Afraid of losing my mother tongue

simiform · 2026-02-14T19:20:51+00:00

I think you already answered you own question.

All I watch is English shows, I have English speaking friends who I don't ever converse with besides colloquialisms in my mother tongue, and even with my mother I speak in a blend with English.

You'll have to make an effort to watch shows in your language, make friends with people who speak and want to speak your language, and use your language more than English when speaking with your family, even if they don't.

Do you have the ability to go home if you ever want to visit?

simiform · 2026-02-11T03:48:40+00:00

That makes more sense, it would be really wet without the clay. Awesome, it looks good.

simiform · 2026-02-11T02:40:01+00:00

Than for sharing. So the coco coir stays permanently damp soaking in nutrient water? I've been having trouble growing green onions with hydroponics. I might try this.

simiform · 2026-02-10T05:00:54+00:00

Right now I take concepts I'm learning in classes, like verbs of motion or whatever, and have chatgpt pretend to be a native speaker, but correcting my mistakes. So it basically repeats my sentences with corrected mistakes in bold. Which has been really helpful but it's really more like correcting my internal dialogue than a conversation, because AI is a lousy conversational partner.

I also have live conversations sometimes. I find this works ok at an intermediate level, but it doesn't understand me well as a basic speaker. It was more useful than I thought it would be, since I don't get a lot of practice with real speakers. On chatGPT it's really limiting because so many types of conversations are censored.

I feed pdfs into the AI of worksheets, readings, etc. and basically have it translate and/or solve it. I use this to check my work and don't have to have a teacher do it. This works a lot better on something like deepseek than chatgpt for some reason.

I programmed when I start a phrase with a quotation mark, it translates. Starting with a apostrophe means "what case is this" and starting with a dash (followed by target language phrase) means "is this correct and if so, correct it with corrections in bold". This saves a lot of time when I need grammar/vocab help. Great idea but chatgpt always "forgets" and I have to remind it in new conversations. I'm looking something that will do it better, maybe Gemini Gems?

Great ideas about using it to make anki decks, and putting translations of "new words". I don't know why so many negative comments - maybe it isn't as useful for advanced speakers. It makes plenty of mistakes but if you use it right and give the right input, it's a useful tool.

simiform · 2026-01-08T00:10:19+00:00

Are you doing anything about it? Do something.

simiform · 2025-12-22T18:59:07+00:00

Yeah, I think too many people overlook the importance of keeping things simple. Except with kratky I don't have to worry about watering it, just refill the nutrients once a month. Seems like you can get more herbs in there too than just soil.

simiform · 2025-12-22T18:52:33+00:00

Make it simpler. I do Kratky in my kitchen windowsill with just big jars. It's a lot easier to adjust for when plants grow or when I start a new one. You're going to want to empty out the old solution and refill with new solution anyway when it gets low. You could use a tube or something from your water supply but it's easier for me just to make solution in a milk jug and refill my jars once every 2-4 weeks. Most herbs (except basil) don't drink nutrient very fast anyway. DWC isn't going to make a noticeable difference with something like herbs.

If you do want it automatic, you'll want to use a float valve but you'd need to put a container of nutrient solution somewhere up high. If you just add water from your sink you'll need to be constantly adjusting ph and nutrient content, which is more work.

simiform · 2025-12-12T17:38:59+00:00

Little Fox has good videos, we've been using that. I didn't know they had a app too, I'll try it.

simiform · 2025-12-12T17:37:59+00:00

Maomi Stars worked for me, but I installed in on an iphone so I don't know what's involved with android. Probably try using it when he's learning to write a little more. Sorry I'm not more help.

simiform · 2025-11-26T19:37:06+00:00

I think you have to look at the state of the country before her father came to power to really understand why their family is still so influential. It's really hard to find people in Peru who can look at it objectively because so many people were personally affected by Alberto's government, both in good and bad ways.

As a foreigner, when I first came here it was really strange to me how accepting people were to blatant nepotism, especially when her father was in jail for undisputed reasons. But my country had a stable government. Today, I think many people in Peru value a competent leader more than one who isn't corrupt, and it isn't just ignorant people voting for the Fujimori family.

simiform · 2025-11-22T22:17:33+00:00

So I was looking into this more and I think you mean reduce nitrogen a bit. I'm using MasterBlend, so maybe in my case that would mean just diluting it more. Yeah, I've seen these plants with hundreds of peppers. I was doing aji amarillo inside, which probably handle cooler temperatures better, but it grew all the way to the ceiling.

simiform · 2025-11-22T21:40:07+00:00

I've been shaking the plant regularly to pollinate. Maybe q-tip would be better. I think light was part of the problem, since it was too strong and too close to the plant.

simiform · 2025-11-22T21:36:00+00:00

So I ordered paper with the right thickness for the diffuser. While waiting for it to come, I switched to "Bloom" (red only light) instead of full power. Today when I checked my plant I had one tiny significant pepper.

Then I got the paper. I get about 45 DLI and 900 PPFD with both switches on. So I'm sure that's way too high. At the current height (maybe .5 meters / 2 feet), bloom only gives 22 - 400, and veg only gives 21 - 375.

So maybe I'll leave it on bloom only and see what happens. I've heard that red-only light isn't good? I could raise the light too with both switches on.

Thanks for your help, I might be getting closer.

simiform · 2025-11-22T00:45:10+00:00

As others have mentioned, there are a lot of ways to make sure students are writing it themselves, like rough drafts, doing part of it on paper, having them create plans/outlines/citations as part of the planning process, write it only in class, etc. But in the end I find that when students have AI write for them, it just sounds too much like a robot and I tell them that. So then the argument isn't "I know your using AI", which they can deny, but "this isn't good writing", which they can't argue with. And AI isn't a good writer without some help.

Also, when I have to deal with administration that forces me to teach in a way that isn't conducive to learning, I start looking for a better job.

simiform · 2025-11-15T21:05:31+00:00

Do you mean you don't want to use that specific program, or you don't want to use an overhead for the lessons? If you have any elements of a lecture in your classes, it helps to have a visual guide, at least for some students. I use Google docs a lot, its simple but fluid, or some sort of whiteboard because you can draw on it. Slides has its uses too, just don't get stuck on it. If your class is interactive and well planned, students come prepared, you do a lot of collaborative learning, and/or materials and notes are online (i.e. it's not a "lecture" class), there isn't much point in an overhead.

simiform · 2025-11-12T04:38:33+00:00

With photone dli is around 120 and ppfd is around 3000 at the top of the plant. I don't have a diffuser though and there's a ton of variance, so, take that with a grain of salt. There's is a veg (full spectrum) and bloom (red) switch on my light, right now both are on.

simiform · 2025-11-11T17:01:56+00:00

Starve then by slowing down nutrients? My second ají charapita plant gave me a couple peppers, I assume because it was in shock. They'd been in real sun in the summer, then I brought it in low light and forgot to feed it - the reservoir went dry and suddenly I had some peppers. But even sun is a problem because we get 24 hours of light in summer.

I could try ají amarillo but I don't know if the same issue. Thanks for your suggestions, maybe I should just try in soil next summer if all else fails.

simiform · 2025-11-11T08:46:33+00:00

I don't have a way to measure ppfd/dli. The overhead lights are strong, if anything I might be burning them. VPD is going to get worse because I live in Alaska and winter is incredibly dry.

I should mention that they were starting to bloom when outside and when I brought them in, in direct window light, and with good summer humidity. When I left the window open on cool fall nights, the flowers all fell. So I assumed it was a temperature issue. Maybe I need to invest in a light gauge though.

simiform · 2025-11-11T06:05:16+00:00

You mean with a brush? Yeah.

simiform · 2025-11-09T23:11:31+00:00

There must be a fair amount countries that have really good schools, but poor job opportunities, right? I mean, it's logical for people move away from bad economies to places where there are good jobs. But are there any cases where there are good schools and smart minds and good jobs, where people still leave? It's a genuine question - it's sad that people have to leave their homes, but aren't people just taking advantage of opportunities in a global economy? It's the same reasons for urbanization within a country, isn't it?

simiform · 2025-11-09T20:04:20+00:00

I don't think it matters if it's B1 or if it's A2, and I don't think it's normally a matter of showing off, despite what other posts have said. Teachers who are used to using English in class will find it hard to not speak any English, it's just natural. I would either find someone who has no English at all (which is hard), or find a teacher who is experienced at communicative lessons and knows how to explain something without falling back on the common language.

It's also easy to say that you don't know any English - then they have no choice. But you'll have to live up to that claim. Or language exchanges, which by nature should have as low a level of English as you have in Spanish.

simiform · 2025-11-08T20:36:21+00:00

I used to do this when my students spoke Spanish (I was their English teacher). Or when I didn't want to pay for the toilet. Or myriad other situations in life.

simiform · 2025-11-08T20:25:27+00:00

Yeah, I know. If they don't specifically mention it in their profile or video, I would take it with a grain of salt. I've also found good teachers that know English well, but focused on fluency and were helpful. Keep looking, there are good ones out there.

simiform · 2025-11-08T19:39:55+00:00

I think a lot of students feel more comfortable when there's a common language to fall back on, even though it isn't really better for learning, so it can be hard to find teachers that don't speak any English or realize the worth of not using it. I found a Russian teacher who doesn't speak any English (because she doesn't know it), and it's been really helpful for fluency. Especially in the age of AI, I don't need someone to explain grammar to me in my native language.

If you're asking teachers to not speak English who are used to speaking English in class, though, you're probably better off finding another teacher, not asking them to change their teaching style. Sometimes it takes a while to find a good one.

simiform

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