Language Coaching for French

 I got my B1 exam in German so that is really good and my two teachers did a good job in getting me ready for the exam and improving from beginner to Intermediate. I'm going to take it slower getting to B2 because the Covid restrictions mean travelling to and from Germany is likely to be quarantine at both ends and also that companies aren't hiring.

I'm targeting smaller companies as they are less bureaucratic and stand a better chance of wanting to grow and improve. Larger companies, like large animals, need a lot of food each day to remain the same size and they are not good at evading predators.

I'm going to refresh my French and see if I can get it to A2 level by the end of the year or the beginning of next year. As I worked in Paris for a while I have a hazy knowledge of it but I don't know where the gaps are. A2 will make me refresh the vocab and the grammar so I am a well functioning French speaker.

I learned a lot while studying for B1 so I am helping a friend by doing the A2 at the same as he is doing it so I can coach him and have a language buddy to talk about progress. I've outlined a process that we think makes sense and I'll catch up with him once a week.

I believe that the massive input of Comprehensible Input is the key to language acquisition. There is still a need for speaking but it means that the bulk of the learning time should be spent on listening and reading and building up vocabulary. I've got a DELF A2 book I am working through, the See it and Say It book for French and also the online Keep Talking French and using them to prod me along for the next 4 weeks. Let's see how that goes.

I'm studying Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to get a diploma from the Institue of Counselling so I need to make sure I schedule and focus on the right work at the right time. No pressure!

Language learning in German

 i'm learning German and I'm intermediate and taking a B1 exam in Freiburg in Germany. While I am learning it I've also looked at how we learn it. You have to do the structured parts - vocab + grammar and free reading and speaking to increase your understanding. I've looked at beginners books in technology such as AI and the poetry and prose of Bertold Brecht. The goal is to pass the exam but have a broader view of German culture and identify the key to the language that will be a catalyst for further learning.

Google Analytics Qualification

Project Management, Sales & Marketing are all about creating a narrative. Tools like Google Analytics help you fine-tune that narrative.

I've got the Google Analytics Individual Qualification during my COVID sabbatical. It fits with my interest in data visualisation and psychology of the client and the company interests.

https://skillshop.exceedlms.com/student/award/54900566

Thanks

We no longer believe in Forgiveness for honest mistakes

A nasty characteristic of the resignation of Theresa May is the way that many people have put the boot in particularly as she broke down into tears at an emotional moment where she was resigning from the job she loved leading the country she loves in a difficult period.


It's not hard to find the critics. This is a sample from the Guardian on one day.

‘She had no tears for Windrush’

‘A self serving statement utterly devoid of real insight’

‘She was crying for herself not the country’

These are a selection of the howling that followed her resignation speech. 

My observation is that there is little mercy or forgiveness from the headlines whereas the public understands that people make genuine mistakes and expect mercy and understanding if you try and do the right thing even if it is the wrong thing or even worse the unpopular thing.

Although the social media warriors get a buzz out of this I wonder how they expect to be treated when they screw up and how the lessons that their friends and family draw from seeing their calculated attack on someone who has already demonstrated that she is feeling vulnerable. 

This came after a week where the media flaunted their credentials on mental health with television programmes about it, people being interviewed and lots and lots of articles about it, particularly by journalists who had suffered. 

Theresa May wanted the Conservatives to cease being the Nasty party but instead, she has seen the electorate become a Nasty country. 

I wish her well for the future.

Polls Not Policies

The television goes from the Brexit Correspondent to the Westminster Correspondent to the Political Editor who do not know what is going on and can explain that in about 5 minutes each time. I now watch films or something else when 'Brexit Crisis' appears on the screen. There is no crisis there is a process that people are unhappy about.

My prediction is that that May is holding on because the polls are usually wrong and she hopes they keep up their abysmal record of predicting the outcome of votes.

Boris is Napoleon not Churchill

There is a focus on Boris Johnson as he promotes his buffoon king to the media proletariat who love and hate him in equal measure. Even the ones who don't like him are not able to ignore him.  The interesting things I think are all the things that he is not.

He is not posh - he a middle class upbring and there was not a lot of money and support for him.  He got scholarships that helped out but he was moving around a lot when he was younger. There are other MPs with wealthier parents and more family support who play that story as a working class person made good.

He likes to look disorganized and lazy. He works hard but only at the things he likes ad the things he believes will advance his cause. In retrospect, we can see what a good Lord Mayor of London he was by the mess the next person made of the same role under less pressure.

He likes to promote himself as Churchill but he's more like Napoleon. An outsider who rises on his merits and has the skill to win campaigns. He's popular with the troops but unlike Napoleon, he is not so popular with his lieutenants and we rarely see anybody who works alongside him rise to a senior position.  Perhaps he chooses mediocrities to look taller in comparison. It is the Boris show and he cannot exist as a team player.

Do we need a Napoleon at this particular point of crisis?

Modern Politics as Punk Rock

It was the throwing of the milkshakes over politicians that gave me a sense of familiarity with what was happening.

The established parties (Conservative, Labour and Lib Dems)  are doing what they have always done in order to discredit the Brexit Party. The more they do it the more they expose how tired and staid their views have become. Even the MPs who are trying to be up to date are not hearing what their constituents are saying. They are too busy talking to the BBC, Sky, presenting a radio show or making a podcast. This reinforces the feeling that they are out of date and with no new tunes.

They have forgotten earlier rebellions when the same tactics gave the Sex Pistols a global following. We could draw comparisons between Johnny Rotten and Nigel Farage as being voices of rage and a catalyst for other bands. It gave new sounds and new voices to people who would have been heard under the old record label system. Look at the relationship between the Sex Pistols and EMI and the lack of understanding of the record label with what to do with the band.

Farage is attracting the same adoration and anger as Johnny Rotten. Whereas they spat at Rotten they throw milkshakes at Farage.

In the end, punk became mainstream but for a while, it energized people to write music, form bands and make their voices heard. This is also what has happened with the extinction rebellion group.

We have seen the establishment try and hi-jack Greta Thunberg to continue to look relevant and cool but instead, they show them themselves as shifty and untrustworthy.

The punk period and its aftermath produced bands of such variety as the Buzzcocks, Soft Cell, Dexys Midnight Runners and ABC, Human League, and Altered Images. Perhaps the Brexit Party is an early indicator of a new wave of politics as the Heavy Metal of the Conservatives and Labour and the Prog Rock of the Lib Dems becomes a niche enjoyment.