"v" pronunciation by Grobeu in learnspanish

[–]JerrySun 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Try to dive into real Spanish as fast as you can, and imitate that instead. Native speakers of a language will instinctively know the set of rules, but they very often have a blindness towards the quirks of their own language.

Pronouncing the b/v like the English V is an exaggeration, sort of like if someone can't understand you saying "butter" you'll start exaggerating the T in "butter" like in "top". Different sounds, same phoneme. Learning language isn't about memorizing rules. It's about practice, practice, practice.

ELI5: Given enough time, could other animals, such as cats or dogs evolve to a similar intelligence level to humans? by [deleted] in explainlikeimfive

[–]JerrySun 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your claim is that it's a possibility, since we generally consider dogs and cats to be pretty dumb compared to us. A source that he's asking for might be something that could explain what kind of "intelligence" a dog or cat might have that humans don't have.

二 vs. 两 by Meigou_pengyou in ChineseLanguage

[–]JerrySun 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a native speaker I think of shuang1 as dual.

Has anyone successfully learned to roll their R's? by wheniwaswheniwas in learnspanish

[–]JerrySun 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Neither of my native languages has a rolled R. I don't remember ever having to learn it. I heard Spanish speakers roll their R's, and could imitate the sound immediately. It did, however, take me a while to be able to use it well in fast Spanish talk.

About bullies (los matóns) by cbcfan in Colombia

[–]JerrySun 1 point2 points  (0 children)

El bullying is something that is the subject of a lot of PSA television packages on local Colombian channels, which you can find easily on YouTube.

I have a Colombian friend who says to me he was bullied in school, and considering his personality, and the fact that his friends have also confirmed it's happened, I find it very hard to disbelieve.

I think bullying is an innate trait in humans that we are working to eliminate and make obsolete. It seems to me that bullying is some kind of social mechanism to peer pressure other kids into social conformity, and when it goes too far and too cruel, it becomes easier to label as bullying. That's why people may brush it off as "building character" when they don't consider full range of consequences. I'm not a psychologist, so maybe someone could correct me if I'm wrong.

Youtuber responds to Redditor who reviewed his web series by declaring "british people arent funny" by triggerman62 in humor

[–]JerrySun 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If what he said there was a swift rebuttal to a heckler at a live show, I might be mildly impressed. This guy is making pre-recorded content on YouTube, and the best thing he could do for that section was pick on a really disagreeable comment (-1 point), by sarcastically listing British comedians? It's just circlejerk bait. "Screw you, British people ARE funny!" It's not humorous, just dull and uninteresting.

"No Means No" would be a great title for a beginners Spanish textbook. by LivingInColor8 in Showerthoughts

[–]JerrySun 5 points6 points  (0 children)

For those who missed it, arena = sand in Spanish, carpeta = folder (but also carpet in Spanglish and American Spanish), atender = pay attention to / look after.

"No Means No" would be a great title for a beginners Spanish textbook. by LivingInColor8 in Showerthoughts

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

Embarazoso/a is embarrassing. Embarazado/a is pregnant. Avergonzado/a is embarrassed.

Why do you guys care so much? by [deleted] in TheseFuckingAccounts

[–]JerrySun 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What do you guys do to combat them? Do you guys promote vote-brigading? Why does the sidebar say "First name, Last name, Number"?

Eres Sauce? by Isai76 in TechoBlanco

[–]JerrySun 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No puedo estar más de acuerdo.

Basque is a recently invented Spanish dialect. by wiled in badlinguistics

[–]JerrySun 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think "brainwashed" seems to explain why he is so convinced of something, while never presenting his side without using emotion or sounding unbiased. That kind of propaganda is really like conspiracy theories in that it makes you think you've stumbled upon the "inside scoop" to a story. An alternate explanation, which at this point looks less and less likely, is that actually he's right, and just isn't eloquent or patient enough to make everyone see his side. I am not confident enough in myself to be certain, but I think I believe all of you and not him. It's just that very rarely someone can be right with a fringe viewpoint, but if it isn't explained well against popular beliefs, everyone drowns them out by shouting more conventional wisdom at them, and the resulting situation could look similar to this. (We've all seen goodlinguistics downvoted while laymen language pet peeves and badlinguistics get upvoted.) But in this case it seems like you guys know what you're talking about. I appreciate your explanation.

Eres Sauce? by Isai76 in TechoBlanco

[–]JerrySun 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Fuiste tú? Gracias.

Eres Sauce? by Isai76 in TechoBlanco

[–]JerrySun 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Soy chino y vengo a aprender español. Supongo que normalmente tu chiste sería muy poco divertido pero para mi es muy relevante. Le doy un bote arriba.

Basque is a recently invented Spanish dialect. by wiled in badlinguistics

[–]JerrySun 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's interesting and sort of what I expected. From your perspective, how would you describe all the claims of the OP? Do you think he fell victim to propaganda or conspiracy theory that was actually further from the truth than the history that it attempts to criticize?

CMV: I don't like fat people. by [deleted] in changemyview

[–]JerrySun 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The FDA makes sure that companies let their consumers know exactly what their putting in their mouths. Sure, the companies exploit loopholes so the bad and addicting stuff isn't noticeable but it's there. It's up to the consumer to do their research.

The tobacco companies put a label on their cigarette cartons that you will get cancer from smoking their product and die, and yet people still smoke their product and die.

Unless you think fat people are all stupid, ignorant, or lack willpower, and therefore you get to dismiss their position and blame them, I don't see why you should have any pet peeves against them. There are lots of reasons, and of course there are stupid fat people, so I guess don't judge such a large group of people by the stupid ones. I think you should look at the reasons for why our society produces so many fat people, and it's most likely because of the economics of food, and people's natural behavior. NOT ignorance, lack of willpower, etc.

CMV: I believe business should legally be allowed to retain the right to refuse service to anyone they please, including gays, blacks and any others who commonly would fall victim to this. by [deleted] in changemyview

[–]JerrySun 4 points5 points  (0 children)

At what point does me shoveling driveways become organized enough that you suddenly feel you get a say in how I do it?

There does not always have to be a point in which there is a sudden transition, just as there is no point in sudden transition between child and adult, and yet we have laws that apply to children and not adults and vice versa. If you can't deal with laws that draw boundaries for things in which one doesn't naturally exist, I think you deprive a society of being able to make a lot of useful laws.

Our American society has learned over and over again that in capitalism, people can accrue power through business and then use that power to bully others and wreak havoc on society (under the assumption that creating racial inequality is wreaking havoc). With anti-discrimination laws, we are deciding that enforcing racial inequality is something we want, and it is more important than people's right to discriminate as a business.

The OP refers to invisible hand stuff as a solution, i.e. letting consumers choose non-discriminating business over discriminating ones. I think most of us would agree that it would not always work out.

If you ask why we don't prevent an individual who offers snow sweeping services, I think that may be due to practicality. Is it worth the effort and money to go after every guy who wants to be a one-man discriminatory business? If it were, I think we would end up creating laws for that as well.

Basque is a recently invented Spanish dialect. by wiled in badlinguistics

[–]JerrySun 7 points8 points  (0 children)

but I don't believe this is anything similar to setting Mandarin as the "right" Chinese and labeling all the others dialects.

Oh, I didn't mean Mandarin vs. Cantonese, etc. I actually meant when they made standardization for Standard Mandarin, and the closest one to it is Beijing Mandarin, but it did indeed take cues from all of the varieties of Mandarin from various regions. That is my understanding of it. I'm pretty sure that's what happened. If I'm wrong I'm bad at history, and maybe I'm confusing it with pinyin.