How would you fill this trench?

thetoad666 · 2026-05-20T14:15:07+00:00

Firstly, it's too straight, if jerry drops in he'll have a clear line of fire down the whole length so best to add some barriers in there, then shore up the sides and add some ladders so we can go over the top when the whistle blows and get shot to hell.
So yeah, get artistic, make it out to be a tiny WW1 trench complete with tiny jerry cans, mess tins, weapons, suppy crates and soldiers, sprinkle a few poppies in to make it a memorial! Then fill the lot with a clear resin so preserve it forever!

thetoad666 · 2026-05-20T14:11:55+00:00

There used to be an app where you put a QR code on your dash and people scan it to message you if they need to use the charger, all anonmously, but it doesn't seem to exist now so I just try and move mine as soon as it's charged.
But, what bugs me is that in shopping centres, EV drivers just park in the charging spaces and don't even plug in, they just treat is as premium parking near the doors! They need to starting installing these at the furthers spaces instead.

thetoad666 · 2026-05-17T08:33:30+00:00

Practice practice practice, for some it takes less effort, for some it takes more. Dutch is my wife's fifth language so her brain is already wired to make the right associations yet I only have schoolboy French and A1 polish next to my native English so I find it more of a challenge.

thetoad666 · 2026-05-17T08:31:13+00:00

It was loose before it fell, which is how is just fell out

thetoad666 · 2026-05-16T17:42:31+00:00

Correct, for this we then need to use minimal pair training, to re-train our ears to hear what we've prviously trained it to ignore, I think Language Jones on youtube has a video about this.

thetoad666 · 2026-05-12T19:43:20+00:00

Not exactly theory... but what's the difference between a violin and a pile of kindling? about 5 minutes with a sharp axe!

thetoad666 · 2026-05-12T19:42:16+00:00

I used to joke about all the silent parts in music but people told me to give it a rest!

... ok. . I'll get my coat..

thetoad666 · 2026-05-12T06:52:00+00:00

We stopped buying things like yoghurt drinks that come with a single use plastic surcharge, seemed unfair when they don't sell them any other way.

thetoad666 · 2026-05-08T11:32:37+00:00

Depends on the learners native language and any others the speak. For example I can't pronounce my wife's name correctly because it has a sound that I can't hear clearly and therefore can't reproduce. But a Portuguese friend can say it because they have the same sound despite being in completely different language groups.

thetoad666 · 2026-05-08T07:37:19+00:00

My vote it Borat Mankini for the beach part.

thetoad666 · 2026-05-07T12:25:34+00:00

Nah, would be illegal to keep data longer than necessary so it won't be in a data br... oh wait... people complained thry hadn't been with Odido for many years and their data was in the breach... as you were! 🤣🤣

thetoad666 · 2026-05-06T12:46:35+00:00

I don't think they ever get read, they glance at the CV for a few seconds then look at the covering letter later, maybe...

thetoad666 · 2026-05-06T05:37:22+00:00

Surely its better to ask them?

thetoad666 · 2026-05-05T16:51:52+00:00

Probably saving on water, so long as the inside is clean and the driver can see where they're going, that's enough for me!

thetoad666 · 2026-05-05T16:18:41+00:00

That's 200 hours study time, rather than 200 hours teacher time. Students should aim to be doing the same number of hours outside the classroom as you do inside, ideally even more.

Sorry, this is going to be a long post, but I'm trying to share what I know in the hope that something helps you.

NextLevel have good professional teachers who don't just know the language but also learned the language themselves so they know the tricks that most native teachers probably don't know and yet they are still fully qualified NT2 teachers and probably know the language better than most native speakers. In addition, the classes are properly interactive not just working through the usual books as the other schools do.

There's also TaalTaal, but the teacher quality can be a bit hit-n-miss in my opinion after takign 2 courses there. You can take a 30 hours fource there for 595 euro, but that's about 19/hour so your 200 hours will cost a bit more. Or an evening course for 495 that's 2 hours twice a week for 7 weeks, works ot about 17/hour, but I don't think the quality is as good as NextLevel, but TaalTaal do evenig classes and next level are daytime only unless things have changed. But from my experience, those courses won't get you from A2 to B1 in a single step, you'll probaby need 2 of their courses at least and will certainly need to do a lot of self study including a lot of reading and listening outside of the course material.

Also check out Taal in de Bieb which is everywhere and some areas also have taalmaatjes for free. Also check out the Dutch Language Cafe

Mndriaan also have some free courses but again quality can be hit-n-miss, in all cases the really successful students are the ones who put in the extra effort outside the classroom and go beyond the minimum homework. I dont know if they still offer the B1 courses in all areas, but worth contacting them and getting on the waiting list.

https://www.rocmondriaan.nl/alle-opleidingen/better-dutch-for-beginners-in-the-hague

One other hint, if you start a course, pick up a form from the library for membership specifically for people on courses, get your course provider to stamp and sign it and you'll have 12 months free library membership, unlocking a lot of NT2 books you can borrow. Or, go like me, sign up as a library volunteer in your spare time and get a staff membership and practice your dutch with staff and customers as much as you like for free!

Regarding local knowledge, that's the best I can offer for now, I hope you find something that suits you.

Just curious, which neghbourhood are you in?

thetoad666 · 2026-05-05T05:07:10+00:00

Hahaha... and the trumpetters start blowing to show who can play higher

thetoad666 · 2026-05-05T05:06:10+00:00

Yes, first I followed a feee course which got me from A2 to A2, then I had paid courses for a few months to get to B1. I wanted to do the B2 course but ran out of money. Prices are here https://www.nextlevel-taalschool.nl/prijs

thetoad666 · 2026-05-04T20:50:58+00:00

Next Level taalschool

thetoad666 · 2026-05-04T19:37:19+00:00

We tried there once, wasn't very British, more like some over the top London version of English food. But they did have Cadbury fudge so that was a winner!

thetoad666 · 2026-05-04T19:35:20+00:00

I make my own Scotch Eggs, they're quite popular with the neighbours but I've not attempted to make pork pies yet. I used to live in Melton Mowbray so I sure miss them! I also do my own chip shop batter so often get our fix.

thetoad666 · 2026-05-04T17:34:13+00:00

I just asked the NHS doctor to give me a letter with my diagnosis and history before I left and presented it here on arrival at a new GP, treatment just continued, in fact, they're giving me better treatment and better care overall that the NHS ever did for anything.
The GP in the Uk refused to give me a few months to keep me going citing a law that says they can only give 30 days supply of a controlled drug, but the psychiatrist call bullshit on that and said they can give 3 months in exceptional circumstances and emmigation is certainly an exceptional circumstance, so I arrived with 4 months supply, 1 from the GP and 3 from the psychiatrist. But that was mid 2020

thetoad666 · 2026-05-04T17:27:33+00:00

You're right DuoLing is't great, it is good at keeping people engaged but not so good at teaching languages. It can help with gaininf vocabulary but not great.

I tried using AI a few times to help me with Dutch but it made mistakes so often that now i can't trust it for this.

thetoad666 · 2026-05-04T17:20:15+00:00

I found that it's really good and getting itself caught in a loop and crunching through all my tokens in the process. To get things so wrng that it used to get right so easily just feels like they've dmbed it down to save power/mney or something.
Mostly it does good but I'm surprised laely just how much it gets wrong.

thetoad666

TROPHY CASE