Topic: The Chit-Chat Thread

@Princess_Lilly Will you ever get over that

Ah man... RIP Carl Weathers. Be Peace.

@IceDomino I used to have a high voice to but I started Drinking Whiskey like 3 years ago and now my voice is a bit deeper and my friends like it xD

Fun fact of the day: the version of your voice you can hear yourself is actually a bit deeper due to the way the sound travels to your ears through your skull. Our own voice is actually higher pitched than we think.

This is why, when you listen to a recording of your own voice, it sounds… weird.

@Eel Oof. Yeah, hearing my voice.🤣

On top of that, on a tangent topic, my mind reads all of your text with an american accent.😁 Every british, german, australian, etc, my mind applies an american accent to all your test. I find that amusing since I'm sure some have accents I'm not used to hearing.

@WoomyNNYes my English accent is in a bit of a limbo. When I speak out loud to myself, to practice it or whatever, it sounds fine; my voice even changes and I can speak perfect English.

But the moment you put me in a situation where it is required to speak it fluently to another human being, it devolves into babbling and hand gestures.

It’s like, Schrödingers accent.

@MarioLover92 F...funfetti?! I don't know what it is about it, but I love that stuff! The fact it was strawberry would be a nice bonus. Glad you had a great birthday with plenty of Mario, and that you also received Metroid Prime: Remastered as a gift! I got that one for Christmas but haven't played it yet.

I did like that art class, with an asterisk. It challenged my brain by making me think differently, though at the end of the day it's still abstract art. I still much prefer scenes, characters, and objects. At least that class gave me the creative space to think when needed.

That is a good Disney film. My family had Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas on VHS when I was a kid. All three stories are pretty good. My favorite is the Christmas loop Huey, Dewey, and Louie find themselves in lol. I love Don Bluth films. Some of my favorites are The Secret of NIMH, All Dogs Go To Heaven, and The Land Before Time (original). Very kid-friendly in some ways, but they also have a bit more darkness to them than what Disney was comfortable with at the time.

@Eel I look like an idiot but I find closing my eyes or refusing to make eye contact helps my Japanese not devolve into that of a two year old. I don’t like to make mistakes so then that translates to me being intimidated by a native speaker in person. Even if it is a friend. It’s weird because when speaking English I maintain strong eye contact (well I alternate from looking between a person’s eye and dead straight into the one across from mine (which sometimes intimidates others even though I am merely being attentive)) so perhaps you get slight anxiety that you will make a mistake?

Despite the fact that I'm part Irish, I have literally no desire to drink.

@Ryu_Niiyama oh I already avoid eye contact most of the time as-is. But yeah… I suppose the idea of receiving a single confused “huh?” in response to something I said is honestly just a bit much and I just…. Lock up.

There’s also a weird phenomenon where I’m perfectly capable of listening to people speaking English, even at increased speeds, on YouTube and movies… But for some reason (and perhaps it’s because I’ve only ever been to a few select southern parts of the United States), hearing it in actual real time with real people can sometimes throw me off.

@Eel eh Southern is its own thing. Heck the drawl varies per state (and enunciation patterns of a person. For instance to folks from my state most think I am an expat. But when I live elsewhere others usually can’t place the state but know I am Southern. Plus many of us get more twangy when we get angry). Most TV shows try for a California or neutral/midwest accent. Unless based in a state. Which makes sense as an actor can be from anywhere.

Yeah the lock up is bad but I have found most people are more happy that you are willing to learn the language and will help you. (Does that lessen my self flagellation due to my perfectionist nature? No, but I hope it helps you. ) I was embarrassed last week because a Hispanic gentleman saw me moving furniture but he couldn’t speak English. So he asked me if I was moving out or in. I still remember a lot of spoken Spanish if spoken at a normal cadence and without slang. So I understood him just fine. I meant to say I live here which is Yo vivo aqui (correct me if I am wrong), but ended up saying yo estoy aqui. But he knew what I meant and immediately asked if I needed help. Never met the guy before, ever. I told him no because he was much older than me and my mother would have appeared like a Southern Ninja and fussed me out for putting work on an Elder, but it was nice that he didn’t make me feel bad. I spent like two hours later memorizing basic Spanish sentences because again, embarrassing to make a mistake. But I am neurotic lol.

Point is, while I can’t follow my own advice, I think it’s better to try and get comfortable than beat yourself up. I mean your written and understanding of English is great so it isn’t like you don’t know the language. It’s just not your first instinct.

When I was a teen I experienced a weird point where I would slip between English, Spanish and Japanese and not know I said the wrong word. I actually had to pause for a little before speaking. I started backing off Spanish then because I figured my tiny brain could only hold so much lol.

@Ryu_Niiyama I would actually really like having more chances to put some real practice into it. Because I do feel like I can improve, but the opportunities to speak English person-to-person (with someone who doesn’t speak Spanish at all) come up perhaps twice or thrice a year.

I suppose that’s why it doesn’t come out naturally, it’s plainly just not natural for me yet. It’s almost like a… performance (and I’m bad at acting!).

A lot of our family members over there go through that phase in their teens as well, but then at some point it evolves into their permanent adult Spanglish. It’s honestly super impressive to me that you juggled between three languages as a teen!

And yes, “yo vivo aquí” is correct. Including the ”yo” can come off as a bit stiff in certain situations, so just “vivo aquí” (and alternatively “aquí vivo”) might sound more natural. But both are correct.

While I can't GO to Japan, I can bring a little of Japan TO me.

I don’t have a strong accent from anywhere, due to my upbringing so it’s just a primordial soup of global English accents. Even though I’m half English with a British passport, because I’ve never lived there I’ve always felt like an outsider, both culturally and accent wise. Once I missed a bus in Manchester and said “dammit!” to myself, and the English people next to me began mocking my accent, which sounded American when I said that particular word.

Being in England for a few months has definitely started to anchor me back towards a neutral English accent, but I try to keep that international flavour since it gives me away well.

yes, when you start taking care of yourself.

Do it for the 00s timeline, for Gamecube, for punk rock!

@Eel Thank you for that information. My Spanish was textbook (which I don’t mind as beyond things I say due to my culture I dislike the impreciseness of slang) but no one would mistake me for a native speaker anyway. 😄

Anyway any meetup with zoom meetings you could join? With a Spanish/English language exchange, I mean. I do one for Japanese. It’s not the same as physical person directly in front of you but is a good substitute as it is still a person looking directly at you.

Hmm that’s where Spanglish comes from? I always assumed it was at this point its own sublanguage like Creole but this makes it more tied the individual. Actually nevermind that makes perfect sense as that is how language is processed internally anyway. Sorry it’s early and I have a few angry NL people taking a swing at my inbox. Brain not awake yet.

I was summoned back to the Internet by the cacophony or writhing tongues on the launch of Suicide Squad KTJL. It happens

I was honestly nervous about posting my new drawing of Luca under the effects of a Wonder Flower (in Super Mario Bros. Wonder), specifically the level where the character(s) inflate into a balloon and must float around to avoid enemies and reach the Wonder Seed.

Fluffy Dreams Everyone!

At this point, I could really use a hug.