Topic: The Chit-Chat Thread

@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.

Right about now, everyone knows about the direct next week except for Nintendo

Fluffy Dreams Everyone!

Idea: make the world’s first web series aimed at kids.

@Princess_Lilly No.
Oh also after I abandoned you all one Friday, my mom took me to the local game trading store (Sells vinyl records, consoles, dvds, blue rays, and osmetimes game figures) and I got a gaem called Shaman King: Power of Spirits, which I'm enjoying a lot! And I also got Midway Arcade Treasures, which, I played a lot when I was like 4. I thought those memories were fake. But then I saw it at the store. That's when I knew I had to buy it. The game I cherished as a toddler wasn't fake! Paperboy was real, Root Beer Tapper was real, Rampage was real! And then when I booted it up on the ps2 the memories came back to me like a tsunami. The music. The loading screens. The pyramid at the start. All of it.
Shaman King cost about 13 USD and the arcade game collection cost about 8 USD, overall some money very well spent.

@EllaTheQueen6 oh, Rampage is one of my favourite arcade games. I spent a lot of time playing it. I also have Midway Arcade Treasures, but for PSP.

@AnVold Oh man I haven't seen you in a while! And yeah, I was born a bit too late to ply most arcade games except for simulations, like Midway Arcade Treasures.

@EllaTheQueen6 yep, happy to see you again! It seems that I old enough for it, because I remember how I played Rampage on arcade machine It was in August-September of 1998. I was 6, almost 7 years old.

And Shaman King: Power of Spirits looks like mix of Fire Emblem with fighting game. Pretty interesting.

I remember playing rampage on the N64. Didn’t know there was an arcade machine!

I remember it being fun. Too bad it was rented and we never owned it.

@AnVold Yeah I really like Shaman King! I'm thinking about buying the other game for the ps2.
@Eel If I'm correct, it started out as an arcade game and just got a bunch of ports.
Also is renting video games just a concept I'm too young to understand?

@EllaTheQueen6 me too. I like manga, old and modern anime series. Is there more Shaman King games on PS2? I know just that one and 3 for GBA. Did you play Musashi on PS2? It was made in same visual style.