February 24th, 2008
Steph
We bought a few more books to add to our collection. A few more is an understatement I think… hehehehe. We got 3 lonely planets and 1 cookbook and 1 restaurant and drinking guide.
This one is to prepare us for the many many European holidays we’re gonna take while we’re living in London. If you don’t already know, Dav is a fan of staying in hostel and walking… thus the ‘shoestring’ guide… 
It has always been our dream to visit Greece. So we got this book to plan for it. But it hasnt arrived yet. We’re waiting for the new edition.
This came free with the purchase of the above 2 lonely planets. This one has the best places to visit in 2008. Surprisingly it has quite a few Malaysian locations.
This book is called ‘Delia’s How To Cheat at Cooking’. The author apparently is quite a famous tv chefs and her book was highly anticipated in UK. Since it was half price, I thought why not get it. From browsing through the pages, it seems like it’s quite easy to follow and to get the ingredients. One of the issues I have with Jamie Oliver’s cookbook was on getting the ingredients. This one will be quite easy cos she actually put down the brand and from where to get it!
This is quite self explanatory. Hopefully we can check out these restaurants with a few friends.
It’s so much harder than I thought. Plus the materials I bought (self-learning book + audio CD) doesnt really help. This is why
It was tough to identify which section of the book the audio CD is talking about. Half the time I am browsing through the book to look for the right section to go through. Majority of the stuff in the book is not in the audio CD.
The pace of the CD is way too fast. It just talk and talk and talk without even stopping for 10 sections. So this I have to constantly pause the CD and rewind back. This is quite annoying esp when you cant catch what they are saying and have to rewind like 10 times! Plus it’s hard to rewind back to the correct spot!!
Of course the book and CD itself is not enough … I have to buy extra notebook to make my own notes and re-write some of the sentences. But I think this is good, cos it helps me remember what I”m learning.
Despite all this, I’m not giving up. It’s already 4 weeks and I’ve he following:
how to greet people
how to ask someone’s name and say my own name
how to seek clarification and help
how to say goodbye
how to say where I’m from
how to say my nationality
how to say what languages I speak
how to introduce myself and others
how to ask ppl how they are and reply
how to ask ppl where they live and say where i live
how to ask for and give tel numbers
Not too bad for the amount of efforts I put in…
Note: I wouldnt advise getting this book if you intend to learn spanish.
December 16th, 2007
Steph
I have been trying to learn Spanish since I came back from Chile in Jan this year. I tried downloading a Spanish learning podcast thinking that by listening to them on my way to work in the tube would help. However after several attempt, I find it boring and reverted to my ipod and book instead.
So I thought I should try getting one of those learn a new language book with CDs.
With the help of the bookstore assistance, I finally choose to get the ‘Teach Yourself’ selection. The front cover has this listing:
- learn to speak, understand and write spanish
- progress quickly beyond the basics
- explire the language in depth
Let’s hope that I will achieve it!
November 22nd, 2007
david
Received the shipment from back home. Thanks Steph! Can’t believe it was that quick. Delivery man was at the door when I finally came back from the city today. What luck. Anyway, its great that finally have all my collections from back home. Looking forward to reading some of them.
This is a great book! I finished reading it within 5 days. The only time I read this book is when I’m in the tube both on the way to work and on the way home. It’s very funny – which makes me quite embarrassed cause I would laugh in the tube and everyone will look at me.. esp in the morning when the tube is packed.
The only other Terry Pratchett book I’ve ever read is Moving Pictures. Am thinking maybe I should start reading the whole Discworld series… tempting….