New Tory Leader

[ricardo 7,395]

3 hours ago, Herman said:

Aren't pensioners still in the triple-lock?

its based on the rate for the previous September.

Looks like 3.1%

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/state-pension-and-benefit-rates-for-2022-to-2023-confirmed

Edited December 31, 2021 by ricardo

[Herman 9,780]

Imcompetence.

 

[Herman 9,780]

 

Edited January 1, 2022 by Herman

[Creative Midfielder 1,998]

11 hours ago, Herman said:

 

Definitely seems as though the powers that be at the Mail\MoS think that Johnson's time should be up 😊

[Herman 9,780]

12 minutes ago, Creative Midfielder said:

Definitely seems as though the powers that be at the Mail\MoS think that Johnson's time should be up 😊

I wonder who they will get fully behind and start pushing as the new Saviour??

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

5 hours ago, Herman said:

I wonder who they will get fully behind and start pushing as the new Saviour??

Can't be Priti or Rishi for obvious Mail tendencies. Truss or left field Hunt.

[Herman 9,780]

 

[Yellow Fever 3,793]

19 hours ago, keelansgrandad said:

Can't be Priti or Rishi for obvious Mail tendencies. Truss or left field Hunt.

Peppa Pig apparently. Boris hinted at it.

[ricardo 7,395]

[Herman 9,780]

6 hours ago, ricardo said:

Any odds on who is leaking dodgy news about Truss to the press??😀

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

6 hours ago, Herman said:

 

Wouldn't mind saying that language training is probably something that's also grievously underfunded, if this government is anything to go off. That said, language tuition seems to have faded badly over the last thirty years so I wouldn't exactly beat the government over the head with this one. Plenty of other things to hurl at them.

[Herman 9,780]

I think it is the fluent Polish speaking MP getting thousands of pounds of taxpayers money to learn Polish that doesn't seem right to me. The fact he's an odious arschloch does come into it a bit.😀

I agree language tuition is terrible in England and more should be done to encourage it. Starting it at a very young age would be a great idea.

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

5 minutes ago, Herman said:

I think it is the fluent Polish speaking MP getting thousands of pounds of taxpayers money to learn Polish that doesn't seem right to me. The fact he's an odious arschloch does come into it a bit.😀

I agree language tuition is terrible in England and more should be done to encourage it. Starting it at a very young age would be a great idea.

Just checking his background out - he might have needed fine-tuning bearing in mind he emigrated to Britain from Warsaw at the age of 6. Agree that some of his stances are pretty reprehensible though. As someone who works as a linguist (as a translator, not an interpreter) I do think some people's notions of what represents "fluent" can be a little awry.

Personally I speak fluent German and before going self-employed all my previous jobs involved speaking/writing it for large parts of my working day but if I were to be involved in tuition, I'd be the first to say I'd prefer some tuition for myself to finetune what I know before teaching others. On top of that, people don't always learn the "academics" (for the want of a better word) of their native tongue first.

Edited January 3, 2022 by TheGunnShow

[Herman 9,780]

Sometimes I hate people that put up a reasoned and sensible response.😉

[Well b back 3,221]

Alledgedly the Mirror are releasing a story about the clown personally breaking lock down rules tomorrow.

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

4 hours ago, Herman said:

Sometimes I hate people that put up a reasoned and sensible response.😉

Heh, as a translator for nine years with a Masters in translation to boot (from a university which no longer has a specialist School of Languages as they disestablished it around 2015, but used to be pretty renowned in that sector) the fall of languages in schools and universities is something that bothers me. That said, I suppose it means there's less competition for me.

It's fair to say we're not great at learning them in the UK. Not many hang around for languages at university level or appear encouraged to do so. That said, they are icing on a cake for good students, but a lot don't get the chance to study them.

[Well b back 3,221]

For all those that self isolated when in close contact here is the mirror story

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-didnt-self-isolate-25844688

[Herman 9,780]

7 minutes ago, TheGunnShow said:

Heh, as a translator for nine years with a Masters in translation to boot (from a university which no longer has a specialist School of Languages as they disestablished it around 2015, but used to be pretty renowned in that sector) the fall of languages in schools and universities is something that bothers me. That said, I suppose it means there's less competition for me.

It's fair to say we're not great at learning them in the UK. Not many hang around for languages at university level or appear encouraged to do so. That said, they are icing on a cake for good students, but a lot don't get the chance to study them.

There was a large uptake in language courses, mostly helped by companies like Duolingo, during the pandemic. These are ideal starter courses as they are fun and some of it does stick. One of my biggest regrets is not learning a language properly as it is a great skill to have. So if any of you have kids/grandkids get them to put one of these language apps on their phones.

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

35 minutes ago, Herman said:

There was a large uptake in language courses, mostly helped by companies like Duolingo, during the pandemic. These are ideal starter courses as they are fun and some of it does stick. One of my biggest regrets is not learning a language properly as it is a great skill to have. So if any of you have kids/grandkids get them to put one of these language apps on their phones.

Whether they stick at it academically is another matter. The real problem is the increasing lack of language teaching in schools, and personally I tend to increasingly be of the opinion that we should start thinking of bringing Latin classes back, but will not go further as after all I already managed one tremendous thread derail when a thread on Todd Cantwell somehow ended up as a brief history lesson on the Åland Islands.

But if there is a Latin app, that might be the most valuable of the lot if done well.

 

[PurpleCanary 5,562]

8 hours ago, TheGunnShow said:

Whether they stick at it academically is another matter. The real problem is the increasing lack of language teaching in schools, and personally I tend to increasingly be of the opinion that we should start thinking of bringing Latin classes back, but will not go further as after all I already managed one tremendous thread derail when a thread on Todd Cantwell somehow ended up as a brief history lesson on the Åland Islands.

But if there is a Latin app, that might be the most valuable of the lot if done well.

 

A friend of mine worked part-time for  this organisation:

https://classicsforall.org.uk/

...and I helped her out a bit. It does seem to have gained some traction.

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

2 hours ago, PurpleCanary said:

A friend of mine worked part-time for  this organisation:

https://classicsforall.org.uk/

...and I helped her out a bit. It does seem to have gained some traction.

I remember reading about a small study in - I think - Australia, where a group of people requiring remedial English classes were divided into two smaller groups where one of them also learned Latin on top, and the difference in results was impressive. I had it for a year at secondary school, but French was compulsory for us until GCSE. 

At the end of the first year we could either continue learning Latin, or choose between German or Russian. Hacked me off, as my preference would have been for German AND Latin. As it happened I switched to German and made a very smart move in the process.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

1 hour ago, TheGunnShow said:

I remember reading about a small study in - I think - Australia, where a group of people requiring remedial English classes were divided into two smaller groups where one of them also learned Latin on top, and the difference in results was impressive. I had it for a year at secondary school, but French was compulsory for us until GCSE. 

At the end of the first year we could either continue learning Latin, or choose between German or Russian. Hacked me off, as my preference would have been for German AND Latin. As it happened I switched to German and made a very smart move in the process.

Considering that Spanish is the first language in the World, is it on the curriculum at secondary schools?

[Rock The Boat 1,332]

7 hours ago, keelansgrandad said:

Considering that Spanish is the first language in the World, is it on the curriculum at secondary schools?

Spanish is second most native-language spoken after Mandarin Chinese, and fourth most spoken language after English, Mandarin and Hindi.

[How I Wrote Elastic Man 1,189]

19 minutes ago, Rock The Boat said:

Spanish is second most native-language spoken after Mandarin Chinese, and fourth most spoken language after English, Mandarin and Hindi.

I've read that Spanish is the easiest language for a native English speaker to learn. I don't know how true that is 

But I do know it certainly isn't Icelandic, despite a shared history and some similar words 😟

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

1 hour ago, Rock The Boat said:

Spanish is second most native-language spoken after Mandarin Chinese, and fourth most spoken language after English, Mandarin and Hindi.

Spanish is the second highest most spoken as the first language.

I didn't include Chinese Mandarin as it is unlikely to be one of the mainstream languages taught at school.

Obviously I haven't been to school for a few haircuts but it used to be French and German taught. 

I just wondered whether Spanish was now considered more important.

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

9 hours ago, keelansgrandad said:

Considering that Spanish is the first language in the World, is it on the curriculum at secondary schools?

Crops up a bit in secondary school teaching. Not sure if my old school got round to teaching it.

1 hour ago, How I Wrote Elastic Man said:

I've read that Spanish is the easiest language for a native English speaker to learn. I don't know how true that is 

But I do know it certainly isn't Icelandic, despite a shared history and some similar words 😟

Doubt it. If you were to push me for a guess then I'd think Norwegian or Swedish could be as fellow Germanic languages. Icelandic wouldn't be as that's not changed very much since the days of the epic sagas and as far as I'm aware modern Icelanders can read the language of Snorri Snurluson and such with ease.

We can't really read the original Chaucer with anywhere near the same level of readiness.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

I went to evening classes to study conversational Spanish. It was good but did get very bogged down with conjugation.

I think that fluent speakers may be bothered but I pointed out that most Spanish speakers have trouble with our conjugation and ignore it. Certainly inflection is difficult either way. Instead of year I was saying **** too often until I made myself never forget.

[How I Wrote Elastic Man 1,189]

16 hours ago, TheGunnShow said:

 

Doubt it. If you were to push me for a guess then I'd think Norwegian or Swedish could be as fellow Germanic languages. Icelandic wouldn't be as that's not changed very much since the days of the epic sagas and as far as I'm aware modern Icelanders can read the language of Snorri Snurluson and such with ease.

We can't really read the original Chaucer with anywhere near the same level of readiness.

The point I tried to make was that Icelandic wasn't the easiest language for a native English speaker to learn. Maybe my language skills aren't that good and I didn't phrase it well 😀

I think one of the biggest reasons is the use of English in Iceland. Locals, tourists and many immigrants all speak English, particularly in the centre of Reykjavík 

I think you are right about reading the sagas, I think the written word hasn't changed too much, but the pronunciation has changed a fair bit 

Edited January 5, 2022 by How I Wrote Elastic Man

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

1 minute ago, How I Wrote Elastic Man said:

The point I tried to make was that Icelandic wasn't the easiest language for a native English speaker to learn 

I think one of the biggest reasons is the use of English in Iceland. Locals, tourists and many immigrants all speak English, particularly in the centre of Reykjavík 

I think you are right about reading the sagas, I think the written word hasn't changed too much, but the pronunciation has changed a fair bit 

I know, I fully agreed with you - and part of the problem for Brits learning Icelandic is that it's not changed very much from the days of the sagas, unlike the other Germanic languages so old links between them are no longer as evident. IIRC there's a committee in the Arni Magnusson Institute for Icelandic Studies that makes up new words such that their language doesn't take on too many English words and get diluted in the process.

A decent example in German that springs to mind is the word "Apotheke" (I'm fairly sure it's Apotek in all of Icelandic, Swedish, and Norwegian but would need to double-check it) but we would use "chemist" nowadays. Go back a century or two though, and the word "apothecary" was far more common, and then you should see the link with ease. 

The language change within English has been far more radical over the centuries. And yes, the Scandinavians in general are very comfortable with English from my experiences travelling around there.

[Yellow Fever 3,793]

2 minutes ago, TheGunnShow said:

I know, I fully agreed with you - and part of the problem for Brits learning Icelandic is that it's not changed very much from the days of the sagas, unlike the other Germanic languages so old links between them are no longer as evident. IIRC there's a committee in the Arni Magnusson Institute for Icelandic Studies that makes up new words such that their language doesn't take on too many English words and get diluted in the process.

A decent example in German that springs to mind is the word "Apotheke" (I'm fairly sure it's Apotek in all of Icelandic, Swedish, and Norwegian but would need to double-check it) but we would use "chemist" nowadays. Go back a century or two though, and the word "apothecary" was far more common, and then you should see the link with ease. 

The language change within English has been far more radical over the centuries. And yes, the Scandinavians in general are very comfortable with English from my experiences travelling around there.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that back in the time of the Vikings most of the Germanic peoples (that's us too) could more or less understand each others languages as dialects - probably at worse a bit like Glaswegian today !