Dr. Gonzo 8,200 Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 Just now, nudge said: I'm already learning Mandarin My small cozy coastal town became the main destination of Chinese invasion about 1,5 year ago, so pretty much everyone (including me) moved haha... How hard is it? Although you’re like really fucking smart and know a lot of languages already so how hard learning a new language is to you is pretty relative haha. Chinese rich people keep buying properties here and renting them out. They make all cash offers at asking price, no brained for the sellers really. It’s actually completely fucked up the housing market. But clearly they’re doing well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eco 3,008 Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 8 minutes ago, nudge said: I'm already learning Mandarin My small cozy coastal town became the main destination of Chinese invasion about 1,5 year ago, so pretty much everyone (including me) moved haha... 4 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said: How hard is it? Although you’re like really fucking smart and know a lot of languages already so how hard learning a new language is to you is pretty relative haha. Chinese rich people keep buying properties here and renting them out. They make all cash offers at asking price, no brained for the sellers really. It’s actually completely fucked up the housing market. But clearly they’re doing well. Chinese is a funny language, I lived there myself and studied it for years using kids books and just speaking with the locals. Personally, while Chinese was my...5th or so language that I studied, it was somewhat easier because I was living in a small city in China where no one spoke English except for my students and few engineers that lived in the city. Also, my friend learned it through Duolingo (or learned as much as you can with Duolingo), and is in Shanghai now, saying that it absolutely helped him. With almost all languages, including Arabic, Hindi, and Chinese (some of the hardest languages to learn for native English speakers), the key is to find a community that speaks that language and immerse yourself with them. Right now I'm studying Spanish and I am only drinking Mexican beer, listing to the Spanish radio station to and from work, and eating at a Mexican restaurant while ordering for me and my family all in Spanish. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Gonzo 8,200 Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 4 minutes ago, Eco said: Chinese is a funny language, I lived there myself and studied it for years using kids books and just speaking with the locals. Personally, while Chinese was my...5th or so language that I studied, it was somewhat easier because I was living in a small city in China where no one spoke English except for my students and few engineers that lived in the city. Also, my friend learned it through Duolingo (or learned as much as you can with Duolingo), and is in Shanghai now, saying that it absolutely helped him. With almost all languages, including Arabic, Hindi, and Chinese (some of the hardest languages to learn for native English speakers), the key is to find a community that speaks that language and immerse yourself with them. Right now I'm studying Spanish and I am only drinking Mexican beer, listing to the Spanish radio station to and from work, and eating at a Mexican restaurant while ordering for me and my family all in Spanish. Well that’s settled it, I’m getting a California Burrito from Roberto’s at lunch - cheers mate I agree with everything you said about immersing yourself to learn a language. Not sure I’ll be able to do that in San Diego with Mandarin... but using that app is probably a good shout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber nudge+ 15,333 Posted July 11, 2018 Subscriber Share Posted July 11, 2018 5 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said: How hard is it? Although you’re like really fucking smart and know a lot of languages already so how hard learning a new language is to you is pretty relative haha. Chinese rich people keep buying properties here and renting them out. They make all cash offers at asking price, no brained for the sellers really. It’s actually completely fucked up the housing market. But clearly they’re doing well. I'm still at a beginner level and taking things slowly (lack of time), but I find it easier than I thought it would be. There are very few grammar rules (no conjugations, no irregular verbs, no articles, no tenses, no gender, no cases, no declinations + fixed sentence patterns) and the vocabulary is built in a very logical way, so I find it relatively easy to get the grasp of. What makes it more difficult is the fact that it's a tonal language, so correct pronunciation takes quite some time, haha. I have some previous experience with tonal languages as I learned Thai for a while, once you get used to it, it's not THAT bad, but it's still the most difficult part for me. Yeah, they are buying EVERYTHING here, also building huge resorts and a shitload of casinos + invest in infrastructure. The housing market being fucked up was one of the reason for the exodus of my town, it raised the prices more than threefold, while the quality of living got worse due to endless construction, rubbish, and shortage of power/water due to the demand increasing too rapidly and local infrastructure not being able to deal with it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eco 3,008 Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 Just now, Dr. Gonzo said: Well that’s settled it, I’m getting a California Burrito from Roberto’s at lunch - cheers mate I agree with everything you said about immersing yourself to learn a language. Not sure I’ll be able to do that in San Diego with Mandarin... but using that app is probably a good shout. You can. So I learned a bit of Romanian, and partly how I did it was by reaching out to the regional Romanian representative, and asking him how to immerse with local Romanians, to which he gave me a few options. I promise you can do the same in San Diego 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eco 3,008 Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 @nudge - If you haven't yet, you should check out Yellow Bridge's website. Great for learning how to say and write characters in Mandarin. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber nudge+ 15,333 Posted July 11, 2018 Subscriber Share Posted July 11, 2018 7 minutes ago, Eco said: @nudge - If you haven't yet, you should check out Yellow Bridge's website. Great for learning how to say and write characters in Mandarin. Cheers, I might check it out - I'm currently using mostly HelloChinese and ChineseSkill for self-learning the basics + vocabulary building at home/on the go (and it has speaking drills too, which is a big plus!), and focus on pronunciation and characters in class... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebird Hewitt 1,286 Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 Great to hear that the Thai cave rescue was a success (bar the tragic loss of Saman Kuban. RIP), but am I the only one who finds this a tad distasteful, seeing as it's not even been a week since the rescue mission was completed? https://m.uk.ign.com/articles/2018/07/11/thai-cave-rescue-is-becoming-a-movie?abthid=5b462de6c4c8c01936000426 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber nudge+ 15,333 Posted July 11, 2018 Subscriber Share Posted July 11, 2018 4 minutes ago, Bluebird Hewitt said: Great to hear that the Thai cave rescue was a success (bar the tragic loss of Saman Kuban. RIP), but am I the only one who finds this a tad distasteful, seeing as it's not even been a week since the rescue mission was completed? https://m.uk.ign.com/articles/2018/07/11/thai-cave-rescue-is-becoming-a-movie?abthid=5b462de6c4c8c01936000426 They arrived at Thailand with their dirty cash grab movie plan even before the rescue operation was over... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cicero 5,267 Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 So why did the team go in the cave in the first place? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny 2,215 Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 3 hours ago, Cicero said: So why did the team go in the cave in the first place? They went exploring and the rainfall trapped them in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebird Hewitt 1,286 Posted July 12, 2018 Share Posted July 12, 2018 (edited) Instead of drowning sorrows following yesterday's defeat, Britain is off to raid the Build a Bear shops instead. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-44809213 Edited July 12, 2018 by Bluebird Hewitt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inverted 1,777 Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 Alexa, show me America in two images. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beelzebub 2,508 Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 On 7/13/2018 at 23:22, Inverted said: Alexa, show me Humanity in two images. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Stan 18,425 Posted July 19, 2018 Administrator Share Posted July 19, 2018 Thought this was quite a nice story to read and some good publicity for a big company/organisation for once. Morrisons have announced that they're opening early for an hour on Saturdays primarily for supporting families who have autistic children; the store will have no music, tannoy systems won't be used, lights will be dimmed - all so that it's easier for parents to shop without their autistic children feeling unsafe in the open environment on other days where those changes aren't made. Other supermarkets/stores do it but not nationwide hence Morrisons getting this story as all of their stores across the UK will do it. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44884183 Quote Supermarket chain Morrisons has introduced a weekly "quieter hour" for autistic shoppers who struggle with music and noise. Its 439 UK stores will dim lights, turn music off, avoid using the tannoy and turn check-out beeps down on Saturdays from 09:00 to 10:00. It is believed to be the first supermarket chain to roll out the scheme to all stores nationwide. The National Autistic Society says it is a "step in the right direction". The charity is encouraging retailers to take part in a nationwide "autism hour" in October. Toy shop The Entertainer holds "quiet hours" during the first hour of opening every Saturday, when staff turn off in-store music in the company's 145 UK stores to "create a more welcoming environment for children with autism". Asda said a number of its supermarkets across the country worked with local groups to run quiet hours on a regular basis. It added it was working with specialist charity groups to ensure its stores were inclusive for all. One of its stores in Manchester first introduced the scheme in 2016. Tesco said it was not planning on rolling out the initiative nationwide, but store managers were welcome to introduce it if they felt it appropriate - as one store in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, did last year. And Sainsbury's said more than 600 of its stores took part in the National Autistic Society's Autism Hour in October last year and will be doing so again this year. In three of its Liverpool-based stores, where staff have received training, parents can request a number of store modifications when they begin their shopping trip, it added. Also, a relaxed shopping lane in its Prestwick store has been trialled and will now become a permanent fixture there. The Morrisons scheme was introduced following a trial earlier this year in its Lincoln, Woking and Gainsborough stores. Angela Gray, Morrisons community champion at Woking, who has an autistic child herself said she'd found the changes made a "real difference". Stores will put signs up during the hour to let other customers know about the scheme and to highlight that it is meant to be a calm environment for shoppers. The movement of trolleys and baskets will also be reduced, it says. Charlotte King, whose three-year-old son Darcy is undergoing diagnosis for autism, said the initiative was "amazing", making it "far less stressful" for adults with autism and parents of children with the condition. "I personally avoid taking him anywhere in shopping malls," said the mum-of-two, from Hartley-Wintney in Hampshire. "It is the noise, the lights, it is tannoys. It is too much for him to take in. It looks like you are a bad parent with a naughty child. "Parents will be more relaxed knowing there will be people there that understand and won't judge them, this will help reduce anxiety levels for everyone." Jody Worrell, who has two teenagers with autism, called the scheme a "great start" but said there was more to the condition than just dealing with the sensory aspect. The mum-of-three, from Sittingbourne in Kent, said: "My son is 16, he finds it incredibly difficult to go in to a shop. He said today it is too noisy and busy. "His issue is having to pay - he finds it very difficult to interact with people." She said it would be helpful if staff had training to educate them about the condition and they could then wear a badge saying "autism friendly". That would "almost take the anxiety away", she said. "From my point of view that would be the next big step." Julie Titmuss, 61, from Colchester, Essex, was diagnosed with autism only two years ago after what she called a "lifelong struggle" to find out why she found certain situations difficult. "I don't go to the big supermarkets. I can't even begin to tell you how deafeningly dreadful it is," she said. "The trolleys all clashing, the sound of the tills, the volume of noise in there - you can't think straight." She said the Morrisons scheme was commendable, but that an hour was not enough and that other retailers also needed to consider it. Leeds mum Tabitha Campbell Beattie, whose son Toby is on the autism spectrum, agrees that an hour is insufficient and that staff members should have training. "If a supermarket has a quieter hour, that doesn't stop the supermarket being busy with long queues which can be an added stress," she said, saying she would like to see "a time zone where disabled children, young adults and so on - not just with autism but other disabilities - should be allowed to shop without the normal public in the shops". The National Autistic Society says there are 700,000 people on the autism spectrum in the UK, who "see, hear and feel the world differently to other people, often in a more intense way". 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Beelzebub 2,508 Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 A Kuwaiti makeup artist uploaded her video showing her distress for the new law which will allow Filipino domestic workers in Kuwait to have one day off in a week and can keep their passports with them. This she said. " I dont like this law, honestly i dont want a Filipino maid anymore. What if they try to run away and go back to their country. Who will refund me " After being criticised on social media she uploaded another video saying. " Lets not focus too much on this. There are more important things in life like botox " This is the bitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beelzebub 2,508 Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Baffles me how Britian, Australia, Russia, US and some other countries are highlighted as racist and xenophobic parts of the World white supermacists, Islamophobe and all that but Middle East isn't. Lebanese, Saudis, Gulf Arabs, Iranians, Jordanians and to some extent Egyptians are highly racist towards brown and black people. Not only that they hate each other as well. Oman is by far the best country in this region respectful to foriegners Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eco 3,008 Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 12 minutes ago, Devon Von Devon said: Baffles me how Britian, Australia, Russia, US and some other countries are highlighted as racist and xenophobic parts of the World white supermacists, Islamophobe and all that but Middle East isn't. Lebanese, Saudis, Gulf Arabs, Iranians, Jordanians and to some extent Egyptians are highly racist towards brown and black people. Not only that they hate each other as well. Oman is by far the best country in this region respectful to foriegners Why does this surprise you? What's the difference between Britian, Austrailia, Russia, U.S and Iran, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia? More open economies, and generally more money, technology, and other resources outside of Oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beelzebub 2,508 Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 11 minutes ago, Eco said: Why does this surprise you? What's the difference between Britian, Austrailia, Russia, U.S and Iran, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia? More open economies, and generally more money, technology, and other resources outside of Oil. Im pointing at the fact Middle East doesnt comes to peoples mind when they hear racism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beelzebub 2,508 Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/05/15/a-fascinating-map-of-the-worlds-most-and-least-racially-tolerant-countries/?utm_term=.014dd24fd75b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber nudge+ 15,333 Posted July 24, 2018 Subscriber Share Posted July 24, 2018 1 hour ago, Devon Von Devon said: Baffles me how Britian, Australia, Russia, US and some other countries are highlighted as racist and xenophobic parts of the World white supermacists, Islamophobe and all that but Middle East isn't. Lebanese, Saudis, Gulf Arabs, Iranians, Jordanians and to some extent Egyptians are highly racist towards brown and black people. Not only that they hate each other as well. Oman is by far the best country in this region respectful to foriegners Same in Southeast Asia, however, for them it's more about skin tone as an indicator of status and class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Gonzo 8,200 Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 1 hour ago, Devon Von Devon said: Im pointing at the fact Middle East doesnt comes to peoples mind when they hear racism. It absolutely should, because the Middle East is extremely fucking racist. But the Middle East seems a bit behind the times in a lot of regards, so it just goes on top of the pile of the list of things that aren't that great about the Middle East. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machado 1,710 Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 Stay strong Greek friends... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eco 3,008 Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 15 minutes ago, Machado said: Stay strong Greek friends... Unreal. Hope @Fusion and @Dalmore are both alright. In other news...Supposedly Demi Lovato has been rushed to the hospital with an apparent drug overdose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Stan 18,425 Posted July 25, 2018 Administrator Share Posted July 25, 2018 just seen some pictures of the Greek wildfires. Looks mad. Would hate to be caught up in that. As above, hope @Fusion and @Dalmore are safe. And anyone else living in the areas affected! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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