I’ve read only two books on writing so far. The first one was On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King, which I read a year ago. Just now I finished reading the second one and I absolutely loved it!
The book called How to Write a Damn Good Novel: A Step-by-Step No Nonsense Guide to Dramatic Storytelling by James N. Frey.
I think, it’s an excellent read, especially for those who want to write novels. The book is very well written and it contains many clear explanations, various examples and interesting techniques that might be helpful for beginner writers.
P.S. I managed to find this book only in the Russian translation (Как написать гениальный роман – Джеймс Н. Фрэй), and I want to say that the translation was really good. Nevertheless, I would like to read (re-read 😊 ) this book again someday in it’s original language (English).
Started Reading – 21 February 2022 Finished Reading – 4 March 2022 My Rating: 5 Stars ★★★★★
Just finished reading The Fireman by Joe Hill. I liked the beginning of the story, it was super interesting and gripping. Unfortunately, the rest of the book wasn’t so good and slightly disappointed me.
Nevertheless, there were plenty of words in this book that I found really interesting. Here are some of them: 🇺🇲 (En) 👉👉👉 🇷🇺 (Ru)
🔹 hopscotch = детская игра «классики» (… occasional hopscotch grid); 🔹 premonition = предчувствие (She had a premonition she would never return to her office…); 🔹 limey = a British person; 🔹 C-section = c/sec = cesarean section = кесарево сечение (“I can deliver by C-section next March”).
I also liked that the main character (Harper) “…associated English accents with singing teapots, schools for witchcraft, and science of deduction”. I totally agree. I absolutely love British accent!
Started Reading – 10 February 2022 FinishedReading – 25 February 2022
Just finished reading Wyjście z cienia by Janusz A. Zajdel (in Polish). 🇵🇱 I loved this book! This is one of the best sci-fi books I’ve read so far in 2022. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves good sci-fi books of the ’70s and ’80s.
Hey friends! Today I’d like to talk to you about our curiosity and also about our ability to notice; and how they both help us learn foreign languages more effectively and stay motivated all the time.
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This is going to be quite a short video, using the 🇦🇲 Armenian language as an example to illustrate how my curiosity helps me learn Armenian day after day, and never get bored in the process.
Thank you so much for watching! ❤️
📖 Russian book mentioned in this video 🇷🇺 Ваганян Г. А., Ваганян В. Г. “Каменная летопись цивилизации”. – Ер., Нжар, 2006
Please check out my other videos: ▶ My 2022 Language Learning Goals and Reading Plans – Results of 2021 and new realistic goals for 2022 https://youtu.be/Oycggm1VfGc ▶ My relationship with the Armenian language – How Bad First Impressions Turned into a Big Love [CC] https://youtu.be/dha7tMm56LU ▶ My language learning journey in 5 languages (eng subs) – Learning Languages by Reading Books https://youtu.be/k4BqrxmmsrA ▶ I Took the Same English Test 10 Years Later! / Results of my English vocabulary size 2011 – 2021 https://youtu.be/DiPCW3bREDQ ▶ I’ve read Harry Potter in 3 languages RUS-ENG-POL / Learning languages by reading Harry Potter books https://youtu.be/HhIwlCpS8Ck ▶ Learning Vocabulary in a New Language – What words to learn after the Survival Phrases? https://youtu.be/WR8I8UFr0IA
I want to say a BIG thank you to my English teacher Mrs. Rebecah Propst for her support and for correcting my mistakes. ▶ Rebecah’s Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPtL…
Note: this is not a sponsored video. As always, I am just sharing with you some of my favorite YouTube channels, books and other resources that I find interesting and helpful for language learning.
P.S. I apologize for reading from a script. As some of you already know my story, I can read, write and understand but I still struggle to put my thoughts into words even in my own language – Russian. :) Here is my story: ▶ I understand but I can’t SPEAK – my language learning problem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVElN… ▶ I asked 5 native speaker teachers (EN, SP, PL) and one Russian therapist about my language problem https://youtu.be/hz1OVaoDyhE
Terminé de leer el libro Superchería de Leopoldo Alas “Clarín” en Español.
Estuve leyendo este libro durante más de un mes. Era una novela corta, pero fue muy dificil leerla para mi. En el libro había muchas palabras desconocidas, oraciones largas que eran muy complejas, y tenía que usar mi diccionario casi todo el tiempo.
Pero al mismo tiempo este libro estaba escrito de manera tan hermosa, que no me importó que tuviera que buscar tantas palabras desconocidas en el diccionario. Simplemente disfruté el lenguaje maravilloso y el estilo del escritor Leopoldo Alas “Clarín” que sabía manejar las palabras tan bellamente y con mucha precision.
También en este libro encontré muchas palabras y expresiónes que me resultaron muy interesantes (a mi, a la Rusa) y me gustaría compartirlas con ustedes: 🇪🇦 (Es) 👉👉👉 🇷🇺 (Ru)
🔹 sobre manera (sobremanera) = чрезмерно, чрезвычайно (“…me impresionó sobre manera.”); 🔹 letra bastardilla = курсив (“… y en letra bastardilla estaban escritas…”); 🔹 naufragio = кораблекрушение (…como dos compañeros de naufragio…); 🔹 Santo Tomás = святой Фома, Фома неверующий (…aquel Santo Tomás del hipnotismo…”); 🔹 como Pedro por su casa = быть (вести себя) как у себя дома (…como Pedro en su casa se fue acercando, entre codazos discretos, al grupo de hombres…); 🔹 sacamuelas = болтун, шарлатан, мастер заговаривать зубы; 🔹 sabihondo = всезнайка (…si se le presentaba occasion, haría cualquer tontería para dejar corrido al sacamuelas elegante y sabihondo.); 🔹 as de oros = бубновый туз; 🔹 sexo fuerte = сильный пол (También el sexo fuerte tuvo que…); 🔹 para sus adentros = про себя, мысленно (“Caterina Porena”, pensó, hablándose en voz alta para sus adentros); 🔹 a tientas = на ощупь (A tientas llegó a la Puerta de la Academia vieja…); 🔹 quieras que no quieras = хочешь-не хочешь, волей-неволей (Ello fue que una hora después Nicolás Serrano, quieras que no quieras, era presentado en la recepción del alcalde prodigioso…); 🔹 por sistema = систематически постоянно (Aunque por sistema huía Serrano, mucho tiempo hacía, de toda clase de exaltaciones ideales…); 🔹 ver el cielo abierto = увидеть свет (в конце туннеля), возможность получить желаемое, выбраться из тупика (…Mijares vio el cielo abierto, y dio un abrazo al italiano, llamándole compañero, querido compañero.)
Y por ultimo mi frase favorita: “…siempre que la curiosidad me acerque a un objeto del cual deseo saber algo, que ofrece posibles consecuencias provechosas…, mi obligación es oír la voz de la curiosidad.” ❤️
Started Reading – 15 January 2022 FinishedReading – 16 February 2022 My Rating: 4 Stars ★★★★
I just finished reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I read the book in just three and a half days and I really liked the story. Great read, very emotional! It’s definitely a must read for anyone who loves good social science fiction novels!
Two interesting words from this book: 🇺🇲 (En) 👉👉👉 🇷🇺 (Ru)
🔹 heresy = ересь; 🔹 pratfall = падение на зад (например, клоуна) нарочито неуклюжее и вызывающее смех; оплошность, провал (“Life becomes one big pratfall, Montag; everything bang; boff, and wow!”).
Some of my favorite quotes from Fahrenheit 451 are:
“Mr. Montag, you are looking at a coward. I saw the way things were going, a long time back. I said nothing. I’m one of the innocents who could have spoken up and out when no one would listen to the ‘guilty,’ but I did not speak and thus became guilty myself. And when finally they set the structure to burn the books, using the firemen, I grunted a few times and subsided, for there were no others grunting or yelling with me, by then. Now, it’s too late.” ― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
“We are living in a time when flowers are trying to live on flowers, instead of growing on good rain and black loam.” ― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
Hi friends! In this video, I read aloud an Armenian folk fairy tale Barekendan by Hovhannes Tumanyan (in Armenian).
I made this video to show you my daily read-aloud practice and also to help me track my reading and pronunciation progress in Armenian.
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Բարեկենդանը (Barekendan) – Հովհաննես Թումանյան (Hovhannes Tumanyan). Read by Ekaterina Kassesinova.
I’m a native Russian speaker and I tried my best to read in Armenian with proper rhythm and intonation but I know my pronunciation is still far from perfect.
Please leave a comment below, and let me know what do you think about my pronunciation. Thank you, guys! I really appreciate your help, any thoughts, feedback and suggestions!
Please check out my other Armenian videos: ▶ Reading poetry in Armenian – Hovhannes Shiraz poem /Հովհաննես Շիրազ – Մորս սրտի հետ աշխարհն եմ չափել https://youtu.be/jdtY3ezmD30 ▶ The Invincible Rooster – Read Aloud in Armenian /Անհաղթ աքլորը (Anhaght Aklore) (eng, rus, arm subs) https://youtu.be/aj2VPjkZ0V0
I hope you enjoy watching these videos as much as I enjoy making them!
What I’m currently reading? Three great books in different languages! ❤️
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (in English) 🇺🇲 Superchería by Leopoldo Alas “Clarín” (in Spanish) 🇪🇦 Кудеяр by Николай Иванович Костомаров (in Russian) 🇷🇺
