The novice begins to

Discuss any questions in English. Practise your writing skills.

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#251

Сообщение Beginner »

VictorB,
VictorB пишет: 17 янв 2021, 13:02 A good joke it is, but haven't you gone too far?
If I understand correctly, then I have crossed some border that shouldn't be crossed. Unfortunately, I didn't feel it. Perhaps because of rudeness or perhaps, because the English language has not yet entered into the flesh and blood and when I use it it is just like juggling. To be honest, Victor, I do not really believe that this joke could somehow hurt or offend a respected acapnotic. In any case, I hope that the acapnotic can slow me down when I start to cross the border.
In addition to practicing my English, I also practice my sense of humor. In a sense, I chose acapnotic as my victim :). Until I learn English, he will have to endure. I.e. it is still a long time. B2 (C2) is still far from me :)
PS Although the responsibility is on acapnotic too because he responded to my posts. He, as an adult, understood that among the millions who can start writing on the forum, anyone can get caugh.


By the way, Victor, with this sentence you touched upon an important topic, the topic of correct communication. After all, as it often happens - at first we are cute and friendly, carefully choose words, joke and put emoticons. Communicating further, we gradually get an idea of who is in front of us. We understand this by his expressions, by the construction of sentences, by jokes and reactions to them, by opinions on various issues, and so on. Then we agree or disagree with something. Something is starting to annoy us. We may notice inconsistencies in the text, forgetfulness of the interlocutor, excessive seriousness or vice versa foolishness; comments that can hurt us and much more... . Relationships (if you can use this rather serious word when talking about communication via the Internet), begin to deteriorate.

This may become a separate topic. Not in the sense of discussing specific personalities, but in general.
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#252

Сообщение VictorB »

Beginner,
Beginner пишет: 18 янв 2021, 02:16 If I understand correctly
Beginner пишет: 18 янв 2021, 02:16 In addition to practicing my English, I also practice my sense of humor.
Hey, mate, I wonder whether you are serious this time.
If yes, then you got it all wrong--I did appreciate your joke and I didn't find it crude, much less in the context of your interaction with @acapnotic.
Anyway, since you seem to have acquired a taste for writing in English, I'm only too glad about the fun you had replying seriously and at length to so a brief, quizzical comment of mine :-) Best alvays.
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#253

Сообщение Easy-Breezy English »

Beginner пишет: 18 янв 2021, 01:08 jokes that hurt the soul (especislly tender woman's soul)
Yup, you hit the nail right on the head. This particular section of the board is so brimming with dark sardonic male humor that it’s becoming a bit too much to bear for my delicate female psyche. :-))
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#254

Сообщение Beginner »

VictorB пишет: 17 янв 2021, 13:02 but haven't you gone too far? LOL again)
I perceived this comment correctly but the words "haven't you gone too far?" made me doubt a little. Thank you for your explanations.

About the words "train my sense of humor" - it's not serious, really. But on the other hand... , who knows, we learn and train something whole (all) our life.
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#255

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acapnotic пишет: 16 янв 2021, 12:33 You mean paper books? You haven't bought an e-reader yet?
Yes, I meant paper books. I decided not to buy an e-reader.
acapnotic пишет: 16 янв 2021, 12:33 I've also made a New Year resolution to improve my listening skill by listening for at least 30 minutes every day
Have you kept you promise so far? Was there ever a day at least when you didn't listen? What did you choose for listening? The audiobooks "The Shield of Time" by Poul Anderson?
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#256

Сообщение acapnotic »

Beginner пишет: 18 янв 2021, 19:15 I decided not to buy an e-reader.
Why? Too expensive?
Have you kept you promise so far? Was there ever a day at least when you didn't listen? What did you choose for listening? The audiobooks "The Shield of Time" by Poul Anderson?
I've missed a couple of days. That's inevitable, I think. Besides, I actually started in the middle of December, so there's some reserve. :) I find videos with clear pronunciation on YouTube, like this channel, for instance. I prefer to read books rather than listen to them because I have to look up words in the dictionary. Listening to a book after it's been read, or vice versa, would be boring to me. I read not just for learning; it's also entertainment.
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#257

Сообщение acapnotic »

acapnotic пишет: 16 янв 2021, 12:33 am reading Vault of the Ages
A bit disappointed by the happy ending. It looks so made up and idealistic. The first book was better in that respect. Let's see what the third one has to offer. Or maybe I'll read something by Lovecraft for a change. Recently I came across illustrations for his At the Mountains of Madness and was impressed, so I've found that book and a few others. I remember reading him in Russian a long time ago.
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#258

Сообщение VictorB »

acapnotic пишет: 19 янв 2021, 09:05 I prefer to read books rather than listen to them because I have to look up words in the dictionary. Listening to a book after it's been read, or vice versa, would be boring to me. I read not just for learning; it's also entertainment.
acapnotic пишет: 20 янв 2021, 13:43 Or maybe I'll read something by Lovecraft for a change.
acapnotic,
Why not try reading and listening simultaneously? On the off chance that you might want to give it a go:
- There's quite a few pieces of his work there, professionally narrated and subtitled.
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#259

Сообщение acapnotic »

VictorB пишет: 21 янв 2021, 02:21 Why not try reading and listening simultaneously?
Because the speed of my reading varies widely. Sometimes I stop altogether, to look up a word in the dictionary or to figure out the meaning of a phrase that I fail to understand at once. Or maybe I want to think about something. I don't like the prospect of having to stop and start the video on such occasions. And even if not for that, I much prefer slowing down or speeding up my reading when I feel like that, not someone else.
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#260

Сообщение VictorB »

acapnotic пишет: 21 янв 2021, 06:28 Sometimes I stop altogether, to look up a word in the dictionary or to figure out the meaning of a phrase that I fail to understand at once.
And so do I, sometimes, before I get used to the author's writing style, the pace of the narration, the narrator's diction, and--most importantly-- not after the plot has pulled me altogether. Then, the way of devouring a book--by reading it or by listening to its audio version--doesn't matter greatly .
As for the short stories and novelettes by H.P. Loveraft, I find a real enjoyment in just listening to a professional narrator's reading aloud so unusually put, ornate, and in places quite lengthy sentences as are those of Lovecraft's pieces of work.
Anyway, to each their own, and one man's meat is another man's poison :-)
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#261

Сообщение acapnotic »

VictorB пишет: 21 янв 2021, 15:33 so unusually put, ornate, and in places quite lengthy sentences
Exactly. Yesterday I got lost in the middle of several of them on one page. :) If I'm reading, I can simply go back and re-parse the sentence, but not when I'm listening.
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#262

Сообщение VictorB »

acapnotic пишет: 21 янв 2021, 16:04 Yesterday I got lost in the middle of several of them on one page
acapnotic,
Which one were you reading? What have you already read? Do you have any order to read them in? If yes, what did you choose to read? I'm asking because I have a list of ten pieces I'm going to start reading on the coming weekend, and it would be interesting to compare it to what you put on your reading list :)
СпойлерПоказать
The Call of Cthulhu
The Shadow Over Innsmouth
The Whisperer in Darkness
The Dunwich Horror
At the Mountains of Madness
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Silver Key
Through the Gates of the Silver Key
The Shadow Out of Time
The Mound
Imprisoned with the Pharaohs
https://reedsy.com/discovery/blog/best-lovecraft-books
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#263

Сообщение acapnotic »

VictorB пишет: 21 янв 2021, 16:58 What have you already read?
Just one short story, The Unnamable. It was very refreshing after a good dose of sci-fi. However, feeling refreshed, I went back to Anderson and am now reading The Shield of Time. But thanks for the list and the link; I'll certainly use them in the future.

The ones I've picked myself (quite at random, except for At the Mountains of Madness) are: The Whisperer in Darkness, The Thing on the Doorstep, The Strange High House in the Mist, The Silver Key.
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#264

Сообщение VictorB »

acapnotic пишет: 21 янв 2021, 17:51 It was very refreshing after a good dose of sci-fi.
I've had that dose too, but is was Phillip Dick's Counter-Clock World novel followed by a few shorter bits of his writing. Like you, I'm switching to Lovecraft before going on with P.K.D. I think it's going to be Ubic or Valis--which one of the two, I haven't decided yet.
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#265

Сообщение acapnotic »

VictorB пишет: 21 янв 2021, 20:19Ubic
Ubik. :) Looks promising. I should give it a try later.
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#266

Сообщение Beginner »

acapnotic,
acapnotic пишет: 16 янв 2021, 12:33 I was interested in programming itself -- mostly, I suspect, for the purpose of proving to myself that I'm smart enough for that. As soon as I had proved it, my interest began to dwindle.
Why did you have any doubts about your ability to program? And... Is it really so boring - to program? As I understand from your posts you have a mostly (or absolutaly) sciencetific worldview, interested in technology; at least, you read science fiction. You could find an activity not connected only with programming but connected with programming and something else, something related to exploring the human brain or transfer of consciousness to digital form. (well, or what kind of advanced research is there now, I do not know).
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#267

Сообщение acapnotic »

Beginner пишет: 27 янв 2021, 19:25 Why did you have any doubts about your ability to program?
Until we have done something, we can't be sure we are good at it.
Is it really so boring - to program?
Yes and no. Programming is essentially writing in a foreign language, so I think you can imagine what it is, based on your experience with English. Probably, most of the time you just don't have anything interesting to say. Then you have an idea and get enthusiastic about expressing it in English. But as you try to do that, you realize how much of what you need you don't know. You see that it'll be far more work and less play than you thought, and you feel your enthusiasm fade away. It's similar to that when you program. Of course, if you do it for a living, you'll do it no matter what. If you develop your skill to a professional level, things might get better. But even then new tasks will require stepping out of your comfort zone and struggling with the unknown again. Language learners, for example, seem to be much more fluent when they speak about learning languages than anything else. It's their comfort zone. Something they know best how to talk about. But take another subject, and they are far less confident. They need to learn again, which is tiring and time consuming. So they'll most likely just give up the idea and keep silent.
something related to exploring the human brain or transfer of consciousness to digital form.
I'm afraid that when they manage to do that (if ever), I'll be long dead already, so it's not very motivating. My consciousness won't be able to survive this way. :) Speaking more generally, there are lots of things we could learn, but what's the purpose? We'll never have learned them all. Maybe a tiny percentage.
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#268

Сообщение Beginner »

Ugh! I've finished my second original English book by Nick Hornby - "How to be good". At the very begining of the reading, I searched unfamilar words in the dictionary. Then I got tired and just started only reading. Now I should to search for the meanings of many words. Also I highlighted words with(by) a marker, so I can't sell this book to anyone in the future. I don't care, though.
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#269

Сообщение acapnotic »

Beginner пишет: 28 янв 2021, 22:53 I've finished my second original English book by Nick Hornby - "How to be good".
So you are now out of books and have to buy new ones from someone? Aren't you going to eventually clutter your apartment with them? Or will you throw them away after reading?
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#270

Сообщение VictorB »

Beginner пишет: 28 янв 2021, 22:53 so I can't sell this book to anyone in the future. I don't care, though.
Paying for something that can be easily gotten for free...
https://www.rulit.me/books/how-to-be-go ... 66224.html
Indeed, different strokes for different folks :)
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#271

Сообщение VictorB »

Beginner пишет: 28 янв 2021, 22:53Ugh!
Should you want to find out what feeling this particular exclamation/interjection expresses, here's a link to a reliable source:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/ru/%D1 ... erjections
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#272

Сообщение Easy-Breezy English »

VictorB пишет: 29 янв 2021, 17:41 Should you want to find out what feeling this particular exclamation/interjection expresses
Should you really want to find out, ask me. I use it, like, every other word. :-))
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#273

Сообщение acapnotic »

used to express a strong feeling of disgust (= disapproval and dislike) at something very unpleasant
Easy-Breezy English пишет: 30 янв 2021, 00:00 I use it, like, every other word.
Wow. How unpleasant your life must be. :( Why is it so?
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#274

Сообщение Easy-Breezy English »

acapnotic пишет: 30 янв 2021, 07:11 Wow. How unpleasant your life must be. :( Why is it so?
My point was that there’s more than one way to use that interjection. It’s certainly one of my go-tos although I use it mainly for exasperation, which is probably more indicative of my attitude than of the surrounding circumstances.
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#275

Сообщение acapnotic »

Easy-Breezy English пишет: 30 янв 2021, 12:16 I use it mainly for exasperation
There you seem to agree with the dictionary. If you experience something unpleasant that you disapprove of and dislike, it's natural to feel exasperated. But is it natural to feel so after finishing your second English book?
Easy-Breezy English пишет: 30 янв 2021, 12:16 My point was that there’s more than one way to use that interjection.
What else can it mean?
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