Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
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Post by Confessor on Aug 23, 2018 6:37:27 GMT -5
Superman 3 was the only time I felt like walking out of a movie but I Stayed. I really had to fight my major disappointment. If only you'd known that even worse was coming down the pike, with Superman IV. Superman III looks a whole lot better when you compare it to what came afterwards.
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Post by Cei-U! on Aug 23, 2018 7:14:14 GMT -5
Air quality is so bad here... and it's worse in other places, Seattle looks worse than where I am, but I've been getting lightheaded a few times. It must be cumulative. Luckily my eyes and nose aren't bothered as some peoples' sure are, but I have the sore throat, the headaches, and the lightheaded dizzyness now. Supposed to clear up a bit tomorrow, just in time I hope. Last year and this year are the only years in my life or my Mother's that we've seen orange and red suns in the sky because of the shmutz! Is this going to happen a couple weeks or more every summer now? View from the Space Needle... www.spaceneedle.com/webcam/Yeah, it's bad. My sister has COPD and the smoke is wreaking havoc on her breathing. Looks like it's letting up, though.
By the way, becca, I didn't realize you were a Pacific Northwesterner. I hope that means you'll join us next spring at the annual CCF Emerald City Con dinner.
Cei-U! I summon the open invitation!
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Post by Icctrombone on Aug 23, 2018 7:47:06 GMT -5
Superman 3 was the only time I felt like walking out of a movie but I Stayed. I really had to fight my major disappointment. If only you'd known that even worse was coming down the pike, with Superman IV. Superman III looks a whole lot better when you compare it to what came afterwards. Oddly enough, I enjoyed Superman 4 more than 3. I liked Superman Returns more than 3 and 4.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2018 8:00:59 GMT -5
If only you'd known that even worse was coming down the pike, with Superman IV. Superman III looks a whole lot better when you compare it to what came afterwards. Oddly enough, I enjoyed Superman 4 more than 3. I liked Superman Returns more than 3 and 4. For me in order:
Superman. Then II. Returns. III. I would rather forget IV & Supergirl movies.
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Post by BigPapaJoe on Aug 23, 2018 8:38:15 GMT -5
Hey. I've talked on here about language learning before. I was wondering for those of you here that have learned another language, how was your experience? What do you think is the best way to learn? The reason I'm mainly asking is in part due to a very recent experience I had with an online tutor from italki, a popular online community for language learning as you may know. I've learned Chinese off and on for the last few years. I guess I could say I'm at survival level, but never really consistently knuckled down to learn habitually everyday. Recently though, I have been trying. I'm 30, and this is something I started a while ago that I at least want to get to a level where I can get my thoughts across to someone else. I'm not doing this for any academic endeavors. I do want to shake being a passive learner though if that make sense.
Last night was the third lesson I had with my new tutor through three weeks. We're around the same age. She is a native Chinese, but speaks English and Japanese as well. She had handed out quite a few lessons to people on the site, so I figured her availability was good in addition to having a lot of experience teaching various people. I usually learn on my own through various resources. My main ones being the Integrated Chinese books, Anki, Hello Talk app, the Reddit community, and various YouTube videos from a couple users I subscribe to. I felt like I still needed a speaking partner though to just be able to go back, and forth. Even if my grammar and speaking sucked. I just wanted to get the flow going. So I had the italki lessons scheduled for once a week.
This third lesson though, was a dramatic shift I had with my tutor. The first two were casual speaking lessons. About 30 minutes each. This one though, we spent the entire time trying to get a simple grammar point into my head. I didn't understand, because even though it was something simple in nature, I never really learned or liked learning in that kind of structure where it's very grammar and academic based. I struggle, and it really doesn't become a joy learning at all for me. English is my mother language, and I can't even explain how it works to anyone else in English. I just speak it. My tutor kept berating me as the lesson progressed, and eventually shouted at me a couple of times because I wasn't understanding. I told her this wasn't working, and that I'm not used to learning in this fashion. Nor did I like it. I think she realized that her method of teaching may not just be for me, and she apologized for her approach, and behavior. I didn't really like the way I was treated though, but maybe I'm being a little too sensitive. I did start to have doubts in my mind afterward as if I should continue learning a language at all. I'm thinking about either switching tutors, or going back to what I was doing before. Which was not really having a tutor. I live in Macau, and I would just try to talk to the mainland tourists when walking my dog sometimes. A lot of the time, I did find myself using a lot of the same safe "phrases" in conversation, but sometimes I did discover new nuggets. At the very least, I never had any of my confidence take a hit like it did the other night. Perhaps I'm just not the "tough love" type.
Anyway, I was hesitant to share this story since I'm sure it will come off like I'm running to the internet for moral support after a negative life experience I had in the real world. Something kept telling me that I should at the very least get this off my chest somehow. To be honest, I'm not sure what there is to gain by sharing. I'm hoping for some kind of insight or direction for those that may have been in a similar circumstance maybe.
IF you made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,069
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Post by Confessor on Aug 23, 2018 9:49:01 GMT -5
If only you'd known that even worse was coming down the pike, with Superman IV. Superman III looks a whole lot better when you compare it to what came afterwards. Oddly enough, I enjoyed Superman 4 more than 3. I liked Superman Returns more than 3 and 4. I disagree about the respective merits of III or IV, but yes, I thought Superman Returns was better than either of them. I'm one of those seemingly rare comic fans who liked Superman Returns a whole lot. For me in order: Superman. Then II. Returns. III. I would rather forget IV & Supergirl movies. Yep, this is me too.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 23, 2018 9:49:18 GMT -5
Air quality is so bad here... and it's worse in other places, Seattle looks worse than where I am, but I've been getting lightheaded a few times. It must be cumulative. Luckily my eyes and nose aren't bothered as some peoples' sure are, but I have the sore throat, the headaches, and the lightheaded dizzyness now. Supposed to clear up a bit tomorrow, just in time I hope. Last year and this year are the only years in my life or my Mother's that we've seen orange and red suns in the sky because of the shmutz! Is this going to happen a couple weeks or more every summer now? View from the Space Needle... www.spaceneedle.com/webcam/Yeah, it's bad. My sister has COPD and the smoke is wreaking havoc on her breathing. Looks like it's letting up, though.
By the way, becca, I didn't realize you were a Pacific Northwesterner. I hope that means you'll join us next spring at the annual CCF Emerald City Con dinner.
Cei-U! I summon the open invitation!
It's smoky here in southern Idaho, though not as bad as you've been getting it. It is super bad in Boise though as they're surrounded by about three or four different fires. We are getting a bit of smoke from the Bruneau and the Duck Valley fires but it's more an annoyance than anything else.
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Aug 23, 2018 15:08:38 GMT -5
Sure, he was the main villain of the piece. It must be a long while since you saw it? Although Vaughn's Ross Webster was no Gene Hackman/Lex Luthor-- and Superman III sure as hell ain't no Superman the Movie or Superman II -- I think Vaughn's villain was definitely one of the stronger parts of the film. Had he been shorn of his annoying stooges (Vera Webster and Lorelei), I think it might've gone some way towards improving the film. Although, having said that, Vera becoming a scary ass computer/cyborg/zombie-thing was definitely one of the film's more memorable moments. Yes it has been a very long time since I’ve seen the movie. So I’m not surprised I had a memory lapse. On top of that I’ve seen it maybe 2-3 times at that.
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Post by beccabear67 on Aug 23, 2018 17:51:05 GMT -5
I never really learned or liked learning in that kind of structure where it's very grammar and academic based. I struggle, and it really doesn't become a joy learning at all for me. English is my mother language, and I can't even explain how it works to anyone else in English. I just speak it. Well, the Japanese course I took was a University extension course but it wasn't so academic (and yet hal;f the class was made up of school teachers), it was based mainly on a U.S. military program that was developed way back actually, definitely about being basically functional (plus a focus on pronunciation), and then I had added to this reading comprehension going into the big bad kanji written language (the Chinese character basics). I got so I was capable of the work I had set out to be doing, working with a native Japanese speaker/reader and make for better translations from Japanese to English. I could address mail and read comics or stories with illustrations (there is a level of inference in the language that makes pure text almost impossible for a foreigner or northern Ainu perhaps too), you can get lost so easily. So you might want to find out what the military is using and if there are any public accessible courses based on it? I have no idea about on-line stuff, I might seek something like that if I needed a refresher course perhaps. Rosetta, Berlitz... those seem to be more functional or conversational course providers with audio lessons and microphone stuff. I would be more comfortable with an in-person attendance community college type of situation though. Ask the instructor(s) listed if they are academic based; I wouldn't have even qualified for a course like that myself back before things like internet courses'. I totally failed at an academic course in French back in grades 8 and 9 anyway. There is a framework to a language and some are very foreign and others very logical and relatable. I happened to find Japanese very relatable, and even the pronunciation came naturally somehow. Academically I would probably have been only near a kindergarten level though I suppose, and now a very rusty kindergarten level! You kind of absorb language over time and through actual need and use I think, so maybe it would help to have something off the course to try to do involving the language alongside whatever the course provides too. I had some comic books I wanted to try and translate. I know there are lots of Mandarin and Cantonese comic books, but reading might be a seperate thing for you I'm not sure, so perhaps trying to really comprehend and follow one of the many historical soap operas?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2018 19:48:51 GMT -5
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Aug 23, 2018 21:12:08 GMT -5
Hey. I've talked on here about language learning before. I was wondering for those of you here that have learned another language, how was your experience? What do you think is the best way to learn? The reason I'm mainly asking is in part due to a very recent experience I had with an online tutor from italki, a popular online community for language learning as you may know. I've learned Chinese off and on for the last few years. I guess I could say I'm at survival level, but never really consistently knuckled down to learn habitually everyday. Recently though, I have been trying. I'm 30, and this is something I started a while ago that I at least want to get to a level where I can get my thoughts across to someone else. I'm not doing this for any academic endeavors. I do want to shake being a passive learner though if that make sense. Last night was the third lesson I had with my new tutor through three weeks. We're around the same age. She is a native Chinese, but speaks English and Japanese as well. She had handed out quite a few lessons to people on the site, so I figured her availability was good in addition to having a lot of experience teaching various people. I usually learn on my own through various resources. My main ones being the Integrated Chinese books, Anki, Hello Talk app, the Reddit community, and various YouTube videos from a couple users I subscribe to. I felt like I still needed a speaking partner though to just be able to go back, and forth. Even if my grammar and speaking sucked. I just wanted to get the flow going. So I had the italki lessons scheduled for once a week. This third lesson though, was a dramatic shift I had with my tutor. The first two were casual speaking lessons. About 30 minutes each. This one though, we spent the entire time trying to get a simple grammar point into my head. I didn't understand, because even though it was something simple in nature, I never really learned or liked learning in that kind of structure where it's very grammar and academic based. I struggle, and it really doesn't become a joy learning at all for me. English is my mother language, and I can't even explain how it works to anyone else in English. I just speak it. My tutor kept berating me as the lesson progressed, and eventually shouted at me a couple of times because I wasn't understanding. I told her this wasn't working, and that I'm not used to learning in this fashion. Nor did I like it. I think she realized that her method of teaching may not just be for me, and she apologized for her approach, and behavior. I didn't really like the way I was treated though, but maybe I'm being a little too sensitive. I did start to have doubts in my mind afterward as if I should continue learning a language at all. I'm thinking about either switching tutors, or going back to what I was doing before. Which was not really having a tutor. I live in Macau, and I would just try to talk to the mainland tourists when walking my dog sometimes. A lot of the time, I did find myself using a lot of the same safe "phrases" in conversation, but sometimes I did discover new nuggets. At the very least, I never had any of my confidence take a hit like it did the other night. Perhaps I'm just not the "tough love" type. Anyway, I was hesitant to share this story since I'm sure it will come off like I'm running to the internet for moral support after a negative life experience I had in the real world. Something kept telling me that I should at the very least get this off my chest somehow. To be honest, I'm not sure what there is to gain by sharing. I'm hoping for some kind of insight or direction for those that may have been in a similar circumstance maybe. IF you made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read From my own experience: Nothing beats a formal class to learn the real basics of a foreign language grammar. The interaction with other pupils is a big help. But the first, the very first thing to aquire is vocabulary. As our German teacher said during the first class: it’s pointless to teach you any grammar rule as long as you don’t know any word. So the first few lessons were really about learning new words and being familiar with them. I believe that a standard person routinely uses no more than 500 words in their daily life. Of course, not knowing how to place these words in a sentence makes one sound odd (or merely foreign), but that’s not a big problem: as soon as your vocabulary is good enough to interact with other people, they will take great pleasure in correcting you. My wife spoke no German when we move to Germany, nor any English when we moved to the US, and in both cases meeting neighbours and saying things like “Hi! Me not from here!” was enough to create links, 8nitiate conversations, and make huge progress. For my own part, I found that reading (comics at first, then novels) worked wonders. The only drawback is that I had no idea how to pronounce “fruition” before having to speak it out loud, but that’s small potatoes (or potahtoes). Learning words, and lots of them, is the key to quick progress. I suppose you’re trying to learn Mandarin, right? (Tsung Kuo Wa, as I recall). That’s not an easy language, because of its tonal nature, but I’m sure you’ll make it. Just start slow, with baby steps, and learn learn, learn! Best of luck!
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Post by beccabear67 on Aug 23, 2018 21:28:46 GMT -5
"Ich genieße die Spätzle."
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Post by beccabear67 on Aug 23, 2018 21:36:20 GMT -5
By the way, becca, I didn't realize you were a Pacific Northwesterner. I hope that means you'll join us next spring at the annual CCF Emerald City Con dinner.
Cei-U! I summon the open invitation!
I went to a couple of '80s Norwescons, but have only heard about Seattle comic cons. I had an apartment on 9th for a few months in 2004, but since the BF sold a business in the U district haven't had as much reason to spend much time in Seattle. It keeps changing on me too! But who knows what I'll be up to in March...
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2018 9:01:20 GMT -5
We head out tomorrow to make the trip back east to visit with my mom for a few days. We'll get back the Thursday before Labor Day weekend, so I'll be scarce around these parts until then. See you on the other side.
-M
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Post by Prince Hal on Aug 24, 2018 10:24:21 GMT -5
We head out tomorrow to make the trip back east to visit with my mom for a few days. We'll get back the Thursday before Labor Day weekend, so I'll be scarce around these parts until then. See you on the other side. -M Safe driving, m! Not headed toward the Cape, are you?
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