Monday, January 20, 2014

January 20th, 2014
So, for the last few days I have been writing a course on Portuguese language for English speakers and publishing on my blog. I have also been advertising those articles on some Google+ communities on Portuguese language.

But the number of views has been pathetic, the earnings even more pathetic. Well, the earnings actually are just zero. Should I continue writing these articles? Very few people seem to be interested on those articles. I guess about 3 people.
But surely there must be more people out there interested in learning Portuguese language. But I don't know how to reach those people. All I  do is hope that my blog appear on search results.
Besides, Blogger has always been disappointing in earnings. I should be making more YouTube videos. YouTube generates much more money than Blogger. Blogger is really a waste of time, but I like writing texts. And if I want to make educational videos I need to write the script of the videos first.

But I have another idea. I could publish a book. A book on Portuguese language, why not? First write the book, then look for a publisher. Of course many things can go wrong. I may never find a publisher. Even if I find a publisher, the book may be a failure. But those are problems for the future. Maybe I should not worry about the future and focus on present problems.
But even so, should I waste my time writing this book? Well, this book is just a start, I could write a long series of books. And writing a book on Portuguese should be easy for me. Just write this book as fast as possible and move on quickly to another project.

I could also ask for donations. That is another idea. But the problema is that I don't have PayPal. How to ask for donations without PayPal? One way is to just publish my bank accont number on my blog. I went to the bank once to talk about this. According to the bank it is safe, there is no way for anyone to steal money from your bank accout with the number. It is possible to deposit money but not to withdraw. But still I think it may be dangerous. And even if I did that, what are the chances of actually receiving donations? With only 3 viewers, I don't think there will be much money coming from donations.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Danish

Godmorgen. Hello.
Godaften. Good evening.
Farvel. Goodbye.
Hej hej. Goodbye.
Vi ses senere. See you later.
Ja. Yes.
Jo. Yes.
Nej. No.
Undskyld? Excuse me!
Tak. Thanks.
Mange tak. Thanks a lot.
Tak skal du have. Thank you for your help.
Tak for hjœlpen. Thank you for your help.
Det var så lidt. Don't mention it.
Okay, det er I orden. Ok.
Hvor meget koster det ? How much is it?
Undskyld. Sorry!
Jeg forstår det ikke. I don't understand.
Jeg har forstået. I get it.
Det ved jeg ikke. I don't know.
Forbudt. Forbidden.
Undskyld, hvor finder jeg toiletterne? Excuse me, where are the toilets?
Godt nytår! Happy New Year!
Tillykke med fødselsdagen! Happy birthday!
God højtid. Happy holiday!
Tillykke! Congratulations!
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Hej, hvordan har du det?  Hello. How are you?
Hej, jeg har det fint, tak. Hello. I'm fine, thank you
Taler du dansk?  Do you speak Danish?
Nej, jeg taler ikke dansk. No, I don't speak Danish
En lille smule. Only a little bit
Hvor kommer du fra ? Where do you come from?
Hvor er du fra? Where do you come from?
Hvad er din nationalitet? What is your nationality?
Hvor kommer du fra? What is your nationality?
Jeg er englænder. I am English.
Og hvad med dig, bor du her? And you, do you live here?
Og hvad med dig, er du herfra? And you, do you live here?
Ja, jeg bor her. Yes, I live here.
Jeg hedder Sarah, hvad hedder du?  My name is Sarah, what's your name?
Jeg hedder Julien. Julian.
Hvad laver du her? What are you doing here?
Jeg er på ferie. I am on holiday.
Vi er på ferie. We are on holiday.
Jeg er på forretningsrejse. I am on a business trip.
Jeg arbejder her. I work here
Vi arbejder her. We work here.
Er der nogle gode steder at spise? Where are the good places to go out and eat?
Er der et museum her i nærheden? Is there a museum in the neighbourhood?
Hvor jeg jeg gå på internettet? Where could I get an internet connection?
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Er Sarah her? Excuse me, is Sarah here?
Ja, hun er her. Yes, she's here.
Hun er taget i byen. She's out.
Du kan ringe på hendes mobiltelefon. You can call her on her mobile phone.
Ved du hvor jeg kan finde hende? Do you know where I could find her?
Hun er på sit arbejde. She is at work.
Hun er hjemme. She is at home.
Er Julien her ? Excuse me, is Julien here?
Ja, han er her. Yes, he's here
Han er taget i byen. He's out.
Ved du hvor jeg kan finde ham? Do you know where I could find him?
Du kan ringe på hans mobil. You can call him on his mobile phone.
Han er på sit arbejde. He is at work.
Han er hjemme. He is at home.
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Hvornår kom du hertil? When did you get here?
I dag. Today.
I går. Yesterday.
For to dage siden. Two days ago.
Hvor længe bliver du ? How long are you staying for?
Jeg tager af sted i morgen. I'm leaving tomorrow.
Jeg tager af sted i overmorgen. I'll be leaving the day after tomorrow.
Jeg tager afsted om tre dage. I'll be leaving in three days.
Mandag. Monday.
Tirsdag. Tuesday.
Onsdag. Wednesday.
Torsdag. Thursday.
Fredag. Friday.
Lørdag. Saturday.
Søndag. Sunday.
Januar. January.
Februar. February.
Marts. March.
April. April.
Maj. May.
Juni. June.
Juli. July.
August. August.
September. September.
Oktober. October.
November. November.
December. December.
Hvad tid tager du afsted? What time are you leaving at?
Hvad tid rejser du? What time are you leaving at?
Klokken otte om morgenen. Morning, at eight o'clock.
Klokken kvart over otte om morgenen. Morning, at a quarter past 8.
Klokken halvni om morgenen. Morning, at half past 8.
Klokken kvart i ni om morgenen. Morning, at a quarter to nine.
Klokken seks om aftenen. Evening, at 6pm.
Jeg er forsinket. I am late.
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Klokken er mange! Jeg må løbe! It's late, I have to go!
Skal vi ses igen? Shall we meet again?
Ja, meget gerne. Yes with pleasure.
Min adresse er. This is my address.
Kan jeg få dit telefonnummer? Do you have a phone number?
Ja, værsågod. Yes here you go.
Det har været hyggeligt at møde dig. I had a lovely time.
Ja, i lige måde. Me too, it was a pleasure to meet you.
Vi ses snart. We will see each other soon.
Det håber jeg også. I hope so too.
Farvel. Goodbye.
Vi ses i morgen. See you tomorrow.
Hej hej. Bye!
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Baren. The bar.
Må jeg byde på et glas? Would you like to have a drink?
Drikke. To drink.
Glas. Glass.
Gerne, tak. With pleasure.
Hvad må jeg byde på? What would you like?
Hvad kunne du tænke dig? What would you like?
Hvad er der at vælge imellem? What's on offer?
Der er vand eller frugtjuice. There is water or fruit juices.
Vand. Water.
Kan du komme isterninger i? Can you add some ice cubes, please?
Med isterninger, tak! Can you add some ice cubes, please?
Isterninger. Ice cubes.
Kakao. Chocolate.
Mælk. Milk.
Te. Tea.
Kaffe. Coffee.
Med sukker. With sugar.
Med fløde. With cream.
Vin. Wine.
Øl. Beer.
En kop te, tak. A tea please.
Jeg vil gerne bede om en kop te, tak. A tea please.
En øl, tak. A beer please.
Hvad må jeg byde på? What would you like to drink?
To kopper te, tak. Two teas please!
To øl, tak. Two beers please!
Ingenting, tak. Nothing, thanks.
Skål. Cheers!
Må jeg bede om regningen, tak. Can we have the bill please?
Hvor meget bliver det? Excuse me, how much do I owe?
Tyve euro. Twenty euros.
Jeg giver. It's on me.
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Restauranten. The restaurant.
Vil du have noget at spise? Would you like to eat?
Er du sulten? Would you like to eat?
Ja tak det vil jeg gerne. Yes, with pleasure.
Spise. To eat.
Hvor kan vi spise? Where can we eat?

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Donnie Darko review, with spoilers.

I am trying to write a review for the film Donnie Darko.
I first heard of this film in a YouTube video about films that you have to see twice.
http://youtu.be/5u550YOIfT0
Yes you need to see Donnie Darko again to understand it.... But it doesn't mean it was enjoyable!
The film... was... very... boring! At least the first time I saw it.
But still I am not going to join the legions of fans of this cult movie.
There are some good scenes though. The scene where they talk about the Smurfs sexuality was interesting and funny.
The scene where the hero confronts the self-help guru was also good and enjoyable.
But for the most part the film is very boring, slow, unfocused.

It is not a comedy, even though it has some jokes (which I didn't laugh), it is not action, it is not suspense, it is not horror, it is not romance. Some scenes have suspense, yes, especially when the mysterious and creepy bunny appears. But it is not suspense like Hitchcock or Friday 13th.
I wouldn't categorize as science ficton even though the plot mentions time travel.
There are some special-effects scenes, where the "arrow" appears from the chests of the characters. But those scenes were very few and not that enjoyable or interesting.

The main plot of the film is the mysterious jet engine that falls from the sky from nowhere right on top of the hero's bedroom and the creepy bunny that seems to be manipulating the hero to some deadly event. Where does the jet engine come from? Who is the creepy bunny and why is he manipulating the hero to do weird and strange things? Is the creepy bunny a hallucination, an alien, or a real person? The answer comes at the end of  the movie and involves time travel, and plenty of discussion about destiny, god, fate, alternate realities, paradoxes, motivation, love, fear, etc.
In between there are lots of subplots, with the hero's family, his therapist, his teachers, colleagues, girlfriend, bullies, a self-help guru, and probably others I don't remember.
The problem is that the main plot is not that interesting, the subplots are even less interesting.
One of the best scenes of the movie, about the Smurfs sexuality, is completely random and has nothing to do with any of the plots of the movie.
It is difficult for me to enjoy a movie where most of the dialogues are very slow, and the lines seem to be boring and the actors don't appear to feel any pressure or tension or emotion.
For example Quentin Tarantino is able to make very slow dialogues, but that are filled with suspense and tension.
I wasn't able to feel any suspense nor tension in this movie.

The film has become a cult classic because you really need to watch it again in order to understand it. It is not possible to understand the movie by watching it only once. And that is probably what people enjoy most: discovering things they didn't notice the first time.

The film should have had more action, humor, romance, suspense. Better special effects, more dramatic ending, faster, longer, more profound dialogues. The last thing a film should do is make you sleep at the middle of the story. And at the first time I watched this movie, that is what I almost did.