Now I'm reading one French article a day

I discovered a free Le Point app for my phone, and I love it! What I've decided to do is read one French article a day, usually at that site, and then look up any words I don't know at WordReference.com. WR has a mobile site, so I can easily search for words there when I encounter them at LePoint.

Previously, I translated quite a lot of French for some years, but I haven't been doing it lately. I still want to keep my reading skills sharp, so reading it online is a great way to do that. Basically, I'm very happy about this new habit :D

Bad French translation

Wow, I can't believe that a commercial language site is teaching people an archaic translation. Bill Moller has recommended learning a French word a day through a French word Facebook app, and they said that the word "l'hôtesse de l'air" means "air hostess". Seriously, who uses such a word in English? Certainly not in the US, and I don't think Brits use that word either.

They should have considered what that word means in English, rather than literally translating it. When I was growing up, "l'hôtesse de l'air" was a "stewardess". Now they're called "flight attendants". Air hostess: what era is that word from, if it was ever really in much use at all?

I started posting words that I can't remember on Twitter

Yesterday I was reading a Japanese article at Yahoo Japan, and I saw some words that I didn't know, and some others that I should know (ie, I've seen them before but keep forgetting the reading). So I decided to post a word on Twitter, and I'm going to keep doing that for random words that I want to remember. Through my struggle, perhaps other people will learn, too :D

My Twitter account is no longer private (I locked it a couple of years ago after getting spam and scum), and so far, it hasn't been spammed or corrupted, so it seems like that site has come a long way.

Still getting used to the evening schedule

I plan on posting something here, but I've been teaching ESL at night, and the traffic is so bad going there, I have to leave a couple of hours in advance--even though I live in the city, and the school is located in the city as well.

But I'm really enjoying it, so it's worth the drive and the late schedule.

Martin Luther King Day

For Martin Luther King Day, which honors the life of Martin Luther King, here is part of his last speech, right before he was assassinated.

French-speaking kids trying to figure out older technology

Elizabeth mentioned this video of French-speaking kids in Montreal who are trying to figure out what various technology is, including vinyl records, electronic games, and rotary phones.

If you want to see the English translation, turn on the captions.

Canadian flag near a Cantonese fight!

What is up with Canadians and their flag? This Vancouver video has an argument in Cantonese, and around 2:30, you can see a guy holding a Canadian flag. Is he trying to show people that he's a CBC (Canadian-born Chinese), or is he just joining the maple leaf bandwagon? I've noticed that Canadians really like their leaves.

Update: someone said that they think it's a mixture of Cantonese and another dialect, and that one woman is not a Cantonese native speaker, but is trying to speak it.

It's 11111!

How many times does this happen in life? It's January 11, 2011, which is also 11111 if you were to not put any separation between the numbers. That is cool! We will of course encounter this on November 11, 2011, so I'll probably mention it again.

And to those in Asia and others who are several hours ahead of the Americas: you don't have much of 11111 left, but it's still around, so enjoy it :D

Boston Brahmin accent

I've been reading about the Boston Brahmins, who are the original, wealthy, cultured, and powerful families in Boston. Here are a couple of people speaking with the Boston Brahmin accent, which is disappearing.

Learn about tampons in German

Through the Tagesschau site, where I watch German newscasts that I hardly understand (as part of my New Year's resolution to restore my German), I found a kid's site, where they explain lots of things. And I was surprised to see that one topic was tampons. So if you want to read about them, and even listen to a kid talk about them in German, just go to the Lilipuz site.

It's a new year, so time for some resolutions

Happy New Year everyone! I am so glad 2011 has come. 2010 had its ups and downs, but last year's resolution to get more Japanese into my life was achieved. I consistently read Japanese throughout the year, and even read a manga book. And I got a nice translating project for a good company.

Of course, this year will also contain language-related resolutions. I will continue to read Japanese consistently, and plan on reading more than one manga book this year, and possibly complete a regular book as well. But now that my work schedule is a lot more predictable and stable than last year, I will have a chunk of time every day to improve my other languages as well.

Such as German: at one point, I could speak it okay, and even read and translated it. But pursuing radio and Japanese and other dreams caused my German and other languages to recede. I was talking to a German guy who speaks perfect English and German (thanks to growing up in both countries), and he suggested I watch a bit of Tagesschau every day. Actually, he told me that I *must* watch every day, and I should watch the 20:00 newscast because it's the most complete. Now I feel pressure :o

I even got a lecture from a Chinese guy who told me that learning Mandarin shouldn't be as difficult as it is for other Westerners because my knowledge of kanji will help. But wouldn't that destroy my brain? I tried studying Mandarin before, but it was too much input. My brain almost locked up :o

Well, since I'm posting this publicly, I have to proceed with my multilingual plan. We'll see how the other languages do against Japanese, though :D

This typo shouldn't be in an English ad

I don't get it. This company spent a lot of money to put a full page ad in a magazine, and they don't have much copy, but they managed to have a typo. Didn't anyone proofread this? The typo, in case you didn't notice, is the use of "there" instead of the contraction "they're". And why did they capitalize "back"? They also should've used a professional designer who knows type.

I often see typos in stuff from China and other countries that are too cheap to hire a good translator or proofreader, but these are native English speakers. They should know better, or at least find people who do.

Korean history channel: Japanese dinosaurs

Radio version of It's a Wonderful Life

I never get tired of the movie It's a Wonderful Life. I've seen it numerous times since I was a kid, because they've played it all over TV when no one has owned the copyright.

Well if you want to hear the complete audio version of the movie that was broadcast on radio back in the 1940's (when radio mattered much more than now), just listen right here.

You don't need to know Japanese to see that this robot is a direct copy

Here's a report about how a Chinese company totally copied the Japanese robot Gandamu (ガンダム). They say that the color is different, but the details are the same, and compare the real Japanese robot to this knock-off. They even interview the creator of the original one. I will translate what he said later, since right now I have to finish some work. But basically, you don't need to understand Japanese to see how this robot is a direct copy. They even show other Japanese products that have been copied by Chinese companies. Way to go, losers.

Update: I was going to attempt to translate part of this video, but it has been removed, ironically due to copyright violations. So I've decreased the size of the embedded video here in order to not have a large black space.

Wuthering Heights: great story

Wow, I just watched the 2009 version of Wuthering Heights, and I had never seen or read it before, so I was really impressed. What a crazy, entertaining story, and that TV version is incredible. It was so intense and emotional, and the way they filmed it really captured its rawness. I highly recommend it: you can start watching the whole thing online here (it's in 14 parts).

You can also read it online for free here.

Weird Japanese toilet

Well, just watch the video. I don't have to say anything, other than I got it from the Chongqing-born Chinese teen who was also the funny Chinese clown.

I was going to post something, but I'm trying to figure out if I should use Twitter

The past couple of days, I've been looking at my Twitter account, wondering if I should use it and make it public, so I wasn't focused on posting here.

I remember when Twitter was starting out. Some bloggers adopted it early, and eventually posted more there than at their own blogs. But I didn't join until a couple of years ago, and at first it seemed okay, but then I started getting spammers following me. I tried to block them, but they didn't disappear, and I would send messages to Twitter, with no response or action.

So I assumed that Twitter was lame and not to be trusted. I thought it was becoming crappy like MySpace, which I left way before other people did (and now hardly anyone is there). I made my account private, so people could only follow me if I approved them.

Then I stopped using Twitter. It wasn't like I posted there much anyway, but I just really didn't like that site, and joined Tumblr instead. I like Tumblr a lot better: the interface is nice, it's multi-media, and there aren't as many creeps there. The only problem is that I hardly have any exposure there, but I guess that's okay. It's good to start small.

So now I'm still wondering if I should resume posting at Twitter, make my profile public, and link it to here, or if I should just use Tumblr. I have a smartphone now, which makes Twitter easier to use, but I don't feel too great about it.

At least I've linked my Tumblr to Twitter: that's a start.

great Next Generation episode with a great ending

I've seen the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode Ship in a Bottle more than a few times, and it's definitely one of my favorites. It was just on again tonight, and I never get tired of the ending. It's almost philosophical.

"As far as Moriarty and the Countess know, they're halfway to Meles II by now. This enhancement module contains enough active memory to provide them with experiences for a lifetime."

"They will live their lives and never know any difference."

"In a sense, you did give Moriarty what he wanted."

"In a sense, who knows? Our reality may be very much like theirs. All this might just be an elaborate simulation running inside a little device sitting on someone's table."

(all but Barclay leave)

"Computer, end program."

(nothing happens)

Israeli slang

I studied Hebrew growing up, and when I went to Israel when I was a teen, I was surprised to discover that I could actually speak it. Even though it was quite obvious that I had a knack for language since I was able to have conversations in Hebrew, I didn't really pursue or care about languages until I went to Japan after college. Now my Hebrew is non-existent, and I'd rather go to France than go to Israel again, but I still am interested in learning new things about the language.

So when someone sent me links to some brief articles in The Forward about Israeli slang, I had to check them out. There are several interesting ones, so I'll list them here. They don't take long to read, actually, since they're quite short.

haval al hazman: a waste of time

Ha matzav: the situation

Sa l'shalom: you can go

Tihiyeh large: to be large not physically, but in character

The insult of freier: sucker

How the state is ha medina

hazui: hallucinated in a surreal way