A productive night.
As most people I interact with online are americans, they're active when it's night here. I was following some interesting discussions, and now "suddenly" it's 04.28 a.m. here.
Today (meaning, this night) I learned some new English words, and I got a political thing explained to me. (I know that I should replace "thing" with another word there, but no matter how many languages one is fluent in, there's still that feeling of not being able to remember a certain word. Some people have temporarily forgotten it in one language, I cannot remember it in either of three languages.)
Had a good laugh when my boyfriend used Google Translate and ended up with a sentence not making sense in Swedish, although I understood perfectly what his English sentence was.
My topic was meant to be about the value of good explaining.
Some people just answer "nevermind" when being asked what something means. I like when people actually makes the effort, or at least attempt, to give a good, comprehensible, explanation.
When my son was younger I always attempted to give him a good answer to every one of his questions. Some kids go on asking more questions instead of listening to the answer. He tried that a couple of times, but I told him that if he didn't want to listen to my answer, I wouldn't listen to his questions. I believe it's important to talk with kids, not just talk at them, and to explain things to them so that they learn, not just copy. It gives them a better vocabulary, and more intelligence. Some parents just talk at their children, and I'm a little uncomfortable with that if I know the parent.
My mom never explained properly when I was a kid. Her answer was "you wouldn't understand", or "you'll understand when you get older". So I went to my dad and asked instead.
I've given up trying to reson with my mom. She cannot argue for her cause. If we disagree, I can verbally out-manouvre her, but she cannot reply. I've tried so many times to discuss issues as adults, and I'm careful to not patronize her. After all, she's my mother!
Sometimes, people will give a tepid explaination. If I don't understand it, they tell me "nevermind". This always makes me wonder if they're estimating their own ability to explain comprehensively, or underestimating my ability to understand?
Today (meaning, this night) I learned some new English words, and I got a political thing explained to me. (I know that I should replace "thing" with another word there, but no matter how many languages one is fluent in, there's still that feeling of not being able to remember a certain word. Some people have temporarily forgotten it in one language, I cannot remember it in either of three languages.)
Had a good laugh when my boyfriend used Google Translate and ended up with a sentence not making sense in Swedish, although I understood perfectly what his English sentence was.
My topic was meant to be about the value of good explaining.
Some people just answer "nevermind" when being asked what something means. I like when people actually makes the effort, or at least attempt, to give a good, comprehensible, explanation.
When my son was younger I always attempted to give him a good answer to every one of his questions. Some kids go on asking more questions instead of listening to the answer. He tried that a couple of times, but I told him that if he didn't want to listen to my answer, I wouldn't listen to his questions. I believe it's important to talk with kids, not just talk at them, and to explain things to them so that they learn, not just copy. It gives them a better vocabulary, and more intelligence. Some parents just talk at their children, and I'm a little uncomfortable with that if I know the parent.
My mom never explained properly when I was a kid. Her answer was "you wouldn't understand", or "you'll understand when you get older". So I went to my dad and asked instead.
I've given up trying to reson with my mom. She cannot argue for her cause. If we disagree, I can verbally out-manouvre her, but she cannot reply. I've tried so many times to discuss issues as adults, and I'm careful to not patronize her. After all, she's my mother!
Sometimes, people will give a tepid explaination. If I don't understand it, they tell me "nevermind". This always makes me wonder if they're estimating their own ability to explain comprehensively, or underestimating my ability to understand?
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