MSGID: 1:153/716.0 03c570c2
REPLY: 2:221/6.0 602cd200
CHRS: IBMPC 2
Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

 AH>  I applaud your courage too, because generating language
 AH>  requires a much higher order of skill than understanding
 AH>  it & when you're speaking aloud you don't have time to
 AH>  consult a dictionary or a grammar book....

 AK>  Another problem, as I had said once, is that the Russian
 AK>  language consists of longer words than English, and
 AK>  because of it a Russian thinks and understands slower. ;-)


          The English language dropped many inflections during the Middle
Ages, and this trend continues with e.g. the use of the word "actor" to
describe both males & females.  It doesn't necessarily result in shorter
words.  But the pace of modern life seems to be increasing as we speak... I
catch myself leaving out periods from abbreviations like "BC" because that is
how others spell them.  At the same time, I count myself among those who take
awhile to think & understand
... as I do when folks like you & Anton ask really, really good questions.  :-)



 AK>  So, for training hearing skills a Russian should start
 AK>  hearing all the Russian video show and movies sped up
 AK>  by 1.5-2 times.


          Maybe.  A friend of ours who is totally blind can make sense of
stuff read aloud in English by a computer far more easily than Dallas & I
can.  But I notice also that when native speakers of a foreign language
address one another the pace is usually too quick for me to keep up with even
if I have studied the language for some time.  I'm not sure this skill would
be transferable....  :-)



 AK>  I am a morning person when I go to my office. I can
 AK>  secretly type some messages to FIDO behind my colleges
 AK>  backs, but it is hardly possible to do Skype talks,
 AK>  without having round eyes around. ;-)


          I thought it might be something like that.  One of the things I
enjoy about Fidonet is that we get a bunch of mail in the morning, from people
on the same continent, and a bunch more in the evening from people on others. 
Just as there are people who leap out of bed at 5:00 AM & go jogging for an
hour before getting ready for work, there are people who check their Fidonet
mail every day as soon as they're awake enough to take it in.  Some apparently
type up a storm immediately.  But that's not my style, and I gather it's not
yours either.  :-)



 AK>  On weekend, of course, I like to sleep more than usual.


          Ah.  You're a morning person on weekdays because that's what you
have to do to earn a living.  Dallas & I have been there too.

          When I switched to the elementary level, others commented on how
much healthier I looked.  My starting time there, BTW, was somewhat later.  :-)



 AK>  maybe at 9am Moscow Time on Sunday it can be the window,
 AK>  while you have 10pm.


          Hmm.  By my calculations you are eleven hours ahead of us... at
least until Daylight Saving Time kicks in.  Unfortunately, however, Dallas & I
aren't available nowadays on weekends when others are.  For us a Tuesday or a
Thursday eening would be better.  Perhaps you have some holidays which differ
from ours? Monday or Wednesday evening might also work if your timing is
flexible....  :-)




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