NormanH
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Posts posted by NormanH
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Think yourself lucky you aren't invaded by them AND the English who call themselves 'Ex-PATS' of which there were none here 20 years ago, but now they are swarming over us. I suppose Spain must be full.
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And this was thz weather for Remembrance day in Béziers https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=964265039067476&set=pcb.964268975733749
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9 hours ago, Harnser said:
I watched the video - an actor playing a stand-up comedian who keeps turning sideways to look as his story board - boring.
The real reason Donald Trump wiped the floor with Kamala Harris?
The number one overriding reason is that Donald Trump is seen as authentic, warts and all.
Kamala Harris didn't make it as being seen as authentic, despite the celebs queueing up to sponsor her. Let's face it, if your campaign relies on the likes of Taylor Swift and Beyonce to gush that you are just what America needs, you've lost it before polling day.
That is what the video said. Are you sure you watched it?
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We are being invaded by Americans here after our journalist Maire placed an article in Sloan magazine saying how wonderful Béziers is!
They have solved the problems in the article by forming a ghetto group (and a Facebook page) where they organise a French-free social life.
I made a couple of comments about American-style food and coffee chains and was banned for "Anti American HATE speech"... and you all know how moderate I am😂
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Time for me to go then
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14 hours ago, anotherbanana said:
LeMonde also carries it, Norman. You know as well as I do that Govt. employees have better conditions of work than the private sector, living off the taxpayers back; these should be based on the private sector. It is called Egalité!
I seem to remember that the hospital nurses and doctors working during Covid didn't have particularly easier conditions of work than bankers, nor do those who sweep the streets and collect the rubbish. And teachers in the private (Catholic) sector have smaller classes with children often from 'better' families than their counterparts in the public service which is underfunded in part because of the disgraceful amount of public money going to support those Catholic schools.
In health care it is the private firms (funded by hedge funds) that treat public funds as a cash cow. Look at the scandalous profits taken for Covid tests by 3 or 4 Lab groups.
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BUT don't generalise, ( some private firms start paying immediately with NO delay and others vary) and don't forget that private firms pay towards the "mutuelle"
Le Figaro is after all the foghorn for the rich and greedy.
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2 minutes ago, NormanH said:
I understand that it is difficult to give an estimate for computer repairs as until they have actually tried to switch it on it is impossible to identify the problem (unless it is physically obvious such as a cracked screen for example)
Here is a list of things in the house for which an estimate is compulsory: https://entreprendre.service-public.fr/vosdroits/F31144
- Électricité
- Évacuation des eaux pluviales, curage des eaux usées, nettoyage et débouchage des canalisations
- Entretien et réparation des systèmes d'alarme et de télésurveillance
- Entretien et réparation des plates-formes élévatrices privatives
- Prestations de dératisation et désinsectisation
- Entretien et désinfection des vide-ordures
- Entretien des extincteurs
Cela concerne aussi les opérations de remplacement ou d'adjonction de pièces, d'éléments ou d'appareils, consécutives à la mise en œuvre des prestations listées ci-dessus.
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I understand that it is difficult to give an estimate for computer repairs as until they have actually tried to switch it on it is impossible to identify the problem (unless it is physically obvious such as a cracked screen for example)
Here is a list of things in the house for which an estimate is compulsory: https://entreprendre.service-public.fr/vosdroits/F31144
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Not much listening or pronunciation there...
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19 hours ago, anotherbanana said:
Norman, I would hope that your view of English Language Teaching is substantially out of date, at least amongst teachers trained by British institutions. I must say that I came across some real horrors in my 35 years or so of ELTing.
I bet none of those years were spent in French classrooms🤣
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ssomon's example if read aloud to a French learner wouldn't be difficult to repeat. It is the spelling that would trip up a learner trying to read it aloud without having heard it.
Think of the French town 'Mulhouse' read aloud by an English learner who had never heard it spoken as "MulOOOSE"
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"The rough and dough-faced ploughman coughed and hiccoughed through the streets of Scarborough"
That is more of a spelling problem that one of pronunciation. One of worst flaws in language teaching is to begin with the printed word rather that LISTENING to native speakers and repeating exactly what is heard. I believe that the first 2 years of learning a language should be without looking at anything written. After all children learn to speak before they learn to read.
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12 hours ago, anotherbanana said:
No, Norman, cultural and linguistic flexibility and adaptability in use which has led to the adoption of English cultures and languages worldwide. ( Please note my plurals)
I am not sure that "linguistic flexibility and adaptability in use" are behind the replacement of Toussaint traditions by Halloween in France. I reckon it is more about commercialism
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On 20/10/2024 at 12:11, Loiseau said:
Those "Machines" creations are always amazing, and often in some ways disturbing.
I was only thinking yesterday how much Hallowe'en has taken over Toussaint in France. When I was a newly-arrived student in Grenoble, in November 1960, I was amazed to see the street outside my room thronged with people carrying plants, walking silently along the road. My landlady explained about All Souls, and the chrysanthemums, and that there was a huge cemetery at the end of the street.
Yet another example of anglophone cultural imperialism 😪
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Béziers is in something of a 'Golden Triangle' as far as weather is concerned but quite a lot of that was only about an hour away. I would think Gardian might have caught it
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I strongly recommend the The Films of Robert Guédiguian about Marseille. He is a sort of more 'poetic' (in the cinematic sense) version of Ken Loach. This is one of my favorites shown free onlie at the moment on ARTE...https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/031761-000-A/the-town-is-quiet/ Obviously title is ironic, but there is always a love for the ordinary people of the town and a sense of Marseille as a melting pot of cultures
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A short ARTE documentary on the subject:
https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/112907-090-A/arte-europe-weekly/
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1 minute ago, NormanH said:
The previous link was to Arte Films with English subtitles.
On the French version you can watch with French subtitles (or if it is an English language film in VO ..with the original sound track)
https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/cinema/
https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/119375-000-A/my-dinner-with-andre/ for example
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness
in The Lighter Side
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