Btw, I agree you don't need outside validation for Portuguese. Could she take an upper division Spanish class as DE at some point? If she's interested, of course.

Or, alternatively, if he is using a calculator, sometimes kids spend too much time trying to figure stuff out with a calculator instead of simplifying by hand, which depending on the problem, can be much faster. But yes, work those fractions, and ask the teacher how he's doing compared to the rest of the class. DW once got a B in a multivariable calculus class with a 35 average or something crazy along those lines, because the curve was more than enormous. ETA: the curve was always like that for that class - it wasn't just a weak group of students being passed along that semester because they had to pass a certain percentage.

I don't have a high schooler, but I don't know that I'd give high school credit for using learned Spanish for enjoyment (yes, obviously skills will gradually improve by doing more reading/listening etc, but, that's not the same as studying). Seems more like something to mention under hobbies, or in an application essay. Personally, it'd probably drive me nuts if my mom (or whomever) tried to keep track of it for credit (whether by asking me to keep track or Renai's method), and would make me either sneakier about it or make me drop it (and then probably pick up on another language, because I'm an addict). Of course, YMMV.

On the CLEP website it says that you need to know what institution to send the scores to. Reading some more, it turns out that you DON'T actually need to write down the name of an institution, but that you can have the transcripts sent later (for an additional fee, of course). Anyway, Google isn't helping me figure out some things... 1) If I'm pretty sure I will be applying to a certain university within the next few years, should I just go ahead and write down that uni to receive my scores, even though I haven't applied to them and they have no clue who I am and probably won't for a few more semesters, just because, hey, it's free? 2) On the form, it says that sending a transcript (if not doing the above) is $20/transcript... do they count each test as a single transcript, or could you check, say, chemistry and Spanish and it counts as one transcript, so long as it's done at the same time and goes to one college? http://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/clep/clep-transcript-request-form.pdf P.S. I could call the CB for the answer to #2... but I was thinking odds are someone here knows and that it might also be useful for other people reading this thread.

IIRC, Blackboard often doesn't work until the first (or second, grrr) day of class. So, I wouldn't worry about Blackboard (as far as it saying you're not enrolled - obviously, I'd talk to the prof if it's not showing up on the first day of class).

What's the closest place I can drive to that has 70+ degree weather?

For.ev.er. Does she only have to practice those two strings? Broccoli got to practice all 4 right off the bat. 5 min/day is probably enough. Did they cover Lord of the Flies in literature class recently?

Vopo. Celery threw up, proceeded to eat a bunch of cheese and crackers, and now is lying in bed not quite asleep. And then I proceeded to read some ITT, and just finished 2666, the page about the flu. Great. I don't know if he's got the flu - I think not, because he isn't complaining about hurting or w/e.

Edpo: Would you read Howard Pyle's Robin Hood first, or King Arthur? I'm leaning towards Robin Hood - it seems a little easier (my kids are not *that* familiar with old-fashioned language, and reading it out loud isn't always so easy either).

So did you get it finished yet? IIRC I read it to the kids when Celery was 8. Broccoli had just turned 5, and he listened to only some of the stories; he was a bit too young.

So, for example, Google translate translates the Dutch word 'drek' to: mud, dung, droppings, dirt, excrement, slime, ordure. It translates the German word 'dreck' to: dirt, filth, mud, muck, rubbish. I'm not sure to what degree there's an actual difference in meaning between Dutch and German, or if it's just Google happening to use different translations. Either way, you should be able to get a 'feel' for what they mean by looking at all possible translations - it's a bit yuckier than "the backhoe dug up a huge pile of dirt" as in soil.

Btw, this reminded me of the day that I got home and my husband told me he wanted to transition to being female. Later that day, we went to some department store, and bought a purse, and when my spouse went to pay for it, the cashier looked at the name on the credit card, and lectured my spouse that this time, she'd take it, but that next time, her husband would have to be there. Um, okay then. This was without make-up, pre-meds, etc... Oh, and I was standing right there too, with our baby. But apparently the cashier must have thought I was a friend or something. Obviously, she accepted the signature, despite thinking it was the wrong person.

Because of the difference between the 3 Dutch newspapers and the 1 Belgian newspaper I looked at, I decided to glance at some Austrian newspapers as well, and they all (well, the 3 I looked at) use the same word as Der Spiegel. Now, I'm going to defer to native German-speakers as to the best translation, but before Regentrude posted, I'd translated it as "filthholes", which is slightly less mild, but the fact that they all use the same word makes me think that it is an existing word, not a made up word for the occasion.

I get that. I'm just saying that Google sucks at translating Thai - which should be clear if you read some Google translations of Thai. Google does better with most other languages I'm familiar with.

De Standaard (Belgian newspaper): http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20180112_03294456 klotelanden "klote" is a vulgar word for testicles. "landen" is of course "countries".

Thai newspaper: https://mgronline.com/around/detail/9610000003828 พวà¸à¸›à¸£à¸°à¹€à¸—ศเฮงซวย "inferior/bad countries" (or, "countries that are bad places", if I were translating, but I haven't really used Thai in a loooong time) That was also like, the 5th newspaper I tried. I'm not 100% sure if I just overlooked something, but it seems that some countries' newspapers are much more enthusiastic in reporting about this than others. ETA: article in Google translate's sh*tty translation (which doesn't even seem to use the phrase above, but it's in the original Thai): https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fmgronline.com%2Faround%2Fdetail%2F9610000003828&edit-text=&act=url

Looked at a lot of Russian newspapers before finding anything (doesn't help that I'm only at the beginning of Unit 10 for Russian Rosetta Stone): https://www.rg.ru/2018/01/12/tramp-priznal-upotreblenie-zhestkih-vyrazhenij-v-otnoshenii-immigrantov.html "Ñтран-гадюшников" Unfortunately, Google doesn't know what the latter part means (the first part is "countries"). Okay, there's this: https://ru.wiktionary.org/wiki/гадюшник Which lists "unpleasant, ugly place" as its 3rd meaning (the other meanings have to do with snakes or taverns or a collective in which relations of mutual hostility, hostility, intrigue, etc. have been established???): ETA: odd highlighting because of copy&paste. https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fru.wiktionary.org%2Fwiki%2Fгадюшник&edit-text=&act=url

I had to dig a bit, because it's already a little way down the news cycle there. Der Spiegel has multiple articles about it, e.g.: http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/shithole-countries-donald-trump-soll-haiti-und-teile-afrikas-drecksloecher-genannt-haben-a-1187414.html Apparently the word there is Dreckslöcher (filthholes, I think). Le Monde went with "pays de merde" (shit countries): http://www.lemonde.fr/ameriques/article/2018/01/12/trump-traite-haiti-et-des-nations-africaines-de-pays-de-merde_5240652_3222.html

It's linguistics (or lexicography, or w/e): https://korystamper.wordpress.com/2018/01/11/down-the-shithole-why-lexicographers-need-your-profanity/ And, as the article notes, it's not who said it, but that newspapers printed it, mostly without asterisks.

Unsurprisingly, the newspaper I read just used "shithole countries" in quotes, both in the header, and in the rest of the article: https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2018/01/12/trump-wil-geen-immigranten-uit-shithole-countries-in-afrika-a1588119 Okay, this newspaper does slightly better - they do translate in the article, though "achterlijke landen" would more accurately mean "retarded countries" or "backward countries", but more likely the former than the latter, so, be careful with whether that translation works in other circumstances (which, of course, is a warning for w/e other languages you might look at too): https://www.ad.nl/buitenland/vn-reageren-gebeten-op-shitholes-van-trump~a1db954f/ This one does the same thing: http://www.telegraaf.nl/nieuws/1532639/trump-ontkent-dat-hij-sprak-over-shitholes

Sorry I'm still so far behind. Boeja!

Edpo! During one Behavioral Neuroscience lecture the prof was offering a Twinkie (or similar) to whomever would volunteer for something, so DW pointed at me and said I'd never had one. Which was true. I got it. I could've done without, but hey, it was educational.

Dutch word of the day #1: the Dutch word for monkey is aap. Also, the Dutch word for ape is aap. Nobody cares whether they have tails or not. In school, they typically teach that the English word for aap is monkey. With butter and lemon. Dutch word of the day #2: kreeft means lobster.

Um, what!? Best I can tell, the Continental Reformed Church both predates Presbyterianism and is Calvinist. Also, say, the Dutch Reformed Church is about the same age as Presbyterianism (and is Calvinist as well). (not that I have much of a clue what Presbyterianism is, other than that Wikipedia says it originated in the British Isles in the 16th century - okay, Wikipedia says that there have been a handful of Presbyterian churches in NL since the 1950s, so, not that surprising that I'm clueless about them)

Okay, but he's constitutionally ineligible to be *elected* President, not constitutionally ineligible to the office of the President. I.e., if he gets there some other way, there's no conflict, therefore, he'd be eligible to run for VP. Or, at least that's how I read it. Not that I think him running as VP would be a great idea. Nor Oprah. I like Reich, but he's getting too old... Saving Capitalism is a great documentary though. I really do wonder who on earth might run.