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  • I have heard, and I think this came out of Google, that managers can be separated into two groups: shit funnels and shit umbrellas.

    The shit funnel takes all the shit that is coming down from above comma and redirects it onto the people below.

    The shit umbrella protects all the workers below from the shit that is falling from about. I was lucky enough to have an umbrella manager in one of my previous jobs.

  • You should hope that the plane doesn't have to make an emergency landing in the US, because then they can do whatever they want with you. I seem to recall that (about 10 years ago?) the US actually forced an overflying plane to land so they could seize a man the knew was on the flight.

  • My kids were in their high school band, and every year they would have a trip to New York City, Washington DC, or Disneyworld in Florida.

    I never had anything like that, but then again I was in high school in the mid 1970s.

  • I was a volunteer teacher in Africa from 1988-91.

    I would write letter from my village, and it would take one month to get to my family in Canada. They would write a response, and it would take one month to get back to my village. That was just the reality.

    Now the village I lived in has a cell phone tower in the middle of it. I haven't been back, but I am willing to bet that a lot has changed.

  • He actually wrote a manual on his method, where it came from, and how it works. I'm not sure if it is still available for download. I got a copy a couple of years ago.

    Are you have to do is get past the first lesson, and then it's all language training.

  • It's an interactive lesson. You listen to the teacher explaining something to the student, then you pause the audio and try to answer your self, then you continue and listen to the student's response. If you try it, you'll find that it's very natural and effective.

  • One of those superlatives may well have been mine. I speak English natively, and have learned French, German, Sesotho, and Japanese (with a combination of classroom and immersion). Learning Spanish with Language Transfer immediately felt right and natural, and I wish I had it for those other languages. I really have never found a better system.

    It's not a miracle, and the teacher emphasizes the need for practicing the newfound skills (conversations with native speakers, watching TV or videos, etc.) in order to truly embed it in your brain. But this course really does give you the tools to understand grammar and the connections between the different languages.

  • The courses are all just audio files. You don't need anything else, and I think they work very well. The app is very convenient, simple but without unnecessary bills and whistles and it works fine. This also means that you can download them, put them into your favorite music or podcasting app, or whatever else you want. I consider it a feature, not a bug.

    The first episode is an introduction to the teaching method. For the language part, you should start with the second episode.

    He is not a native speaker for all the languages, of course. His accent is very English, and from his name I would guess that he speaks Greek natively. But he is also fluent in at least Spanish, the course that I have used, having lived in Spanish-speaking countries.

  • The best language learning system I've found is Language Transfer .

    It's free, but it easily beats Duolingo and anything else I have tried (short of total immersion).

    I still donate $10/month even though I haven't used it for a while, because I want it to succeed!

  • Most, if not all of the Ontario school boards have canceled their planned trips to the US. They certainly don't want to take a chance that one of their darker-skinned or foreign exchange students could be whisked off to El Salvador instead of arriving at Disney World.

  • I'm in Malaysia right now, which is a majority Muslim country. Restaurants and convenience stores sell beer and other alcohol, but I have seen signs in the convenience stores covering the front of coolers saying that Muslims cannot buy alcohol.

    I'm not sure how strictly that is enforced, most of the store clerks and waiters don't seem to care.

  • It's hardly highbrow literature and as far as you can get from "woke", but George McDonald Fraser's "Flashman" series has him at the heart of every 19th century conflict from England to China. Fraser was a journalist, and the history is supposed to be quite accurate, aside from liberties necessary for the plot.

    Flashman is the main bully character in the book Tom Brown's School Days. After he is expelled from the school, he manages to get a commission in the British Army and fail upwards even as he is a cad and a coward.

  • Just audio. But it is presented in a way that helps you to learn, rather than just remember. If you give it a try, I promise that you will be shocked at how you can retain the knowledge.

    It isn't enough on its own, however. You need to reinforce the lessons by speaking to people, reading, and/or TV and movies.

  • I have found Duolingo much, much less useful for language learning than Language Transfer. The latter actually helps you learn to think in another language rather than memorize things (which is still useful, but not nearly as much).

    Short if total immersion, I have found nothing better than LT.

  • I have found that Language Transfer is a far superior way to learn languages (including Spanish), and it's free (although I make a monthly donation)!

    It is available as YouTube videos, SoundCloud MP3s, or on a very simple but effective app.