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03:57
0
Q: What do you think why the English test for non native speakers, TOEFL iBT has become ferociously difficult?

Kentaro TomonoI asked moderators to close this question since the question itself is not about English but rather about a particular test, but basically I agree with the OP's outrage. In 2013, my score was 95, but when I took this year, about 6 months ago, the reading question has increased by 1 within same te...

 
6 hours later…
09:55
I think English language really has too many rules to be immaculate.
if you speak Chinese, there is no rule at all--you can speak in whatever way you like without being criticized ungrammatic.
 
3 hours later…
12:28
I don't think English has that many rules; it's just that some are difficult to apply/spell out/understand(?). Like those about the perfect or articles. That's why immersion is necessary. Everything else is easy peasy Japanesey, squeeze the lemons... not really, but close; i.e., idiomatic and learned on a case-by-case basis (like prepositions).
 
1 hour later…
Anonymous
13:32
@CaptainBohemian People make that claim about a lot of languages, but it's never true. Every language has roughly the same amount of grammar.
Anonymous
Usually people who think their language doesn't have much grammar are native speakers of those languages, because they acquired the language and never really encountered the grammar consciously.
Anonymous
Of course, you don't learn any language simply by studying its grammar.
Anonymous
You have to put yourself out there and communicate. That's how you learn.
Anonymous
As much input as possible is really important too, but you really just need to communicate.
Anonymous
For many people, I think grammar is most useful as a supplementary tool to help with very specific aspects of the language, the parts they're having trouble acquiring without explicit instruction.
Anonymous
13:36
But sitting down and reading a grammar from end to end? Well, that's probably really interesting for some of us, but it isn't something I'd recommend for most people :-)
Anonymous
That's why I love pedagogical grammars like Michael Swan's.
Anonymous
Even if they do have limitations.
Just came to wish you, people, Merry Christmas. Hope you are all ok.
3
14:33
@snailboat reading grammar is fine to me, but I tend to forget after reading. so every time when I need to use it, I have to recheck the grammatical guide to avoid error. It really takes time to do that, and sometimes I just have no time--I have other things to do. In the past I consider English grammar is some holy rule which must be strictly followed, but now I find a lot of texts violate grammatical rules--obviously not many people have time to check grammar for each word they intend use.
several days ago, I saw in the street there is a signpost writing "Let's going ...",... being likely to be "on green" or something similar I forget. (that signpost is mainly to tell people a day during a week is a green day, during when people should take bus, MRT, ride bike or walk.) Anyway, I think "Let's going ..." violates some grammatical rule--it should be "Let's go ..."
 
2 hours later…
16:51
Word of the Xmas evening: gelastic seizure (a rare type of seizure that involves a sudden burst of energy, usually in the form of laughing or crying)
17:13
4
Q: Why do some Muslim countries criminalize atheism?

user4951I've heard that in several countries, including Malay and Iran, being an atheist can get you a death sentence. All of these countries are Islamic countries. Now, Islam itself is already pretty close to atheism, rejecting all gods but one (Allah). So it's legal to believe in Visnu, or Thor, or Ze...

Amazing logic of the day: "Islam itself is already pretty close to atheism, rejecting all gods but one (Allah)"
 
1 hour later…
18:18
@CowperKettle Any religion worth its salt will reject other religions as false. Nonetheless, the question is on point because Qur'an doesn't say anything earthly awaits those who reject Islam, and instead orders Muslims to never judge by someone's belief.
But I don't know if the same holds if you leave Islam.
Yep, looks like Qur'an says nothing about it.
(About the punishment – not the notion itself.)
The problem is that all the current implementations of Islam as a way to lead a people by means of governing a country have failed. Governments of countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, etc., do not follow Islam strictly (and as concerns contentious matters often go against it). They have their own interpretations, they don't always read the Qur'an but refer to other sources like Ahadith and some "scholars", etc.
That's why the asker is insisting on a political explanation, rather than a theological one (they presumably know what I said in my first reply above).
@THEGreatGatsby Hello. We usually discuss English here, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
19:02
thanks
is this channel only for english?
19:52
@CaptainBohemian What is MRT?
what is David Rubenstein said
42 sec
people would not recongnize me if my tie
and I am not sure after that
@CowperKettle Well, I can kind of understand that logic. That sentence just means what it means.
@userr2684291 Well I can say that it wasn't Islam per se that was implemented here
@userr2684291 Well, moving your ass around and yelling anti-Islam stuff will get you into trouble
But declaring "I'm an atheist" among a group of classmates doesn't gain you much hate.
@CowperKettle I KNOW RIGHT!
So, IOW, converting from Islam and publicly announcing it can get you a death sentence
So can a kilo of heroin
What the real truth here is that borders religions built around themselves for centuries are fading
Most Muslims, Christians etc. (basically any major religion I reckon) no longer follow most of the practices of their religion
Only the easier or more justifiable practices remain among few of the people as a result of the preachers too busy collecting funds than educating people properly
Goes without saying how "religious" the governments would really be
Just like the 'Socialist Nationalist' question in HNQ, it's just a barrage of label abuse
Only the hollow peel of religion remains and yet it's a very heated, trending topic
And that moronic assertion that "Islam is atheism with the exception of one God" is some neo-thinker's idea of being logical
Lincoln's murderer is innocent except for one case.
20:20
Hello @M.A.R.ಠ_ಠ are you feeling OK these days? Kidney working OK?
Hi @Jasp!
Yup, working like a charm! Thanks for asking. How're you doing?
@M.A.R.ಠ_ಠ Well, my mental health is at its worst now, I am just hanging in there, hoping for some kind of miracle.
@JasperLoy Oh, well, try compounding
Do little things that you enjoy
It's not gonna improve all at once
Compounding? Never heard of that term.
Well I used it in a slightly different way than it's used
20:25
Oh OK.
Basically huge profit from small bits of work spread over a long time
You could try something that allows you to keep track of some form of progress
Exercise is a pretty good idea
Are you going to study chemistry in college? I forgot.
Pharmaceutics
But nothing's certain
Oh pharmacy.
Why not medicine?
I had a doctor friend whose wife is a pharmacist, and another doctor friend whose wife is a dentist.
Well my dream future is me making new medicine
2
20:40
???
@THEGreatGatsby Hi
can you check me question
video 42 second
Sorry, YouTube is blocked in my region
oo come on man
how comes why ?
are u from china ?
20:50
that guy told me dont post listening questions in stack exchange post in the channel
coming here and noone is answering my quesiton
Yep, blocked. Been loading for 5 minutes
ok so I will open another question in the stack exchange forum
if noone answering here
@THEGreatGatsby No one except me and Jasper has been on since you asked your question, and no one owes you an answer. This is the English Language Learners chatroom, for casual chatters and questions from time to time
sure sure
If your question is unfit for the site, someone in chat might answer your question, naturally because there are no strict rules here like the ones that govern the main site
20:52
does not help me much
I am searching a solution not obstacles
What I'm trying to say is your question might be deemed as too trivial for the main site
@THEGreatGatsby I believe he is saying "people wouldn't recognize me if my tie was fixed, but okay".
Or unfit in some other way, dunno. Haven't been active on main for quite a long time
@Alex Tigers are known for only short bursts of fast motion. They don't follow prey for a long time and thus they ensure they capture the prey.
21:09
@M.A.R.ಠ_ಠ Oh, am I a tiger?
thanks
alex
@THEGreatGatsby You're welcome.
21:33
@Alex That was an elaborate way of saying "ohai lurker"
Or "stalker". Whichever you prefer
So you are the prey?
It's Rubenstein in this case
Man. Ruben + Stein. There's definitely not like 100000000 of those in the world.
how am I supposed to connect to this chat room from the iphone app?
I do not see any option I can see english Language learners
but I can not find this chat room
@THEGreatGatsby SE's iOS app? I think they didn't implement chat there
The apps ran out of fashion I guess
stack exchange yes
21:40
iOS is good for some quick and dirty review or voting, from what I gather
so any time I have to find the article where the guy is referring to the chat room
which is not very nice option
Android isn't good for anything and is kinda discontinued
I am doing around 90% of all questions and review on my iphone
@THEGreatGatsby You can bookmark the chat in a browser
let me do that now
right now I am at home so it is easy I am on my laptop
21:42
Feel free to look around, there are lots of chats
This chat has seen way more active days
People usually just add random opinions and questions nowadays
BUT, pretty awesome bunch of folks. Plus, you can get in touch with a mod pretty easily.
bookmarked and works
nice
And honestly chatting is probably THE reason my English hasn't declined in the past 4 or so years
but we are only 4 here
@THEGreatGatsby In the bottom right corner of the screen there's a "more" button.
When you click that, one of the options is "Open Chat".
That will open a list of rooms.
This room is currently at the top of the list because it is the most recently active.
Blurp
Now it's still the most recently active
21:52
a sec
doing several things on my 3 laptops so pretty busy now
ok thanks
I found it
seems to be hidden ...
would never tried to look for it over there
@V.V. The commas are spotless
22:34
@M.A.R.ಠ_ಠ I understand that's how some governments operate, but that's not what the religion says.
@userr2684291 Eh, it's so open to interpretation (like any other form of good artistic writing) that there is a wide range of conflicting actions justifiable
It doesn't need to be perfectly logical to fool the masses
The Arabs back then weren't really sharp at documenting things, and after the Prophet Muhammad passed away, they made up ridiculous excuses not to document what he really said and how he really lived
And 50 years later Mo'avieh hired some 'specialists' to make up Hadith, and they did it for 30 years
It's pretty dang hard to validate a claim attributed to him or the Imams, let alone tackle the interpretations that arise with them
Basically, it's a mess. I think the same doesn't hold for Christianity unless the medieval creativity of the church has had a larger impact than I imagined
Someone slap me so I go to sleep
@M.A.R.ಠ_ಠ Yeah but there's a clear path down a hierarchy of what you're supposed to believe your religion preaches when you're not sure.
For example, if what Muhammad did clashes with the Qur'an, the Qur'an wins.
I know things aren't always so clear cut, but from what I've seen, they mostly are, for all the major issues.
If the holy book preaches X, and everything points in the X direction, and then there's a verse which says something that's possibly hinting of something in some particular case that's in the Y direction... are you gonna say "Well, the book says do Y, so I'm gonna do Z as well because God himself obviously wants me to do that by extension..." – that's how you get sharia, by the way.
Unfortunately, as far as apostasy goes, things are as black and white as possible. The same re the treatment of non-believers. But of course, sharia in this case will observe a random tradition not even your prophet followed. Then it'll shore up its claims by Hadith... and that's how you get something completely different.
(From the main thrust of your holy book.)

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