Intermediate Uzbek Weeks 4 & 5 In Review: Academic Life & Student Activities Plus Tempe Fireworks, Scottsdale Shopping & More

Assalomu alaykum!

Hi everyone! I'm back... Sorry I haven't posted at Uzbek Brian in a bit, it's been quite busy but a great two weeks here in Arizona at CLI. This post will cover a "week in review" for both weeks 4 and 5, which in some ways felt like one giant week (no excuses, though...!). Here we go:

The sunset from A mountain is always more beautiful each time! 

Outlook: Past two weeks have been great. I continue to love being here and at this point feel like I am in the normal life here as if I've lived here for years and do not want to leave!

The weather has been extremely hot (I think it's a record for June/July in Phoenix), usually over 115 each day, and with way more cloud coverage than last year—but still nothing near the miserable humidity I'm hearing about in many places over the East coast.

I've been feeling very productive and on track most of the time here and going through a lot of new ideas about how I want my life to unfold, whether it just be for the rest of the day or the week or summer for over the course of the next five years.

This week's workstation! Lots of computer stuff done

Class: This week was the turning point of our halfway mark so we have gotten through a lot of material as we finished our first "semester" (3.5 week) section and are now in our next semester.  Our focus of topic has been on student life, education systems (comparing UZ to US), and general university and academic vocabulary, which is quite relevant to us here.

I've been happy with results on the past three tests, all A+s, and know that what I'm learning is stuff I can actually apply and use especially if I do a study abroad in the region when in college. We did have a 6-day week due to our Friday postponed for Fourth of July weekend, but now having had the four days off, I'm grateful we got the work in early and were able to enjoy the holiday!

Enjoyed seeing the fireworks with the Uzbek crew at Tempe Town Lake!

Sat right by the water -- great view of the show

Free time: The first half of these two weeks was quite packed with homework, client work (launched a new website!), Uzbek Night (see presentations below), and even some other events like a luncheon with Uzbek classmates, but I was very excited to enjoy a luxurious 4 days off to myself for Independence Day.

The main highlight of free time these past weeks besides the fireworks and general hangout/time to get my thoughts and items together was making a trip to the Scottsdale Fashion Plaza, which is a destination mall with really excellent store selection reminiscent, if not better, than KOP.

Took a trip up there on Friday for the day and was thrilled to see what was there and always enjoy visiting my favorite luxury brands and chatting with sales associates to learn about the company and products. I visited Louis Vuitton, Prada (first standalone Prada visit), Bottega Veneta (same thing), Cartier, Barney's New York, Neiman's, Michael Kors, David Yurman, Tourneau and some others.

Visited the Scottsdale Vuitton store! 2 down, like 700+ to go! This was one was 2x the size of KOP

Trying on a watch at Cartier — this is the entry-level Tank I think I want to save up for  

Beautiful wallets and organizers with the classic woven style of Bottega Veneta

This week: This week I'd like to keep up with a good pace of learning and finishing work for class and really take in the last normal-schedule week I have here at CLI. Don't want the program to pass too fast without having really soaked it all in!

Also I want to keep up with fitness (have barely missed a day, very happy), and work on building up some business plans and finding some new clients for when I get home, particularly targeting local businesses in my area.

My three favorite foods... good avocados, mango kombucha and Evian! 

Resources:

Here are resources for this week, quite a few!

Uy Ishi June 27: "-ish" "-la" va "-lik"li Gaplar
Homework June 27: Sentences with "-ish", "-la", and "-lik"


Uy Ishi June 28: O’zbekistondagi 3ta Asosiy Universitet Haqida
Homework June 28: About 3 Prominent Universities in Uzbekistan


Uy Ishi June 29: Akademik Yili Vaqtidagi Jadvalim
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B50OtgK4oOsgcFd0TWRSNVhwRjg/preview

Uy Ishi June 29: Uzoq O'tgan Zamon Felili Gaplar
Homework June 29: Sentences with the Distant Past Verb Form


Konestoga Gimnaziyasi Prezentatsiya
Conestoga High School Presentation


Welcome to Uzbek Night Presentation


Thanks for reading, everyone! Be sure to subscribe at your right for email updates if you aren't already. Also, exciting news... Uzbek Brian has reached over 10,000 visitors! Check out this graph in my stats control panel for the distribution of visitors:

Hi if you're reading from Russia, UK, Latvia, Uzbekistan or wherever you are! :)

Xayr,
Brian

Intermediate Uzbek Week 3 In Review: Uzbek Cities & Transportation, Homework Practice, & Figs!

Assalomu alaykum!

Hey everyone! Here with my Week 3 review, not to fret! Sorry I didn't post yesterday, wasn't really in a writing mood. Doing well now and off to the start of Week 4 -- I canNOT believe it's gone by so quickly, even though I will say that every time I look back.

We have just about reached the half-way mark as of tomorrow and Wednesday and I can say that it's been a great experience thus far! I am reminded of last year when at about this time I felt like I really was living here and that life was normal in the context of Arizona and Uzbek and all the great stuff here. Not bad! So here we go:

Outlook: As of right now my outlook is pretty good for this program and in general for the summer. I am happy to be busy, even though the work can be tiring at times, especially with a language that I really do enjoy. I have gotten some great feedback on my language learning here through homework, tests, and a presentation (will describe below) and I feel like this is something worthwhile to be doing.

Other life-wise, I feel good because I've been almost 100% consistent with my daily exercise, at the very least walking extensively around campus and usually 20-35 minutes cardio with some strength. Aiming to keep up! Can't let oneself go in this world or else things get really bleak!

FIGS!!! Happy Brian

Class: Class has been good. I continue to enjoy the variation with formal learning in the morning and more dialogue and exercises in the afternoon. I have really gotten into the timing swing of things with the 10:30 start and usually do my larger meal and daily Ugly Betty episode viewing to unwind during the midday break (almost done season 4 -- what will I do when it's done?!). Homework has continued to be interesting, with lots of writing exercises (posted below).

As for Friday's test, it was a pretty tough one, but I am happy with how I did. Basically the test was a full presentation that we had an hour to prepare, including the speech, slides, photos, and a small written text. Mine was about the small Uzbek city of Navoiy, going along with our theme of cities and transport. Aaand--I am excited to say I got an A+ on the test, my first yet here. Seeing as I did put a lot of work into the assignment, I am proud of this score.

Beautiful Arizona sunset seen from top of A mountain

Free time: Free time has been relatively small in quantity but I've been enjoying walking around the campus, exercising, listening to music, getting my items organized both online and in real life as far as what I want to finish as well as keeping things neat and orderly. I am continuing to work on sites for clients and am looking forward to launching towards the end of the month for one client. Lastly, I have been enjoying shopping at the local markets with friends (thanks to those of you guys who have cars!) and the fruit has been GREAT!

What more does one need?

This week: This week I have two exams actually, my final tomorrow, and my regular weekly test on Friday. My goal is to really stay on track with preparing for these and continue to get as much as I can out of class. I also want to crack down on organizing some of my online files for ebooks I want to put out soon, and help get some more tasks done for clients. Lastly, I want to keep exercising, and maybe even get around to posting up those vocab flashcards. :)

Staples! 

Resources:

Quite a few resources today! Here they are:

Uy Ishi June 17: Transport Turlari Haqida
"Homework June 17: About Transport Methods"


Uy Ishi June 18: Men Qalamman
"Homework June 18: I Am a Pencil (Spoof Monologue)"


Uy Ishi June 19: “-gi + Kel(ma)”li Gaplar
"Homework June 19: Sentences with "-gi + Kel(ma)"


Uy Ishi June 19: Sevimli Shahar Haqida
"Homework June 19: About a Favorite City"


Thanks for reading! Be in touch soon. Be sure to subscribe by email if you're enjoying the blog! We have almost reached the 10,000 visitors mark... Shh, it'll be a celebration!

Xayr,
Brian

Uzbek Film 'Dada' (2010) Quick Movie Review & Watch Free Online

Assalomu alaykum!

Brian here with a quick post on an interesting film we watched on a Friday class here at CLI Intermediate Uzbek. In addition to posting a link to the video to show an authentic sample of Uzbek film, I wanted to share a very brief review of this movie after seeing it and being able to understand the gist of most parts.

This introduction aside, this post will be in Uzbek, sorry everyone back at home! I like to include a few text posts with some of my Uzbek writings to help the blog reach more visitors particularly in Uzbekistan, as most of my homework documents are in Google Docs and will not really help much with search engine visits.

Essentially, the premise has to do with the story of a young man about to be married who has gained fame from his boxing/strength skills (Rocky-esque) — but everything in his life when he comes across a woman one day in the streets who is in labor with an illegitimate child (very stigmatized in Uzbek culture), with whose life he ends up entangled and caring for the child when she leaves unexpectedly one day to return to home to her future spouse as well. Interesting!

That's a very basic overview, sorry I am not the best on recounting story details. Regardless, the social dynamics and language use in this movie are pretty cool to view. And here is my Uzbek mini-review that I submitted for homework on Monday:

Aktyorlar (Cast) ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (4/5)

Ertak (Story) ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (4/5)

Dialog (Dialogue) ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (3/5)

Kino Sifati (Film Quality) ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (3/5)

Dizayn (Design) ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (5/5)

Kichkina ko‘rik: Menimcha biz juma kuni ko‘rgan o‘zbekcha bir film juda qiziqarli edi.

Bu film juda ma’noli va balki haqiqiy mavzu haqida bol’di, ya’ni oila va bolalar bor bo‘lish.

Asosiy shaxs (ismi Zafar) qiyin vaziyatida jalb qildi, u haqida jiddiy qaror chiqarishi kerak edi.

Afsuski, Hanifa — Zafarning topgan bolaning onasi — aslida niyati yaxshi emas edi. Nimaga?

o‘zbekiston madaniyati va axloqi haqida o‘rganishni xohlasangiz, albatta bu filmda mumkin.

Mana bu internetda ko'rish uchun Vimeodagi video:



That's all for this post. Hi from Uzbekistan if you're reading/watching, thanks for stopping by!

Xayr,
Brian

Intermediate Uzbek Week 2 in Review: Uzbek Dialects, Household Descriptions, Video Update & More

Assalomu alaykum!

Hey guys! Hope everyone's doing well. Continuing my journey here at ASU with week 2 of CLI Intermediate Uzbek. To go along with last week's pattern, this post includes a brief "week in review" overview of my last 7 days here in Tempe. Here's a little video blog I recorded this afternoon talking about this week's class and activities:



And now for the remainder of the week in review post :)

I love Arizona at sunset! A view from the bridge near my dorm

Outlook: Feeling great this week, really gotten in the swing of things schedule-wise and life-wise here and very much grateful to be here. I've been aiming to keep busy with schoolwork and client work, as well as to take a little bit of time out each day if I can to work on fitness and enjoy the surroundings. I'm enjoying living on my own (but miss you guys back home!) and want to relish as much as I can from the Arizona desert sun before this summer is over--something I was thinking about a lot this week. Also, in general just feel healthier and happier this week.

Giving my little presentation (with a festive Uzbek-style hat, haha)

Class: Class has been productive and interesting! I feel like I am learning a ton this year and we are covering some interesting cultural, linguistic, and educational topics ranging from familial relations, household dynamics and common items, airport travel, and just in general getting better at giving in-depth descriptions and asking questions/giving answers in a more sophisticated way. It's been fun talking with Elementary students (on Fridays we do a Q&A to practice), as well as doing Uzbek club (see my presentation below), watching some Uzbek news and movies (starting to really follow the audio!) and much more.

Bridge overlooking A mountain area and stadium on way to dorm

Free time: This week during free time I was really looking to get back on my fitness kick and I've been enjoying using the Sun Devil Fitness Complex facility here, it's really a great place to get inspired to workout. Enjoyed the pool with friends a bit yesterday, as well as doing regular cardio on the machines, and a little bit of rowing and weights as well. Also enjoyed as always visiting the local markets--Mekong, Whole Foods, Safeway, Tempe Farmer's Market, and Sprout's--to load up on some goodies. Good eats lately! In addition, I've been working on compiling ideas for my web design business and getting documents and finances in order--nice to feel the productivity rush!

Enjoyed some durian and papaya with a friend for lunch

This week: This week I'd like to focus a lot on reading ahead before class in order to be better able to follow along, specifically with vocab and some phrasing constructions. I'm hoping to find time to make Quizlet vocab cards of all major words from the chapters thus far, even if a few, just to keep fresh. Also, I am looking forward to hopefully finish a website for a client, getting a bunch of product entries in for another client, and starting to put together a concept for a personal Brian Greco site.

Alive and well!

Resources:

A bunch of homework texts this week, in addition to my dialects presentation! Check them out at the embedded boxes below or at the linked English names. Enjoy! :)

O'zbek Tilining Dialektlari Prezentatsiya
Uzbek Language Dialects Presentation


Uy Ishi June 11: Yoshligim Haqida
Homework June 11: About My Childhood


Uy Ishi June 12: Xonalarim Haqida
Homework June 12: About My Rooms


Uy Ishi June 13: O'zbek Uy-Joy Haqida Tasvirlar
Homework June 13: Descriptions of Uzbek Home Settings


That's it for this week! Thanks so much for reading, feel free to leave a comment or subscribe with the form on the right. For anyone who sent me letters, I am hoping to get them this week -- sadly haven't received yet, maybe just a delay! Will keep you posted. Talk soon!

Xayr,
Brian

Intermediate Uzbek Week 1 in Review! Uzbek Homework, Class Setup & More

Assalomu alaykum!

Hi everyone! With my first week at CLI Intermediate Uzbek finished, I wanted to post a "week in review" update here at Uzbek Brian to let you know what I'm up to and share some resources from this week. This year with a busier schedule and more familiarity with local sights and the general process of being at ASU or in an intensive program, I figured a weekly update with occasional intermittent video posts or bonus posts would best suit my blogging schedule.

So that I cover everything, I'll be writing in 5 main categories in these posts: general outlook, class activities, what I did during free time, goals for the coming week, resources and homework files, and then any extra photos or videos from the week. Sorry they won't be as detailed, but 4-5 hours a day of immersion Uzbek plus lots of computer work for clients only leaves me with so much creative energy left at the end of the day. ;)

On top of "A" mountain overlooking Tempe

Here we go for Week 1: 

Outlook: I am excited to be back in Arizona, but in all honestly also excited that this first transition week is over! As I wrote in my last post, preparation before arriving here was quite busy, from finishing school to packing to getting work and living arrangements settled. In addition, starting with this past weekend I was not feeling well physically due to stress and too much activity catching up on me, and this persisted largely throughout the week (throat, sinus, headache, etc.)

A bit under the weather and a lot in need of review for Uzbek especially for such a fast-paced course, this week was a little rough for me but I am faring much better now and ready to be more settled in for the remaining 6. I have met some great people this week in both my Intermediate class and in the Elementary Uzbek class, and am happy to see my teachers again as well as some local friends and favorite food shopping destinations (and hiking and walking areas!).

My Intermediate Uzbek class 2013

Class: Jumping right in and living up to the name 'intensive', class has been quite efficient and information-packed this week and I am glad we are moving along at a good pace. This year in Intermediate, all instruction is essentially conducted in Uzbek, whether it be explaining a new grammatical concept, learning cultural notes, watching an Uzbek video clip, or just conducting classroom question and answer. I feel like already I have learned a lot and will be getting very comfortable swiftly understanding and forming spoken sentences.

The general structure is as follows: We start class at 10:30 (yay, can wake up at a godly hour!) and have with our main teacher, Saodat, a 2-hour morning class in the likeness of a traditional language classroom—covering new grammar concepts, vocabulary, dialogues, and so on. Then, after a midday break, we have at 2:15 a 1-hour afternoon conversation and discussion session with my teacher from last year and after that another hour with some other students from Advanced and Elementary during which we do miscellaneous exercises and activities.

Promenade on the way to the fitness complex

Awesome pool! Great day to get some laps in always

Free time: This section is slightly an oxymoron for me this week, but during free time I was able to get quite a few Uzbek writing pieces together for homework as well as work on a bunch of projects for website clients. I am currently working on a site for a hair salon of a friend of a friend, as well as continuing my partnerships with existing clients doing any web-based tasks needed. Also I was able to get down to the fitness center a few times in addition to everyday walking and music-listening, though I need to get back on a fitness kick this week as far as strength and cardio. Today I was happy to get some work on personal projects in process too.

Enjoyed some perfectly ripe jackfruit this week! Here it is opened up

A portion of my fruit for the week -- great mangos and stonefruit!

This week: This coming week I would like to buckle down on some new vocab using Quizlet flashcards (check out my collection at Quizlet.com/UzbekBrian) as well as continuing work on making my homework exercises more accurate and complex. I am hoping for a good result on this week's test and if not will study up on prior new concepts to make sure I am all set as I continue to add to my arsenal of Uzbek knowledge. I also want to focus on fitness and work out in some form at least every day in addition to walking (and get back to my ab crunches on the machine!). Hoping to also head to a yoga class on Saturday at the studio I enjoyed a lot last year.

A little bio I wrote about myself in Uzbek (Click here to view the full document)

Resources: Quite a few homeworks, here they are:

Uy Ishi 3-Iyun: Aeroport Haqida
Homework June 3: About the Airport (Click here to open separately)


Uy Ishi 4-Iyun: Aeroportdagi Qoidalar
Homework June 4: Airport Rules (Click here to open separately)


Uy Ishi 7-Iyun: Uy Ishi: Zulfiya Haqida
Homework June 4: About Zulfiya (Click here to open separately)


“Mening Ismim G’anisher”
Practice Story Transcript (Click here to open separately)



Last thing: Write me letters!

Are you a long-time Uzbek Brian reader? Uzbek language speaker or learner? Just stumbled on the site? Friend or family from back home? I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to write me notes, letters, postcards (or send me books... :D) at the following address until July 20th-ish:

The Critical Languages Institute
c/o Brian Greco
Arizona State University
PO Box 874202
Tempe AZ 85287-4202

I decided I will post the quick review guide I made in a separate post with a hope for increase in possible traffic flow to Uzbek Brian since it is highly specific, summarized, and linguistic in nature. :) That's all for this week! Check back soon and feel free to comment or email me at uzbekbrian at gmail dot com!

Xayr,
Brian

Key Free Links for Current, Past, or Future Uzbek Students

Assalomu alaykum!

Brian here with a quick reference post for any past, current, or future Uzbek students stopping by the blog. Throughout my time at CLI I have either created or collected various documents, resources, study tools, and more that have proven extremely helpful for my learning of Uzbek, and I wanted to consolidate the most useful of them here for you today.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me.

KEY FREE LINKS FOR UZBEK STUDENTS

For viewing, downloading, or printing:

Elementary Uzbek Midterm Review (PDF)
Review of language concepts from Elementary Uzbek Semester 1.

Elementary Uzbek Final Review (PDF)
Review of language concepts from Elementary Uzbek Semester 2.

Uzbek Brian Quizlet Page (All Vocab!)
Dozens of free Uzbek vocabulary flashcard sets for easy practice.

Free Online Uzbek Resource Collection
Tons of free links all around the web for Uzbek students.

Brian’s Uzbek Reference Document Collection
A huge compendium of free PDF files including textbooks and research.

Brian’s Uzbek Homework Practice Collection
All of my shared homework practice pieces in PDF form for viewing.

And especially for any students from CLI Elementary Uzbek 2012:

Elementary Uzbek Flipchart Practice (PDF)

CLI Uzbek Students Group Photo (PNG)

Please enjoy!

Xayr,
Brian

Day 48: Homework Practice About Travel Recommendations in the USA

Assalomu alaykum!

Good day today! Had regular class in the morning and then in the afternoon took a proficiency test based on the ILR scale. Very casual and involved conversation to determine oral proficiency on the various daily life topics we have learned thus far. -Feel really confident about it, will let you know how it goes!

Passing on yesterday's homework on travel advice around the USA:



See ya!

Xayr,
Brian

Day 43: Uzbek Test Review! Quick Vocab Link Pass-on

Was already for bed and realized I didn't post tonight! Can't miss a day. Go check out the new vocab at Quizlet.com/UzbekBrian for now, and I'll be back with more tomorrow!

Brian

Day 42: Practice Using Uzbek Modals for Necessity/Obligation/Possibility (Kerak/Shart/Mumkin)

Assalomu alaykum!

Quick post today! Passing on my homework using the topic I introduced the other day, Uzbek modal words.

Tonight's homework is below (sort of like a "do's and don'ts" practice) and is linked here:



:)

Xayr,
Brian

Day 40: Breaking into the Uzbek Modality System! Practicing "I Can ___" with +a Olmoq & More

Assalomu alaykum!

Grammar time! In class today we are breaking into the system of modal verbs (expressing desire, necessity, ability, and so on) which is highly rich in the Turkic languages and is very exciting as far as being able to make more realistic and complex sentences. For today's post I will share some of my homework as well as a key resource I've tracked down that I am enjoying. Later posts will have more explanation as to how to use these functions in Uzbek.

First off, cool news: I am officially designing a layout for an introductory Uzbek textbook to be published at my website by the end of next year. More on this soon!

Next, here is my homework from this afternoon, describing different abilities:



Next, here is my homework for tomorrow, which is sort of a practice letter for a job application, written in the first person by a made-up character who is looking to work for a translation company. Useful setup for practicing things like "I can speak ___ languages", "I can work well with computers", etc:



And to link you to my new favorite PDF ever: Uzbek Tense/Aspect/Modality System from Uzbek-Glossary.com. Thank you so much for this resource!

Here is a sample image visually tabulating Uzbek tense (click to enlarge):

Again, more on this soon!

And last but not least, some photos for today:

Hello!

Working on homework

The Coor building, on the way to Persian Club

First Year Tajiki students singing at Persian Club

Eddie giving some poetry recitations in full Persian garb! Great job tonight!

See you tomorrow!

Xayr,
Brian

Day 39: Uzbek Menu! Brianning Restorani (Brian's Restaurant)

Assalomu alaykum!

It's Sunday! For today's post I'd like to share a homework piece I did for tomorrow's class. Behold, my Uzbek menu! We were assigned to make a menu in Uzbek to go along with our unit on food and restaurants. Mine has a bit of a spin! Needed to practice regular cuisine vocabulary so I made it a vegetarian restaurant, didn't want the likes of mutton and horse on the menu. :)

But fret not, the entire bottom section is for fruit eaters like myself. 1/2 kilo of your choice of fruit at an awesome price! Currency is the Uzbek so'm (UZS), and as the cost of living is so cheap in Uzbekistan, nothing on this menu would even come out to more than $4. Check it out below or here in PDF format at Google Docs. Click to enlarge.

BRIAN'S RESTAURANT
Welcome to our restaurant! Please come in!
Brian's Restaurant has only the most delicious vegetarian dishes.
For fruitarians we also have a ton of sweet and fresh fruits to choose from.

DISHES: For a tasty breakfast, lunch or dinner
Meatless Pilaf (rice dish) - breakfast, 2000 so'm / lunch or dinner, 2500 so'm
Meatless Somsa (savory pastry) - 4, 1000 so'm / 8, 1800 so'm
Vegetable Soup - small bowl, 1500 so'm / large bowl, 2000 so'm
Vegetable Kabob - 4 kabobs, 1500 so'm / 8 kabobs, 2200 so'm
Vegetable Pasta - medium platter, 2500 so'm
Vegetarian Pizza - for 1-2 people, 3200 so'm
Eggs and Vegetables - 4 eggs, 2300 so'm
Vegetarian Salad - small platter, 2200 so'm / large platter 3000 so'm
Grapes and Bread - for 2 people, 2000 so'm / for a big group, 3000 so'm

FRUIT: we have only the best and sweetest fruit! 1/2 kilo: 2000 so'm
Apricots, Peaches, Plums, Grapes, Watermelon, Strawberries, Pears, Apples, Figs, Persimmons, Oranges, Quince, Pomegranates, Cherries

DRINKS: regular water (non-carbonated), mineral water, juice, tea, coffee

Thank you for coming!

***

And then some photos around campus:

Outside Hayden Library. Look at that sky!

View from my dorm

See you tomorrow!

Xayr,
Brian

Day 34: Just a Quick Homework Practice Piece Tonight!

Assalomu alaykum!

Good day today! No class tomorrow for July 4 & a nice sleep in is always well appreciated. Honestly don't have much to say today but did want to keep up the posts and share one quick document, practicing more use of past tense verbs and describing a famous person (I chose Benjamin Franklin for this one). Here it is below or linked here:



And here's a nice shot of ASU this evening:

See you tomorrow!

Xayr,
Brian

Day 33: Uzbek Homework Practice about Famous People (Plus, Featured on Reddit!)

Assalomu alaykum!

Busy day today! Good start to the week with a new chapter. Continuing on through the textbook and really starting to amass some good vocabulary for making writing and speaking more interesting. Had a fun day talking with friends also, enjoying the company of the people here as well as keeping in touch with online friends (and hearing about my sister and mom who are in Spain at the Alhambra today, cool!).

For today's post, our homework assignment on famous people. We are learning definite past tense verbs (both transitive and state of being) so that makes story-telling a lot more authentic and natural sounding. Featuring none other than Anderson Cooper, Hilary Duff, and Doctor Oz, three more of my favorite famous people, also available here for viewing:



Also, two cool screenshots for today. First off, got featured on Reddit, a hugely popular link and internet media sharing website (my website was under the /languagelearning category). So the second picture is viewing stats for the day. Lots of hits coming in from Reddit, awesome! Excited to have more readers. Thanks guys! (Click to enlarge photos.)

Ertagacha xayr - See you tomorrow!

Xayr,
Brian

Day 28: Practice Talking about America or Describing a Classroom Using Uzbek Postpositions

Assalomu alaykum!

Day 28! Four weeks so far in Arizona. Quite busy day today with class stuff and getting back rolling with new information. Today's post just includes some homework practice about America as well as describing a classroom using postpositions that indicate location (in, on, under, among, etc), which are applied to both of these situations. Other than that, pretty regular day! How are you guys?

Here is my homework or you can also view it here:



See you soon. Hopefully some photos tomorrow!

Xayr,
Brian

Day 27: Homework Practicing Sentences about America with Uzbek Comparatives

Assalomu alaykum!

Midterms today! Test went fine and was nothing unexpected. Now done a semester's worth of Uzbek language credit. All review material still available here if you missed it. Got started with new material this afternoon and went over some information on comparative and superlative adjectives. Below is a quick homework for tonight or you can view it here.



Xayr,
Brian

Day 25: Uzbek Family Presentation, Quick Video Blog from "A" Mountain

Assalomu alaykum!

Nice Sunday today. Got up late and relaxed in the morning, then went for another great hike up "A" mountain here in Tempe to get myself moving. Got some computer work done, organized some articles for my websites and books coming up, and hung out with some friends. Not bad!

Here is my video blog from today:

Here is my presentation for class on family. View it here if you are having trouble.



Also, here is a quick document for one of our exercises in the textbook. Just to see more samples of written Uzbek in action.

See you soon! Big test on Tuesday.

Xayr,
Brian

Day 21: Talking about Holidays in Uzbek, Uzbek Chapter 5 Vocab

Assalomu alaykum!

Hey guys! Pretty normal day today. Classwork on Daily Routines and continuing to develop competency with speaking and using verbs as well. Here's a quick post with some vocab and homework practice. Let me know what you think!

Practice on holidays:



Practice on Chapter 5 vocab (thank yous to Zach, will be posting mine tomorrow)

Choose a Study ModeScatterLearnFlashcards

Study these flash cards

Xayr,
Brian

Day 20: Uzbek Club! Videos, Photos, and Powerpoint Presentations

Assalomu alaykum!

Uzbek Club today! Here at the Critical Languages Institute each language group gets together for a fun evening of music, food, socializing, and practice to energize the language and culture in a real life setting. After class today we set up at the Hayden Hall lounge and kitchen for our event, preparing lots of Uzbek cuisine (and fruit!) as well as special presentations and videos on different sights around Uzbekistan. All to some awesome authentic Uzbek music, whether pop, rap, or traditional sounds.

Thank you to everyone for a fun night! Here are some photos and videos from the event. I also have embedded a PDF of my homework from this afternoon with some key dialogue and verb practice. Enjoy!

Cool presentation with the CIA during the noon break, on career opportunities with language and service

Hanging out at Uzbek Club

My fruit arrangement at the food table. I brought the grapes and oranges and honeydew, the peaches and watermelon were there :)

More fruit

Jaimee, Daniella, and Miriam. Love you guys! 

Matt, Ruth, and Liz

Keri and Skaidra

Hanging out

Watching students' presentations about Uzbek cities

Trying traditional Uzbek cuisine

Great pic, guys!

My presentation on Shahrisabz, a city in Uzbekistan

Uzbek dance party! Great music tonight, really authentic and catchy

My presentation:

Xayr,
Brian