• 10 Posts
  • 34 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 6th, 2023

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  • Not exactly as a customer, but trying to access welfare when I was off work long term sick was a fucking nightmare. I don’t mind filling in forms but dealing with the people in that government department was the most demoralising experience of my life. I cried on the phone once because of how rude one of the agents was to me. They’re being rude and unhelpful to people who are sick and out of work. What a way to kick the most vulnerable people in society when they’re down.

    I finally got what I was owed and I’ve delayed filing a complaint about them because I just never wanted to deal with them again but it’s about time I bring out my inner Karen because they’re probably still traumatising people that need financial help.


  • Thanks for your detailed answer, I really liked it. Apologies if this question was offensive to you, I had this discussion recently and it made me think a lot about how much time I spend using my literacy skills vs getting around. Then it got me thinking about how accessible lots of buildings where I live are. A friend of mine had a family member come to visit in a wheelchair recently and pointed out that lots of places that tourists usually visit are exempt from accessibility requirements because they’re situated in older buildings. One of my biggest shames in one of my previous jobs was being told I had to turn down a group of students coming to take a course in the school I was working in because we couldn’t accommodate one of their classmates in a wheelchair. Like, my gut tells me that’s straight up illegal 🫤 but maybe where I live it’s not. I left that job not long after so I don’t know if there were any repercussions.

    There’s a big push to revitalise the city I live in at the moment regarding opening up public spaces and making them more attractive to citizens and this is something that I haven’t seen discussed openly in relation to that yet so I will keep an eye out for it!







  • This is not what anyone wants to hear, but the truth is as an adult you can’t perfect a language without studying it. Obviously there are exceptions to every rule! Some people pick up language more naturally than others. But in my experience it’s the students who put the work in outside of class that progress faster.

    It’s also true that we have strengths and weaknesses in language (sometimes even in our native language). A person who aces an oral exam might do terribly in their writing exam. A good student is aware of their own flaws and practices in the areas they find hardest.

    In terms of how to study, it depends firstly on your level and secondly on the area you want to work most on: reading, writing, listening or speaking.

    If you are at A1 level, you will benefit most from being exposed to language aimed towards that level, i.e. grammar books, language learning podcasts etc. When you reach around a B1 level I recommend looking at real life target language examples such as TV shows, books, news articles and so on. There’s not much point coming to them too early and being discouraged by how little you understand.

    If oral language is what you struggle with the most, try to find a conversation circle to practice with. Many of these can now be found online thanks to Covid!

    Writing is one of the hardest areas to progress in, in my opinion, because realistically you want someone going over anything you write with a fine tooth comb to point out any mistakes. If you need to get better at writing in your target language I highly recommend hiring a tutor or trying out a class that focuses on writing.

    Sorry if this isn’t the fun answer you want to hear! But don’t worry, my students think I’m a buzzkill too 😅



  • This pizza place opened in an area that is flush with well established takeaway spots. We ordered from it once and it was BAD. The bases were frozen and the meat was clearly sandwich meat from a supermarket. Whenever we pass it by, it’s open but there are NEVER any customers.

    The online reviews are bizarre, they’re either one star reviews with detailed explanations of how shitty the food is or 5 star reviews with no comments.

    Yet somehow this place is STILL open despite being surrounded by superior competition and always being empty. There is absolutely no way it’s not a front for something.