Zompist Bboard Again

I'd say the German system is reasonably good at teaching people English, perhaps because there are so many opportunities to practice outside school, but might well be as bad as any Anglophone school system at teaching any further additional languages.

alice wrote: ↑Thu Sep 18, 2025 2:26 pm If an "employee" is one who is employed, then is one who is seen a "seeee"?

yes, but you have to be careful when talking with people who turn medial <t>s into glottal stops...a seetee turns into a see'ee which my ears can't distinguish from your seeee.

keenir wrote: ↑Tue Sep 23, 2025 3:54 pm

alice wrote: ↑Thu Sep 18, 2025 2:26 pm If an "employee" is one who is employed, then is one who is seen a "seeee"?

yes, but you have to be careful when talking with people who turn medial <t>s into glottal stops...a seetee turns into a see'ee which my ears can't distinguish from your seeee.

The dialect here frequently drops /t d n nt/ and sometimes /nd/ between a stressed vowel and an unstressed vowel (and in certain other circumstances such as word-finally before a vowel-initial word or just because it feels like it) and you're supposed to hear the differences in vowel length and nasalization to tell all of these apart...

Of course, I would personally add a glottal stop to seeee...

Looks like all the real true Christians at my workplace are secretly a bunch of scofflaws. Not one of them was raptured today.

malloc wrote: ↑Tue Sep 23, 2025 7:08 pm Looks like all the real true Christians at my workplace are secretly a bunch of scofflaws. Not one of them was raptured today.

We have yet to see the prophesized airplanes-falling-out-of-the-sky-as-their-pilots-are-raptured...

??? Was there another "This time the Rapture will happen for sure!"-type prophecy I didn't hear about?

Raphael wrote: ↑Wed Sep 24, 2025 2:58 am ??? Was there another "This time the Rapture will happen for sure!"-type prophecy I didn't hear about?

it seems so - I knew nothing of it until the news outlets were talking about how nobody got raptured.

I googled it; so it seems that according to social network Evangelicals, the Rapture was yesterday.

My medication appears to have been underfilled and insurance will not let me obtain a refill until tomorrow.

Man in Space wrote: ↑Sat Sep 27, 2025 4:31 pm My medication appears to have been underfilled and insurance will not let me obtain a refill until tomorrow.

My sympathies. Hope things work out.

Man in Space wrote: ↑Sat Sep 27, 2025 4:31 pm My medication appears to have been underfilled and insurance will not let me obtain a refill until tomorrow.

Ugh. Fucking insurance.

Travis B. wrote: ↑Sat Sep 27, 2025 4:39 pm

Man in Space wrote: ↑Sat Sep 27, 2025 4:31 pm My medication appears to have been underfilled and insurance will not let me obtain a refill until tomorrow.

Ugh. Fucking insurance.

Yes.

Are we currently approaching, or have we, perhaps, already reached, one of those times in each spring and fall when, between the USA and most of Europe, one of those places has already made the switch from regular time to DST or back, and the other one hasn't, so that time differences are one hour different from what they are most of the year? Those times are always a bit confusing for me.

I’m having a bit of a midlife crisis.

In a few weeks, should I still be alive, I will turn 34. I myself do not anticipate living much past 60 due to my various health issues (bipolar I, Crohn’s, autism, OCD, and some ancillary related concerns). I’ve been working on Twin Aster in some form or other for over 20 years, I’ve a fantasy setting I’ve not done much with, I’m an active musician (we’re working on the album; I’m set to track the drums in a few weeks), and I have filmmaking aspirations (my mentor is helping me with this last). I want to get the work out before I depart the text but I’ve been feeling kind of stonewalled lately, hence the topic I posted in Almea earlier—I realized that instead of guessing I could just ask after the source—and I often too exhausted after getting off work to do much.

I’m not getting any younger, and my life expectancy is reduced. I don’t want to leave the tales untold.

I understand what you feel like. I am also worried that I perhaps won't accomplish what I want to accomplish within the rest of my life. I am now 55 (but apparently have fewer health issues than you), so I sometimes feel as if my time is running out. One should not think of that too much, but just carry on.

While it's important to have long term plans and it certainly feels bad to think you might not finish them, even healthy people aren't guaranteed to live to a certain age. Try to think of one small thing each day that, having done it/worked on it/finished it, you would feel a little better about leaving the mortal coil. It's definitely harder with various health conditions, especially ones that sap energy, though.

If I had any good advice on how to handle a midlife crisis, I'd share it here. Instead, just let me wish you all the best, and success with your various endeavors, Man in Space.

Raphael wrote: ↑Tue Sep 23, 2025 1:57 am I'd say the German system is reasonably good at teaching people English, perhaps because there are so many opportunities to practice outside school, but might well be as bad as any Anglophone school system at teaching any further additional languages.

You know, I have noticed most of the European countries that pick up English well already speak a Germanic language. I also notice that analysis for other languages, which I completely agree with from personal experience.

Starbeam wrote: ↑Mon Sep 29, 2025 9:54 am
You know, I have noticed most of the European countries that pick up English well already speak a Germanic language.

I hadn't noticed that myself, but now that you mention it, it does make sense.

Raphael wrote: ↑Mon Sep 29, 2025 10:41 am

Starbeam wrote: ↑Mon Sep 29, 2025 9:54 am
You know, I have noticed most of the European countries that pick up English well already speak a Germanic language.

I hadn't noticed that myself, but now that you mention it, it does make sense.

There are exceptions, such as Finland, which is known today for its good English despite being mostly non-Germanic-speaking (aside from its Swedish-speaking minority). Of course, this was not always this way, as is exemplified by the word tankero...