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> Random Thoughts Or Comments, when you don't know where else to post
skylark
post Apr 24 2008, 03:14 PM
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QUOTE(SueHM @ Apr 24 2008, 12:33 AM) *

I really fancy an ice cream sandwich (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

It's funny you should say that! I was buttering some bread yesterday and thinking "why CAN'T you spread ice-cream on bread instead of butter" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)


My thought for the day is why isn't there a recycling bank for rubber bands - does anyone use them apart from the Royal Mail (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)
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fsharpminor
post Apr 24 2008, 03:16 PM
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Yes I regularly find one by my front door !

Can anyone tell me why hotels always fold over the corner (or two corners to make an arrow) on the loo roll ? I always waste that piece ! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)
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Rosemary7391
post Apr 24 2008, 06:49 PM
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QUOTE(skylark @ Apr 24 2008, 04:14 PM) *

QUOTE(SueHM @ Apr 24 2008, 12:33 AM) *

I really fancy an ice cream sandwich (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

It's funny you should say that! I was buttering some bread yesterday and thinking "why CAN'T you spread ice-cream on bread instead of butter" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)


My thought for the day is why isn't there a recycling bank for rubber bands - does anyone use them apart from the Royal Mail (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)


I find them useful (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Good substitute when you can't find a stapler! I've also heard of them being used as emergency saxophone repairs when springs have gone AWOL.

Why are 6.25% of marks on a German paper awarded for the quality of my English???
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Roseau
post Apr 24 2008, 06:52 PM
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QUOTE(Rosemary7391 @ Apr 24 2008, 08:49 PM) *

Why are 6.25% of marks on a German paper awarded for the quality of my English???

Possibly because you have to translate into English?
When I was teaching in a French secondary school one of the questions in the English part of the Baccalaureat exam was to translate a short passage of an English text into French. My pupils used to complain that this was the only exam where marks were taken off if they made spelling and/or grammar mistakes in French.
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Rosemary7391
post Apr 24 2008, 07:17 PM
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QUOTE(kerioboe @ Apr 24 2008, 07:52 PM) *

QUOTE(Rosemary7391 @ Apr 24 2008, 08:49 PM) *

Why are 6.25% of marks on a German paper awarded for the quality of my English???

Possibly because you have to translate into English?
When I was teaching in a French secondary school one of the questions in the English part of the Baccalaureat exam was to translate a short passage of an English text into French. My pupils used to complain that this was the only exam where marks were taken off if they made spelling and/or grammar mistakes in French.


That's right. It just seems silly to test my English in a test supposedly testing my German - so long as my English is clear!
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Roseau
post Apr 24 2008, 09:23 PM
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QUOTE(Rosemary7391 @ Apr 24 2008, 09:17 PM) *

QUOTE(kerioboe @ Apr 24 2008, 07:52 PM) *

QUOTE(Rosemary7391 @ Apr 24 2008, 08:49 PM) *

Why are 6.25% of marks on a German paper awarded for the quality of my English???

Possibly because you have to translate into English?
When I was teaching in a French secondary school one of the questions in the English part of the Baccalaureat exam was to translate a short passage of an English text into French. My pupils used to complain that this was the only exam where marks were taken off if they made spelling and/or grammar mistakes in French.


That's right. It just seems silly to test my English in a test supposedly testing my German - so long as my English is clear!

Well, I suppose it depends what you consider to be clear. A misplaced apostrophe can change the meaning of a sentence, one wrong letter in a word can change it into a different word.

You might also be surprised by what some students write. Since you are translating into your mother tongue you know what makes sense and what doesn't but some students write gibberish anyway and when you point out to them that it doesn't make sense, they agree but argue that this was because the text they were translating didn't make sense either (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif) .

Just a quick example from an exam paper (by a native English speaking student) on my desk: "It had been raining and it was a dampened sun witch alluminated the acers of the landscape."
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Rosemary7391
post Apr 25 2008, 05:09 PM
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(IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif) That is... an interesting sentence? Surely part of the skill of translating isn't in translating individual words but entire sentences. Writing 'I want in the future by train all over the world to tour' is barely decipherable in English but would be good German. If the text doesn't make sense then you're probably trying to read it like English with different words, whereas to me at least it makes much more sense to read it in German and understand it as German, not via translation to English.
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Roseau
post Apr 25 2008, 07:59 PM
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QUOTE(Rosemary7391 @ Apr 25 2008, 07:09 PM) *

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif) That is... an interesting sentence? Surely part of the skill of translating isn't in translating individual words but entire sentences.

I lost count years ago of the number of times I have said this to students. I also tell them that they can be sure their translation is wrong if what they have written doesn't make sense.

I really only quoted that particular example here to show you why points will be given for English in a German/French/Spanish (or whatever) exam.
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katyjay
post Apr 25 2008, 08:10 PM
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Thought for today:

If you can't fix it with a hammer, it must be an electrical fault.
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DaisyChain
post Apr 25 2008, 08:18 PM
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(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

New shoes + blisters = ouch (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif)
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lucky045
post Apr 25 2008, 08:38 PM
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Two random thoughts, and one not so random: My eyes are sore. I'm getting my hair done tomorrow. Rosemary, you seem so shocked at the above example of a sentence - you should've seen what some of my class came up with in our AS French exams! I just set out to get full marks for English SPG if nothing else, and that was pretty fun.
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SaxFan
post Apr 26 2008, 07:49 AM
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QUOTE(katyjay @ Apr 25 2008, 09:10 PM) *

Thought for today:

If you can't fix it with a hammer, it must be an electrical fault.



hi KJ - have you lost the screwdriver then.. ?
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)
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andante_in_c
post Apr 26 2008, 07:59 AM
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Is there a difference between an ache and a pain?
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freda_bloogs
post Apr 26 2008, 11:51 AM
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QUOTE(andante_in_c @ Apr 26 2008, 09:59 AM) *

Is there a difference between an ache and a pain?


Oooh I hope someone can answer that
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skylark
post Apr 26 2008, 11:56 AM
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QUOTE(freda_bloogs @ Apr 26 2008, 12:51 PM) *

QUOTE(andante_in_c @ Apr 26 2008, 09:59 AM) *

Is there a difference between an ache and a pain?


Oooh I hope someone can answer that

The only difference I can think of is that they occur at opposite ends of your anatomy (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
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