English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

tchrist

00:24

Q: What comes between Holland and Austria?
A: Singapore.

From here.

Laurel

01:01

@tchrist It's weird to see Argentina rank so high but then again I know a person from there with great English skills

tchrist

@Laurel Notice how terrible Mexico is.

alphabet

01:15

@tchrist The methodology confuses me. Is it the average level of all residents, whether or not they know English? Or is it the average level of fluency among English speakers?

ef.edu/epi/about-epi/#faq-frequently-asked-questions

> We recognize that the test-taking population represented in this index is self-selected and not guaranteed to be representative of the country/region as a whole. Only those people either wanting to learn English or curious about their English skills will participate in one of these tests. This could skew scores lower or higher than those of the general population.

> The EF EPI calculates a country’s/region's average adult English skill level using data from three different versions of the EF SET. Two versions are open to any Internet user for free. The third is an online placement test used by EF during the enrollment process for English courses.

tchrist

At least they aren't dishonest.

alphabet

The average? Everyone knows you should use the median for this sort of thing.

tchrist

I don't find anything there that jumps out at me as completely bonkers.

alphabet

Also: I suspect that (say) Mexico might do badly because it has a lot of speakers that are good enough to take the test, but not enough to score well. Meanwhile South Africa may be too high because, although most of the population doesn't speak English, those who do tend to be very proficient.

tchrist

Trevor Noah may be a special case. :)

Robusto

01:46

@tchrist It would be funny if they tested US speakers.

I bet we wouldn't come in first.

On average, I mean.

MetaEd

02:07

Wordle 757 3/6

⬛🟩🟨⬛⬛
⬛🟨🟩⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

okay I am clearly doing better at this game.

alphabet

02:41

@Robusto As long as we're ahead of the UK. That's all that matters.

tchrist

03:10

> Perspective, c'est a dire, le tresrenomme art du poinct oculaire d'une veue dedans ou travers regardante, estant sur une muraille unie, sur un tableau, ou sur de la toile, en laquelle il y ayt quelques edifices, soyt d'eglises, temples, palais, sales, chambres, galeries, places, allees, jardins, marches & rües…

M.A.R.

@tchrist Iran is right where I expect it would be. But Japan is doing worse than us? No way

@alphabet I think the most accurate label for these rankings is "average proficiency of people curious about their proficiency"

tchrist

@M.A.R. They're not so hot, really.

M.A.R.

I half expected it to exclude Iran. There are probably as many tables without Iran as maps without a proper New Zealand

@alphabet probably not all that meaningful either way

Eastern Europe being at 'high proficiency' is sorta weird

India's probably dragged down by the sheer number of participants. As I said, not very meaningful

tchrist

@M.A.R. You mean that wee severed crescent down under?

The one that looks as spaghettified as any black hole would make it?

M.A.R.

Look, we all know something happened that day. Probably involving desert heart and/or hallucinogens

I personally wasn't there so I can't tell for sure what happened

If people in New Zealand are upside down, does it mean the moon's reflection is the real one? Makes you think

alphabet

03:26

@M.A.R. Indeed, Iran is usually one of the "no data available" countries

M.A.R.

Splitting of the Moon

The splitting of the Moon (Arabic: انشقاق القمر) is a miracle in Muslim tradition attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It is derived from Surah Al-Qamar 54:1–2 and mentioned by Muslim traditions such as the asbāb al-nuzūl (context of revelation). Early traditions supporting a literal interpretation are transmitted on the authority of companions of Muhammad such as ibn Abbas, Anas ibn Malik, Abdullah ibn Masud and others. According to the Indian Muslim scholar Abdullah Yusuf Ali, the Moon will split again when the day of judgment approaches. He says that the verses may also have an allegorical...

alphabet

Please welcome the newest addition to our family

tchrist

Thanks for the home invasion this past week.

alphabet

@tchrist How were we supposed to know you didn't want visitors?

tchrist

03:42

I heard some odd snuffle down by my feet, turned my head slightly and caught my big cat petrified up on top of the big room divider, looking down at the fresh cat food I'd just laid down where a twenty-five pound bandit was snarfing it down by the open door within kicking distance. Then a terrible, loud, deep, painful growl came from the doorstep and I knew all hell was about to break loose: my little cat had tracked the intruder and fell upon him with the fury of a lion.

Somehow the tiny kitty had the voice of puma in heat, and twice the fury, and the coon hightailed it out of here as fast as it could, pursued by a bear. My tiny cat returned unharmed once the beast cleared our property line.

alphabet

@tchrist Did you leave the door open? That could be construed as an invitation.

tchrist

Yes but I was sitting no more than four feet from it. The thing came right past my legs. I could have kicked it.

alphabet

This is a sign of the deeply-rooted structural inequalities that privilege cats over raccoons in our society. Whenever a cat feels "threatened" it's "justified self-defense." But when a raccoon does it...

2

tchrist

A cat is incredibly territorial. And the thing came inside our home. That was intolerable. The one cat, the big one, was scared. The little one was enraged; he's been known to attack dogs six or eight times his size; the coon wasn't more than thrice his size, and fled in terror.

And it was eating the food I'd just put down seconds earlier for the two cats. It was stealing their kill, as it were. Not acceptable.

alphabet

Indeed, cats are often intolerant. A better society would put out enough cat food for all of us.

tchrist

03:50

I was actually extremely frightened for a moment, because the growl was of a puma or bear or large dog. But it was not.

I was sure a bear was about to jump in through the doorway.

And I knew it was coming from the doorstep. I just never expected it was the tiny kitty.

user 858770

LoL

alphabet

Your cat seems incredibly rude and inhospitable towards us.

Anyway, we wouldn't need to eat cat food if you'd just leave your garbage cans on the curb a bit longer.

tchrist

It was only a few weeks ago, well a couple months, that an immense bear DID surprise the tiny kitty who was hiding in the tall grass next to the back porch, causing the tiny kitty to come shooting in faster than greased lightning. Then my heart did skip a beat when I saw the bear on its hind legs standing taller than me. So I was afraid that's what had just happened and was about to recur.

So the wee one is rightly afraid of mighty bears, but dangerously unafraid of minibears pillaging his larder.

By law my trash cans are bear proof.

They simply have to be so here. It doesn't always stop them.

I have a phone video from last week of the bear lumbering through my backyard at 7:20am.

So the bear is here all the time. It's a legitimate concern.

alphabet

@tchrist You see, this is why food insecurity is such a problem in our community.

tchrist

> I’m voting to close this question because ADGH 67oo 2 Eat waffles.

alphabet

04:07

@tchrist Occasionally a black bear finds its way into the suburbs of Boston. But most of the bears here are the gay kind.

tchrist

That's so gay.

alphabet

Indeed. Provincetown has a "Bear Week" every year.

tchrist

Of course it does.

alphabet

Fortunately they haven't asked us to bear-proof our garbage cans yet. Presumably the population is still too small.

tchrist

And a marvelously festive Fourth of July party, all week long.

CowperKettle

04:30

Johnny Cash sings "Barbie Girl" (A.I.)

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CowperKettle

04:43

Elvis sings "Baby Got Back" (A.I.)

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LOL, but the Cash one is better.

CowperKettle