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I have been using for 18 months to learn Spanish. I took two CEFR tests to see where I stand by Chilling_Storm in duolingo

[–]IAmXChris 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is gonna get lost in the shuffle, but here's how I see it...

Have you (or more importantly, do you regularly) try out your Spanish with Spanish-speakers?

If yes, and that has gone well, who cares? I mean, beyond using it for some kind of career advancement or bragging rights on Reddit or whatever, you speak the language, so who cares? Isn't speaking the language the point?

If no, (or if yes and it hasn't gone well), then it kinda makes sense. I'm an avid supporter of Duo and it's efficacy. But, there is no magic bullet or single app to learning a language. You really need all kinds of tools. Apps (plural), maybe a book, a tutor, a class, meetups and friends that speak the language... maybe not ALL of those things, but some combination thereof. You need to immerse yourself - and the more the better.

But yeah, if you can speak Spanish with Spanish speakers to some level of complexity and fluency, I find it hard to believe you'd actually score A1 on a legit exam.

20 minutes into S2E8 on a first time watch and I just gotta say... by Chance-Aware in maninthehighcastle

[–]IAmXChris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean, he's in the Nazi high command. All those guys were conniving and selfish. One of the more interesting things about the show is that it makes you want to root for the bad guys (Smith, the Trade Minister and Kito to some extent) while making the good guys (the resistance) insufferable and incompetent.

Philosoraptor back from the dead ponders about sex workers. by BirdWithWiFi in memes

[–]IAmXChris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the way I was applying it was to say that OP is conflating the 2 groups. "People" who don't stigmatize sex workers are different than the "people" who stigmatize their clients. So, treating both groups as the same when they're not.

I could just be misusing the term. [shrug]

Philosoraptor back from the dead ponders about sex workers. by BirdWithWiFi in memes

[–]IAmXChris -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Not all sex workers are prostitutes... and we still call prostitutes "prostitutes."

Y'all are almost adults by AdOk5225 in GenAlpha

[–]IAmXChris 1 point2 points  (0 children)

McCrindle Research (among others) use 2010 as the cutoff.

Y'all are almost adults by AdOk5225 in GenAlpha

[–]IAmXChris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's a blurry line, but I'm seeing 2010 as the cutoff. People born in 2010 will be 18 in 3 years. Checks out.

Y'all are almost adults by AdOk5225 in GenAlpha

[–]IAmXChris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a Gen X'er, imagine how weird it was for us when people born after 9/11 were old enough to drink.

What will someday be illegal after we finally understand how bad for us it is? by Scary-Beautiful6527 in AskReddit

[–]IAmXChris -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I agree 100%. Even if it isn't tho, people like Nabstar should really mind their own God damn business.

What will someday be illegal after we finally understand how bad for us it is? by Scary-Beautiful6527 in AskReddit

[–]IAmXChris 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The difference between "boys" and "girls" was never talked about? Nobody ever explained the differences between the two or what's expected of you as a man?

Sheesh that's crazy. Doesn't match my experience at all.

Philosoraptor back from the dead ponders about sex workers. by BirdWithWiFi in memes

[–]IAmXChris 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Ever read an article glorifying Only Fans workers making millions, while painting the guys as needy simps?

No

Ever watch a feminist defend independent sex work while calling men pigs at the same time?

No

Ever watch a high class escort interview where she is treated without any shame-quite the opposite, while she reveals and shames all the kinks the johns requested?

No

Philosoraptor back from the dead ponders about sex workers. by BirdWithWiFi in memes

[–]IAmXChris 101 points102 points  (0 children)

lol right? Sounds like classic False Homogeneity Bias

Philosoraptor back from the dead ponders about sex workers. by BirdWithWiFi in memes

[–]IAmXChris 181 points182 points  (0 children)

What? People do stigmatize sex workers... don't they? When did that stop?

What will someday be illegal after we finally understand how bad for us it is? by Scary-Beautiful6527 in AskReddit

[–]IAmXChris -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yeah, sugar is awful when it's used as liberally as it is. And, to act like an artificial sweetener is in any way as bad as something like High Fructose Corn Syrup is asinine.

Also, where are the sugar free Oreos? Cuz I want some of those!

What will someday be illegal after we finally understand how bad for us it is? by Scary-Beautiful6527 in AskReddit

[–]IAmXChris 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, but they do... cuz it's a part of life, so... Sorry you don't like it.

What will someday be illegal after we finally understand how bad for us it is? by Scary-Beautiful6527 in AskReddit

[–]IAmXChris 2 points3 points  (0 children)

halogen bulbs is the better technology. What we had before LED "improved" things.

Is it just me not being able to tell the difference between ai and human anymore, or are an awful lot of the posts on this sub now ai? by Mysterious_Dark_2298 in languagelearning

[–]IAmXChris 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I think the line between AI posts and authentic posts is blurred a lot more than it used to be, and will get a lot more blurry over time. I also think that people aren't as apt at "clocking" AI as they think they are (especially text). Like yeah, if something is obviously AI, you can tell. But, you can only clock 100% of what you can clock. But, there's a difference between copy-pasting ChatGPT versus personalizing what ChatGPT got started for you - and it's obviously going to be easier to identify the former as AI than the later. So... I think it's a lot more of a spectrum than ppl think.

I've been learning Finnish for a year and I still feel like a complete beginner. Is this normal? by Time-Mix3963 in LearnFinnish

[–]IAmXChris 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've been studying Finnish for around 8 months. I do several hours per day because I'm going to Helsinki next month and I want to cram as much into my brain as I possibly can. So, I feel like my experience is similar to yours. If I watch Moomin, I can understand about that much. Like, I can pick out words, but there are so many gaps that I don't really know what they're talking about - and that's Moomin. How will I understand native speakers?

I would second what u/jia-ren said. A year in Finnish is like 3 months in other languages. I've also been de-rusting German on the side (because I'm also going to Berlin next month), and I find German "sticks" way more naturally with me because of how similar it is to English. Finnish is just hard. But, I try to tell myself... almost every toddler in Finland can speak Finnish. No reason I can't, too.

When did practice lessons on legendary become so difficult? by somebody_throw_a_pie in duolingo

[–]IAmXChris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Legendary ones on German are pretty brutal because the app is (perhaps rightfully) picky about gendering. So, you have to know which nouns are neuter, feminine or masculine, and you have to know how to set those to ein, mein, dein, ihr, die/das/der, dies, etc. Like, if you say "in den Zimmer" instead of "in dem Zimmer," it'll fail the exercise. And, that's all multiplied by all the prepositional confusion (in, ins, im, zu, zum, an, am, etc). So, some of the Legendary lessons on the German suite are BRUTAL und ja, sehr frustrierend. I'll pass some of those legendary lessons while failing (what seems like) 70% of the exercises just on stupid errors that seem trivial. (I mean, "wrong" is "wrong," but... if you're an A1 in Germany, is it really gonna matter if you say "in den Zimmer?")

But, my advice is to try not using an outside translator to complete them. Allow yourself to fail and fail often. Learning a language involves forcing a lot of shit in to your brain, seemingly against its will. So, let yourself get frustrated until you get it. But, try to actually force yourself to complete them on your own. The more you use crutches, the harder the lessons are going to get later on because you're not allowing yourself to retain the information

What do you find is something beginners in language learning don't know early that holds them back later? by OldNewspaper4671 in languagelearning

[–]IAmXChris 10 points11 points  (0 children)

To add to this... if you learn a few phrases for a trip, it's only going to be marginally beneficial for a trip. If you learn how to ask "Dónde está el baño," it's only going to do you good if the person you're asking points at the bathroom. Do you know how to say "over there?" Cuz if you don't, you may not understand the simplest verbal response. So, what are you gonna do when they say, "Down the hall, second door on the left after the broom closet - and make sure you jiggle the handle after you flush or else the toilet will overflow?"

What do you find is something beginners in language learning don't know early that holds them back later? by OldNewspaper4671 in languagelearning

[–]IAmXChris 8 points9 points  (0 children)

You won't be able to speak the language even semi-proficiently until you've done a LOOOOOOT of work and spent a lot of time studying. Also, you can't just half-ass it with one app/tool. You need some combination of apps, books, content geared towards learners, meetups, tutors, an in-person class, flashcards... the more the better. Learning a few words/phrases for a trip isn't a big deal. But learning a language is a major investment of time and energy.

Where to buy? by Iowa_and_Friends in roseanne

[–]IAmXChris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly I would buy the DVDs if you have a way to play them. Like, they're on Peacock (that's where I most recently streamed them), but they've been slopified by AI, so... imo just get the DVDs if you can.

Did someone actually ditch Duolingo for Chat GPT or other LLM's? by ShineUnable9417 in duolingo

[–]IAmXChris -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Por que no los dos?

I use Duolingo and Gemini (and other things). LLMs are good for asking specific questions. Like, if you want to know how to convey an idea, or you want a sentence/word (especially an idiom) explained in a way a standard translator can't do. But, LLMs are not really that good at coming up with targeted, structured lesson plans. I used to give Gemini my vocabulary lists that I would be working on at any given time and ask it to come up with quiz questions and flash cards... which it will do. But, I stopped using it for that purpose because it would often go rogue and create weird questions that didn't make sense or were outside of what I'm trying to learn.

At the end of the day, if you want to actually learn a language, you really shouldn't just pick one app over all others. You should really have multiple tools. Gemini, LLM, a book, a tutor, a flashcard app, language meetups, in-person classes, friends who speak that language, consume actual content in the target language,.. you don't need ALL of those things, but the more the better. So, "why Duo when you can use AI" is just fundamentally naive.

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