Whats rustling your jimmies?

GuardianX

GuardianX

Perpetually Pessimistic
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Cad_sl said:
So you don't really care whether she actually learned the language or not (which if she didn't, she wouldn't have passed the tests) but if you didn't feel self-satisfied by your in-class dog and pony show, fuck what they learned, right? Because it's not about them learning shit (which the tests would show), it's about you.
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I'm sorry but get the fuck out. 90% (Completely made up number) of the time teachers don't care if you miss their class if you establish a good reason early in the semester, doesn't need to even be real.

*Approach*
"Dear Sir or Miss, I'm really in a bind and will do whatever is needed but I currently work full time and attend school. Is there any way I can perform extra credit to attain the attendance score?"

Not saying this works 100% of the time but for graduate level classes I never had an issue when I did almost as stated above. The main thing is basically not becoming another name on a page. who knows, you may even use these social skills later in life.
 
Borzak

Borzak

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My jimmies are rustled because apparently I went to the wrong university. All of the classes in my major had 8-10 students in them and if you missed one class you had to have an excuse, and a good one at that. Missing two was pretty much a failing grade in that class. To add insult to injury if you had to repeat a class most were only offered every 2 years.
 
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Lemmiwinks_sl

shitlord
533
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I really get rustled when I go eat some place, order a water, and I am handed an infants sized plastic drinking glass. I'm not trying to steal fucking fountain soda from your glorious establishment, I legitimately want water.

Thanks all you fat fuck cheapskate soda thieving assholes. Now when I order my water, I have to get up like FIVE fucking times to refill my god damn 5oz cup because of the stigma caused by the fat shits who steal soda to fuel their fat person activities.

Half the time when I inform the vendor that I actually want water and would like the larger cup, they say that I must be charged. Those motherfuckers can watch me fill their precious large cup with water and then eat shit.

Fuck you soda thieves, you've ruined EVERYTHING.
 
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Asherah

Silver Knight of the Realm
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McCheese_sl said:
Actually, no, she didn't "learn the language". Yes, she was able to ace every grammar test, but she couldn't hold a simple conversation worth a damn. Learning a language involves a lot more than simply memorizing grammar rules and vocabulary.
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Yeah, sadly, many tests are relatively easy to pass by memorizing stuff that you generally will forget quickly afterwards. Back when I studied computer science I remember a significant number of people that basically cheated on the assignments and then memorized stuff for the tests. Many of them managed to pass with good grades, but a (badly) trained monkey would probably been better at solving real world problems. I shudder to think what code they wrote on their first jobs...
 
Cad

Cad

scientia potentia est
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McCheese_sl said:
Actually, no, she didn't "learn the language". Yes, she was able to ace every grammar test, but she couldn't hold a simple conversation worth a damn. Learning a language involves a lot more than simply memorizing grammar rules and vocabulary.

Had she actually come to class and participated in the daily speaking activities we did then I have no doubt her conversational abilities would have immensely improved.

Oh, and lol at your "If she didn't learn the language she wouldn't have passed the tests". Does that mean every American high school student who passes Spanish can speak the language? Please. It's incredibly easy to pass standard language tests without actually having a solid command of the language; they can all be gamed by having enough rote knowledge of grammar and vocabulary or canned phrases.

This is one reason that in most modern language courses you'll find that attendance/class participation are weighted so heavily; they need to counteract the fact that traditional tests don't "tell the whole story", so to speak, when it comes to someone's language ability.
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Just means your tests are flawed. Add speaking/accent/comprehension to your tests, and stop grading people on whether they need your dog & pony show or not.
 
Cad

Cad

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Malice_sl said:
It's not really about that. I teach freshman English and the program says 10% of their grade has to be attendance and participation. A lot of in-class time comes from verbal discussion of readings and shit. Hard to grade on their in-class discussion if they aren't in class or talking. I personally don't give a fuck if they show up; I don't take it personally.
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You didn't really explain anything here other than "my program requires this too." Thanks, I guess.
 
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Malice_sl

shitlord
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Cad_sl said:
You didn't really explain anything here other than "my program requires this too." Thanks, I guess.
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Meh. All I was trying to say was it's not an ego trip to take points off for missing class. It's just something the department requires us to factor into grading. I know there are teachers in other departments who do make it a personal point that time is so valuable that not showing up for class is a huge affront and deserving of punishment. The end result is the same though; you miss too much class, you lose points.
 
McCheese

McCheese

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Cad_sl said:
Just means your tests are flawed. Add speaking/accent/comprehension to your tests, and stop grading people on whether they need your dog & pony show or not.
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Oh I agree 100% that tests are flawed. Unfortunately I'm just a teacher and not a curriculum designer. Teachers have some freedom in terms of grading but we're still heavily limited by department curriculums. I guess you could say that it rustles my jimmies.

Anyway, even speaking can be gamed on tests. I do a lot of IELTS preparation, for example, and there are certain strategies that can help even a mediocre speaker of English pass the test with pretty high marks.

The best way to judge someone's speaking ability is long-term during conversation practice.
 
Big Phoenix

Big Phoenix

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The fat bitch in the minivan who stopped and pulled over on the side of the road to roll down her window and flick out a cigarette butt before pulling into her subdivision. Hope whoever she is hiding her habit from beats her ass when they catch her.
 
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dolaan_sl

shitlord
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McCheese

Sorry for the small derail, but as someone who teaches a foreign language for a living what to you think of software like Rosetta stone? I imagine it probably only teaches grammar and not the conversational language you mention is a true test of language knowledge. I have no experience with the software, but I have always wanted to learn another language and would like your opinion.
 
McCheese

McCheese

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dolaan_sl said:
McCheese

Sorry for the small derail, but as someone who teaches a foreign language for a living what to you think of software like Rosetta stone? I imagine it probably only teaches grammar and not the conversational language you mention is a true test of language knowledge. I have no experience with the software, but I have always wanted to learn another language and would like your opinion.
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There's a pretty lengthy thread in the Products Review section (I think) of this forum where Rosetta Stone was discussed at length.

There are three things that really rustle my jimmies about Rosetta Stone:

1) The insane price tag. There's no reason it needs to cost as much as it does. The program is basically just really sleek flash cards.
2) Lack of cultural education: whether you are learning Spanish, Chinese, or Russian, the pictures you're presented with are the same. For example, you're learning Spanish and you're shown the word "Man" and it is matched to some African guy in tribal dress.
3) The advertisements claiming you'll be fluent in the language using ONLY Rosetta Stone. I'm sorry, but a single product will never make you fluent.

That said, I think Rosetta Stone is a goodsupplementto language learning. It's a great way to get some basic vocabulary and grammar and it is actually kind of fun to use, as well. I'd use it in tandem with a more traditional program/book which offers grammar, reading, writing, speaking, and listening practice in a variety of useful contexts.
 
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blakwood_sl

shitlord
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Deep breath...
People who come to a complete stop to make a turn in their car. Similarly, people who walk in groups and inexplicably stop, oblivious to people who may be walking behind them.
People who slap me on the back.
Clerks who put your change on the counter instead of handing it to you.
Companies that have cashiers ask for charitable donations while giving you your change.
Obnoxious gay men who speak with a swish, behave like teenage girls and strive for the attention of all around them.
People who raise "awareness" of well known problems instead of using that time and energy to try to solve them.
Nature show hosts who insist on receiving more screen time than the god damn animals they are documenting.
Journalists who swear that objectivity is tantamount to their profession while hypocritically espousing partisan invective.
Sports fanatics who can somehow memorize obscure and meaningless statistics but can't seem to educate themselves on any other subject.
 
Palum

Palum

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blakwood_sl said:
Deep breath...
People who come to a complete stop to make a turn in their car. Similarly, people who walk in groups and inexplicably stop, oblivious to people who may be walking behind them.
People who slap me on the back.
Clerks who put your change on the counter instead of handing it to you.
Companies that have cashiers ask for charitable donations while giving you your change.
Obnoxious gay men who speak with a swish, behave like teenage girls and strive for the attention of all around them.
People who raise "awareness" of well known problems instead of using that time and energy to try to solve them.
Nature show hosts who insist on receiving more screen time than the god damn animals they are documenting.
Journalists who swear that objectivity is tantamount to their profession while hypocritically espousing partisan invective.
Sports fanatics who can somehow memorize obscure and meaningless statistics but can't seem to educate themselves on any other subject.
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You had me at hello.
 
Enob

Enob

Golden Knight of the Realm
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Speaking of academia, when the fuck did - and + start affecting GPA's. I know it must be standard at a lot of universities but I'm at my 3rd university and this is the first one to do it at. Didn't have it in high school either. My 4.00 is forever gone because of one fucking A- a couple semesters ago. Sitting at a 3.971 now. Jimmies rustled.
 
Soygen

Soygen

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blakwood_sl said:
Deep breath...
People who come to a complete stop to make a turn in their car. Similarly, people who walk in groups and inexplicably stop, oblivious to people who may be walking behind them.
People who slap me on the back.
Clerks who put your change on the counter instead of handing it to you.
Companies that have cashiers ask for charitable donations while giving you your change.
Obnoxious gay men who speak with a swish, behave like teenage girls and strive for the attention of all around them.
People who raise "awareness" of well known problems instead of using that time and energy to try to solve them.
Nature show hosts who insist on receiving more screen time than the god damn animals they are documenting.
Journalists who swear that objectivity is tantamount to their profession while hypocritically espousing partisan invective.
Sports fanatics who can somehow memorize obscure and meaningless statistics but can't seem to educate themselves on any other subject.
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We'll get along just fine, you and I.
 
Hoss

Hoss

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blakwood_sl said:
Clerks who put your change on the counter instead of handing it to you.
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speaking of that one, cashiers who hand me my paper change and then try to drop the coins on top of it. Fuck you. Especially in the fucking drive in, where my hand is at an odd angle anyway, and if it drops, I have to embark on an expedition to find it. I always withdraw my hand after I get the paper and make them hold the change out for as long as I can.
 
S

Salshun_sl

shitlord
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Hoss_sl said:
speaking of that one, cashiers who hand me my paper change and then try to drop the coins on top of it. Fuck you. Especially in the fucking drive in, where my hand is at an odd angle anyway, and if it drops, I have to embark on an expedition to find it. I always withdraw my hand after I get the paper and make them hold the change out for as long as I can.
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Even worse: I get my check cashed at a casino here in Vegas. They have that plexiglass partition, and the money slot is that curved metal thing, high on your end, dips down under the plexiglass, comes up on her side even with your ass. The bitch insists on putting the changed on the money, and 9/10 while trying to carefully pull both out, the cash comes up and spills the change everywhere. It's impossible to grip both at the same time.
 
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