Hej, allihoppa!

Hello, hello all! Look who's back, just like she promised...!

I feel like I have done a lot of language related things in the past week, and it is almost entirely due to these things that you see me here now.

This, right here, will be a multilingual lit post!*

I have started five new books in the past seven days, some of which I absolutely adore. I'll start with the German book, as my German is no way near good enough to write in.

The book is Splitterherz by Bettina Bellitz. To be honest, I am little more than a page in, and this is not due to my almost non-existent grasp of the language. No, the reason my reading of this book lags is because I already don't think that I like it. The Prologue was actually doing a good job of holding my respect until I got to the bit about the weeping moon. Which is... somewhat melodramatic. In hindsight, with my 'objectivity' glasses on, it is a good prologue, and I wish I could have taken it more seriously. Intrigued by the prologue of weeping moons and innocent yet wild souls** - or rather horrified by my choice - I went back to the blurb to find out which book it was I was actually reading. It turned out to be the one with the arrogant yet fascinating boy who has a deep secret that turns out to be tied to the protagonists own family history...
Yeah, so, not my thing. Recently, I have been finding myself being turned off by the mention of arrogant yet fascinating boys. Their fascination seems always to lie in the fact that are cryptic and act in an awful way but because of Reasons. Well, for my own Reasons, I don't like the romanticisation of this type, but I am still willing to continue on with the book as it is the only one of the German books that I earmarked that is available as a kindle sample.

And now for something completely different...

J’ai commencé trois livres français cette semaine. Le premier était Je suis un dragon de Martin Page. C’est un livre dont le concept m’intéressé depuis sa parution au début de l’année. J’ai à peine lu deux ou trois pages (je ne suis pas sûre, je l’ai lu sur mon iPhone), mais je l’aime déjà. Le personnage principal est une fille doué des pouvoirs surhumains. Je ne sais pas trop quels pouvoirs, mais elle semble être impossible à tuer – ce qui aurait me déranger, je peux vous dire. Cette puissance semble de la dérange elle aussi, parce qu’au début du roman elle est soumis à une expérience tellement violent pour démonter ses pouvoirs, une expérience qui finit par une perte de vie…

Fin, je ne veux pas trop dire et en tout cas je ne peux pas trop dire mais ça y est. Je suis impatiente de lire la suite, et je vais l’acheter dès que possible.

I started three French books this week. The first is I am a dragon by Martin Page. The concept of this book has interested me since its publication at the start of the year. I've hardly read two or three page (I'm not sure, because I was reading on my iPhone), but I like it already. The main character is a girl gifted with superhuman powers. I don't really know what powers, but she seems to be impossible to kill - which would bug me, I can tell you. This power seems to bug her, too, because at the start of the book we see her as the subject of an extremely violent experiment to demonstrate her powers, an experiment which finishes with the loss of a life...

Okay, so I don't really want to say too much, and I can really say that much, but there it is. I'm impatient to carry on reading, and I'm going to buy a paper copy of the book as soon as possible.

Le deuxième roman que j'ai commencé à lire cette semaine ne m’était pas aussi impressionnante. En fait, mes sentiments face au ce livre sont à peu près le même que ceux j’ai exprimé sur Splitterherz. Le roman est intitulé Les Cendres d’oubli par Carina Rozenfeld et la description m’a vraiment intéressé. Mais, dès le prologue, qui était encore une fois pleine de mélodrame, je n'ai plus beaucoup d'espoir pour ce livre.. En ce cas, c’était un mélodrame amoureux qui m’a exaspéré beaucoup plus que tous ces beaux mots des lunes pleurantes et âmes armées aux griffes… Oui, parce que ça, ça se trouve aussi ! Cependant, le concept de ce livre reste captivant. L’histoire est celle du Phoenix ou plutôt des Phoenix parce que, effectivement, il y’en a toujours deux qui doivent existe au monde en même temps. Donc, évidemment, il y aura de l’amour, de drame amoureux, des malentendus et moments précaires. Mais ce n’est pas impossible que je l’aimerai, malgré tout ça !

The second [French] novel I started this week wasn't quite as impressive. In fact, I feel about the same way about it as I felt about Splitterherz. It is called The Ashes of the forgotten*** by Carina Rozenfeld, and the description was really interesting. But from the prologue, which was once again full of melodrama, I don't have much hope for this book. In this case, the melodrama was of the romantic type, and it exasperated me a lot more than all that talk of weeping moons and souls armed with hooks... because, yes, those came up, too! However, the concept of the book is still interesting. It is the story of the phoenix, or rather, of the Phoenixes, because actually there are always two who have to be alive at the same time. So, of course, there is going to be love, romangst, misunderstandings and moments where everything looks to go tits-up. But I might just like it, even with all of that!

Et puis enfin le troisième roman [français] de la semaine ! Ceci est Nagasaki d’Éric Faye, et c’est un livre duquel je ne veux pas trop dire. La raison pour cette réticence peu typique est qu’un critique irréfléchi a spoilé le livre pour moi. Mais ça a l'air d'être quelque chose qui aurai pu été écrit par Julio Cortazar lui-même, si Julio Cortazar a écrit les livres en Francais, fondés sur les évènements réelles, qui déroulent au Japon... Le petit extrait m’a révélé un coup de cœur. Je l’ai vraiment adoré. En fait, je ne peux pas me restreindre, je crois que je l’achèterai aujourd'hui!

And finally the third [French] novel of the week! This one is Nagasaki by Éric Faye, and I don't want to say too much about it. The reason for such uncharacteristic reticence is because an unfortunate review spoiled the book a bit for me. But it seems to be something that could have issued forth from the pen of Julio Cortazar himself, if Julio Cortazar wrote books in French, based on true stories, set in Japan... I think that, from the extract I read, I'm going to love it. In fact, I don't think I can restrain myself, I'm probably going to buy it today!

Och jag ska sluta med den svenska boken. Jag ber om er ursäkt innan jag börjar, för jag är lite osäker på att tala och skriva i svenska. Kaninhjärta av Christin Ljungqvist verkar vara en blandning av en spökhistoria, en psykologisk thriller och en deckare. Hittills har jag läst utomkring tre sidor av boken, kanske flera. Och det är mycket intressant. Författarens stil är något nytt för mig och meningarna rinna om som en flod. Historian handlar om två flickor, tvillingssystrar Anne och Mary. Den ena, Anne, kan se spökar som tar kontroll av hennes systers kropp. De beskrevs som en person med ett tänker, då är de ett medium. Jag ska inte tala mer om boken tills att jag har läst ännu vidare, men jag tycker om den och jag har redan köpt e-boken.

And I will finish with the Swedish book. I ask for your forgiveness in advance (oh, mighty Swedish speakers!) because I'm kind of unsure about speaking and writing Swedish. Rabbit Heart by Christin Ljungqvist seems to be a mixture of a horror story, a psychological thriller and a murder mystery. So far I've read about three pages, maybe more. And it's very interesting. The authors style is something new (at least, for my Swedish self), and the sentences flow  along and carry me with them. The story is about two girls, twin sisters Anne and Mary. One, Anne, can see the spirits which posses her sisters body. They are described as one person with one mind, so it follows that they make up one medium. I won't say any more about the book until I have read even more, but I like it and I have already bought the e-book.

So, this post has been a long one, and it took me a while to write. I'm actually pretty proud of myself, to tell the truth. I wasn't expecting to be able to write so much at all, especially not for Swedish. As far as I can tell, only Nagasaki has been translated into English, published by Gallic books. If you speak any of the other languages, though, or if, like me, you are willing to stumble blindly through, I really reccommend Kaninhjärta and Je suis un dragon.

Happy reading :)

And happier blogging,

Little Newman

*Not a lit corner, I feel compelled to add, because I haven't actually finished any of these books yet. So, we stick with post.
**Okay, I thought that bit was silly, too.
***Extremely liberal translation there from me...!

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Pratar du svenska?

In my last post I mentioned that I am focusing my active language learning efforts on Swedish and German. First of all, maybe I should explain what it is I mean by 'active'. After all, didn't I say I was going to start actively engaging in French?

Yes, even I'm a little unsure how to sort this tangled mess out.

What I mean is that, by and large, I know French. I can sit in, understand, and pass university level classes. I can get myself around in French. Yes, I find it hard to understand any francophone under the age of twenty five (enunciation, people, it's a Thing!) but the problem isn't so much my vocabulary or understanding of basic grammatical structures as it is my lack of exposure.

In short, (bref, as they say,) I don't feel the need to actively go out and follow courses. My book learning is coming to an end and I what I need now is actual usage.

I cannot say the same with Swedish and German. Yes, I can just about string together a jag heter Lily or a ich will deutsches Bücher auf Deutsch lesen. I can understand quite a lot of written Swedish (and, by extension, Norwegian and Danish), an amount that is most definitely not proportionate to the work I put in. My passive exposure to Swedish means I could probably pick up a few more things with minimal effort. But that's not what I want.

I want to be able to pick up a book in Swedish and know that I won't be looking up every second or third word. I want to understand conversations that happen around me (even if I don't feel comfortable taking part.)

And in German? To be honest, my ambitions are much, much higher. I would like to spend a year in Germany, au pairing. Of course, most host families are more than willing to pay for a language course for their au pairs (and I'm pretty sure that taking such a course is a requirement for German au pairs.) But I would like to reach a B1 level of German before that. And, if it is where life leads me, I wouldn't mind doing my masters in Germany, either. But that, of course, is very dependent on a lot of other things.

I have liked German for a very long time. At first, I liked the entertainment value of German composite words which, admittedly, is not a good reason or motivation to learn any language. But as I grew older, the desire to learn German grew stronger. And then I met actual Germans. I love Germans. I have yet to meet and talk toa German that I truly dislike. There are a lot of stereotypes about Germans and German, especially in the English speaking world that just don't match up to real life (although, that being said, there are also a lot that do!)

I like that, when I talk to Germans, I feel that I am actually, truly being listened too - although that terrifies me also. I don't really have that much to say, certainly not much of importance! And I also love listening to Germans speak! Whether they are speaking English, German or French, I love their accents. Quite different from the harsh and guttural sounds most anglophones produces when imitating or speaking German, I find German speech patterns to be quite soft.

Including that notorious German 'ch'! Maybe one of the reasons it's so often misrepresented by anglophones is because it's so hard for us to get right. N'importe, disais-je, I want to try!

In fact, the only thing I can say I don't love about German right now is the Grammar. But I don't love grammar in any language, so I'm certainly not going to let that put me off!

Despite this entire post so far being something of a love letter to German and Germans, most of my effort actually goes into my Swedish.

I think I mentioned before that I am passively exposed to Swedish quite often, but I actively engage in Swedish more often, too. Sometime last year, I bought myself a copy of John Ajvide Lindqvist's Låt den rätte komma in and I am making (so slow as to almost be negligable) progress through it. I am making fairly heavy use of Lingq's Swedish resources and try to understand Swedish whenever I come across is. I recently watched the Swedish film version of Låt den rätte komma in and I can assure you I was quite ecstatic whenever I caught a word or phrase I understood!

I haven't set myself any concrete goals with regards to Swedish, but as a vague goal I would quite like to be able to understand this clip from Johan Glans 'World Tour of Skåne'. I think that I'm probably, somehow, almost a quarter way there!

(Baby steps, friends, baby steps.)

And for both, I am trying to write things. Just a little bit, just what I can, but I'm trying. I find it much easier to hash out (and hash up) a short few sentences in Swedish or German simply because I am not terrified of awful grammar faux pas as I am in French. After all, it doesn't matter if I'm contravening major grammar rules because I didn't know they existed! Whereas in French I feel like the earth should swallow me up and spit me out in some seventh circle of Daily Mail hell for making the slightest mistake because for goodness sake Lilian, you've been at this language for ten years, shouldn't you know this by now?

As I've said in this and at least one previous post, I am using Lingq* and italki for learning (both Swedish and German), and also Lang8 for writing practice. Feel free to find me there!

Happy learning and
Happier blogging,
Little Newman

*also, for those morally against Lingq's practice of awarding people points for linking to their site, have no fear! That link should be safe! While I'm not against it, I'm not particularly for it either. Any points I'm awarded, I'd rather get through actual work that I do. And also, no puns were intended there, they just sort of happened.

Hai!

My personal vocabulary hs once again, extended after spending the day with my dad's Polish friend and her two year old son :)

He is adorable, and very very friendly. He is also good- obediant, and he shares astoundingly well. Because he is so young, he doesn't differentiate between Polish and English, so when he spoke, it was in a mixture of the two, and I often found myself being casully chatted at in Polish, which was sweet. And so, on to my new words (which I shall have to hazard a guess at spelling). Pacha which means look, and tot which means this, but which I believe can also mean there. I remember these especially because his mother told me their meanings twice, and when we were dropping them back home, we saw a rainbow, and I was told by little Mimi (the little boy) 'opacha tot!' to look as the rainbow :)

I say I add them to my own personal vocabulary, because I like that my daily conversation contains elements of languages other than English (although I was embarassed the other day when I responed with 'hai!' to a friend's question, and she gave me the oddest look!) I often contain elements of French and German in my daily conversation- I keep it simple, no worries! Jut a 'nein' or 'danke-schon'. Sometimes I stretch myself further, to the limits of my French/German vocabulary.

Rechuisity Forceps taught me a very nice Yiddish word the other day- nu. It means 'is it not so' and I think it's very handy, and quicker to say than innit; more elegant as well.

Angie told me the other day she spontaneously replied in Latin to a question rather than in British!
I think that's brilliant! I only wish we spoke another language at home. I'd love to be bilingual.

On anther topic, I yesterday went on a day of Waterstones with Angie.
We went to the Gower Street Waterstones, which is the largest educaion bookshop in Europe (!!!) and then from there, we took a quick bus ride down to the flagship store in Piccadilly. I confess; our main reason for going there was to sit on the fifth floor, where a certain favourite indie-kid actor of ours sometimes spends time.

We were not prepared for the high levels of swank that met us when we got there! I was so nervous, I made us go downstairs while I regained my composure!
It was not the average Costa Coffee I had been expecting. Oh, no. That is the basement level cafe. I was exposed to the 'Fifth View, Bar and Restaurant'. The carpets were so plush I practically sank ankle deep in them, and they had all that reasonable extortionism one expects from a high class dedicated restaurant as opposed to an eatery on top of a bookshop!
But I confess, despite it having used pretty much ALL of my budget, I loved it there, and Angie and I fully plan to go and eat there so often that the waitresses recognise us.
In addition to this, the actual bookshop itself is lovely, very airy, and easy to find different things- Angie and I kept on losing ourselves in the History, Politics and Language sections, and I almost cried when I found the section devoted to linuistics.
So yes, I definitely include that on any London day trip 'to see list'.

Hope your yesterdays and todays were as nice and educational as mine!
Sitting on the floor of my bedroom with the laptop charger digging into my leg
Lots of love and
Happy Blogging!
Little Newman
xxx