English Language Learners

Anonymous

09:00

That's because I always watch for snails and slugs, and sometimes I see other animals, too :-)

Damkerng T.

@snailboat It usually happened (stepping on snails) when it was dark.

Really hard to see them.

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. And that's when they come out.

Anonymous

They retreat from the light of day, unless a stronger instinct forces them out of their hiding spots

Anonymous

(Like when they get water on them. When it's wet out, they seek the high ground to avoid drowning!)

Damkerng T.

They sure are good hiders.

It's rare to see them during the day.

Anonymous

09:01

They are. Sometimes I have trouble finding them in their little snail cage :-)

Damkerng T.

LOL

Anonymous

It's sort of a game. Each time I visit them, I see if I can find all four.

Damkerng T.

Hahaha.

They might like to play hide-and-seek with you. :-)

You should yell at them Marco!

Anonymous

Oh, if snails had tympana!

Damkerng T.

What is it? looking up...

Anonymous

09:03

My brother had a hamster emergency this weekend.

Anonymous

The plural of tympanum.

Damkerng T.

Oh, eardrums.

@snailboat Who was in the emergency? Your brother or his hamster?

Anonymous

Several biological structures are called tympana, even though they're not actually the same thing.

Anonymous

The hamster.

Anonymous

My brother went to the pet store and got two pet hamsters for himself!

Anonymous

09:04

Two little hamster brothers.

Anonymous

They're very cute!

Damkerng T.

A-ha!

Anonymous

Anonymous

Damkerng T.

I think he's still small.

Anonymous

09:05

He is small.

Anonymous

His brother looks just like him, but without the stripe.

Damkerng T.

Small hamsters are cute!

Anonymous

So, my brother bought two hamsters. The pet store put them in a temporary cardboard box with little air holes, which he used to take them home--a five minute drive away.

Anonymous

My S key really hates me today.

Anonymous

In that five minutes, one of the hamsters chewed a hole big enough to escape from!

Damkerng T.

09:07

Perhaps your S got emotional.

Anonymous

He didn't notice because the cardboard hamster carrier still had weight, still had a hamster inside scuttling about

Damkerng T.

@snailboat Hah!

Anonymous

So he brought it in, then realized it only had one hamster inside!

Damkerng T.

Oh, I can imagine how he must have felt like.

Anonymous

Where was he? Had he escaped inside the house? Outside, free to roam the world? Was he in the car?

Damkerng T.

09:08

Hagu sneaked out of my house a few times.

Anonymous

He didn't seem to be in the car. He checked as thoroughly as he could, over and over.

Anonymous

Twenty-four hours later . . . after my brother had driven around a bit, he heard sounds!

Anonymous

The hamster had gotten into the car!

Anonymous

Or, to put it more precisely, had never left the car :-)

Damkerng T.

Ah! Hamster is good at hiding too!

Lucky him (the hamster).

Anonymous

09:10

He couldn't find the hamster. But!

Anonymous

When he came back, he found evidence . . .

Anonymous

Damkerng T.

Hmm... I think I could say that your brother is also lucky.

Anonymous

The hamster had chewed a hole in the car seat big enough for the hamster to crawl in!

Damkerng T.

OMG!

Anonymous

09:11

And he'd also destroyed the iPhone cassette adapter that he used to play music in his car :-)

Damkerng T.

:-)

Anonymous

But the hamster was nowhere in sight.

Damkerng T.

Hamsters sure can gnaw.

Anonymous

Oh, they sure can!

Anonymous

In fact, they have to. Their teeth never stop growing, so they have to chew all the time to wear them down.

Anonymous

09:12

So they chew all sorts of stuff, even if they don't plan on eating it or using it for nesting material.

Anonymous

They especially like chewing cords, unfortunately ;-)

Anonymous

Why cords? I don't know. But they sure do.

Damkerng T.

Haha.

Anonymous

They like chewing buttons on remote controls, too.

Anonymous

09:13

He did that in five minutes!

Damkerng T.

Hah!

Anonymous

Well, my brother discovered the hamster was behind the dashboard.

Anonymous

And he started taking the car apart to get to the hamster.

Anonymous

He may have crawled up in there because it was the closest point to the engine, so it was warmer there

Damkerng T.

Ah, I see. That's quite reasonable.

Anonymous

09:15

Damkerng T.

I'm not sure what I'm looking at.

Anonymous

That's a hamster.

Damkerng T.

Huh?

Anonymous

He's inside the dashboard, which is partially taken apart.

Damkerng T.

Ah, I see.

Anonymous

09:16

So the question is, how do you get him out of there?

Anonymous

Well, I'm not sure exactly what he did in the end, but I do know that it took him eleven hours to coax the hamster out of there.

Damkerng T.

The same way he got in there, I think.

But where?

Anonymous

Which is a really good question--how did he get in there in the first place? :-)

Damkerng T.

Too bad we couldn't ask the hamster to tell us.

Anonymous

But in the end, the hamster came out on his own.

Damkerng T.

09:17

Eleven hours. :-)

Anonymous

This is his brother!

Anonymous

They're so cute! I haven't had hamsters of my own in so long, sometimes I forget how cute they are

Damkerng T.

His brother must have missed him the whole night. :D

Anonymous

When my brother and I were young, we both had pet hamsters. Dozens of them! But I've never had pet hamsters as an adult.

Damkerng T.

09:19

Dozens!?!

Anonymous

My brother, on the other hand, has never stopped being a hamster owner.

Anonymous

Well, the first thing you need to know about hamster is that they only live for two years on average.

Damkerng T.

Oh!

Anonymous

And our family usually had about 10 hamsters or so at a time.

Anonymous

We bred them sometimes and had litters of baby hamsters :-)

Damkerng T.

09:20

Hamster's generations. :D

Anonymous

Hamsters were the pet I always had growing up.

Anonymous

Sometimes I had hermit crabs, or snails, or newts, or gerbils, or a frog

Anonymous

I had a lot of different pets over the years

Anonymous

But we always had hamsters :-)

Anonymous

I only ever had the one frog.

Damkerng T.

09:21

Strange that cats and dogs aren't in your list. :-)

Anonymous

I've never had a cat or a dog.

Anonymous

I was attacked by a dog when I was young, and it was always hard for me to be around dogs. I developed a phobia of them

Damkerng T.

Oh! I'm a dog victim too.

When I was six, a dog chased me from one end of a football field to the other.

According to others, that dog was trying to play with me.

Anonymous

As an adult, I worked to get over that. Although I still feel a pang of anxiety when I first go near a dog (or hear the jangle of a dog's chain or a dog bark in the distance), I can make myself act normally and pat a dog on the head instead of running away.

Anonymous

I can even tell him that he's a good dog, and that yes he is, and that who's a good dog.

Anonymous

09:23

@DamkerngT. That is the same thing I was told.

Anonymous

He was a friendly dog! ;-)

Anonymous

But I ended up with gashes where the dog's freshly trimmed nails cut me.

Damkerng T.

One of my relatives has hmm... a very huge dog.

Anonymous

My other brother got over his own fear of dogs by buying an African lion hunting dog

Damkerng T.

Not sure about the spelling, it's call rod-wild-ler or something like that.

Anonymous

09:24

Rottweiler.

Damkerng T.

Ah, I see. Thanks.

It's hard to guess even the correct pronunciation from Thai's pronunciation. :D

That dog is really scary for me. :D

I think he might be even bigger than me.

Anonymous

That's another example of a /t/ in coda position that I realize with a glottal stop

Damkerng T.

A-ha!

Anonymous

[ˈrɑʔwaɪlɚ]

Damkerng T.

I still don't like dogs very much these days.

Must be sure that he's a friendly one first. :-)

Anonymous

09:28

I avoid dogs, still.

Anonymous

But I don't avoid them when I have a reason not to.

Anonymous

After I grew up and moved away, my dad got a dog.

Anonymous

I met him when I went back to visit

Damkerng T.

What is he like?

Anonymous

That was a strange experience--going back to my dad's house years later.

Anonymous

09:29

My dad's house is now gone. Well, not gone exactly, but . . .

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. He was a nice dog. I think he passed away.

Damkerng T.

Oh! I'm sorry to hear that.

Anonymous

He lived to a ripe old age, I think.

Damkerng T.

Good for him.

Anonymous

This was 11 years ago that I visited.

Anonymous

09:30

My dad has a new dog now.

Anonymous

I never had any cats, either

Anonymous

But I did have friends with cats, and I still do.

Anonymous

A married couple I'm friends with have ten cats!

Damkerng T.

Ten cats!

They must really love cats.

Anonymous

It was three. And then six. And seven! And eight, ...

Anonymous

09:32

I think they find cats that need adopting and can't resist.

Damkerng T.

The number keeps climbing. :D

Anonymous

Yes! Since 2007.

Anonymous

I love cats, too.

Anonymous

But I've never taken care of one.

Damkerng T.

Cats have a simple life.

Rather like tamagotchi.

:D

Anonymous

09:33

Hee.

Anonymous

Fun fact:

Anonymous

Tamagotchi is a portmanteau of tamago and watch (as transformed by Japanese loan phonology)

Anonymous

And tamago is egg!

Damkerng T.

And what does tamago mean?

A-ha!

I think the designer of Tamagotchi must have cats as the model for the pets. :D

When Hagu got away from my house, I thought he might not be able to find his way back.

(At that time, I believed that only dogs could do that.)

So I was very worried. Went out looking for him all over the village.

Anonymous

Oh, no!

Damkerng T.

09:38

Finally, he sit in front of my door, meowing at me, because it was his meal time. :D

Anonymous

Aww :-)

Anonymous

Snails can find their way back, too.

Damkerng T.

So I learned that cats know how to get back home by themselves too!

Anonymous

Sometimes gardeners, rather than killing snails, take them far away

Anonymous

But then the snails find their way back to the garden they love ;-)

Damkerng T.

09:39

And they crawled back!

Amazing!

Anonymous

Snails have found their way home from a mile away.

Anonymous

(A mile is a long distance to a snail!)

Damkerng T.

Of course!

Anonymous

Snail typically only travel around 0.002 miles per hour.

Damkerng T.

A mile is a long distance to a cat too, I think.

I just assumed that my Hagu didn't go far beyond my village, which is not really big.

Anonymous

09:41

Maybe he didn't go far at all.

Damkerng T.

Probably. :D

Just like the hamster.

Anonymous

Hehe!

Anonymous

Oh, the hamster had an adventure, though.

Anonymous

I'm afraid he may have chewed some wires, and may have piddled behind the car stereo.

GATA

@DamkerngT. Pardon me. I was AFK for a while. Thank you :)

Damkerng T.

09:43

Oh, I'm sure that Hagu also had his adventure.

@GATA Don't worry. It was me that didn't reply promptly enough. (I blamed it on my Internet connection. :-)

Anonymous

I blame lots of stuff on my internet connection.

Anonymous

Typo? Internet connection.

Anonymous

Woke up late? Internet connection.

GATA

:D

Damkerng T.

:D

When Hahu came back, it's obvious that he had a fight with other cats.

GATA

09:45

Like "Thank you Obama"

Anonymous

Oh! Was he all right?

Anonymous

@GATA Lots of people say "thanks, Obama!"

Anonymous

Probably only a few say "Thobama!"

Damkerng T.

Oh, he got a few scar, not big ones. I think he won the fight.

GATA

:D

Damkerng T.

09:46

His being a big cat can be a good thing. :D

Anonymous

►

Anonymous

Thanks, ants. Thants.

Damkerng T.

Oh, thants!

GATA

Unfortunately Youtube is blocked by my ISP.

I should say "by" or "on" my ISP !?

Anonymous

I'd go with by.

Anonymous

09:49

Also, I'd call your ISP a jerk.

Damkerng T.

I would say by if your ISP blocked your YouTube.

But here usually ISP don't want to block anything. I think it's our ICT Department that did the blocking.

Anonymous

By the way, I recommend Look Around You. The whole series. It's pretty funny :-)

Anonymous

Bless you, ants. Blants.

GATA

thank you :) Facebook Twitter and 90% of websites are blocked here, I shoul use A proxy to watch youtube but it doesn't work right now.

Damkerng T.

Thants and blants. :D

GATA

09:52

@DamkerngT. Yes I think you're right. :)

Anonymous

I do like cats, by the way. And cats always like me, even cats who are normally afraid of people.

Damkerng T.

Lucky you. :D

Some cats (Hagu too) don't trust any strangers.

By the way, have you heard about "Acoustic Levitation" before?

GATA

I dont like cats , they are so disloyal.

Damkerng T.

(Your Look Around You video reminds me of acoustic levitation.)

GATA

I prefer Dogs.

Damkerng T.

09:55

@GATA Oh, they can play the role of villain easily in TV dramas. :D

Anonymous

Cats probably are all evil, but I love them.

Anonymous

They're such cute little killing machines!

Damkerng T.

I have one of them.

GATA

:D

Anonymous

Oh, and they're adorable as kittens.

Damkerng T.

09:56

They sure are!

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Oh, are you familiar with any of the famous online cats?

Anonymous

Maru is a famous Japanese cat.

Damkerng T.

Perhaps not. But I know that YouTube is full of cats.

Anonymous

►

Damkerng T.

My K isn't very cooperative today.

Anonymous

10:01

Maru has an affinity for boxes.

Damkerng T.

He looks rather like Hagu!

Anonymous

Oh! Hagu must be cute! :-)

Anonymous

I can't remember if you showed me a picture of Hagu already.

Damkerng T.

I think I posted Hagu's photo once, but it's rather dark.

Anonymous

I like taking pictures of animals :-)

Anonymous

10:03

It's hard taking pictures of animals faster than snails, though.

Damkerng T.

Look at Maru's tummy. Both Maru and Hagu have a similar tummy bag for reserved energy.

Anonymous

Oh!

Damkerng T.

They have similar color, and are about the same size, I think.

Anonymous

Their names are similar, too.

Damkerng T.

Indeed!

Anonymous

10:05

Maybe they have some kind of internet cat kinship.

Damkerng T.

That's possible!

At 1:13, Maru shows a similar hesitation before jumping, exactly the same way Hagu usually does.

Hahaha. Even the sleeping postures are similar.

And their meow's too!

Maybe I can have a piggyback ride on Hagu's back to be famous on YouTube too. :D

Anonymous

Hehe!

Damkerng T.

I think maybe they are cousins. :-)

Anonymous

I'm sure they are. Although there's a chance the relationship is rather distant!

Anonymous

My snails are doing well, by the way.

Damkerng T.

10:13

Ah, they must enjoy the new clean place you made for them recently.

Anonymous

I never did show you that picture with snailies added.

Damkerng T.

Ahh... you didn't.

Anonymous

They did all eventually find their way into the cage :-)

Damkerng T.

And onto the food too, I think. :-)

Anonymous

Damkerng T.

10:16

> Here is my lettuce. Here is my carrot. Yum!

Anonymous

Snaily is hiding a little bit--you can see him at the far right in his shell at the top end of the leaf where it curls up

Anonymous

He later ate some banana and carrot, too :-)

Anonymous

Dee is in the middle.

Anonymous

Dot is on the left, and Bean is on the bottom.

Damkerng T.

Dot looks bigger than Dee now!

Anonymous

10:19

Oh, almost!

Damkerng T.

Ah, got to go again. Thank y'all for a nice chat. See you all soon!

Anonymous

Dee is an adult and stopped growing, but she never got as big as Snaily.

Anonymous

Have a good evening!

Damkerng T.

Say hello to Dot, Dee, Bean, and Snaily for me, too. :-)

Anonymous

Here's a close-up on Dot:

Anonymous

10:20

Anonymous

I will! :-)

Damkerng T.

Big Dot! Bye bye!

GATA

Conquer the peak :)

Anonymous

@GATA Yes! Snails love to climb, and they're quite slow, so I think it's a major accomplishment when they get up that high :-)

GATA

:D

Anonymous

10:29

Most land snails are hermaphrodites, so they aren't divided into male and female

Anonymous

But I call Dot a girl :-)

GATA

:D

Anonymous

There are water snails that have males and females though, like apple snails.

GATA

Once I had a snail I kept it in a matchbox.

Anonymous

I don't want to call my snails "it", so I just pick for them.

Anonymous

10:30

Oh, was it a small snail?

Anonymous

My snails are bigger than a matchbox.

Anonymous

(Unless your matchboxes are bigger than I'm thinking of.)

GATA

Yes :) if I recall it correctly I found it at Park-jungle.

It was a normal matchbox :)

I meant jungle-Park :)

last night I asked a question which cerbeus answered it. Then I thanked him for helping me and he said "Always a pleasure" and then I answered "The pleasure is mine" Was it appropriate to say "The pleasure is mine"?

Anonymous

10:51

I think that was fine. (And polite.)

GATA

Tnx :)

What is the polite and informal way to say "mess up" like if that phrase was wrong to say then what verb should I've used to describe it? for example "Ah, I .... again ."

Ice Girl

11:45

@DamkerngT. Hi

@GATA Hi

GATA

@IceGirl Hi :)

Ice Girl

:)

Ice Girl

12:18

@snailboat Thank you for your best answer

Ice Girl

12:30

Can you make a sentence for ( put an end to )?

skullpatrol

It is time I put an end to all this nonsense.

Ice Girl

Sorry. What does it mean? ( put an end to )

It means stop?

skullpatrol

yes

Ice Girl

OK

skullpatrol

to begin something and to put an end to something

Ice Girl

12:34

Well

OK

:)

;)

skullpatrol

:D

Ice Girl

@skullpatrol My friend I need a short story. Can you give me some links for it?

skullpatrol

try the library

Ice Girl

Which library?

skullpatrol

any library

Ice Girl

12:37

OK

skullpatrol

they will show you where to look

Ice Girl

Can you make a sentence for repeal?

skullpatrol

Repeal

A repeal is the removal or reversal of a law. There are two basic types of repeal, a repeal with re-enactment (or replacement) of the repealed law, or a repeal without replacement. The motion to rescind, repeal, or annul is used in parliamentary procedure to cancel or countermand an action or order previously adopted by the assembly. Removal of secondary legislation is normally referred to as revocation rather than repeal in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Under the common law of England and Wales, the effect of repealing a statute was "to obliterate it completely from the records of Pa...

"the House voted in favor of repeal"

Ice Girl

Is it a sentence or a phrase?

skullpatrol

The House voted in favor of repeal.

Ice Girl

12:43

OK

What does this sentence mean?

skullpatrol

The government voted to remove the law.

Ice Girl

:)

skullpatrol

:)

Ice Girl

for the next few weeks

I need sentence

skullpatrol

"For" means "with reference to"

Ice Girl

12:52

sentence please

skullpatrol

So "for the next few weeks" tells the reader what will be happening during the next few weeks.

Ice Girl

Aha

skullpatrol

week=7days

Ice Girl

Ok

I know

skullpatrol

:)

Ice Girl

12:53

:(

skullpatrol

?

Ice Girl

Nothing

give me sentence

I don't find in dic

skullpatrol

find one please

it is very important

Ice Girl

Ok

Let me see and find

skullpatrol

@IceGirl what are you looking for in the dictionary?

Ice Girl

12:59

I find one sentence

I will be very busy for the next few weeks.

skullpatrol

8 mins ago, by skullpatrol

So "for the next few weeks" tells the reader what will be happening during the next few weeks.

Ice Girl

I search keywords in each phrase

Is it right?

skullpatrol

In this case "I will be busy during the next few weeks"

Ice Girl

Hmm...

skullpatrol

yes "keywords" are the most important words you need to understand first

they are called "key" because they unlock the meaning of the sentence

Ice Girl

13:06

few weeks is a keyword here.

right?

I'm not sure

skullpatrol

yes, that tells you how long

it is a reference to an amount of time

Ice Girl

Yes

I didn't find

Please help me

skullpatrol

what is your question please?

Ice Girl

I need sentence for it

I told you

skullpatrol

I will be on vacation for the next few weeks.

Ice Girl

13:15

Thanks

skullpatrol

np

Ice Girl

What does ( as things stand ) mean?

skullpatrol

as things are right now

as the situation is at this moment

Ice Girl

As things stand now, I can't imagine we'll be ready to leave until Friday at the earliest.

right?

skullpatrol

right

Ice Girl

13:30

OK

But it's too long

?????????????????????????????????????

@skullpatrol Can I omit at the earliest?

skullpatrol

yes you can omit that

Ice Girl

Where are you?

skullpatrol

in bed

Ice Girl

:)

skullpatrol

I am falling asleep

Ice Girl

13:37

OK. Good night. See you soon

skullpatrol

later pal

Ice Girl

I'm alone here :(

:(

Cerberus

13:59

@DamkerngT. It seems the state of emergency has been revoked (cancelled? retracted? ended? What does one do with a state of emergency after declaring it?).

I guess that's good news.

Right?

@MετάEd What would you do with a state of emergency?

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