Random Thoughts XI: Listen to the Whispers

[BenitoChavez]

Task Manager responds long enough to tell me that Task Manager isn't responding.

 

[CKS]

So one website says ~26% of Americans are conversationally fluent in a second language, and another website says ~22% of Americans speak a language other than English at home. Presumably, those speaking something other than English at home either learned English as a 2nd language and still use their 1st language a lot, or they live with relatives whose primary language is something else. That is, ~22% of Americans have some cultural or familial connection to that other language. Which means a mighty 4% of Americans bother to learn a second language that they aren't somehow born into.

Conversationally fluent is a pretty high bar if you ask me. (I'm assuming this really means fluent for purposes of talking as opposed to reading and writing. If it means I can ask for the bathroom or how much something costs, that is totally different.) A couple of years studying in high school doesn't come close to that. Learning a language to fluency as an adult takes a lot of time. Then, if you don't use it, you lose it.

I studied German for 6 years in school, most of that while living in Germany. At the end of that time, I was reasonably fluent and could read, write, and carry on conversations with people. Now, many years later, I can get the gist of stuff I read (so long as it isn't particularly demanding) though I miss the details, but I couldn't have a conversation that went beyond, "Hi, how are you?" It isn't really that I don't have the opportunity to use it, exactly, but there haven't been any situations where it would have been useful in the last 35+ years. I could have made myself practice, but no such situations naturally arose. Because of this, I had 5-10 years where I was conversationally fluent and probably another 5-10 more where my reading was relatively fluent. Now it is mostly gone.

Still, it is pretty clear that Americans don't go in for language learning in a big way.

 

[The_J]

TIL that the Dutch lead virologist has won today the Machiavelli prize.
To quote https://stichtingmachiavelli.nl/en/about-machiavelli/

Main activity of the foundation is to present a yearly award: the Machiavelli award. This award is granted to a person or organization who has excelled in public communication. The political philosopher Machiavelli makes one immediately think about his principle ‘the end justifies the means’. The Machiavelli award is granted to the person or organization who has been the most effective in putting this principle into practice. Always in a positive way and for a public cause.

I'm...I'm... very confused.
It's not so that when I think of Nicolo Machiavelli, that I think "oh yeah, great at public communication".
I'm really not sure... that... I mean...given what we know here....ufff...
Yeah, confused.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Conversationally fluent is a pretty high bar if you ask me. (I'm assuming this really means fluent for purposes of talking as opposed to reading and writing. If it means I can ask for the bathroom or how much something costs, that is totally different.) A couple of years studying in high school doesn't come close to that. Learning a language to fluency as an adult takes a lot of time. Then, if you don't use it, you lose it.

I studied German for 6 years in school, most of that while living in Germany. At the end of that time, I was reasonably fluent and could read, write, and carry on conversations with people. Now, many years later, I can get the gist of stuff I read (so long as it isn't particularly demanding) though I miss the details, but I couldn't have a conversation that went beyond, "Hi, how are you?" It isn't really that I don't have the opportunity to use it, exactly, but there haven't been any situations where it would have been useful in the last 35+ years. I could have made myself practice, but no such situations naturally arose. Because of this, I had 5-10 years where I was conversationally fluent and probably another 5-10 more where my reading was relatively fluent. Now it is mostly gone.

Still, it is pretty clear that Americans don't go in for language learning in a big way.

~50% of the world is conversational in more than 1 language (56% of Europeans, so they're above the bar - I expect Africans are way above the bar, I think only 2 languages would be kind of minimal for a lot of Africans). The numbers I saw for the global averages didn't suggest how many of those people simply learn multiple languages at home or in their community, as 21% of Americans do, and how many learned them in a classroom or by their own effort. I tried to learn a language in school as an adult, and it was pretty much a disaster. I agree that being immersed in the language is key. The 21% of Americans who speak something other than English at home probably retain that language only because they speak it at home. I don't know if even traveling regularly - which Americans don't do much, anyway - is enough to retain a language.

 

[Cutlass]

Has anyone else noticed that now that CBS news has a woman as the lead anchor, the news desk she sits behind is glass, so that he legs can be seen?

 

[Gori the Grey]

I have now.

That was Megyn Kelly's thing back when she was on Fox. Or Fox's thing for Megyn Kelly back when she was on Fox.

 

[Lemon Merchant]

And if you look close enough, you can see her knickers. What (I assume male) producer thought this was a good idea? If she wasn't wearing underwear in that photo, you'd see her bits.

 

[amadeus]

I hate all the motion sickness graphics they use now. Sometimes less is more.

But no, not if you are a big three TV network. Then more is more. Swoosh! Swish!

 

[Birdjaguar]

And if you look close enough, you can see her knickers. What (I assume male) producer thought this was a good idea? If she wasn't wearing underwear in that photo, you'd see her bits.

I guess they just read Sharon Stone's new auto biography and had an epiphany.

 

[Lemon Merchant]

I guess they just read Sharon Stone's new auto biography and had an epiphany.

[snorts derisively]

I guess they must have.

We have three national newscasters in Canada and they are all female. They certainly aren't treated like that. At least I have never seen their underwear.

 

[Cutlass]

Am I wrong in thinking that it's deeply ironic that an "employee engagement" newsletter from my employer does not in fact say on it that it is from my employer?

 

[Gori the Grey]

You are not wrong in finding that deeply ironic, for it would seem that your employer isn't itself terribly engaged in the process of engaging its employees.

 

[Kyriakos]

Hi (fellow) plebs. I now sent a message to Varoufakis.
I will inform you if (unlikely) he replies.

Update: Varoufakis did reply to my email, but really it was so formal that it means nothing.
When will those people realize it's not about them, but ME?

 

[shadowplay]

"To support those affected by Covid-19, [bank] will not charge interest on interest on your account." Well bless their hearts.

 

[The_J]

Apparently yesterday the French Easter holidays started.
1 week after Easter.
I wonder who came up with that idea o_O.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Apparently yesterday the French Easter holidays started.
1 week after Easter.
I wonder who came up with that idea o_O.

If Canada can have Thanksgiving a month and a half before the Americans, I guess France can have Easter a week after everyone else.

 

[The_J]

I checked with a French colleague, and there's at least a reason:
Like in a bunch of other countries, school holidays start at different times in different locations.
Here, this is strangely so that one of the holiday waves for Easter starts a week after Easter.
And due to the Coronavirus, they changed it this year, so that the school holidays all over the country started at that date.
(why that... that is another question )

 

[Kyriakos]

There is a beggar making the rounds in this neighborhood. He repeats the same phrase, every ten seconds, something which would be translated as "Due to my state, I cannot work, and so am forced to beg. Any help you may give would really help. Please".

I wonder if begging actually will bring you even 10 euros/day. I mean, even if it would bring 20 euros, that is still 600/month, which would need a very careful handling if you are to live on that (unless you are living on the street, which is pretty rare here, and I'd suppose you wouldn't want to have hundreds of euros on you if you are homeless). And if you do have some somatic illness (I can't say what he has, if he has something), you would make that amount by simply applying for it.
So it really only would allow you to live if you do receive help from the state & beg as well.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

There is a beggar making the rounds in this neighborhood. He repeats the same phrase, every ten seconds, something which would be translated as "Due to my state, I cannot work, and so am forced to beg. Any help you may give would really help. Please".

I wonder if begging actually will bring you even 10 euros/day. I mean, even if it would bring 20 euros, that is still 600/month, which would need a very careful handling if you are to live on that (unless you are living on the street, which is pretty rare here, and I'd suppose you wouldn't want to have hundreds of euros on you if you are homeless). And if you do have some somatic illness (I can't say what he has, if he has something), you would make that amount by simply applying for it.
So it really only would allow you to live if you do receive help from the state & beg as well.

Dunno how it is there, but in some places there are people who are basically professional beggars. They have their routes or their "turf" and their times of day and the patter or behavior that induces people to give them money (in many cases they simply harass someone so they'll give them money to shut up and go away).

And of course I have no idea what the social services system is like in Greece, but it's a fact here that not all who need it will get it, because of some bureaucratic BS or some box they don't tick or some social worker who's a jerk.

 

[Takhisis]

Dunno how it is there, but in some places there are people who are basically professional beggars.

Here too. After decades of planned pauperisation there are successive generations of people who have lived as lumpens.