#polysprachig

New Chaucer Recitation in Middle English (Link) 

On this 25 October, countless medievalists, historical linguists, English instructors, students, and others from all walks of life are thinking fondly on the legacy of Geoffrey Chaucer, the father of English literature, with many reaching out to take one of his texts from the shelf. 

Or manuscripts from the vault. 

In celebration of this worthy “Ovid of the English tongue”, as per his contemporary Eustache Deschamps, here is a new Middle English recitation of lines 1-42 of The General Prologue from The Canterbury Tales. 

I’m participating in the song challenge by @polysprachig and here’s my first entry! Louise - Eisblume, an old German cover of an English song.

entfernen  — to remove

tragen  — to carry, to wear

verblühen  — to wither, to decay

verrinnen  — to trickle away

schweben  — to float

löschen  — to erase, to delete

umsorgen  — to care for, to look after

drehen  — to turn, to look back

greifen  — to grasp, to grab

die Gier  — greed

die Wiederkehr — return, resurgence

der Schritt, -e — steps, paces

die Schuld — blame, guilt

l’actualité - current events

crise économique - economic crisis

paix - peace

la guerre - war

cessez-le-feu - ceasefire

attentat - attack

territoire - territory

ressortissants - citizens, nationals

la mort - death

espoir - hope, prospect

étrangères - foreign

interdiction - ban, prohibition

resultat, issue - outcome

répercussions - implications, effects

meurtrier - deadly

témoignages - testimonies

décéder - to pass away

viser - to target

blesser - to injure, wound

combattre - to combat, fight

mourir de - to die of

faire le deuil - to grive, mourn

négocier - to negotiate

terminer - to complete, end, fihish

compromettre - to compromise, jeopardize

Hey! So as of lately I’ve been finding really interesting channels run by lovely people and I can’t wait for you to meet them too!

Ophelia Vert

She’s super super super super nice and smart and enthusiastic about everything she does. She’s learning Russian, Spanish and Swedish, among other languages. She speaks French really well and is just lovely.

During this month she is uploading a new video every day. Lots of new material for the langblr community :)

Abigail and Matt from PolyglotProgress

Abigail and Matt are on tumblr together as @polyglotprogress

Abigail: @im-studying-oh

Matt: @mattstudying

They study multiple languages each and they have this #Add1Challenge where they try to learn a new language in 90 days? (Correct me if I’m wrong!!) Their channel is just great.

Ginger James

Sooo, I discovered James’ channel just a couple of days ago and he’s really nice and funny xD He’s also learning Russian.

Maria Athena

Well, I think we all know her. :) She’s awesome. She’s @polysprachig on tumblr.

some phrases I’ve encountered while reading French news articles!!

l’année dernière - last year (”lehnEE dehnier”)

chaque semaine - every week

au plus vite - ASAP

apris ses fonctions - took office

au lieu de - instead of, rather than

beaucoup trop de temps - far too much time

plus facile à dire qu’à faire - easier said than done

toute nouvelle - whole new

bon sens - common sense

en fait - in fact

la vie humaine - human life

vous l’avez dit - as you said

vocab is based on THIS article (has audio, a quiz, etc.)

link to quizlet HERE

entre - between

moitié - half

près - nearly

ensemble - entire

bourse - stocks, stock exchange

accord - agreement (think of all those historical treaties!!)

interdire - to prohibit, ban, forbid (”ahn-tehr-deeyeh”)

interdiction - a ban, prohibition

maitenent - now

venons-en maitenent - let us now.... (”veh-nonsahn met-nahnt”)

circulation - movement

parce que - because (”PAHss-küh”)

explication - explanation

bouclier - shield (”boo-klee-yei”)

représailles - retaliation; “une mesure de représailles”

anti-missile - anti-missile (lol) (”ohnti-meesseel”)

mis en place - put in place, implemented (”mee ohn plahs”)

menaces - threat (”menahs”)

l’année dernière - last year (”lehnyee dehrnyeer”)

feuilletons - soap operas

provoquer - to provoke, incite, induce

notamment - in particular, especially (”nohtahmohn”)

florissant - flourishing, thriving

fréquentation - attendance, amount present

unanimes - unanimous (”oonaneem”)

trop de temps - too much time (”troh du tahn”)

au plus vite - ASAP (”ou plu veeteh”)