Second half of June (weeks 25 & 26)
В последние две недели я занимался изучением и практикой языков, посмотрел несколько шведских фильмов, прочел воспоминания Ивана Твардовского (брата известного поэта) «Родина и чужбина», а затем стал читать роман Достоевского «Братья Карамазовы».
I continued my occupations mainly as before. I studied languages less, but I did more reading of books.
Languages
In the Finnish textbook and the German grammar book I covered about one half.
Last week on Thursday I went to Moscow to practice languages with a group of young people. Like me, they are registered on Polyglot, which is a site for language exchange. The meeting was held at a cafeteria Kopeika, renovated in a Soviet style, but much prettier.
This time there were only English speakers, that is about seven Russians who practiced English and one American who knew some Russian. The Russians listened with interest to my stories about Quebec and Finland (the American came afterwards), so I had a lot of speaking practice. In fact; I have not done so much speaking in English for years. I will probably continue to attend these meetings. They are held twice a week (Thursdays and Sundays) and are free to attend.
Films
I have seen several Swedish films:
- Tillsammans (Together) by Lukas Moodison, The films tells a story of a collective living in Sweden in the 1970s. The film is both funny and sad, and is one of my favourites.
- En passion (The Passion of Anna), Tystnad (The Silence) by Ingmar Bergman. I think these two films are not Bergman’s best, they seem too experimental.
- Under solen (Under the Sun) by Colin Nutley. It is a simple and romantic film about a lonely farmer who, in search for a wife, puts an advertisement in the local newspaper.
- Sånger från andra våningen (Songs from the Second Floor) by Roy Andersson. At the turn of the third millennium society disintegrates and succumbs to chaos. The film is made in the genre of the absurd.
Books
I have read the memoirs of Ivan Tvardovsky Родина и чужбина (The Motherland and Foreign Lands). He was a brother of Alexandr Tvardovsky, a well-known Soviet poet. See more in my previous post.
The second book, which I still read now, is the novel by Dostoyevsky The Brothers Karamazov. The plot is very engaging and the language is vivid, though in some parts the author dwells a lot on traditions and practices of the Russian Orthodox church.
I continued my occupations mainly as before. I studied languages less, but I did more reading of books.
Languages
In the Finnish textbook and the German grammar book I covered about one half.
Last week on Thursday I went to Moscow to practice languages with a group of young people. Like me, they are registered on Polyglot, which is a site for language exchange. The meeting was held at a cafeteria Kopeika, renovated in a Soviet style, but much prettier.
This time there were only English speakers, that is about seven Russians who practiced English and one American who knew some Russian. The Russians listened with interest to my stories about Quebec and Finland (the American came afterwards), so I had a lot of speaking practice. In fact; I have not done so much speaking in English for years. I will probably continue to attend these meetings. They are held twice a week (Thursdays and Sundays) and are free to attend.
Films
I have seen several Swedish films:
- Tillsammans (Together) by Lukas Moodison, The films tells a story of a collective living in Sweden in the 1970s. The film is both funny and sad, and is one of my favourites.
- En passion (The Passion of Anna), Tystnad (The Silence) by Ingmar Bergman. I think these two films are not Bergman’s best, they seem too experimental.
- Under solen (Under the Sun) by Colin Nutley. It is a simple and romantic film about a lonely farmer who, in search for a wife, puts an advertisement in the local newspaper.
- Sånger från andra våningen (Songs from the Second Floor) by Roy Andersson. At the turn of the third millennium society disintegrates and succumbs to chaos. The film is made in the genre of the absurd.
Books
I have read the memoirs of Ivan Tvardovsky Родина и чужбина (The Motherland and Foreign Lands). He was a brother of Alexandr Tvardovsky, a well-known Soviet poet. See more in my previous post.
The second book, which I still read now, is the novel by Dostoyevsky The Brothers Karamazov. The plot is very engaging and the language is vivid, though in some parts the author dwells a lot on traditions and practices of the Russian Orthodox church.