It started with... I think it started with Thai, last year, two weeks before our SEAsia trip. I tried to cram as many Rosetta Stone Thai lessons as I could. What I didn't realize was that Rosetta Stone wouldn't do me much good in the extremely short term (and has questionable merits in general). Oh well.
Then... Korean... late May, right before our Yosemite trip. I saw the Pimsleur CDs at the Palo Alto library while browsing for... well, I don't remember. It was one of those many impulse checkouts that so often occur when I go to the library. The CDs were great for our daily drive to and from the Valley, whenever K would agree to be subjected to the lessons (or if he was sick in the hotel). I only went through 4-5 Korean lessons though.
After we took our "let's try for Europe this fall" thought and ran with it a couple of weeks ago, I started the Italian. I liked the teaching style of Pimsleur Korean, so I'm trying Pimsleur Italian, supplemented by a set of free Italian podcasts. For the trip, I'm responsible for Spanish and Italian. And K's reviewing/re-learning French. Completing 90 Pimsleur Italian lessons before our trip means more than one lesson a day - I'm trying. I don't know what I'll do about the Spanish though... somehow fit in reviewing or re-learning whatever I was supposed to have learned in high school, I suppose.
Italian podcast led to... looking for a Chinese podcast for maintaining/improving my Chinese (which has greatly deteriorated). And so, just a couple of days ago I added chinesepod.com to my iGoogle page. They have several levels... Newbie, Elementary, Intermediate, Upper Intermediate, Advanced, and Media. K says the elementary level is about right for him and maybe some intermediate. The advanced and media work well for me (just the understanding/speaking... reading the descriptions of the podcasts is somewhat blah).
Yay for libraries (my taxes at work) and free internet resources ^o^
Monday, July 30, 2007
Thursday, July 5, 2007
year 2006 reads & shows, summer to end
Sightseeing [Rattawut Lapcharoensap]
Book 1 in J's prepare-me-for-SEAsia reading list. I knew it was a book of short stories (I found the book in the short stories section of the library) and yet it didn't hit me until after I was done with the first story. I was fully expecting a long and engrossing novel when the first one just ended with a running pig and flying mangoes. A couple of the stories were kind of depressing to read... sort of sad, but not a teary sadness. Yet, they were strangely captivating. It's something I'd read again and would recommend.
Countdown [Steve Olson]
About the 2001 42nd IMO. Though the "focus" is that IMO and it's six US team members, a large majority of the book is spent on discussing contributions to the mathematical success of these kids... what made them who they are? Explores issues like "nature vs. nurture", why so few women are seen exploring math, the afffect/non-affect of parenting, math education in the US vs other countries, etc. Fairly interesting and a pretty quick read since some of the book is written in narrative form.
Nectar in a Sieve [Kamala Markandaya]
A story about an woman (really child 12 yrs old) married to a tenant farmer during a time when foreign investment and development was starting to be brought into rural India. There were short bouts of happiness here and there but it's basically sad throughout as she suffers through one unending hardship after another and lives an impoverished life. An ok read.
Shadow of a Giant [Orson Scott Card]
Final book (I think) in the Ender's Shadow line. Fast read.
Memoirs of a Geisha [Authur Golden]
The soap-opera-ishness of the novel makes me doubt some of the contents as being "the way it was", but it was overall a semi-enjoyable read: as long as you don't take it as truth and go in knowing it's a girly novel (i.e. some girl fawning over some guy and basing her almost entire existence on having the chance to see him).
Virgin Suicides [Jeffrey Eugenides]
You know the ending from the start, and the rest of the book will be a long, drawn out sadness where you won't ever really find out the answers to your questions. Of course, some might say the answers don't need to be spelled out. Though disturbing, the story is sort of surreal and dreamy... almost like a Dali painting. Scary and sad.
Sweet 18, 16 eps
K rates this at a 0/5, the lowest rating he's ever given to a Korean drama. I think there were too many cheesy/stupid comedic scenes for him. I found it entertaining though.
Peach Girl, 13 eps
Typical Taiwanese drama based on Japanese manga.
Mars, 21 eps
A lot of characters with crazy pasts and well, just crazy in some way. Aside from the romance-related parts, the whole drama essentially deals with uncovering and dealing with the past. A decent story though kind of slow-moving.
MISA (I'm Sorry, I Love You) - 3/5
Kim Sam Soon - 0/5 (K thought girl was too weird and violent)
Love at Aegean Sea (Qing ding aiqin hai) - 2/5 (Guy is too blah; non-main guy lead is good)
Book 1 in J's prepare-me-for-SEAsia reading list. I knew it was a book of short stories (I found the book in the short stories section of the library) and yet it didn't hit me until after I was done with the first story. I was fully expecting a long and engrossing novel when the first one just ended with a running pig and flying mangoes. A couple of the stories were kind of depressing to read... sort of sad, but not a teary sadness. Yet, they were strangely captivating. It's something I'd read again and would recommend.
Countdown [Steve Olson]
About the 2001 42nd IMO. Though the "focus" is that IMO and it's six US team members, a large majority of the book is spent on discussing contributions to the mathematical success of these kids... what made them who they are? Explores issues like "nature vs. nurture", why so few women are seen exploring math, the afffect/non-affect of parenting, math education in the US vs other countries, etc. Fairly interesting and a pretty quick read since some of the book is written in narrative form.
Nectar in a Sieve [Kamala Markandaya]
A story about an woman (really child 12 yrs old) married to a tenant farmer during a time when foreign investment and development was starting to be brought into rural India. There were short bouts of happiness here and there but it's basically sad throughout as she suffers through one unending hardship after another and lives an impoverished life. An ok read.
Shadow of a Giant [Orson Scott Card]
Final book (I think) in the Ender's Shadow line. Fast read.
Memoirs of a Geisha [Authur Golden]
The soap-opera-ishness of the novel makes me doubt some of the contents as being "the way it was", but it was overall a semi-enjoyable read: as long as you don't take it as truth and go in knowing it's a girly novel (i.e. some girl fawning over some guy and basing her almost entire existence on having the chance to see him).
Virgin Suicides [Jeffrey Eugenides]
You know the ending from the start, and the rest of the book will be a long, drawn out sadness where you won't ever really find out the answers to your questions. Of course, some might say the answers don't need to be spelled out. Though disturbing, the story is sort of surreal and dreamy... almost like a Dali painting. Scary and sad.
Sweet 18, 16 eps
K rates this at a 0/5, the lowest rating he's ever given to a Korean drama. I think there were too many cheesy/stupid comedic scenes for him. I found it entertaining though.
Peach Girl, 13 eps
Typical Taiwanese drama based on Japanese manga.
Mars, 21 eps
A lot of characters with crazy pasts and well, just crazy in some way. Aside from the romance-related parts, the whole drama essentially deals with uncovering and dealing with the past. A decent story though kind of slow-moving.
MISA (I'm Sorry, I Love You) - 3/5
Kim Sam Soon - 0/5 (K thought girl was too weird and violent)
Love at Aegean Sea (Qing ding aiqin hai) - 2/5 (Guy is too blah; non-main guy lead is good)
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