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#Post#: 17002--------------------------------------------------
Karel Čapek's Books as a Learning Resource SPLIT FROM Learn
ing Persian
By: MartinSR Date: June 20, 2019, 12:53 pm
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I see it's not very hard to read... (The drama "Mother" I mean).
I have read a part of the first chapter until:
Někdo musí zůstat doma, Toni. Víš, jinak by nebyl na
světě žádný do-mov.
That's true... though she is going to change her mind about that
(if I understood the book description well).
Enjoy the book ;)
#Post#: 17003--------------------------------------------------
Re: Karel Čapek's Books as a Learning Resource SPLIT FROM L
earning Persian
By: Nikola Date: June 20, 2019, 1:56 pm
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No, I haven't read it, Irena. I'm surprised I haven't because it
sounds pretty depressing, right up my alley. Switching to plays
sounds like a good idea. Čapek may seem like an easy author
but he has a very large vocabulary (he is said to have used
close to 70 000 unique words in his works, those include proper
nouns, though) which consists of not so much high-style,
sophisticated expressions, but quirky little words, outdated
exclamations (jářku) and words from various dialects. I
think he uses more of them as a narrator so his plays might be
easier to read.
#Post#: 17004--------------------------------------------------
Re: Karel Čapek's Books as a Learning Resource SPLIT FROM L
earning Persian
By: MartinSR Date: June 20, 2019, 2:28 pm
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I think the language of the drama must be simple, because he
portrays ordinary people there. He can tell about sad things
with a dose of humour which we can relate to everyday life and
human relations. I continue reading and I'm in the middle of the
friendly quarrel between the mother and her husband... who died
17yrs before. There is so much love which can be scented between
them (or maybe it's the tobacco smell from the old artefacts).
She accuses her husband that he attracted his sons what led to
the death of the oldest one. And he replies that he was dead
already when it happened. It is a hard topic but told in a very
entertaining way.
Edited: After reading the book I must say the 2nd and 3rd
chapters are not so much entertaining, but it's worth reading
too. The thought-provoking conflict between two ideologies which
places brothers against each other in second chapter... And the
ultimate dilemma of the mother who would like to keep at least
one son alive, what we can see in the 3rd one.
#Post#: 17013--------------------------------------------------
Re: Karel Čapek's Books as a Learning Resource SPLIT FROM L
earning Persian
By: Irena Date: June 21, 2019, 3:20 am
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Martin & Nikola, you're awesome. :) So, I guess I'll try to
read Matka.
#Post#: 17035--------------------------------------------------
Re: Karel Čapek's Books as a Learning Resource SPLIT FROM L
earning Persian
By: Nikola Date: June 21, 2019, 3:43 pm
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This is probably a bit too difficult, perhaps Martin could read
it, but one of Čapek's most striking pieces of writing (in
my opinion) is his short essay "Proč nejsem komunistou". He
wrote it in 1924, long before the Communist Party seized power
in our country. It's not listed on the website you mentioned,
Irena, but you can read it here:
HTML https://cs.wikisource.org/wiki/Pro%C4%8D_nejsem_komunistou%3F
#Post#: 17045--------------------------------------------------
Re: Karel Čapek's Books as a Learning Resource SPLIT FROM L
earning Persian
By: MartinSR Date: June 22, 2019, 5:59 am
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Of course if I tried to check all the words I didn't know, it
would be definitely to difficult to me. Not even thinking about
the memorizing the new words (what Irena will do, because she is
a learner). I've just focused on understanding the whole
sentences. Otherwise the great number of "false friends" would
lead me to nowhere.
I'm not a fan of books written for a specific learning level.
Reading the things which the natives read is the main advantage
of the learning, and I think it should be introduced to the
learning process as soon as possible. Just a quick award ;)
#Post#: 17046--------------------------------------------------
Re: Karel Čapek's Books as a Learning Resource SPLIT FROM L
earning Persian
By: Irena Date: June 22, 2019, 6:07 am
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Nikola, I might (try to) read the communism essay later. First,
the play. (Haven't started yet; I'm going to start later today,
though.)
Martin, I actually don't try too hard to memorize new words.
What I do is look up words I don't know, write the English
translation on top of them, and figure that if they're
important, they'll appear again, and I'll eventually memorize
them. Actually, it would probably be good if I tried harder to
memorize vocabulary, but I rather struggle with this. I wrote
about this before (in the "old" thread): I did far too much of
it back in high school (when I was studying for an English
exam), and since then, I've had a lot of trouble getting myself
to memorize word lists.
#Post#: 17048--------------------------------------------------
Re: Karel Čapek's Books as a Learning Resource SPLIT FROM L
earning Persian
By: Susan Date: June 22, 2019, 8:47 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Instead of only mark that I agreed with Irena, I thought I would
add that her approach is pretty much what I do, and I really
like learning vocabulary and it is clear to me and my teachers
that my vocabulary is my strongest area of language learning. I
avoid vocabulary lists, because they bore me and it feels like
work. At first, the Fluencia program I used had some vocabulary
that paired pictures with the words, and for a couple of years I
did put my new words into Anki to learn them when I discovered
new words reading or watching T.V. But as I have gone along I
have found I prefer just watching videos (first with subtitles
in my target language) and also using my Kindle or the Readlang
Web Reader. With those I can highlight the words and look up
the translation. I have come to think of it as natural spaced
repetition. And I just keep doing that until the time comes
when I can try to use the words in conversation or translation.
The more common ones and the ones that eventually find a way to
be attached to a slightly more emotional experience stick.
Eventually, my vocabulary grows. (Although admitted I think
this probably works best for languages where there is a wealth
of interesting material.)
#Post#: 17132--------------------------------------------------
Re: Karel Čapek's Books as a Learning Resource SPLIT FROM L
earning Persian
By: Irena Date: June 25, 2019, 10:59 am
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Aha! I found a Russian translation of Matka! On the Internet,
for free. This is super useful because even when I look up all
the words I don't know, I still don't understand everything (in
Czech, that is). So, a translation is a very useful thing to
have. :)
Naturally enough, I first tried to find an English translation.
It does exist, but the US Amazon wouldn't let me buy its Kindle
version (because I'm in Europe), and German Amazon wouldn't let
me buy its Kindle version (because I'm registered with the US
Amazon). I could have ordered a paperback, but shipping is quite
expensive, plus, who knows how long it would have taken to
arrive.
What would we do without our Russian friends?! 8)
#Post#: 17137--------------------------------------------------
Re: Karel Čapek's Books as a Learning Resource SPLIT FROM L
earning Persian
By: Irena Date: June 25, 2019, 12:00 pm
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BTW, Nikola and Martin, I do find this play (Matka) to be much
more appropriate for my level than the book about Holland. It's
still somewhat difficult, but much more manageable, and
therefore more enjoyable as well. :)
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