Following up to JuanElorza <[email protected]> :

>... that a large group of adults can be successfully taught a
>foreign language in a month or so ...


Unless the teacher is Mixi.

>....and if highly motivated ...

that rules out Mixi's classes.
--
Tim C.

Following up to Mxsmanic <[email protected]> :

>Tim C. writes:
>
>> "The ones who do well cannot be distinguished from native speakers, which
>> is why you don't notice them."
>
>True, if they speak only one language. But in France that is very rare.


How do you know?
--
Tim C.

On Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:33:42 +0200, Tim C. <[email protected]> wrote:

>Following up to Dave Smith <[email protected]> :
>
>>Are you sure that you aren't referring to francophones from a particular
>>region in France?
>
>The ones in his classroom.

The concierge to the broom cupboard.
--

Martin

Following up to Martin <[email protected]> :

>On Wed, 22 Aug 2007 22:27:26 +0100, [email protected] (David Horne, _the_
>chancellor (*)) wrote:
>
>>Martin <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>[]
>>> Was it here that Mixi recently discussed Mensa or was it when he was being hit
>>> by wet haddock wielding pilots?
>>
>>Both are quite possible!
>
>but equally difficult to simulate realistically.

The phantom batter-pudding hurler of Bexhill-upon-Sea strikes again!
--
Tim C.

Following up to Mxsmanic <[email protected]> :

>> Yes there is. It's the ability to distinguish relevant from
>> irrelevant.
>
>But this depends on perspective.



...and ... ????
--
Tim C.

On Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:38:56 +0200, Tim C. <[email protected]> wrote:

>Following up to Mxsmanic <[email protected]> :
>
>>Tim C. writes:
>>
>>> So your:
>>> "What I notice about people who were raised bilingual is that they have no
>>> accents, but they still confuse the two languages in many situations. "
>>> people were actually "code-switching".
>>
>>Yes. Good!
>
>So, to be clear: confusing two languages is code-switching, and
>code-switching is confusing languages?

So where do my kids and their friends fit into the Mixi's Curious World of
Multilinguals Theme Park(TM) (located close to Ripley's World)?

--

Martin

Following up to Mxsmanic <[email protected]> :

>Doesn't Frequently Mop writes:
>
>> Yes there is. It's the ability to distinguish relevant from
>> irrelevant.
>
>But this depends on perspective.
>
>Stupid people are like people who stand at a fork in the road and say "take
>the west road to get there," and then wonder why smart people seem to be
>confused. Smart people, however, have a large map, and there are many roads
>on the map that lead more or less west--almost all of which are invisible to
>the stupid person in the fork of the road. Stupid people assume that there is
>only one possibility because they see only one possibility. Smart people see
>many possibilities and find it hard to guess which of them has been
>arbitrarily discovered by the stupid people.

A very good example of brainiacs not having two ounces of common sense to
rub together.


--
Tim C.

On Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:42:17 +0200, Tim C. <[email protected]> wrote:

>Following up to [email protected] (David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)) :
>
>>I used to see my mum talk to her sister in English when there were
>>English speaking guests around!
>
>I walked into a bar (no comments about not looking where I was going,
>Martin!)

and asked for a double entendre ...

>late in the evening in Winter in the Brecon Beacons and most of
>the locals suddenly stopped speaking Welsh and carried on in English. It
>was very like the situation in the Slaughtered Lamb in An American Werewolf
>In London.

There's a Brecon Beacons conspiracy going on. The Dutch CA holiday magazine has
an article on visiting Brecon Beacons accompanied by a photo of hills with blue
skies. When I went there, we went by bus on a Sunday, it took hours. The nearer
we got the harder it rained. When we got to Brecon we found everything was
closed and that the return bus was in three hours
--

Martin

On Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:44:30 +0200, Tim C. <[email protected]> wrote:

>Following up to JuanElorza <[email protected]> :
>
>>... that a large group of adults can be successfully taught a
>>foreign language in a month or so ...
>
>
>Unless the teacher is Mixi.
>
>>....and if highly motivated ...
>
>that rules out Mixi's classes.

and Mixi.
Yesterday a real medical doctor told Mixi to go back to the breast feeding
group where he belongs.
--

Martin

On Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:45:41 +0200, Tim C. <[email protected]> wrote:

>Following up to Mxsmanic <[email protected]> :
>
>>Tim C. writes:
>>
>>> "The ones who do well cannot be distinguished from native speakers, which
>>> is why you don't notice them."
>>
>>True, if they speak only one language. But in France that is very rare.
>
>
>How do you know?

If they only speak one language wouldn't it be French? Isn't Mixi's message to
the free world that all French people are monoglot stupid and poor?

Feminine intuition or he read it in a games manual. Take your pick.
--

Martin

On Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:48:46 +0200, Tim C. <[email protected]> wrote:

>Following up to Martin <[email protected]> :
>
>>On Wed, 22 Aug 2007 22:27:26 +0100, [email protected] (David Horne, _the_
>>chancellor (*)) wrote:
>>
>>>Martin <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>[]
>>>> Was it here that Mixi recently discussed Mensa or was it when he was being hit
>>>> by wet haddock wielding pilots?
>>>
>>>Both are quite possible!
>>
>>but equally difficult to simulate realistically.
>
>The phantom batter-pudding hurler of Bexhill-upon-Sea strikes again!

His favourite game.
--

Martin

On Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:50:06 +0200, Tim C. <[email protected]> wrote:

>Following up to Mxsmanic <[email protected]> :
>
>>> Yes there is. It's the ability to distinguish relevant from
>>> irrelevant.
>>
>>But this depends on perspective.
>
>
>
>...and ... ????

as seen by a part time teacher with his head between his legs?
--

Martin

On Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:52:41 +0200, Tim C. <[email protected]> wrote:

>Following up to Mxsmanic <[email protected]> :
>
>>Doesn't Frequently Mop writes:
>>
>>> Yes there is. It's the ability to distinguish relevant from
>>> irrelevant.
>>
>>But this depends on perspective.
>>
>>Stupid people are like people who stand at a fork in the road and say "take
>>the west road to get there," and then wonder why smart people seem to be
>>confused. Smart people, however, have a large map, and there are many roads
>>on the map that lead more or less west--almost all of which are invisible to
>>the stupid person in the fork of the road. Stupid people assume that there is
>>only one possibility because they see only one possibility. Smart people see
>>many possibilities and find it hard to guess which of them has been
>>arbitrarily discovered by the stupid people.
>
>A very good example of brainiacs not having two ounces of common sense to
>rub together.

Remember when Mixi claimed he didn't need maps because he navigated solely with
a GPS receiver? Says it all really
--

Martin

On Fri, 24 Aug 2007 06:16:46 +0200, Mxsmanic <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hatunen writes:
>
>> May we assume, then, that for French you would devise a test for
>> Parisian French, devised perhaps by the forty Immortals?
>
>There's no such thing as "Parisian French." It's just French.

Yeah, right.
--

Martin

Following up to Martin <[email protected]> :

>On Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:38:56 +0200, Tim C. <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Following up to Mxsmanic <[email protected]> :
>>
>>>Tim C. writes:
>>>
>>>> So your:
>>>> "What I notice about people who were raised bilingual is that they have no
>>>> accents, but they still confuse the two languages in many situations. "
>>>> people were actually "code-switching".
>>>
>>>Yes. Good!
>>
>>So, to be clear: confusing two languages is code-switching, and
>>code-switching is confusing languages?
>
>So where do my kids and their friends fit into the Mixi's Curious World of
>Multilinguals Theme Park(TM) (located close to Ripley's World)?

Buggered if I know.
But in the real world(tm) they sound perfectly normal.
--
Tim C.