English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

@JasperLoy no, it really won't. unless the truth is that time moves in the opposite direction to effect and so the things I decide to do create the necessary antecedence for them to occur. Anyway. I will not.

David Wallace

Also stylelikeu.com/closets/annakim-violette

Anyway, it's past my bedtime. Good night all.

Matt Эллен

night Penelope!

Gigili

@DavidWallace Thank you so much, I guess that is it. Good night.

KitFox

12:39 PM

Holla.

Gigili

@KitFox Hello, does this sentence make sense to you: "Even I, myself, sometimes despised this journey and wished it would finish soon"

KitFox

Personally, I would substitute "end" for "finish," but yes, that it perfectly sensible.

Gigili

Thank you.

user19161

@Gigili I would omit the two commas.

Gigili

Aha, thank you.

user19161

12:51 PM

@kit Happy birthday to your kid!

Gigili

Is it "elementary school", "high school"?

For years 11-14

KitFox

Middle school in the US.

@JasperLoy Thank you.

user19161

@Gigili It depends on which country I guess.

KitFox

Middle school is also sometimes called junior high school here.

Gigili

I'd go for middle school.

"I completed the middle school and continued my education in high school in the US after a two-year interval"

Is "interval" the appropriate word?

KitFox

12:55 PM

"I completed middle school" not "the middle school."

Although the sentence is still confusing.

Did you first complete middle school, and then go to the US and enter high school two years later?

Gigili

Yes

KitFox

I would say "Two years after I completed middle school, I continued my education in a US high school." or something like that.

Gigili

I guess so, because the text says "I do not intend to complain but it was really difficult to start studying after two years and in a different environment." afterwards.

KitFox

Oh, to answer your actual question, you can use 'interval' like that. It is a normal use.

@Gigili Hmm, yes. That does sound like taking a two-year hiatus and then starting again.

Gigili

I mean, isn't it better to simply say "and after two years continued my education in a high school in the US." or what you said. Instead of a two year interval.

Maybe something like , "I completed middle school in Germany and started high school in the US, but after a two-year interval."

KitFox

1:07 PM

Hmm.

"I completed middle school in Germany and after two years, I continued my education in a high school in the US."

That's pretty good.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Personally I wouldn't use the word interval there because although correct it sounds odd to me. I think I associate intervals with repeating actions. I might use the word "hiatus" or "break" or some other word that specifies that you stopped doing something then started again.

I completed middle school in Germany and started high school in the US, after a two-year hiatus/break.

I completed middle school in Germany and started high school in the US after two years off.

I completed middle school in Germany, and two years later, resumed my education in a high school in the US.

KitFox

I completed middle school in Germany and then after a two-year hiatus, I continued my education in a high school in the US.

I think MrS is right, there should be some sort of indicator that there was a break, otherwise, the reader will be thinking that you were in school all along.

Well, not you, but the subject.

Gigili

Thank you @KitFox and @MrShinyandNew.

KitFox

@Reg I don't know if I can stand the chop enough to finish spending a bar. It's making me crazy!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Gigili you're welcome

KitFox

1:15 PM

@Gigili You're welcome.

Mahnax

1:34 PM

G'morning everyone.

KitFox

WTF? Stupid Access! Stupid Excel!

shakes it vigorously Just do what I am telling you to do!

RegDwight Ѭſ道

2:13 PM

2

Q: What's the difference between fluid and liquid?

What is the difference between fluid and liquid?

meaning word-choice vocabulary

6

Q: "Fluids" versus "liquids"?

What is the difference between fluid and liquid? I'm thinking of this in the context of drink plenty of fluids.

word-choice meaning

KitFox

Hahaha. My littlest is sitting at the bottom of the stairs chanting "mommmm-ME, mommmm-ME, mommmmm-ME!"

Gigili

Is using "obtain" for grade okay?

As in "but my self-confidence increased as I obtained better marks"

Vitaly

@Reg fighting Serenity or new war?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

2:29 PM

@Vitaly I am spent, so I will check again in an hour or so.

Gigili

Or "get" is better?

Mark and grade have same usage?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Gigili That sentence is fine.

@Gigili yes, in this context. "grade" might be more formal.

Gigili

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Isn't "I became more confident in myself as I obtained better grades" better?

Um, I'm sorry =\ .. What about this sentence: "But when I answered self-evaluation questions, I figured out new points about myself such as where my destination is or what is the biggest obstacle to my success (which was "how to write"), now I feel it is getting smaller gradually. "

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Gigili The only real improvement I see in your version is that "grades" might be slightly better to use. I have no objection to "my self-confidence increased"

KitFox

Grades could be confused with year in school, though.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

2:36 PM

@KitFox not if you're obtaining better ones

KitFox

Eh, maybe.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

"I obtained better grades" would, I think, pretty much always be interpreted as "better results" rather than "higher year in school"

Gigili

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Right, thank you.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Gigili This sentence is a bit awkward

"I figured out new points about myself such as..." <- I don't like this part.

Gigili

I discovered new things about myself, maybe?

KitFox

2:39 PM

"But when I answered self-evaluation questions, I figured out my goals in life and what the biggest obstacle to my success was."

Or something.

Gigili

Is "the obstacle got smaller gradually" fine?

Robusto

@Reg: Did we win?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Gigili It's grammatical but doesn't sound nice to me. I find it odd to think about an obstacle just shrinking like that.

Gigili

Huh. Shrink is the word, thank you.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

"When I answered [the/some] self-evaluation questions, I learned some things about myself, such as what my goals are and my biggest obstacle: how I write. Now, I feel that my writing has improved." Or something like that.

Gigili

2:48 PM

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Great, thank you.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I think that sentence needs to identify the self-evaluation questions, either use "the" to refer to some questions you already introduced, or use "some" to indicate that there are questions out there that you answered.

Gigili

I used some, you are right.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Robusto Yeah, for six points IIRC.

Gigili

This is my translation, I'd really appreciate it if someone could proofread it for a few minutes: (it's short)

paste.ubuntu.com/860605

KitFox

Are you having lots of lag in WMT @Rob, @Reg?

@Gigili Line 1, "experience"

Line 5, your tenses are all mismatched.

Line 6, "has improved" or "has taken a turn for the better."

Line 7, "heavily indebted to many credit card companies" or "with substantial creit card debt"

RegDwight Ѭſ道

2:55 PM

I've been having some lag at home as of late. Usually it's because of another tab with Flash in it, and goes away if I close it. But it used to be that there was not lag at all, give or take any amount of open tabs.

KitFox

Line 8, "until" and also, I would tend to say "grave mistake" rather than "great mistake"

Matt Эллен

@Gigili line 2: Sometimes I even despised this journey and wished it would end soon.

KitFox

Also, I would knit line 8 and 9 together.

Line 11, I would drop the "by far"

Line 12, "to manage" also I would put "and" instead of "or"

Matt Эллен

@RegDwightѬſ道 it's microsoft's fault

KitFox

Line 14, try "helped me come to this understanding."

Line 17, again I'd use "and" instead of "or"

Line 19, "did not enter college" (omit the "the"), also keep the semi-colon, but take out the "but"

Line 20, oh, the "but" is on this line. Also "I intend" rather than "I do intend"

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

3:00 PM

@Gigili "Except now that I study at college and I really like it," <- I don't think this is a correct use of "except". "Even though I am currently studying at college and enjoying it, in the past I faced some difficulties."

KitFox

That's better.

The tenses are confusing in that sentence.

I think Line 20 should end with "the only important goal, which is to be successful." But I am not sure.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox I don't have a problem with the first half being present tense and the second half being past tense because it's comparing two time periods. But the "Except blah blah " bit throws me off.

KitFox

Line 22, "being away from school" (omit the "the")

Line 23, replace the semi-colon with a period. Also, "potential."

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Line 9: It was when I realized... what was when? Better to simply say "I had realized..."

KitFox

Line 24, "truly" Also, "I truly believe that I can too" I can what exactly?

Gigili

3:05 PM

To continue at that age or something

And I'm keeping my "thank you so much"s for the end.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Also: "found myself heavily indebted about many of my credit cards" sounds unidiomatic. I'm not sure you're ever indebted about something. "I found myself carrying too much credit-card debt"

KitFox

And now I truly believe that I can finish my education successfully.

Line 25 needs some work too.

Let's see. "I would like my family, society, and myself(?) to be proud of me."

"I would like myself to be proud of me" sounds just awful.

No offense.

Gigili

Uhum.

KitFox

Line 28, "To be successful, my goal is to obtain at least a “B” in every course this semester."

Gigili

Maybe "I want to be proud of myself and I'd like my family and society to be proud of me as well."?

KitFox

3:09 PM

(I have a peeve about goals being things you try to do. It's like getting a trophy for participation.)

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Gigili yes, that's better

KitFox

@Gigili Yes, that's better.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

jinx

KitFox

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Where did you get such a large bottle?

KitFox

3:11 PM

I had a growth spurt in college.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Also, how did you hold it up like that without falling over? Just by sticking your foot out to the back for balance?

(seriously, graphic artists should study a bit of physics before putting a pen to paper)

5

Gigili

To a paper or on a paper?

KitFox

@MrShinyandNew安宇 I held it up with sexy. Duh.

2

@Gigili In what now?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@MrShinyandNew安宇 It's precisely because of people like you that poor graphic artists have to spell out "LIGHT" on bottles now.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Gigili "putting a pen to paper" is an idiomatic expression.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

3:15 PM

Back in the day people would just understand. Also, wear onions to their belts.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwightѬſ道 They'd need pretty big onions to counterbalance the frickin' huge coke bottle they're supposed to hold

Gigili

They also should use more relevant things, I don't see any relevance between a sexy girl and a large bottle.

@KitFox In the above sentence. =\

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Oh I see.

KitFox

Would you understand it better if they substituted male genitalia for the coke bottle?

@Gigili Oh. shakes head to clear vapors I see what you mean now.

Gigili

Much better!

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Then Gigili would complain that male genitalia had nothing to do with sexy girls.

KitFox

3:17 PM

Hahaha

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwightѬſ道 What, you don't have sexy girls holding up your male genitalia? They hold it up with sexy!

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Oh, I have all that and much more. I am not complaining. Gigili is.

Gigili

What a creative advertisement, now that I look more closely!

I'm really sorry to ask but are the last 5 sentences okay @KitFox?

"All necessary facilities for learning are provided here"

KitFox

@Gigili Oh, don't worry. Let me peruse it for a minute.

@Gigili It sounds a bit like "This is a perfectly adequate place to do this thing" which is not bad, but not really complimentary either.

"The learning facilities are excellent and academic support is top-notch."

"My success hinges on me and my motivation to learn."

"Since I entered university, I have figured out my area of interest and chosen to study nursing."

Vitaly

@Reg are we collecting applicants?

KitFox

3:26 PM

"After graduation, I would like to work as a nurse because I would be proud to help others."

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Vitaly I have fought a couple of them earlier today. Wasn't too impressed. But I only kick people of level 7 and below.

I wish I could see what decks they use on offense.

This is all the more crucial the lower their level is.

Gigili

@KitFox Thank you very much. You're awesome.

KitFox

I live to please.

Gigili

Thank you so much @MrShinyandNew.

Thank you @Matt.

@KitFox I should have guessed.

Vitaly

@RegDwightѬſ道 check Chatzy

KitFox

3:54 PM

F-cking hell.

Almost two hours trying to figure out why something wasn't working and it was because someone didn't use a consistent naming scheme.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox ah, naming.

The bane of my existence.

KitFox

It's also that ball-of-twine and chickenwire project in Access.

So I shouldn't be surprised.

But of course I can't criticize because they are so proud of themselves for having put it together.

It would be like telling my sons that their crayon drawings were scribbles.

True, but unnecessarily honest.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox Yeah, but sometimes you have to tell them to stop scribbling or else they never learn

KitFox

Well, they did realize that they needed a pro to finish some stuff.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Maybe make a point-form list of problems you've identified if they're supposed to take over the maintenance after you awesome-ify it

KitFox

4:07 PM

So I am painting it and using some glitterglue to add sparkle.

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Yeah. Like "Change text field keys to integers"

I don't think I wrote that right, but I can't parse it.

Half of their key fields are text.

shudders

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

you mean, the primary keys of records?

are stored as strings?

and let me guess, they are not 'natural' keys?

KitFox

Well, kind of.

So it's not like they didn't think about it.

When you enter a new person, you can pick their union affiliation from a dropdown, so you don't have to worry about spelling (unless you add a new union).

Thing is, rather than storing the key for the union, they use the actual name.

So "IBEW" is in their key field in the person table.

I think it is understandable, just a real rookie mistake.

Actually, I am rather impressed that they figured out that they should have a table for the union names in the first place.

Wow, I cannot seem to form coherent thoughts today.

VBA is rotting my brain.

Argh! And another name problem. At least I figured out where to look this time.

Yay! The end is in sight.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

4:30 PM

ok, so they are using natural keys. It's understandable, if not very maintainable.

How much data is there? can you migrate the schema to something saner?

KitFox

It's big, but not huge. Several thousand records.

If they wanted to pay me to do it, I could probably manage it fairly quickly, especially if I exported it to SQL Server first.

But then all the forms need to be updated.

And the queries and the reports.

There aren't many queries and reports though. That's another piece that I am working on.

Which mystifies me, because really? you can build a form like that, but you can't write a Select query?

Anyway, I can't decide whether to recommend it to them or not. Because really if I'm going to do that, then there are a few tables that ought to be restructured, and then...

Honestly, I think they'd be better off migrating it to SQL Server and using ASP.Net, but of course I would say that because that's what I do. And then they'd need someone to maintain it, which I can't do, not server administration anyway.

aedia λ

I need more coffee before I try to think those words.

I don't like databases.

KitFox

gasp

It's my son's birthday today. The eldest is turning four.

aedia λ

Ooh congratulations!

KitFox

He is also going to Play Pals for the first time in about an hour.

I am really nervous.

aedia λ

4:43 PM

Did you get him one of the awesome car toys?

Play Pals?

Like a preschool?

I would be nervous too.

KitFox

Um, I was looking for the funny thing I said about it, but I can't find it.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

wow, happy birthday baby fox!

KitFox

Essentially, Play Pals is for children whose parents don't love them enough to register them for preschool on time.

aedia λ

Awwh.

I'm sure he won't know the difference.

KitFox

Although we are registering him for pre-K for the fall.

@aediaλ I am pretty sure you are right.

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Thanks!

@aediaλ We gave him Ratchet and Clank 4 last Friday (when his cousin came to visit).

Today he will get Hot Wheels track.

aedia λ

4:46 PM

@KitFox Socialization is the real reason for sending kids out to any of those things anyhow, right? I mean it's not like they're going to learn anything else you can't teach them at that age...

KitFox

And something from my girlfriend, which is both a surprise and surprising.

@aediaλ Hard to say. I mean, yes, socialization, but he can be willing to try things for and pay attention to other people more than mom sometimes.

Also, they have different techniques for teaching.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@aediaλ Socialization, day-care, but also teaching. My daughter has learned a lot at her daycare. It helps that she really loves to learn. But not everyone is a good teacher-of-small-children.

KitFox

Except Play Pals is just for playing.

aedia λ

@KitFox Hehe. I guess that's a good point.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox Still, that'll be fun for him

KitFox

4:48 PM

I hope so.

He's been in daycare before, but never for more than three months at a go.

He likes it and hates it.

So I am hoping this will be fun.

Oh. Sounds like they are home from open gym.

I should go.

Catch up with you later!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

bye

aedia λ

Have fun!

@MrShinyandNew安宇 My mom always says that even during frustrating years that's why she didn't consider homeschooling my brother and me... we wouldn't listen to her in at all the same way we did with real teachers.

Oh @MrShiny I wanted to tell you, I got the awesomest things for my birthday a little while back! Giant Lego people heads that are storage containers!

Like this.

This one and the plain one.

And small bricks that they can sit on too.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

5:06 PM

@aediaλ huh, neat!

Happy Birthday, I guess!

Matt Эллен

this still feels like it's not a real question

-1

Q: Single word for representing a person who guides at right time

Please help me finding the single word for representing a person who guides at right time (at the time of need).

single-word-requests

aedia λ

5:21 PM

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Thanks! My husband also gave me La Noire, which I recommend if you loved Carmen Sandiego. It looks a little bit like an action game but it's essentially crime/mystery solving.

@MattЭллен Hiya @Matt! Oh, you've gone already. Well um. Bai!

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…