Random/Interesting/Weird

[Gorth]

Why the English language and spelling is such a bastard...

 

 

[Gromnir]

49 minutes ago, Gorth said:

Why the English language and spelling is such a bastard...

 

literal first five seconds explains what is wrong with the english language. 

newspaper headline: ye olde time spelling bee in town again

"ye" looks like it would be pronounced yee, yes? no. 

weird isn't the exception. for every spelling rule there is enough exceptions as to make having a rule comical.

grammar is only slight less problematic as odd punctuation rules confuse even those who teach english and tenses ain't straight forward neither. explain lie v. lay in simple terms. then explain again when somebody picks up faulkner's as i lay dying and is justifiably perplexed. there is future tense and future perfect tense, but also contractions for future perfect which is used reflexive by native speakers but may be baffling to those less familiar with conversational english.

kinda a mess. 

HA! Good Fun!

[majestic]

Spelling and pronunciation are pretty confusing in English, but I found every aspect of English grammar to be easier than its German counterpart, including the tenses. Inflection in English is so wonderfully limited.  

That might say more about German than it does about English though, so take that with a grain of salt.

[Amentep]

Old thread:

 

[Gorth]

17 hours ago, majestic said:

Spelling and pronunciation are pretty confusing in English, but I found every aspect of English grammar to be easier than its German counterpart, including the tenses. Inflection in English is so wonderfully limited.  

That might say more about German than it does about English though, so take that with a grain of salt.

I think the English language is also limited to two genders?

[majestic]

40 minutes ago, Gorth said:

I think the English language is also limited to two genders?

Modern English doesn't have any grammatical genders at all. Were you thinking of the articles (the / a)?

The morphological case system that is present in other Germanic languages is by far and large gone - what's left are the personal pronouns and a vestige of the genetive case (even that can be replaced by "of", i.e. the color of my car, rather than my car's color). There is some very limited conjugation and declension based on person, tense and number, but most of it is also simply adding an -s, 's or -ed.

The language is well on its way to become analytic rather than fusing - one might argue that it is already more of an analytic language than a fusing one.

Edited April 7, 2022 by majestic

[Gorth]

What I was thinking of was German words having three genders, determining whether to use der, die or das (I was reminded of it when changing the title of the Ukraine thread)

 

[Azdeus]

 

24 minutes ago, BruceVC said:

What an interesting link, is it true the quote below. What I am asking is how many people believe in Jante and how many people question it? Its such a interesting and ostensibly positive  way of living but I just wonder do the majority of Swedish people believe it ?

In modern Scandinavian society, the law of Jante can be summed up in one of two ways. For those who believe: it is a way of keeping everyone equal, a simple ideal that celebrates modesty and humbleness. But for those who don’t: it’s seen as social control that suppresses individuality

First, it's not really an actual thing, you should note the part of the text that says it's from a satirical book from the 30's.

That said, it does follow our culture a bit that is all, if anything you're taught that you are special and valuable in school. We don't like braggarts really.

Edited April 7, 2022 by Azdeus

[BruceVC]

On 4/6/2022 at 2:32 AM, Gorth said:

Why the English language and spelling is such a bastard...

 

 

My worst thing is people who misuse their and there ....nothing more  exasperating 

Im dont mean to sound captious but Im  not sure how you feel about this Gorthfuscious 

 

[Sarex]

https://www.reuters.com/technology/elon-musks-arrival-stirs-fears-among-some-twitter-employees-2022-04-07/

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha. Hope he trolls the **** out of them. I guess this is what having **** you money is about.

[Malcador]

3 minutes ago, Sarex said:

https://www.reuters.com/technology/elon-musks-arrival-stirs-fears-among-some-twitter-employees-2022-04-07/

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha. Hope he trolls the **** out of them. I guess this is what having **** you money is about.

Just need to remember, wealth is no shield against steel

[Hurlshort]

This is a recap of the race my wife and I did Saturday. It went pretty similar for me, except I was much slower at everything.

[Azdeus]

11 hours ago, kanisatha said:

Yes indeed, definitely the climate as well. And since we're on this topic, even though it is off-topic for this thread, I just have to ask because I've heard it said so very often: Do you guys from Sweden and Finland believe that your society and your people are melancholy by nature because of the climate in which you live? That the way you are and the way you live your lives, and even the way you express yourselves, are all driven by a pervasive sense of melancholy that permeates your society? The social and behavioral scientist in me has long been very curious about this claim.

 We're not melancholy really, but yeah, when it's pitch black outside at 4pm and you and your friends want to do something, you get creative, so we do indoor stuff like RPG's, music and videogames. This is also helped by the fact that we used to invest alot of money in schools to encourage youths to develop their musical interests (For instance, you could borrow an instrument for up to a year, for free), we went heavy into computerization in the 90's with subsidising home pc's and (then)state owned Telia expanded ADSL capabilities heavilly.

You become well motivated to build safe cars when the likelyhood of traffic accidents are high. Swedish cars before recently didn't have the ability to completely turn off the lights on the car, to avoid accidentally leaving them off in twilight. Elk are good at hiding in darkness, collide with one and it tends to land on the cars A-post and roof, so you build sturdy roofs, collisions are pretty common due to slippery road conditions aswell.

If you're not interested in nerd stuff like music and videogames, you can always drink, **** and party.

Edit; Should also say that I like winter and autumn best, and despise spring and summer, I really dislike when it's warm, so I'm atypical.

Edited April 8, 2022 by Azdeus

[Raithe]

BBC - Miscarriage: Tens of thousands have PTSD symptoms

 

Quote

Tens of thousands of women in the UK may be experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after miscarriages each year, a leading researcher warns.

Prof Tom Bourne estimates the number affected could run to 45,000 annually.

But he says most are not given prompt psychological support that could help prevent PTSD developing.

His team is trying out a variety of new approaches - including virtual reality - to help address the issue.

 

Edited April 8, 2022 by Raithe

[Malcador]

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/08/16-year-old-killed-when-teens-wearing-body-armor-take-turns-shooting-at-each-other-in-florida-police-say/

Officers said an investigation revealed Vining fatally shot Broad as the two were taking turns shooting at each other while wearing a vest containing “a form of body armor.”

[Gfted1]

A Rare Planetary Alignment Is About to Happen. Here's How You Can See It (sciencealert.com)

[Malcador]

 

[Sarex]

OMG, that sound brought me straight back to the server failover testing meetings. Never again...

[Raithe]

[Malcador]

 

[Raithe]

Thread from the writer/professor David Bowles

I’ll let you in on a secret. I have a doctorate in education, but the field’s basically just a 100 years old. We don’t really know what we’re doing. Our scholarly understanding of how learning happens is like astronomy 2000 years ago.
Most classroom practice is astrology.
Before the late 19th century, no human society had ever attempted to formally educate the entire populace. It was either aristocracy, meritocracy, or a blend. And always male.

We’re still smack-dab in the middle of the largest experiment on children ever done.
Most teachers perpetuate the “banking” model (Freire) used on them by their teachers, who likewise inherited it from theirs, etc.
Thus the elite “Lyceum” style of instruction continues even though it’s ineffectual with most kids.
What’s worse, the key strategies we’ve discovered, driven by cognitive science & child psychology, are quite regularly dismissed by pencil-pushing, test-driven administrators. Much like Trump ignores science, the majority of principals & superintendents I’ve known flout research.
Some definitions.
Banking model --> kids are like piggy banks: empty till you fill them with knowledge that you're the expert in.
Lyceum --> originally Aristotle's school, where the sons of land-owning citizens learned through lectures and research.

Things we (scholars) DO know:
-Homework doesn't really help, especially younger kids.
-Students don't learn a thing from testing. Most teachers don't either (it's supposed to help them tweak instruction, but that rarely happens).
-Spending too much time on weak subjects HURTS.

Do you want kids to learn? Here's something we've discovered.
Kids learn things that matter to them, either because the knowledge and skills are "cool," or because ...
... they give the kids tools to liberate themselves and their communities.
Maintaining the status quo? Nope.

Kids are acutely aware of injustice and by nature rebellious against the systems of authority that keep autonomy away from them.
If you're perpetuating those systems, teachers, you've already freaking lost.
They won't be learning much from you.
Except what not to become.
Sure, you can wear them down.
That's what happened to most of you, isn't it?
You saw the hideous flaw in the world and wanted to heal it. But year after numbing year, they made you learn their dogma by rote.
And now many of you are breaking the souls of children, too.
For what?
It's all smoke and mirrors. All the carefully crafted objectives, units and exams.

WE.
DON'T.
KNOW.
HOW.
PEOPLE.
LEARN.

We barely understand the physical mechanisms behind MEMORY.
But we DO know kids aren't empty piggy banks.
They are BRIMMING with thought.
The last and most disgusting reality? The thing I hear in classroom after freaking classroom?
Education is all about capitalism.
"You need to learn these skills to get a good job."
To be a good laborer. To help the wealthy generate more wealth, while you get scraps.
THAT is why modern education is a failure.
Its basic premise is monstrous.

"Why should I learn to read, Dr. Bowles?"
Because reading is magical. It makes life worth living. And being able to read, you can decode the strategies of your oppressors & stop them w/ their own words

[Gromnir]

2 hours ago, Raithe said:

Thread from the writer/professor David Bowles

 

 

@Hurlsnot shared this last summer, but the internet swallowed it

jic amnesia or early onset dementia presents and people forget how "the field’s basically just a 100 years old," concerns were already addressed.

HA! Good Fun!

[Gfted1]

The "field of education" is only 100 years old? Seems legit. 

[Amentep]

55 minutes ago, Gfted1 said:

The "field of education" is only 100 years old? Seems legit. 

I think the writer means the "education in the field of education" phenomenon (first PH.D in Education - 1893, IIRC).  That said, a couple of random thoughts that I don't think I posted when this cropped up before...

Before the late 19th century, no human society had ever attempted to formally educate the entire populace. It was either aristocracy, meritocracy, or a blend. And always male.

I'm not sure that the first can actually be stated with any confidence.  The second is wrong because (regardless of whether they're talking about society or educational attempts) they've left off theocracy, since religion was oft one of the earliest educators for many societies*.  The oldest university is a mosque turned university in Morocco that's been educating people since the 9th century or so (and most mosques have acted as places of education as part of their role within their communities)

Students don't learn a thing from testing. Most teachers don't either (it's supposed to help them tweak instruction, but that rarely happens).

Students aren't supposed to learn from testing. If educators misuse tests or disregard what their data says, that's a different problem.  But if you think students learn from testing, you don't understand testing.

*People will argue - "but they were teaching the wrong things!" which is patentedly irrelevant to the argument.

[Raithe]

This is why I post this stuff. For the discussion points that crop up.