Ani's 2018 Log

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Ani
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Re: Ani's 2018 Log

Postby Ani » Sun Jun 17, 2018 7:06 am

It's been a while since I had a podcast app that I really liked. I downloaded Castbot a few days ago and I'm in love. Systematiker mentioned listening to ~25 hours of podcasts on the background with his child in another thread and I've decided to up my game in a lot of ways with my kids..

I kind of hate to recommend podcasts because enjoying listening to it doesn't necessarily mean I endorse it. I did find some that are interesting, some that are oddly addictive despite my general confusion as to why anyone would want to listen, and some that I'm actually truly loving. Additionally, I found some with speakers that are very hard for me to understand. I'm going to keep using these for training. (If you're super curious as to what I find difficult to understand, podcast: Les Mardis de l'Espace ep: Quand le satellite sauve des vies. The first speaker is super hard for me, the second who comes on at 3:48 is Crystal clear.. I don't know why)

I do really like "Change ma vie" ... It's like the cognitive behavioral therapy handbook presented with a really nice voice.
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Cavesa
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Re: Ani's 2018 Log

Postby Cavesa » Sun Jun 17, 2018 1:30 pm

Ani wrote:
Cavesa wrote:
As you were sharing about your mom and books, Ani, I'll add an anecdote of mine. I was 16 when my mom asked "but why do you spend so much in second hand bookstores, why don't you buy some new clothes instead!" :-D so I am definitely not pirating because I wouldn't be willing to buy my culture and education.


I love when you share about your part of the world. I don't even know which section/s to quote here.. I'm totally enamored with the idea of borrowing a painting from a library! That's wild.

I'd pick education over clothing any day. :)

...

Systematiker wrote:I’d just like to come in on the side of “let’s make education more, not less accessible to everyone.” I mean, I’m an author, but it’s the type of stuff I give away, I don’t care if you pay for it or not. And I can’t defend the rest of my position without doing politics and religion, so I’ll stop there, with just the remark that yeah, art should be valued and you shouldn’t have to have a side hustle just to create.

And also on the “I wish I’d gone to school with people like you instead of the people I did” bandwagon :lol: :lol:


It's kind of a shame we didn't have a special school or something :).. Actually, when yours are old enough, there are great online classes/schools that fill that gap for homeschooling kids.

Art is wonderful, in (almost) all forms. I hope I didn't imply somewhere that I don't believe in supporting artists or creators. Local artists add amazing richness to an area and places like the Met, with "pay what you want" admission and their galleries online for study are a huge benefit to the world.


Thank, Ani. :-)

I wasn't buyng many "education" books. But I love stories. And those books were helping me survive one of the hardest and most hopeless phases of my life. You know that horrible song "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands" clap clap? I suppose you do. Or perhaps it is just something popular among ESL kids' teachers. I thought of just sitting during it various times (my inner grumpy cat hated it) but the teachers would have just thought I was dumb and didn't understand (for some weird reason, many adults believe children have no reasons or right to not be hyperhappy all the time). But a slight adaptation could be much better: "If you're unhappy and you know it grab a book!"

But never estimate the power of fiction. Those authors still do a lot of research and I have used the general knowledge from crime novels, history fiction, sci-fi, fantasy and others many times!
....
I am all for authors being rich thanks to their works! I just don't think anyone should get rich because of having an artificially crated monopoly on selling something, or because of collecting state imposed taxes and parasiting on the authors. The czech collective author's "rights" enforcers have huuuge profit and they distribute the rest following their own key, which I highly doubt reflects what authors are being played and how much.

The libraries are definitely not in that category. However, they are reaching various practical limits these days. Financial, because they are mostly public. Technical AND more importantly legislative, which make their connection to e-sources more complicated. And also social, because many people don't value them enough, so it is hard to make them a priority.
.....
I was in such an elite school for clever kids and teens and it was not that great. There are simply many variables in this equation and many ways not to fit. However, this kind of selection improves one's chances of having a happy and worthwhile youth considerably.
.....
Thanks for the Les Mardis de l'Espace recommendation! I will try it out tomorrow!
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Elsa Maria
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Re: Ani's 2018 Log

Postby Elsa Maria » Tue Jun 19, 2018 5:04 pm

Ani, you always give me such great ideas. First it was Drops, and now the meditation idea. I never thought to look for guided meditation/mindfulness audio in Danish. I already have Yoga in Danish, but somehow I never thought to search for guided meditation. Thanks!
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brilliantyears
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Re: Ani's 2018 Log

Postby brilliantyears » Tue Jun 19, 2018 6:31 pm

I have to thank you for mentioning Drops too, Ani. I just installed it and started using it for Russian. I love it so far! It's filling in huge gaps in my vocabulary - without being boring :D
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IronMike
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Re: Ani's 2018 Log

Postby IronMike » Tue Jun 19, 2018 10:06 pm

Wow! I missed so much.
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Ani
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Re: Ani's 2018 Log

Postby Ani » Tue Jun 19, 2018 11:01 pm

Cavesa wrote:[
I was in such an elite school for clever kids and teens and it was not that great. There are simply many variables in this equation and many ways not to fit. However, this kind of selection improves one's chances of having a happy and worthwhile youth considerably.


I would think you'd be hard pressed to find an American who doesn't know, "if you're happy and you know it". I'm pretty sure we sang it daily in kindergarten and preschool, and still on occasion even though highschool.

It's true that the school for all of us is probably better as wistful thinking.. I was an awful teenager and nobody would have liked me :).

So glad the apps are working out for you Elsa Maria & brilliantyears!
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schlaraffenland
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Re: Ani's 2018 Log

Postby schlaraffenland » Wed Jun 20, 2018 9:05 pm

Ani wrote:I do really like "Change ma vie" ... It's like the cognitive behavioral therapy handbook presented with a really nice voice.


Thank you so much for this recommendation! Really liking it as well.
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Ani
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Re: Ani's 2018 Log

Postby Ani » Thu Jun 21, 2018 6:01 am

schlaraffenland wrote:Thank you so much for this recommendation! Really liking it as well.


Awesome!


....


I've been musing lately on illusions of competence in language study. It's a topic in that book -- A Mind For Numbers. The basic idea is that when you do exercises after looking at examples, you perceive your skills as better than they are. Language study materials seem ideally designed to foster these illusions and I think that is what happens when you can knock off a set of exercises on a topic in the workbook, but don't produce whatever feature properly on your own. Having the explanation on a facing page or having a completed example in front of you are a huge handicap. I've been thinking about how to work so this doesn't happen. My supposition is that this is the reason cloze cards work so much better than just re-reading sentences (also testing aspect.. and attempted recall.. even if you have a heavy cheat like EMK's cards closing out half a word).
I didn't really come up with anything except the value of reviewing and quizzing yourself, but I'm working on it :)

Study update is none too impressive. Little of this, little of that. Hopefully more to share next time.
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But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.

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Re: Ani's 2018 Log

Postby Ani » Sun Jun 24, 2018 8:55 am

I went this morning to a meeting by a group of folks who are trying to start up a French immersion school in Anchorage.
I'm really happy homeschooling but.. Well, I never would have started if there had been a French immersion school when my oldest was in K. I'm having a lot of envy and desire to put my younger two in.

It's on the wrong side of town, and there are only 25 spots opening in 2019 (if they get approved) with a waiting list already of 350 kids for all immersion programs. <Sigh> We have really nice immersion programs here. They are all K-12 and the kids graduate highschool with some special certificate of biliteracy. The K-12 programs exist in Japanese, Spanish, German, Chinese, Russian and Yup'ik.

Still it's nice for making contacts. I met two mothers with small kids who are also speaking French. I have a chance to see them again next week and for a bastille day family picnic.

I'm having a life problem that's keeping me too stressed to study. My desire to be kind and respectable is conflicting with my feeling of responsibility for calling somebody out on a pile of lies. I've already tried "address it gently and rationally in private" and "stay calm and wait it out".. it's been a year now and financial decisions are being made based on lies. I don't even know what the responsable thing to do is.

I'll have to make a decision on how to act by tomorrow. Hopefully it will relieve some of the stress. If not I'll just keep watching season 3 of the Sniffer. :). I really like when they shoot outside and I get to see little bits of Russia. I also enjoyed our trip to Estonia in, I think, S3E3. Or maybe E2. Anyway.
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But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.

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IronMike
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Re: Ani's 2018 Log

Postby IronMike » Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:45 pm

OMG, how have I missed The Sniffer? Not that I need any (more) Russian television, but it sure starts out fun. Thanks Ani!
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You're not a C1 (or B1 or whatever) if you haven't tested.
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