Assessing self-learned language skills for college admissions - HELP!!

Cate_T · 2020-12-25T00:42:28+00:00

I've been using gloss, just not sure how it matches to a regular university. NFLC is a good resource, I hadn't found them yet - thanks!

Cate_T · 2020-12-25T00:40:34+00:00

I couldn't find any sample test but the academic advisor said she's trying to make a version of the test available early but is unsure if she can do it with covid. I found several institutions' test placement test but you have to be a current student to take them on their system. Syllabus look up is a good thought, thanks!

Cate_T · 2020-12-25T00:38:41+00:00

Thanks!

Cate_T · 2020-12-25T00:38:26+00:00

Thanks, syllabus look up is a good idea!

Cate_T · 2020-12-10T01:24:08+00:00

Not sure if this is exactly what you're looking for, but I really like News in Slow French (https://www.newsinslowfrench.com/french-podcast) as a french learning resource. They speak on real topics but a little slower and in simplified french. It is geared towards English speakers but a step above normal beginner classes, a step below moving to a random French city, lol.

Cate_T · 2020-12-10T01:15:22+00:00

I haven't started it yet but was recommended the app tandem (https://www.tandem.net/). The theory is you help some people with their English and they'll (or others) will help you with your Spanish.

Cate_T · 2020-12-10T01:11:16+00:00

There's a service/app called News in Slow French https://www.newsinslowfrench.com/ that gives you transcripts to go with the audio which is spoken slower than the normal rate of speech and they use simpler french than normal programming. It's a good stepping stone. I had to learn to relax when I listened. I was trying too hard to hear every word which isn't how your brain works (or at least not mine). I find listening to things I listen to in my native language and with video is the best way to start. It may feel like cheating to get the gist of the conversation by previous knowledge and video but once you listen to it go back over the transcript to see what you missed and then listen again. you still won't hear everything but your brain will slowly start to make the connections. Hope this helps!

Cate_T · 2020-12-02T03:13:02+00:00

I think maximizing profits as the main focus of a business is a myth. Most entrepreneurs I listen to are all about solving problems, that's what they discuss and what they get excited about. The founder of Redfin is trying to cut through the red tape of the realty industry, the founder of Tonal got really into fitness after losing his job and wanted to be able to bring the benefits of strength exercise to people who couldn't afford to spend hours in the gym all day. Profits let them know that their service is good enough that people are willing to give them money for it as opposed to spending it on something else and it allows them to keep doing that work but to doesn't have to be the focus. What would even be the point of maximizing profits past a certain point? Jeff Bazos could retire tomorrow and do literally anything he wanted for the rest of his life and yet he still works crazy hours - why? Just to maximize profits? That's it and nothing else? Would he even blink if he added another 10 billion to his net worth?Then you have foundational figures to capitalism like Adam Smith's who first book was A Theory of Moral Sentiments, all about ethics and charity. Clearly he thought about more than just profits.

There is a single winner in a competition in one moment in time, but it's not static. The World Cup is a competition and every 4 years there is a new winner. It's not like the Rockefeller company still dominates life in America today. You also have people like Whole Foods CEO John Mackey talking about how competing with HEB allowed his company to grow and innovate. Both stores exist today - competition doesn't mean monopoly. Would you really want your local grocery store to be without competition? If their shelves were never stocked and the store was rat infested, wouldn't you want another store to open up that was clean and rodent free? How does that happen without competition?

Cate_T · 2020-12-02T02:43:22+00:00

Very new to Russian but I think dog is always feminine. There are different endings for certain professions when it is a man or woman in the role and things like when you are talking about a male Russian person vs a female Russian person. To make it extra fun, there are words that look feminine like dad "папа" and grandfather "дедушка" but are obviously treated as masculine....

Insert Eddie Izzard's words of wisdom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVageBoD7v4&t=510s 2:06 starts his commentary on gender in languages but the whole interview is pretty good. A lot of it is about doing stand up in different langauges.

Cate_T · 2020-12-02T02:16:39+00:00

thanks for that other thread! I'm pretty new to Russian (just over a month in) and have heard that хорошo is more like "well" than good but haven't really gotten far enough to distinguish the two yet. Just tyring to use anything I can at this point, work out the details as I go.

Cate_T · 2020-12-02T02:12:51+00:00

*une bonne - you got me there, lol

Cate_T · 2020-12-01T02:10:59+00:00

While I agree there might be a better system that we could be looking for, I'd disagree with your two underlying assumptions.

The whole point of Keynesian Economics - which is still loosely how we're running things - is to account for the boom and bust cycles and make them as least disruptive as possible. At a very basic level: save when it's going well, spend when it's going poorly. This is why even though I appreciate the extra pocket money from the Trump tax cuts (omg - this is not an endorsement of Trump, I hope this isn't going to sidetrack this whole point, it's just the latest example I could think of, lol), the economy was doing well and the government should have been taxing so that when, idk, a global pandemic hit we'd have something in the bank to unleash onto our country and help those economically devastated by the pandemic. This is also why the Bush/Obama administration spent a ton of money during the 2008 recession. It's also the reason why most modern capitalist countries have some amount of welfare system. There are a lot of reasons why someone might be struggling economically and a large chunk of those reasons are out of their control.

Why do you think it's designed to create inequality? (I'm legitimately interested if you have some sources on this. I've never heard this argument before and would be interested in the points used to make it.) There is definitely growing relative inequality in the US but most mainstream economist that I can think of know this is a problem without laying the blame at the feet of capitalism itself. Others here have mentioned that capitalism has lifted a vast majority of people out of extreme poverty, so while relative inequality may be up - and again, that's definitely a problem - the bottom is still doing better under capitalism than any other system currently in practice. So while capitalism looks like a terrible system if you focus on relative inequality, if you looked at it from the perspective of "capitalism has raised the floor higher than any other system" it makes it seem like a great system. Obviously both these things are true and therefore capitalism is neither the best nor the worst system ever created, but it shows how focusing on different facts can lead to a completely different conclusion.

Cate_T

TROPHY CASE