Comments on: Tales From The Industry XXII - Live LHC Chats

By: Jude

Jude — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 02:12:50 +0000

Gosh, this entry was so much fun to read. I was delighted tonight when my 9th grader addressed me in Spanish. He’s using every little bit that he learns in his Spanish classes, and he doesn’t mind if I correct him, so he’s learning quickly and it’s sticking with him. The high school kids I work with love that I speak Spanish and generally forgive my errors because only two adults speak it at my school. If you ever want to have a bizarre cultural experience from your couch, watch Sabado Gigante on Univision Saturday nights. It’s the strangest and most energetic mix of game show/music/serious interview/comic sketches/dancing/nearly naked women that you will ever see. One of my Mexican cousins learned English by watching movies with subtitles, so I think you could learn a lot of Spanish by watching television with subtitles. I learn more every time I watch. I love your science explanations too. For languages, I like the free BBC online courses.

By: Clifford

Clifford — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 23:42:55 +0000

“Well, I’d claim that nature is pretty good at genetic modification too ”

Yes, I agree, and hence my parenthetical remark, however, I think it’s not quite analogous for lots of reasons… but perhaps a matter of degree. It is an interesting discussion that could be gone into, but I did not want to scupper the main point of the post.

Thanks for the language tip!

-cvj

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:11:33 +0000

Well, I’d claim that nature is pretty good at genetic modification too
Coincidentally I was also videoed yesterday for a piece on Spanish language television, not about the LHC but about my thoughts, as an Englishman, on Stephen Hawking - he’s coming here in a couple of weeks, and it’s big news! It sounds like you did a good deal better than I did coming up with a coherent set up statements. The trick of not staring into the camera was not something I’d thought of, and as it was a straight to camera (not interviewed) piece, I wasn’t sure how else to do it.

If you are truly interested in learning Spanish then I have found no better resource than the Michel Thomas audio courses. A very natural, effort-free way to learn.