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General Chit-Chat Part 2!
Alice, isn't that weird? I'll be telling my sister about this today.
Cracked soles are dangerous but also those that have lost their treads.Bette and Alice, unbelievable that you have solved this NOW. Cool.
It just never occurred to me that it could be the sneakers. Skechers is my favorite brand. I had had several pairs previously. Even now, I'm still wearing this brand of sneakers. But I'll be paying attention to the soles' condition now.
Diane S ☔ wrote: "Gosh Chrissie, too bad we live countries apart. I'm swollen up like the Goodyear blimp from the Prednisone, we could sit next to each other with our feet up and listen to audio. Sounds good to me r..."Sorry to hear you are feeling bad Diane. Hope you get better soon.
dely wrote: "CI really admire how she deals and bears with her pains. Lol, because of her character she torments always my father. He is 80 and does really a lot for his age (garden, woods, long trips with the car, etc.) but for my mother he never does as much as he should..."OMGoodness dely, I think our mothers are long-lost twins. :0)
Like your mother making food for the whole neighbourhood my mother loves to adopt stray cats.
It sounds wonderful and sure it makes her happy, but my dad is forced to be a not so enthusiastic participant and it is a lot of work, costs money and restricts them taking holidays or going away to visit family.
When my Mum complains about these things she agrees with me that she has to reduce the number of cats. Then next time we meet she tells how she picked up another litter of kittens from the street!
Alice wrote: "B the BookAddict wrote: "Alice, I wear a type of sneaker, Skechers, but find the sole will catch when old and that's when I have most of my 'trips'. My sister (same age) gave me a big talk the othe..."This group is wonderful!!
Alice wrote: "dely, perhaps one reason your mother keeps busy with her hands and making other people happy in the process is that she can thus distract herself from the pain. "This could be though then she has even more pains. I think she needs to feel helpful and generous to feel fulfilled.
Esther wrote: "OMGoodness dely, I think our mothers are long-lost twins. :0)"Lol, they really seem!
My father then has to go to bring the food to everyone because my mother doesn't manage to walk too much. And he really hates to have such kind of errands. Of course he can't refuse because of my mother's terrible character :D
B the BookAddict wrote: "Alice, I wear a type of sneaker, Skechers, but find the sole will catch when old and that's when I have most of my 'trips'. My sister (same age) gave me a big talk the other day about how bad my ba..."I'm so glad I didn't buy Sketchers! I needed some new sneakers but couldn't find a Sketcher that I liked. At the end I bought Geox (I don't know if they are sold worldwide).
Alice, I have about nine pairs of Skechers, different colors, some which should be thrown out and some new. When you have a bunion or even otherwise, they are the most comfy shoe ever.dely, it's only the old pairs which can be a bit dangerous.
Hehe, I know, Bette! They are comfy! I'm not going to give them up, LOL!
Have never been a sneaker wearer, flats, sandals and boots are more my choice of footwear.
I thought you Skecher lovers would enjoy this.Tyler George, a curler at the 2018 Winter Olympics, competes wearing “8-year-old Skechers with more holes than a spaghetti strainer.”
NY Times article: “Tyler George’s Curling Shoes Are So Bad We Bought Him New Ones”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/18/sp...
Diane S ☔ wrote: "Have never been a sneaker wearer, flats, sandals and boots are more my choice of footwear."HOW are you doing?
Doing a little better, still have twelve days on steriods to go. Tire easily, but slowly improving. First doctor appt since hospital tomorrow. How are you?
At least you are out of the hospital, but am sorry to hear you are still on steroids. Good luck with the doctor appointment tomorrow. Please keep us informed; I and many others of us care.I am walking, or rather I should say limping around. My bg values they are not limping, but unfortunately jumping around.
Glad you are out of the hospital Diane and hope you're back to feeling like yourself soon. At least you won't have to deal with hospital food anymore. : )
Joan wrote: "I thought you Skecher lovers would enjoy this.Tyler George, a curler at the 2018 Winter Olympics, competes wearing “8-year-old Skechers with more holes than a spaghetti strainer.”
NY Times artic..."
I have a few pairs I could donate to him, except they are 'female' Skechers, lol.
Diane, good to hear you are home. Rotten luck with still being on the steroids though. I hate taking them, they give me the worst headache ever.
Joan wrote: "I thought you Skecher lovers would enjoy this.Tyler George, a curler at the 2018 Winter Olympics, competes wearing “8-year-old Skechers with more holes than a spaghetti strainer.”
NY Times artic..."
LOL!
Mod
Diane S ☔ wrote: "Doing a little better, still have twelve days on steriods to go. Tire easily, but slowly improving. First doctor appt since hospital tomorrow. How are you?"Good to hear from you Diane. Hope the steroids aren't too bad, at least you can have something decent to eat now.
Mod
Alannah, my stepson has mastered several languages as an adult (Italian, Japanese and Korean). He found watching television shows, especially soap operas, helpful.But note, I want to learn Spanish so I can speak with my granddaughters but t.v. hasn’t helped much.
Well, I take classes. Yo have to use a language, or else it does not stick!
Alannah, I'd say Joan's stepson's is the best strategy. Watching TV (series, movies, soap operas, shows, everything really) worked very well for me. Especially if you can find something you already know in your own language. I used to watch Dr. House in French and found it brilliant! I don't have much chance to do so anymore, since I don't own a TV and have ditched my Netflix account, so I can only find whatever on Youtube.Reading in the language you're trying to learn is another good idea, but it can be difficult in the beginning.
Taking classes, as Chrissie says, is the best. Both my French and my German improved a whole lot when I took classes. I mean really good classes with a really good teacher, mind. Classes at Uni weren't as good.
Aged 18 I was fluent in French. I studied at school so I read a lot in French which I enjoyed and was lucky that my Dad and most of his family speak French so conversation was not a problem and although I made a few mistakes I didn't have an accent. But this was 1980s so the only French films I saw were subtitled. I never really became a fluent 'listener', I don't get slang and the news is always a mystery to me (too fast).Now I am middle-aged and have spent the last 30 years mostly conversing in my family's mother-tongue - Hebrew. I only studied for a little while to get the basics and although I get idioms and have a wide vocabulary I still have an accent and my grammar is appalling. I also rarely read in Hebrew and don't enjoy it.
Which is all to say how do you want to speak the language?
For good grammar, accent and reading skills you need lessons with a competent teacher.
If you want to be able to blab along with conversations, understanding at least 90% of what is going on, you need to watch TV shows and get talking to people.
I actually don't mind people speaking with an accent. I think it's kind of cute. In my view, the most important thing is that a person is able to communicate, the accent isn't and shouldn't be a problem. Of course this would be much different if you were to speak in specific contexts like at work with a foreign client and such.I have an Italian friend who lives in France, she speaks very good French in my opinion, but French people keep telling her "vous avez un petit accent" ("you have a little accent"). Why? I find that rude. You cannot expect a foreigner to speak your language without an accent at all.
Marina, I so agree with what you say about accents. It doesn't matter if what one says is perfect, as long as one can get across a message. I remember when I first moved to Sweden--some people would make no effort to understand, others super kind and helpful.
Mod
I have made an announcement regarding some changes in the group:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Heather wrote: "I have made an announcement regarding some changes in the group:https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/..."
Yes, a huge thank you for the good job done by the "old" moderators and I'm sure that Alannah will do a good job too.
Thanks, Heather. I'm sure Alannah is going to be a great mod! I hope to see Shirley and Leslie around as much as before. I'd noticed that Jenny wasn't much around anymore, obviously life has to take priority. I hope she'll be able to join us again in the future, though, even if not as mod.
Awesome, Alannah, welcome.A big thank you to Leslie, Shirley and Jenny.
Marina wrote: "I have an Italian friend who lives in France, she speaks very good French in my opinion, but French people keep telling her "vous avez un petit accent"."I think that might be a French quirk.
I remember being surprised when I was 'au pairing' in France (aged 18) that they seem to treat my occasional grammatical mistakes as trivial but thought the fact that I didn't have an English accent was much more important/impressive.
I did have a slight 'pied noir' accent because my Dad's family is Algerian but to the French people I was with that just gave me some 'regional colour' rather than making me sound 'foreign'.
Leslie, Shirley and Jenny, I hope we will still see you around a lot. Allannah, it is nice you wanted to be a mod.
Esther wrote: "Marina wrote: "I have an Italian friend who lives in France, she speaks very good French in my opinion, but French people keep telling her "vous avez un petit accent"."I think that might be a Fre..."
Thanks for sharing, you're probably right.
Alannah, great news that you're going to be a new group moderator! Thanks to all of our old mods for the great job they've done over the years. I hope you'll all stick around in the group :)
Mod
Pink - I echo your words. I can't say it better than that :)
I also echo Pink’s comments. Thanks to everyone and congratulations to Alannah. I’m sure you will do a great job!
I think Alannah will be a great mod! I plan to still be active in the group - I just needed a break from the mod duties (which I had been shirking over the past several months).
Congratulations Alannah and thank you to the mods who are stepping down. You have made this group such a welcoming place for everyone.
Alannah, I am sure you will be a great moderator and a big support to the other mods. I felt it was time to step down and let others take the reins, but I hope to be active in the group so you haven't seen the last of me!!
Mod
But note, I want to learn Spanish..."
I think that's one of the best way; and books of course. The best is to read something and see its tv or film rendering! For instance I've suggested Call the Midwife to a friend of mine who wanted to improve her English
Congrats to Alannah, and thanks to the 'retiring' mods for all their hard work.
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OMG, Bette, that's it! It's Skechers that I was wearing! Yes, the sole was worn off. I did realize they were old, and have since thrown them away. Thanks for solving the mystery for me!!!