The Vent and Rant Thread

[kennyc]

Damnit! I just broke my vertical Amateur Radio Antenna! I was getting a small tree out of the way (too close to the house) and the damn tree fell the wrong direction and broke the antenna into two pieces as well a damaging a couple of matching coils/capacitors.

At least the tree is down though...

[maianhvk]

first time I studied with a French teacher. we used English to introduce ourselves at first, but she insisted on not speaking English in a French class so I (and others) didn't understand a word she said and all she got was our blank look, although she did try to pronounce every word as clearly and slowly as she could. no surprise: we only knew how to count and spell.

[wannabee]

Originally Posted by SolRaven

No. More prepaid kno. Looks like you already did.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

Earlier today there was a big shooting incident in a shopping centre in Alphen aan den Rijn. Six people were killed, including the killer, and four people are in critical condition in hospital. Can't remember anything like this happening in the Netherlands before. This news makes me really sad .

[bjones6416]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

Earlier today there was a big shooting incident in a shopping centre in Alphen aan den Rijn. Six people were killed, including the killer, and four people are in critical condition in hospital. Can't remember anything like this happening in the Netherlands before. This news makes me really sad .

I saw this earlier on the news. It made me sad, too. It happens all too often here in the U.S., and I hate to see it happening other places too.

[wannabee]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Damnit! I just broke my vertical Amateur Radio Antenna! I was getting a small tree out of the way (too close to the house) and the damn tree fell the wrong direction and broke the antenna into two pieces as well a damaging a couple of matching coils/capacitors.

At least the tree is down though...

That's pretty exciting because that gives you the excuse for a whole new antenna. I had a sixty foot telescopic mast with a 5 element yagi pointed at Japan in '77 when the wind came up and the bloody thing bent like a banana. The only way to bring it down was to inform all the neighbors to evacuate while I did it. Not pretty, but I wish the amateur radio magazine had returned my 35mm slides to show you what a sixty foot mast looks like with a 5 element yagi gasping for a resurrection. ( it was borrowed) amazing how well you can bend aluminum back to shape. The owner was told but still on-sold it later.
I later made many cubical quads. I made them for Hams that didn't believe in real antennas. They believed after that. You know what. Think I'm at an age that I could possibly supervise a cubicle quad for sub 10 Meters.
Sorry, just being an old ham.

[kennyc]

Very good point! I still have a 40M inverted vee up I can use that and my tuner in case of nuclear attack or mainland invasion of the U.S.A. or in case the people actually get a pair and revolt against these so called representatives....

Actually it's been years since I actually transmitted but have listened on occasion. Maybe this will spur me to get a new antenna up and maybe some additional equipment and and and....

Originally Posted by wannabee

That's pretty exciting because that gives you the excuse for a whole new antenna. I had a sixty foot telescopic mast with a 5 element yagi pointed at Japan in '77 when the wind came up and the bloody thing bent like a banana. The only way to bring it down was to inform all the neighbors to evacuate while I did it. Not pretty, but I wish the amateur radio magazine had returned my 35mm slides to show you what a sixty foot mast looks like with a 5 element yagi gasping for a resurrection. ( it was borrowed) amazing how well you can bend aluminum back to shape. The owner was told but still on-sold it later.
I later made many cubical quads. I made them for Hams that didn't believe in real antennas. They believed after that. You know what. Think I'm at an age that I could possibly supervise a cubicle quad for sub 10 Meters.
Sorry, just being an old ham.

[DixieGal]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

Earlier today there was a big shooting incident in a shopping centre in Alphen aan den Rijn. Six people were killed, including the killer, and four people are in critical condition in hospital. Can't remember anything like this happening in the Netherlands before. This news makes me really sad .

At least the gunman is dead.

[SolRaven]

Originally Posted by wannabee

No. More prepaid kno. Looks like you already did.

Fortunately, they never charged the credit card. If they had done that I would have been a lot more vocal!

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

Earlier today there was a big shooting incident in a shopping centre in Alphen aan den Rijn. Six people were killed, including the killer, and four people are in critical condition in hospital. Can't remember anything like this happening in the Netherlands before. This news makes me really sad .

It is sad when these sorts of things happen, the worst part is that the gunman will never be able to tell his side, I do think it is good to understand why they do what they do. Sadly it was never just a US issue, it has always and always will be a human problem, some people are hard wired for violence, there is no way to know how or why this person lets loose. Someday we'll have a better understanding, until then all we can do is examine what's happened and try to prevent it.

Originally Posted by maianhvk

first time I studied with a French teacher. we used English to introduce ourselves at first, but she insisted on not speaking English in a French class so I (and others) didn't understand a word she said and all she got was our blank look, although she did try to pronounce every word as clearly and slowly as she could. no surprise: we only knew how to count and spell.

Believe it or not, that is the best way to learn a new language, because you are being forced to think in the target language much faster than if you were translating every word or phrase. Give it time and try as much as possible to speak only in French.

[Stitchawl]

As one who has had to muddle though a LOT of different languages, I agree that Mortis is quite right. To take a class where your native language is used will NOT do you well in the long run. Total immersion is the ONLY way to quickly learn a language. Unfortunately, it is also the most painful way to learn a language, especially when grades are involved.

Something that works very well for me is to buy a couple of children's books, the sort they call 'first readers.' Made for 3-4 year olds... Like this: See the ball. See the red ball. See the dog. See the green dog. See the green dog run.

As long as you don't need to discuss quantum physics, these books can really give you a boost into a new language.

Stitchawl

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Something that works very well for me is to buy a couple of children's books, the sort they call 'first readers.' Made for 3-4 year olds... Like this: See the ball. See the red ball. See the dog. See the green dog. See the green dog run.

As long as you don't need to discuss quantum physics, these books can really give you a boost into a new language.

Stitchawl

This is an excellent method as well, just don't get caught up trying to translate the books, I know someone that spent a lot of time manually translating a book to use it in learning German, needles to say he learned to translate English to German, but still couldn't read or speak German.

Learning a second language is always hard, but you all ready learned the most difficult second language, English, so French will be a cakewalk

[Stitchawl]

Interestingly enough, the average Japanese university English teacher can NOT speak English. They can translate the written language perfectly. They can write and compose with perfect grammar. But they can NOT speak and usually not comprehend spoken English. It's quite sad.


Stitchawl

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Interestingly enough, the average Japanese university English teacher can NOT speak English. They can translate the written language perfectly. They can write and compose with perfect grammar. But they can NOT speak and usually not comprehend spoken English. It's quite sad.


Stitchawl

I had an Japanese Teacher from Osaka for a student, I worked with her for 2 years. When she started she couldn't understand "Hi, how are you today?" her response was "Sorry, no English". At the end of her 2 year stay at Universiti Malaya, she could hold a conversation with almost anyone speaking English except, very strangely, someone from Japan, the accent caused her to slip into Japanese and she never could undue that habit. She is back in Malaysia and is teaching Japanese and English studies, funny how things work out. Most Malaysian English teachers are just like the Japanese ones, they themselves speak very poor English and in my mind do more harm trying to teach it than good.

[SneakySnake]

My mum knew a bloke who was taught Japanese by a woman. Later Japanese talking to him thought he was gay. Do males and females had different accents in Japan?