Random Comments/Stream of Consciousness Thread

[Tito_Villa]

My wedding photographer has put up some pics from the engagement photo shoot on her blog ... LINK

Fantastic shots Tom - brilliant mate !!!!

Thanks Grant, & everyone else too

[Robert Fulman]

I'm thinking that my New Year's Resolution will be that I will read a book in Spanish. I'm considering two options:

1. The Gunslinger (and possibly the other Dark Tower books if it goes well).
2. It

The upside to #1 is that I think a re-read is due. The downside to #1 is that I have already read the book in English, so I might only think I understand what is going on. I have never read It, so #2 could be a fun option, but daunting because the book is gigantic. A few years ago, I read about half of "El Padrino" ("The Godfather") but stoppped because I got bored with it (more the book itself than reading in Spanish). I took six years of Spanish (seventh through twelfth grades), placed out of the language requirement in College, and have barely used the language in fifteen years. My main exposure to Spanish in the last ten years has been Dora the Explorer, y un poquito de Plaza Sesamo.

I thought about how I would translate the first sentence of the Gunslinger and then used google to get:

El hombre de negro huyó a través del desierto, y siguió al pistolero.

My assessment:

• I would have said "El hombre en negro" instead of "El hombre de negro", but close enough.
• I was unfamiliar with the verb "huyer" (to flee)
• I probably knew at some point that a través meant across.
• I know that "seguir" means to follow, but I definitely would have messed up the tenses and/or spelling.
• I do know that "el pistolero" is "the gunslinger". I don't think Google is right about using "al pistolero" in this sentence.

We'll see how I feel about this idea in a month or so.

[George at C-Springs]

I tried the same, only in Italian. I found that I'm pretty much lost if I hadn't read it in English; sometimes those translations just don't work. In Italian they'll change character names and the meaning of entire sections because they don't translate directly in a way that makes sense. They do the same thing with TV shows; in Italian The Cosby Show was called The Robinsons because Huxtable didn't translate!

[George at C-Springs]

Clothing Donations Update - We spoke with the school social worker again this morning. She knew of a girl that needed sneakers to be able to participate in gym class (and even went to her classroom to get her size) and a boy that needed a coat. We'll be picking those up today.

She's going to coordinate with the teachers this week to get additional names and sizes; I figure with holiday prices we should be able to stretch the $120 collected so far pretty well. Thanks again to those who've donated ... you made a difference to the lives of these kids.

Edit: 10:30 AM, school just called ... a 1st grade boy has only a sweatshirt; getting him a nice winter coat today :-)

[Tito_Villa]

That's great news George

[pathoftheturtle]

I don't understand if you're reading foreign languages why you'd want to read things translated out of English. I wanted to learn French because I was interested in French writers. More often, though, I read the dead forms of languages; Latin and Ancient Greek, Old English, Old Norse. I am learning more of the Celtic tongues. And I tried to learn Sanskrit once. Maybe that should be my resolution... I'd love to know Asian languages. I took Japanese one year. No good at it. My ex-wife is -- she lived there. But I remember practically nothing. And my sister is fluent in Russian, but I stink at that, too. I learned a little Polish a long time ago; that's about it.

[George at C-Springs]

That's great news George

Wish I had the money to do more. It was freezing here again this morning, and the little girl that we bought the coat and hat and gloves for right before Thanksgiving was wearing them today, actually showing them off to her friends she was so proud. Gotta love that.

[Randall Flagg]

My News Years resolution is to learn English.

[George at C-Springs]

I don't understand if you're reading foreign languages why you'd want to read things translated out of English.

For practice more than anything else, plus I do much better (same as in conversations and watching TV) when I know the subject matter and what to expect. I learned a lot of Italian by watching Star Trek: The Next Generation reruns! It's not enjoyable reading when I get frustrated because I don't understand half of it.

RF - keep plugging away, it'll come to you :-)

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

My News Years resolution is to learn English.

Bet you give up after a month.

[George at C-Springs]

A donation of $25 just received for the children at Martinez Elementary ... thank you, that makes $145 so far! Today we helped out three kids (winter coat, a heavy sweatshirt, and a pair of shoes); more to come as the school lets me know their needs. Word spreads fast, I had both of the front office ladies call me today to say thank you, they were really appreciative ... I guess something like this doesn't get done very often, taking the steps to help students who really need it on an individual basis.

This has got to be worth some cool points with Santa; don't know about the rest of you but I need them!

[pathoftheturtle]

For practice more than anything else, plus I do much better (same as in conversations and watching TV) when I know the subject matter and what to expect. I learned a lot of Italian by watching Star Trek: The Next Generation reruns! It's not enjoyable reading when I get frustrated because I don't understand half of it.

That's cool. I see. Making a chore out of it certainly won't help. I guess I was just asking Robert Fulman why he cares in the first place. Maybe reading, like, Jorge Luis Borges first in English translation would help just as much.

[Robert Fulman]

So reading King in Spanish is bad, but reading Borges in English is good?

In a perfect world, I suppose I might want to read a great Spanish-language novel in Spanish. However, this isn't a perfect world and I'm not particularly interested in "great" literature, or even "good" literature. Then again, I am a man of great indifference, so maybe I'll take a look at something by Borges. It doesn't really matter. Like most resolutions, it's just a thing I will either check off a list or forget about by March.

[pathoftheturtle]

So reading King in Spanish is bad, but reading Borges in English is good?

Uh, no. I didn't say that. And I wasn't trying to tell you what you "should" be interested in. I just asked a question.

[Ari_Racing]

I was unfamiliar with the verb "huyer" (to flee)

Actually, the verb is "Huir".

The spanish language isn't too easy since it has a complex tense system. It's easier for one to learn english than spanish (english is a great language to learn: easy, concrete and it doesn't have many exceptions). That been said I'd suggest you to start with a more "easy novel" to start getting familiar with words and tenses. For example, one of the Bachman novels. But, if you'd like to start with The Gunslinger or It, IT has an easier language than The Gunslinger.

I wouldn't jump on Jorge Luis Borges right now...many of his writings are complex to understand if you don't know them and you're reading them in other language than your mother one.

[mattgreenbean]

9 days left for the fundraiser my band is doing on Kickstarter. We've been raising money to record some new material. Take a second to watch the cartoon we made for this. If you could donate ($1 is the lowest) we would be super grateful. This is also a great way for us to gain new fans, so please share with your friends and family. Our name is Deleveled, we play rock, help a brother out.

http://kck.st/VD2Ryg

[TwistedNadine]

My News Years resolution is to learn English.

I know some English:

"That bloke is a radgie bloody twit but he fancies lemon in his tea at tea time"

[pathoftheturtle]

...english is a great language to learn: easy, concret and it doesn't have many exceptions...

The verb tenses are simpler, but spelling is much more complicated.

[Ari_Racing]

Touché!

Concrete...

[pathoftheturtle]

Yes, but I'm not laughing at that. Seriously, English is pretty difficult in some ways. I guess it's a matter of each one's point of view.

[Ari_Racing]

I took courses of English, French and Italian, and the easiest was English (and also the one I liked the most). Italian somehow wasn't hard to learn since in my family almost everyone is Italian and talk the language (my father, my grandparents, my aunt...). As for French, I'm one of those people that consider flaws all the exceptions present in a language.

But I think it all comes to how each of the ones that study a language likes or dislikes it.

I aim to learn Chinese or Japanese in the next years.

[RainInSpain]

But I think it all comes to how each of the ones that study a language likes or dislikes it.

That's what I think, too.
For ex., I really dislike the French language for some reason - it just does not feel 'comfortable' (no offense to any French-speakers, the problem lies with me not the language itself). So I never really succeeded in it, simply because of lack of enthusiasm. OTOH, I have always enjoyed German and Swedish languages - and they were a breeze to study (while I was studying them). Italian looked like a fairly easy language to learn - even simple TV lessons were enough to gain basic understanding of the language. And it sounds very lively, what with all those Italian movies with emotions overflowing Greek (modern) seems to be a fun language to learn for me as a Russian - so many letters are similar, and some words sound sort of familiar. (Really want to learn more of it, as I absolutely loved Greece and Cyprus.)
Strangely enough, I have never had a chance to learn Spanish Need to look into that, stat

Oh, and as pathoftheturtle said, once it's a chore, it gets much more difficult to learn a language. Most of my language knowledge (except English and a bit of German) has been 'accidental' and for fun.

[pathoftheturtle]

You could hardly avoid learning a little accidental Spanish if you lived in the U.S.
But how can anyone not enjoy the sound of French, I wonder?

[Iwritecode]

Yes, but I'm not laughing at that. Seriously, English is pretty difficult in some ways. I guess it's a matter of each one's point of view.

Just reading different message boards and Facebook daily I see plenty of people that still don't know the difference between to, two and too. You're and your is another one.

I always figured English was difficult to learn simply because it has so many words that don't follow the "rules".

The comedian Gallager had a bit about it. The one I remember most is that 'ache' is pronounced with a hard "k" sound. Yet in mustache it's pronounced as "ash" instead of "must ake" or "mistake".

Then there are words like phone or phonics. How the hell do we get an F sound from 'ph'?

Yea, English sucks.

[RainInSpain]

You could hardly avoid learning a little accidental Spanish if you lived in the U.S.
But how can anyone not enjoy the sound of French, I wonder?

I am reminded of that every time I visit California. I actually want to learn a bit of Spanish on the off-chance that I have a longer business trip to the U.S. one day.

As to French, that's the question that I am always asked when I say that I feel (physically) uncomfortable with it. I'm okay listening to other people speaking it, but French words just do not roll off my tongue easily. (I get that your question was mostly rhetorical, but just wanted to clarify.)

Yes, but I'm not laughing at that. Seriously, English is pretty difficult in some ways. I guess it's a matter of each one's point of view.

Just reading different message boards and Facebook daily I see plenty of people that still don't know the difference between to, two and too. You're and your is another one.

I always figured English was difficult to learn simply because it has so many words that don't follow the "rules".

The comedian Gallager had a bit about it. The one I remember most is that 'ache' is pronounced with a hard "k" sound. Yet in mustache it's pronounced as "ash" instead of "must ake" or "mistake".

Then there are words like phone or phonics. How the hell do we get an F sound from 'ph'?

Yea, English sucks.

My feeling is that some of the reasons for this kind of illiteracy is that (1) people generally tend to read less literature these days, or less of what I would call 'serious' literature, with proper language and considerable vocabulary; and (2) even when they read it (or, more likely, skim it), they don't visually 'memorize" proper spelling. Why, I don't know. But this tendency of language simplification (or is it bastardization?) goes beyond just the English language, I'm afraid. I see it in my native Russian all the time.