Language Overflow

Cardinal

17:00

I took the TOFEL this morning.

Rubisco

@Cardinal \o/ How was it?

When will the results be out?

Cardinal

I am so nervous since I construct a sentence which that I was not sure about the usage and whatever.

Rubisco

I wonder what my score would be if I took it

@Cardinal ?

Cardinal

@Rubisco Not bad, but not magnificent. I think I could do that better.

Rubisco

@Cardinal What will the score approximately be?

Cardinal

17:02

@Rubisco Certainly, you will get over 110.

Rubisco

Out of 1,000,000?

Cardinal

The Task comprised 4-sections, each of which 30 points.

Rubisco

Oh. So 1,200,000.

Cardinal

So, the maximum point is 120.

@Rubisco :-)

Rubisco

Yeah. 1,200,000

Anyway, what was the sentence?

Cardinal

17:03

I used the verb "embody" as below:

I dunno why I made such a stupid mistake.

(Perhaps, I thought it would be pretentious)

Rubisco

@Cardinal This doesn't contain "embody"

Cardinal

This question embodies the old dilemma of to study or to earn money.

:(

Rubisco

@Cardinal I think it's okay if you made use of quotations.

I dunno how strict they can be regarding punctuation, but incorrect punctuation may lead them to believe that your sentence is wrong.

Cardinal

@Rubisco I didn't :(

Rubisco

So there, continue being nervous

Cardinal

17:06

I see. I have no idea why I did that.

Rubisco

So, the four sections were taken after the four skills of blah blah, right?

Cardinal

yop

Rubisco

Reading, listening, speaking, and writing?

Cardinal

@Rubisco Exactly.

Rubisco

You used that sentence in your speaking?

Cardinal

17:07

Nope, In writing unfortunately!

Rubisco

You're dead.

Cardinal

Thats the big problem!

@Rubisco Almost.

Rubisco

You're TIPS?

Cardinal

I wish I could.

Rubisco

How was the speaking?

Cardinal

17:09

Terrible :-)

Rubisco

Sometimes I fantasize practicing speaking a lot, only to fail because of stress.

Cardinal

ee hun oo eeem 20 seconds left --- hhe ohm ehem 5 seconds left, that's why I believe this!

And that was the case for the next 5 following questions.

LOL

Rubisco

Nice. You would get a nice score in New Guinean languages.

Cardinal

:-)

The result will be announced after 15 days.

I am not very passionate to see the result.

Rubisco

Crap. Listening will be one big problem.

Cardinal

17:13

Yeap. But, that isn't the problem itself, but the people moving around you are really distracting.

That cost me several tests!

As well as some guys who think the more louder the more point for Speaking tasks!

Rubisco

@Cardinal Heh

Well, I think I'll do fine if I practice speaking a lot.

And writing . . . I type fast enough

Cardinal

@Rubisco You are alreardy overqualified.

Rubisco

I'm not sure.

But anyway, I think I'm close to C1 or something

Cardinal

I must admit that I wrote 500-word essay in 30 minutes that was unprecedented, but that sentence is wrecking my nerves.

Rubisco

500-word? Sounds like one of my meta.chem posts.

But I usually spend more time on them than thirty minutes.

Because of the typos.

Cardinal

17:21

@Rubisco Exactly.

Usually it is a nightmare for a large number of test takers to write over 400.

Rubisco

Well, is there a limit? I mean, will I be apprehended if I type 600?

Cardinal

However, thanks to ETS, they do not consider some typos or spelling errors.

Rubisco

Who's ETS?

Cardinal

@Rubisco The grader will be surprised.

@Rubisco The company holds the exam.

Rubisco

@Cardinal Well, if I'm in the mood and I start typing instead of thinking, I can type well over that

Cardinal

17:24

@Rubisco I think I know that.

Rubisco

Hmm, how many paragraphs would 500 words be?

Eight?

Cardinal

It depends on you.

Rubisco

How many lines, then? That's a better question.

Cardinal

Intro.

paragraph 1

paragraph 2

Conclusion.

I compiled that structure!

Rubisco

What, really? Only four?

Cardinal

17:25

Yes.

Rubisco

11

A: Can we please be friendlier at least in the beginning?

On The Philosophy of Moderation The philosophy of all Stack Exchange sites (which they took from their precedent, Stack Overflow) was to help people by building a library of detailed and quality answers to all real questions. The idea was to reduce the clutter to a minimum by a set of rules and ...

This took precisely three hours. Two hours and half to type, and half an hour to clean the flesh. And it was done in the midnight

Cardinal

Because, I came to this conclusion that insufficiently-supported arguments are much better than the great number of well-supported arguments.

Ok. I gotto go.

See you later.

Thank you for the chat.

o/

Rubisco

Cya

Well, thank you

This one inspired me

Damkerng T.

@Rubisco My feeling is about 5 to 10.

@Rubisco IIRC, they set the lower limit. You can use more words, but it will require more energy of you and of the test examiner.

Hmm... the latter could be something fun to do, actually... :P

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. That's reassuring. When I was little, I used to think myself what would've happened if I typed 501 words.

Damkerng T.

17:43

To succeed in their writing task, you have to develop a different habit of writing, if you're more familiar with technical writing. Technical writing in general aims at producing clear and concise documents, ideally in plain words. In this kind of writing, you have to do the opposite.

For example, if you have an idea that can be boiled down to either Yes or No. Instead of writing just, Yes, or No. Or even something like My idea is, yes, and so on, you could try something like this:

> This is an important question that every young man and woman has to ponder at some point in life, drawing all prior knowledge and evidence they possess and have accumulated through their experience. In my case, well, I would like to answer this question finally, for once and for all. My answer is yes.

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. I'm not sure that holds about TOEFL

Damkerng T.

That's 54 words already. :P

Rubisco

But IELTS

@DamkerngT. Got it. Use Euclidean cliches.

Damkerng T.

@Rubisco I'm not sure either, but considering that they're by the same overseers (I think), they might not be that different from each other.

I think you're supposed, if possible, to use another set of vocabulary as well.

For example, instead of writing hot, polite, firmly established, damaged, full of, skillful, you could try torrid, genteel, instill, ravaged, teem, adroit.

Rubisco

Yuck

Damkerng T.

17:51

The point is to get them bedazzled with your writing. :P

Rubisco

The point is to sound like tch, but without all the coolness and with awkward weirdness

Well, I guess I could pull it off.

I mean, process it

Whatever.

Whatsoever.

Damkerng T.

Oh, I'm sure you'll do more than well in these tests. :-)

(To use these kinds of words, you've got to be sure that you can handle this set of vocabulary well, BTW.)

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. There is a book called 'The Essential Words for TOEFL'. I think I should review its words before TOEFL.

Damkerng T.

@Rubisco nods -- I think our @Cardinal used Barron's, IIRC.

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. I don't remember which publication that book was from, but there aren't many books like that lying around around here

Damkerng T.

17:55

It could be a bit overdoing if you try to use it every time it's possible. But sprinkling these words a bit here and there is actually a good idea, IMO.

@Rubisco I think you can find some sets of these words on flashcard websites.

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. Yep. Well, I'm not planning to take TOEFL or IELTS any time soon.

I have this thing called Konkur to deal with.

It exerts some pressure on me, but only because the material I study is easy, but the questions are so twisted that what I should really be studying is hardly more than gibberish.

Damkerng T.

Is its English test similar to IELTS and the like?

@Rubisco Ah, I see. I remember that kind of feeling.

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. Nope, they're not that smart. They mostly look like ELL's worst homework questions

The biggest pain in the A is biology.

Damkerng T.

Lots of things to memorize, perhaps?

Rubisco

One could only hope.

Let me demonstrate with an example.

> The DNA molecule is cut with special enzymes.

This is a sentence in our book. In a picture's caption.

Now, that's what we should be reading.

But instead, the teacher teaches us

Damkerng T.

18:02

@Rubisco How to make a dinosaur? :P

Rubisco

> Since this is what the book says, we deduce that DNA is a molecule. And they cut the DNA, not a gene. REMEMBER, this is VERY important: The enzymes that do that job are special. They're not non-special. And they're enzymes. They're proteins . . .

> Enzymes, the book says, are the most important proteins. That means they may contain nitrogen. They may contain oxygen too.

Damkerng T.

@Rubisco Oh, that sounds like writing essays is their thing. :-)

Rubisco

> DNA is a molecule, the book says. So it's not an atom! BE CAREFUL. DNA is not an atom.

> Since it's a molecule, it's made of atoms. If you were told that they're made of neutrons, protons, and other sub-atomic particles, they're wrong.

Damkerng T.

o_O

Rubisco

> DNA is cut! It's not coddled. It's only CUT. Note that it's cut.

> Since it's not not-cut, but cut, we have to deal with part of the DNA. If the test said we have to deal with the whole DNA, it's wrong!

. . . and on and on and on until I drop

Damkerng T.

18:06

Your class is strange. :D

Rubisco

TL;DR; the exams, and hence the teachers, have given up real science and nitpick about the sometimes idiotic, vague and not-perfect literature named DA BOOK

@DamkerngT. Now take into account that the whole country has to deal with bull crap like this

It's saddening.

I don't know why they can't just add some advanced material, and be done with it

Why should the material be easy, and the questions ridiculously hard?

Damkerng T.

I guess they're looking for detail-oriented people.

Rubisco

. . . to the degree that a doctorate in biology won't mean you can answer all of them.

Damkerng T.

Not necessarily bad, but I think we need all kinds of people.

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. The real problem is, they're not.

They don't know, or rather care, what they're doing.

I've seen how beautiful science can be.

As soon as I read an answer on Chem that wasn't restricted to high school ridicule.

Damkerng T.

18:11

Is Konkur at a pre-university level?

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. It's a university entrance exam that got way more prominent than it should

Damkerng T.

nods

Rubisco

So basically, without Konkur, I have no future.

But no other way would work better. There's so much corruption going on

Damkerng T.

Sounds like "Entrance" in my days.

Rubisco

Without Konkur, good universities would only fill up with the richest pigs.

Damkerng T.

18:13

I mean how stressful it could be, not other issues.

Rubisco

And we'd go back to Medieval era.

@DamkerngT. Well, Fard knows what I'm talking about. Many squander their lives' best years taking Konkur again and again and again

Damkerng T.

@Rubisco Same thing applies here.

Rubisco

Let's just take over humanity and be done with it

Damkerng T.

We even have a word coined for the students who finally did it, but after their years: sil (from fossil)

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. Heh. This world is getting it wrong in so many ways.

Damkerng T.

18:18

@Rubisco I think education is actually on the verge of being toppled over, or some kind of disruptive event is about to happen.

Rubisco

And yet the complications oblige that the likes of us can do nothing about it.

But speak in a public chat

Damkerng T.

pats Rubisco...

Rubisco

Well, the pep talk doesn't work when I'm in the middle of action

@DamkerngT. Yeah . . . Trump is about to become POTUS

Damkerng T.

@Rubisco I didn't talk about politics, BTW!

CowperKettle

Rubisco

18:19

@DamkerngT. Well, you talked about something disruptive

Damkerng T.

@Rubisco :D

Rubisco

@CowperKettle Is this the road to success, or Yekaterinburg?

Damkerng T.

LOL

CowperKettle

@Rubisco Road to Lake Baltym

The last snowless weekend of this year

Damkerng T.

A mysterious cow!

CowperKettle

18:22

Rubisco

@CowperKettle This is the cow of destiny

CowperKettle

Maybe

Damkerng T.

Oh, nice view!

Green and brown.

Rubisco

@CowperKettle I am envious.

Not of the weather, but of the fun you were having freezing

CowperKettle

You have a lot of fun ahead of you too. And you can ride a bicycle all year round in Tabriz (0:

Rubisco

18:25

Cough . . . Tabriz

Cough

CowperKettle

Sorry!

Rubisco

'Sorry' is another city

Sari, Iran

Sari ((Persian: ساری‎‎ pronunciation ) ; also Romanized as Sārī; also known as Shahr-i-Tajan and Shari-i-Tajan) is the provincial capital of Mazandaran and former capital of Iran (for a short period), located in the north of Iran, between the northern slopes of the Alborz Mountains and southern coast of the Caspian Sea. Sari is the largest and most populous city of Mazandaran. == Location == The Mazandaran Sea provides a beautiful coastline to the north of Sari; north-east of the city lies Neka. Qa'emshahr (formerly known as Shahi) is to its south-west, Juybar is to its north-west, and Kiasar...

CowperKettle

Typical Ural village house

Damkerng T.

This house looks familiar.

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. Czar George used it as a holiday spot

Damkerng T.

18:30

Hehe!

Rubisco

Konkur and the pain

38 mins ago, 20 minutes total – 54 messages, 2 users, 0 stars

Bookmarked 7 secs ago by Rubisco

in English Language & Usage, 12 mins ago, by tchrist

Why Is Colored Person Hurtful and Person of Color OK? A Theory of Racial Euphemisms.

Cardinal

18:57

@DamkerngT. Exactly. However, the book that was challenging to me was 1100 words that you must know or something like that.

Also, I read some other books long times ago: 504, 400 and some other number of essential words.

@DamkerngT. Exactly, TOEFL takes roughly 3.5 hours to be done!

It's very exhaustive.

Damkerng T.

@Cardinal Hehe!

BTW, congrats that it's over. I hope you did well. :-)

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. Thank you, but you know, I expect better performance.

I didn't utilized my knowledge and skills completely.

Damkerng T.

Do they still have the time-limited reading aloud task?

Cardinal

No.

Damkerng T.

Ahh

Cardinal

19:04

I appreciate it, though

:D

However, I had a long format for reading.

The normal tests have three passages

My tests had 4 passages.

Damkerng T.

Reading comprehension or reading aloud?

Ah, I see.

Cardinal

No, reading comp.

That depleted my energy.

Damkerng T.

Hehe!

Cardinal

You answer 5 passages and they will remove one of the passages.

Rubisco

That's too much.

Cardinal

19:06

I have no idea how they choose that passage, the victim :-).

Rubisco

Too much for my attention span, I mean

Damkerng T.

@Cardinal I guess it's either the best or the worst.

Cardinal

@Rubisco What is too mush?

Rubisco

That many passages

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. Some how but it takes a lot of starch to be pulled off.

:))

sorry for multiple pings.

@Rubisco Yes each of the passages is almost over 900 words, I guess.

Damkerng T.

19:09

LOL -- I meant the one passage that they will not count in your score, BTW.

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. I see. I meant you waste your energy on nothing.

That would be deleted would eat your mind!

Damkerng T.

Well, I think they have it on purpose. :-)

Like, if you can do 4, you can do 5 as well. :D

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. Yes, indeed they have.

Rubisco

@Cardinal Were there any breaks between the tests?

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. Like, you want to achieve over 100, you must do that with a ramshackle mind, otherwise, there is no point in your result!.

@Rubisco Yes, after fulfilling the reading section and listening section.

after 2- 2.30 hours.

Damkerng T.

19:14

@Cardinal I think you need a clear mind, but whatever works for you. :-)

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. Exactly.

The more concentration the higher points.

By "concentration" I mean the ability of the mind with which you ignore irreverent interlopers.

Those irrelevant thoughts can strike the mind more often after some demanding sections.

Damkerng T.

I think an interloper is usually a person rather than a thing.

Cardinal

I couldn't find the proper word.

You are right.

Damkerng T.

Distraction, perhaps?

Cardinal

yes.

Rubisco

19:20

@Cardinal I sense it was only because you felt stressed.

Cardinal

However, that wasn't very new phenamenon, having experienced two Konkours !@Rubisco

Rubisco

If you feel you haven't done as well as you could, you should just let it go.

@Cardinal ʕ ⊃･ ◡ ･ ʔ⊃︵┻━┻

Cardinal

@Rubisco Thank you.

Damkerng T.

Cute table flipping!

Cardinal

@Rubisco :))

ʕ ⊃･ ◡ ･ ʔ⊃︵┻━┻

Damkerng T.

19:21

Haha!

Rubisco

@Cardinal Well, if mourning or celebrating won't change the result, let's celebrate instead.

After Ashoura, I mean

I wonder how that gets romanized.

Cardinal

@Rubisco :))

Yes, It's fun to be funny.

I missed Jim's teases!

@Rubisco That's the point.

OK, I am really tired.
Have nice upcoming seconds.
o/

Rubisco

\o

Damkerng T.

o/

Konkur and the pain

Transcript for