Things that piss you off that shouldn't

[kurtsimonw]

Slightly off topic, has anyone used Rosetta Stone and is it any good? Apparently it doesn't really use translation and tries to make you pick it up the way you picked up your native language, which seems interesting.

[snowychap]

3 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

The point I was trying to get at, poorly worded, was that learning the language of another culture opens your eyes to it and allows you to think in alternative ways that your native tongue doesn't allow, or restricts. Learning languages builds tolerance and cultural openness (not amongst everyone, but the vast majority of those who really enjoy learning them). 

There are one or two things here, though.

One:'the vast majority of those who really enjoy learning them' may not be actually very many.

Two: The teaching of another language may not 'open the eyes' in the way in which you hope. I'm going to be biased here but after learning French, Latin and Greek for a number of years, one year of German had me wanting to go to war with them rather than trotting off to the Black Forest.*

 

* I don't condone war and I've been to Germany and Austria and tried to speak at least a minimal amount of German so as not to appear an utter arse in their country.

[HanoiVillan]

3 minutes ago, snowychap said:

There are one or two things here, though.

One:'the vast majority of those who really enjoy learning them' may not be actually very many.

Two: The teaching of another language may not 'open the eyes' in the way in which you hope. I'm going to be biased here but after learning French, Latin and Greek for a number of years, one year of German had me wanting to go to war with them rather than trotting off to the Black Forest.*

 

* I don't condone war and I've been to Germany and Austria and tried to speak at least a minimal amount of German so as not to appear an utter arse in their country.

Sure. I'm not claiming it's a popular pursuit, merely a largely worthwhile one (for those with persistence, which sadly mostly doesn't include me). 

[snowychap]

Just now, HanoiVillan said:

Sure. I'm not claiming it's a popular pursuit, merely a largely worthwhile one (for those with persistence, which sadly mostly doesn't include me). 

No worries, I agree with you about the importance of languages.

Personally, I think they should just throw foreign languages at kids from the earliest age rather than give it as an option when they get to 11 or 12. It's not just about culture, it ultimately helps with all linguistic skills and helps with understanding a lot of English words, too.

[HanoiVillan]

Just now, snowychap said:

No worries, I agree with you about the importance of languages.

Personally, I think they should just throw foreign languages at kids from the earliest age rather than give it as an option when they get to 11 or 12. It's not just about culture, it ultimately helps with all linguistic skills and helps with understanding a lot of English words, too.

This is definitely also true. I managed to get a 2:1 in English Literature without being able to understand much of anything at all about grammar or how English works, as a language. It was only by starting to teach it that I learned, but learning another language is a more commonplace way to better understand your own language. 

[BOF]

14 hours ago, Xela said:

Birmingham Mail website

Stop trying to auto load a **** video on EVERY page

If you use Firefox, may I introduce you to Flashstopper ?

Quote

Features –
• Allow autoplay for websites (Exceptions > Allow)
• Allow session autoplay for websites (Exceptions > Allow for Session)
       Stop only first autoplay for a continuous session in the website (useful for video sites like Dailymotion)
• Proactive blocking for websites (Proactive blocking > Block)
       Alternative stopping method that prevent script activation by tweaking the source code of the pages
• Toolbarbutton to simplify allowing/blocking sites
       Quick add-on enable/disable (Left-double-click)
• Media autoplay blocking integration
       Works with media.autoplay.enabled = false (for stopping isolated media elements)
       The play/pause context menu item will show for covered video elements

[sexbelowsound]

11 hours ago, Mandy Lifeboats said:

Last year Mrs Lifeboats and I were in a Chinese Restaurant  (in China). After ordering a meal by using the universal language of pointing at things our meal arrived. But with no utensils to eat with. Mrs Lifeboats did what I thought was a rather good mime of using chopsticks. The waiter seemed to understand and went away.  He came back and presented her with a picture of what we guess was an owl made from seashells. 

1. How the hell did he reach that conclusion?

2. If anyone ever wants to order a picture of an owl made from seashells from China, Mrs Lifeboats is available. 

3. No......it wasn't a hoot. 

 

 

 

Solid sense of humor the Chinese. 

[NurembergVillan]

There's a house just a couple of doors down from me, and the whole family are very fat.

Shouldn't piss me off, but for some reason it does.

Fat bastards.

[tonyh29]

11 hours ago, Mandy Lifeboats said:

Last year Mrs Lifeboats and I were in a Chinese Restaurant  (in China). After ordering a meal by using the universal language of pointing at things our meal arrived. But with no utensils to eat with. Mrs Lifeboats did what I thought was a rather good mime of using chopsticks. The waiter seemed to understand and went away.  He came back and presented her with a picture of what we guess was an owl made from seashells. 

1. How the hell did he reach that conclusion?

2. If anyone ever wants to order a picture of an owl made from seashells from China, Mrs Lifeboats is available. 

3. No......it wasn't a hoot. 

 

 

 

my Beijing restaurant encounter after the clucking noises and doing the funky chicken didn't get the message across that I wanted chicken was to point at things on the menu

I pointed at what looked like Spare ribs and a chicken dish and actually got sheep legs ( shins I guess wasn't much meet on them ) and a giant cane toad / frog thing

we stayed there for hours my mate and I drinking beer and just ordering random stuff by pointing ... as I say imagine the boredom had we actually been able to communicate  

[tonyh29]

11 hours ago, snowychap said:

No worries, I agree with you about the importance of languages.

Personally, I think they should just throw foreign languages at kids from the earliest age rather than give it as an option when they get to 11 or 12. It's not just about culture, it ultimately helps with all linguistic skills and helps with understanding a lot of English words, too.

not 100% related , but I saw something the other day that said Finland are replacing their curricular so that instead of (say) doing an Hour for History , then an hour for geography  , they were going to start teaching children life skills and prepare them for working life  ... so I think Maths would become a class of maths, languages , writing skills and communication skills.

I like the idea of that if I'm honest .. 

I even think an hour a day of kids reading world news and current affairs would be useful ... I'm a bit of a news leech , (hence how I heard about the Finnish thing) but you'd be amazed how impressed someone in say Belgium is when you can have a conversation with them about some recent / current issues in their country  ...

[AVFCDAN]

1 hour ago, NurembergVillan said:

There's a house just a couple of doors down from me, and the whole family are very fat.

Shouldn't piss me off, but for some reason it does.

Fat bastards.

Its also an irrational annoyance of mine. I think its the arrogance that goes with it sometimes and also the obvious neglect of the parents onto the children, anyone under the age of 10-12 should not be fat or obese really as the parents are pretty much dictating what they eat at that point.

[Stevo985]

14 hours ago, tonyh29 said:

A big "This"

my kids are already fluent in 2 languages and if they weren't as lazy as me could probably be on their way to a third now instead of just being able to say Bonjour you cheese eating surrender monkeys... kids brains are like sponges for learning languages 

if I did my school time again I'd learn as many languages as I could instead of pointless shit like sitting in a lab turning Bunsen burners on when the teacher wasn't looking 

 

Same.

In fact I would do a degree in a foreign language, including a year out in that country. That would be **** brilliant.

I'm certain I could still be on my exact career path (if I still wanted that) having done a degree in a language rather than Accounting.

 

 

I started learning Spanish a couple of years ago. I've had a year off it (took time off when my dad passed away) but need to get back on it as I was very much enjoying it, and there are so many countries you can use that in.

[StefanAVFC]

I use Duolingo for learning Polish. It's really good.

[BOF]

1 hour ago, tonyh29 said:

we stayed there for hours my mate and I drinking beer and just ordering random stuff by pointing

Sounds brilliant   Kind of thing I'd do.  Needs bravery though, and the knowledge that it will backfire at some point

[Tegis]

2 hours ago, BOF said:

If you use Firefox, may I introduce you to Flashstopper ?

Thank you sir. I've been looking for a good replacement since Flashblock broke down

[BOF]

There's a minute's applause for Ryan Mason on Thursday at the Hull game.

Anyone know when he died?  When's the funeral?

They'll clap anything these days.

[darrenm]

2 hours ago, NurembergVillan said:

There's a house just a couple of doors down from me, and the whole family are very fat.

Shouldn't piss me off, but for some reason it does.

Fat bastards.

It probably should though. Their lifestyle choices of eating rubbish means they'll be far more likely to get some nasty stuff and will cost the NHS more than if they were slimmer. Therefore, you're paying for them to be unhealthy which is their own choice.

[BOF]

1 minute ago, darrenm said:

It probably should though. Their lifestyle choices of eating rubbish means they'll be far more likely to get some nasty stuff and will cost the NHS more than if they were slimmer. Therefore, you're paying for them to be unhealthy which is their own choice.

I wonder.  Is it cheaper in the long run if they die young from a heart attack than if a normal person lives into old age and needs medication on the NHS well into their 80s.

Czech Republic did a survey years back investigating the cost of smoking on the economy.  The awkward conclusion was that smoking is massively beneficial to the economy because it kills people off before they become a healthh drain whilst simultaneously earning loads in taxes Similar logic could apply.

[HanoiVillan]

28 minutes ago, darrenm said:

It probably should though. Their lifestyle choices of eating rubbish means they'll be far more likely to get some nasty stuff and will cost the NHS more than if they were slimmer. Therefore, you're paying for them to be unhealthy which is their own choice.

Alright, chill out. 

Edited January 25, 2017 by HanoiVillan

[tonyh29]

31 minutes ago, darrenm said:

It probably should though. Their lifestyle choices of eating rubbish means they'll be far more likely to get some nasty stuff and will cost the NHS more than if they were slimmer. Therefore, you're paying for them to be unhealthy which is their own choice.

That's a bit of a leap  .. he said fat people , he didn't comment on what they ate ..... unless of course you mean that when I met a fat spotty vegan the other week she in effect eats rubbish