard Louis - Histoire de la violence.."You were further along than you knew. 9/11...only 2 more to go! 👏
10/11: Emilienne Malfatto - Que sur toi se lamente le tigreA collections of vignettes describing a femicide in Iraq from different perspectives. The core experience works and is quite enraging, but the execution felt flawed (especially the French disease of over the top poetical parts).
It's not on my list for this year, but I don't replace one from the list with this one, because I still want to read the two remaining entries this year.
Language Learners and Polyglots
Books mentioned in this topic
De eerlijke vinder (other topics)Monterosso mon amour (other topics)
Gut gegen Nordwind (other topics)
Love Virtually (other topics)
Die Toten von Vindobona (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Alex Wagner (other topics)Alex Wagner (other topics)
Alex Wagner (other topics)
Shakirah Bourne (other topics)
Carmen Lyra (other topics)
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Points prices are as low as 6.50 euros which makes them a good 5-8 euros cheaper than the German editions. It's more cost effective to read in French!
I've ordered 4 Points from 2 mystery series I read, so I'll probs have to put French on my list for next year, or read far more French than I expected to this year!
https://www.editionspoints.com/