Job Discussion Forums

[johnslat]

Dear Wolf,
" Some of us live in parts of the world where a low entertainment threshold is a fact of life.."
And some of us in parts where we'd have to ascend in a balloon to reach a low entertainment threshold.
Regards,
John

[R]

John: LOL! I guess I DO have a lot to learn.

Rob.

[Shonai Ben]

Rob:
I usually "learn" something new everyday.
Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?
BTW,how is your Japanese study coming along?

[johnslat]

Dear Shomai Ben,
" Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? "
In my experience, most of the time it's the old dog who says that. And it's sheer cussedness, stuck-in-my-ways and/or laziness. One of the main reasons I love teaching is that it's a sneaky way to be a perpetual student.
I'm not too often sure just how much my students are learning, but if it's even only 1/2 what I am, they doing just fine.
Regards,
John

[R]

Genki desu ka, Ben-San?

And that's about the size of it!

Rob.

[Shonai Ben]

Genki desu,Rob-san.
Gombatte ne.

Japanese is a difficult language to learn imo.
Don't give up though.I am still studying too.

[Steiner]

Hey, Brits, anyone know the word "leiothrix?" Today I had my students writing stories about pictures I gave them and one of the students said that her picture showed a leiothrix landing on someone's head. She showed me a page of birds in the back of her dictionary and there, along with sparrows, penguins, ostriches, hawks, and all the other birds I know, was a leiothrix. What in heaven's name is a leiothrix doing next to robins and wrens? It's not in onelook.com, but I found it elsewhere on the web. All I want to know is whether it's a word commonly used anywhere outside the U.S.

[rogan]

But I'm not in front of aclas - I'm on paid holiday until September
(That's he beauty of working in the French State system )

And I still lok a pretty fool

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Hello Steiner:

Just when I thought this thread was finally going to die, up pops the ugly head of the red-billed leiothrix for all of us to enjoy! Move over tea leaves and chocolate tampons ... this is serious:

Scientific name: Leiothrix lutea
Family: Timaliidae
Order: Passeriformes
Class: Aves

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
The Red-billed Leiothrix is a babbler whose length is about 14cm. They are beautifully marked with bright coloring. The adults have bright red bills and a dull yellow ring around their eyes. Their backs are dull olive green and have a bright yellow-orange throat with a yellow chin. They have forked tails. Female Leiothrix are similar to males but with a duller shade. Juveniles have black bills and gray coats. This Leiothrix is also known for it's vocalizations. It sings loud, melodious songs.

DISTRIBUTION and HABITAT:
Red-billed Leiothrix are native to Southern Asia and are now found on the Hawaiian Islands. These birds were first introduced to Kauai in 1918. Sometime later, these birds were introduced to the other islands. Leiothrix prefer to inhabit underbrush's at all elevations with a cover of dense vegetation near the ground. Some birds have been found at elevations of 9,000 feet. Flocks of Leiothrix's have been known to fly up to elevations of 13,500 feet for a short period of time. These birds favor areas with at least 40 inches of rain.

[Steiner]

Yes, yes Kent. Thank you, but what I really want to know is whether it is a commonly-referred-to bird in some parts of the English speaking world.

Anyone in the U.S. could point out, "Hey, there's a crow/vulture/starling/sparrow/cardinal/goldfinch/whatever!" But I've never heard anyone say "Hey, there's a red-billed leiothrix!" I haven't even heard anyone refer to a yellow leiothrix. Maybe it's because leiothrixes aren't common in the U.S.?

Supposedly they're kept as pets in the U.K., so I was hoping that someone could tell me, "Of course, every civilised person knows what a leiothrix is. It's as common as a parakeet." Or, "Why would anyone need to know what a leiothrix is? No civilised person knows what a leiothrix is."

[Irish]

I've always heard them called (Japanese) hill robins or Pekin robins, not leiothrix. Then again, I live in town where we never see them. Maybe the proper name is better known in the rural areas where they're more common. I'm curious as to what our U.K. friends and associates have to say on the subject.

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Hello again Steiner and Irish:

Assuming we have the right spelling, and it's not in the www.onelook.com/ database [which searches over 900 dictionaries] I'd have to say that the only person that's ever heard of a red-billed leiothrix is that wacky bird-lover with binoculars around his neck, perched in the treetops of some remote tropical island.

In other words, 'leiothrix' is the scientific name (like Homo Sapiens) which is uncommon in normal speech. 'Hill Robins' is just so much easier!

Am I brilliant or what?

Kind regards,
keNt

[selmo]

In response to to starting point invigilator
sorry but anybody who knows anything about how the english language works can work it out have you never heard of the word vigil or vigilante for gods sake I didn't know all Americans were that slow.
My good mate from Chicago thought the funniest thing us Brits said was " lets go smoke a fag !"

[johnslat]

Dear selmo
me slow merican - me no understand all word in english. but may be some day me be half fast, like people who think all mericans that slow.
Regards,
John

[ESL Guru]

Steiner: "All I want to know is whether it's a word commonly used anywhere outside the U.S."

Hey bro, who finds me to the right of him - (does that make me your right hand man?)

What on God's little green earth makes you think this word is commonly used in the good ol U.S. of A.?

Leave it to a Chinese ESL student to study the dictionary, even memorize it, and then try to use the new words without a wit of cultural or environmental understanding.