Hello from Croatia

[finrodfelagund_]

Hi all,

I'm finrod and I'm somewhere between "i" and "e" in the word beginner, in the world of Linux. I'm looking forward to being a part of this community and I actually feel a bit bad because I don't have much to say right now, anyway, it's good to be here and see you around , bye...

 

[atanere]

Hail and well met, @finrodfelagund_, King of Nargothrond and Friend of Men! Glad to have you join us and hope that we can help you, or that you can also help others.

Cheers

 

[finrodfelagund_]

Hail and well met, @finrodfelagund_, King of Nargothrond and Friend of Men! Glad to have you join us and hope that we can help you, or that you can also help others.

Cheers

Hi atanere, and thank you, you really made me grin with your reply. People usually think that is my name ... Oh, and thank you, I'm glad to be here. Regarding the help part, thanks, I've already found answers to some questions I had, so, you all already helped me, meaning that I owe you the same... Hm, I'm not sure how much I can help regarding Linux topics, for now, but I'm sure I can be of some use on some other topics, for example regarding telecommunications or computer networks to a certain extent, and in few other fields, tech and non tech... Anyway, nice to meet you and see you around...


Bye

 

[atanere]

I thought you might get a laugh at that. As you might guess, I'm a huge fan of JRRT also. Again, welcome to the group... it's a nice place to hang out.

Cheers

 

[finrodfelagund_]

Yeah, you though well... And yeah, I knew right away because I din't meet much, wait... actually I don't know anyone who has read Sillmarilion. It's nice to meet a fellow fan, from my experience they are rare (I guess they are pretending that they grew up), and thank you very much your kind words, I'm already convinced that it is. See you around...


Bye

 

[JasKinasis]

I picked up on the Tolkein reference too. You'll definitely fit in around here! XD

The Silmarillion is quite a heavy read. I'll admit I haven't read it since my teenage years, but I still have it on my bookshelf along with the rest of my JRRT books.

Welcome to the community!

 

[finrodfelagund_]

Hi JasKinasis,

nice to meet you and thank you... I have to say regarding Sillmarilion, it is the same with me. It's been a long time since I've read it, although back then, I knew most of the book by heart. I've read it like three times in a row... Those were the days See you around...

Bye

 

[VP9KS]

Hail and well met, @finrodfelagund_, King of Nargothrond and Friend of Men! Glad to have you join us and hope that we can help you, or that you can also help others.

Cheers

Nargothrond? Did I miss a new country somewhere?(Nyuk, Nyuk) I'm more of a Heinlein, Fritz Leiber, Asimov man myself. Never read any Tolkein except Lord of the Rings. Hope you don't hold that against me.

 

[finrodfelagund_]

Hi vp9ks, and , no you didn't... I've read Isaac and Heinlein, Leiber is a mystery to me, never herd of him before, I thought you were referring to some German psychologist or something ... So, you've read Tolkien, how can that be a bad thing? Anyway, nice to meet you, and thanks for mentioning that German psychiatrist, I'll check him out, maybe (likely) I'll find a book to read just for fun. See you around...

Bye

 

[wizardfromoz]

Crikey, is everyone borrowing books out of my bookcase? I just found The Hobbit in the garage yesterday, wondered where it had been.

Now tell me, fin_ , are you actually a Croat, or just work and live there? If the former, your English is bloody amazing, lol.

Galadriel fan meself ... hot.

May the hairs on your toes grow long.

Wizard

 

[finrodfelagund_]

Crikey, is everyone borrowing books out of my bookcase? I just found The Hobbit in the garage yesterday, wondered where it had been.

Now tell me, fin_ , are you actually a Croat, or just work and live there? If the former, your English is bloody amazing, lol.

Galadriel fan meself ... hot.

May the hairs on your toes grow long.

Wizard

Hi Wizz, and , I have to say that I've never been around so much people who have read the same books as I did... You know what... atanere was right when he told me that this is a nice place to hang out. It really is, I haven't meet a person that I don't like or something, quite the opposite. I kinda have a feeling that I'm talking to my self sometimes... Now regarding my nationality and etymology, yes I am a Croat. Born and raised in Croatia. My mother tongue is Croatian, and my second language is English. I've been using English almost whole my life, even before I went to school, and the reason is simple, Croatian culture is heavily influenced with American culture. Movies, Tv shows, series, soaps, documentaries, music (Hip-Hop, I just don't get that, and I'm in minority???), etc... And then, school. You have to study a foreign language, and 60 or 70% of us kids would take English over German and then French, because we were already familiar with it (Tv, video games). And then you have to study your second language in high school and college. And one important thing to add, most of my lifetime there was no Croatian in the world of computers, so, nowadays, when I see an, for example, Android interface in Croatian, I'm in trouble... So, thank you, but after so much English throughout my life, it would be a disgrace if my English was poorer than it is... But, there is still a lot of room for improvement, trust me


Cheers

 

[VP9KS]

Hi Wizz, and , I have to say that I've never been around so much people who have read the same books as I did... You know what... atanere was right when he told me that this is a nice place to hang out. It really is, I haven't meet a person that I don't like or something, quite the opposite. I kinda have a feeling that I'm talking to my self sometimes... Now regarding my nationality and etymology, yes I am a Croat. Born and raised in Croatia. My mother tongue is Croatian, and my second language is English. I've been using English almost whole my life, even before I went to school, and the reason is simple, Croatian culture is heavily influenced with American culture. Movies, Tv shows, series, soaps, documentaries, music (Hip-Hop, I just don't get that, and I'm in minority???), etc... And then, school. You have to study a foreign language, and 60 or 70% of us kids would take English over German and then French, because we were already familiar with it (Tv, video games). And then you have to study your second language in high school and college. And one important thing to add, most of my lifetime there was no Croatian in the world of computers, so, nowadays, when I see an, for example, Android interface in Croatian, I'm in trouble... So, thank you, but after so much English throughout my life, it would be a disgrace if my English was poorer than it is... But, there is still a lot of room for improvement, trust me


Cheers

I can relate, mate. I was lucky enough to be able to do a bit (20 years?) of military service, and got to visit, and sometimes stay for a few years, many places around the world. No matter where I traveled, I found that if you even attempted to speak the local dialect, the locals loved it, and they would bend over backwards to help you. Everywhere, that is, except in America, where many will make fun of you. Those that make fun cannot speak English, not American as some people call it, correctly themselves. They say things like "Where you at?" among other things.

I remember visiting Split back in the 70's. I was sitting in a bar, talking to the locals, who spoke perfect English. It was very refreshing to hear it spoken as it should be, so I asked one of them how it was that they spoke it so well. He replied that from the time that they entered school they were required to take 4 languages, Their native language, English, Russian, and an elective. The elective could be any language other than the first 3. I thought of how much hell would be raised by American parents if they should ever try that in the U.S. I can just hear the kids whining now!! Sadly, Americans speak English the worst of anyone, and it is our native language.

I tell a joke sometimes:
What do you call someone who speaks 2 languages? Answer: Bilingual.
What do you call someone who speaks 3 languages? Answer: Trilingual.
What do you call someone who speaks 1 language, and no matter where in the world they are, they
expect everyone to speak their language? Answer: American!

I hope that does not offend anyone, but sadly it is true. Okay, I will get off my soap box now that I have vented.

Happy Trails,
Paul

 

[VP9KS]

Oh, yes, I forgot to say that Fritz is a fantasy author from way back. You should be able to find some of his works on line.

 

[wizardfromoz]

Frank Herbert ... The Dune series.

Seems like your joining us has got a chit-chat corner, Fin_ ?

...I found that if you even attempted to speak the local dialect, the locals loved it, and they would bend over backwards to help you.

I am with Paul ( @VP9KS ) 100% and then some - especially in France, where they can be almost as parochial as some Anglos. We talk here in Oz about the "Ugly Australian" or the "Ugly American" or the "Ugly Pom (British)" and these are people whom travel and expect everyone to speak English. Why bother travelling?

My sister (two years older) started high school learning French & German and has now lived in France for over 17 years. The French can't tell she is Australian.

When I started high school in 1970, it was the first year they conducted Japanese classes and I chose that, which pleased my father who visited Expo Japan in Osaka for work purposes. Did that for 5 years and in my final two years also took up an elective on Bahasa Indonesia, which also basically covers you with Malay.

In University, I went straight into 2nd year Japanese because of RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) but thus began to run out of Japanese subjects before completing my degree, so took up Mandarin Chinese (Beijing Dialect) for the last 18 months. Loved it.

I am a firm believer that if our children become multilingual and learn foreign cultures as well, then wars might not prevail.

As for the science fiction and science fantasy books, they take us into a fertile world of imagination, and what is Linux if not about imagination and adventure?

Cheers

Wizard

 

[atanere]

How could all these Tolkien-lovers NOT be language lovers also?!?!?

My little small town high school was only one of two in the state that offered Russian language, and I took three years of that (plus some extra curricular activities to absorb more of the culture too). Thinking the military might take advantage of my skills, I enlisted with a guaranteed job as a linguist. What I failed to get in the guarantee was my choice of language... that landed me in Korean language training for a full year of full-time school. And then, of course, off to Korea where I spent just over two years before leaving the service. It was a great time and a great experience, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love the Korean people.... and the food. I still take short road trips near my home to visit Korean restaurants.

Quiz: Has anyone guessed the Tolkien significance to my user name, "Atanere?" It is my own cobbled together word taken from Quenya dictionaries found on the web. Atan=man and ere=steel.... so "man of steel" (Superman). Then I have several personal reasons for the association with Superman, one being that I work in a steel mill.

Cheers

 

[wizardfromoz]

Hope we don't start a war on comic books as well, DC vs Marvel (I have 3,000 combined of the two majors).

In Quenya then I might be atanliantë (Spiderman) ... more likely The Blob, my wife might say.

Wiz

 

[atanere]

In Quenya then I might be atanliantë (Spiderman)

 

[VP9KS]

Sadly my high school only offered French, and Latin. I took both, one year of Latin and 2 years of French. The French came in handy on a Chair lift at a ski resort in Andorra (Soldeau), when I sat next to a lovely young French lass. Ah yes, international relations at its best! I learned to ski when I was living in Fairbanks Alaska, just before my father retired from the Army (1963-1966). Not that I was the best skier, but I sure had fun in the deep powder, and I got the "falling down without breaking anything" part down pat. As I have said before, it is a wonder that I survived my youth!

Many here just hate to hear anyone speaking another language. I guess they are afraid that they are talking about them. Ok, so what if they are? I feel that it is not a problem, because I don't care. If they don't use it they will forget it, and that would be a crying shame.

Wiz, you should not get me started on the "Ugly American". I see them every day. I lost track of the times that I found it necessary to tell them to try to behave like adults. It is sad, and painful, to watch. I just keep getting back on that old soap box, don't I?

Try some Daniel Keys (Flowers for Algernon), Theodore sturgeon (Killdozer), or some of Asimov's short stories (The Q Ball), or even some of Fritz Leiber's short stories (A Bucket of Air), and tell me what you think.

Happy Trails
Paul

 

[wizardfromoz]

We are still on this "how much we have in common besides Linux" thing and I find it quite uplifting?

Paul, I have about (guess) 40 books between Asimov and Heinlein. Read "Algernon" when I was a pre-teen I think, and loved the film "Charlie" featuring Cliff Robertson in his Oscar-winning role as Charlie from the story.

Friday here, so those whom know me can expect

Avagudweegend

Wizard

 

[atanere]

Many here just hate to hear anyone speaking another language. I guess the are afraid that they are talking about them. Ok, so what if they are? I feel that it is not a problem, because I don't care. If they don't use it they will forget it, and that would be a crying shame.

I don't dislike foreign language on the public forums, but in my mind I should discourage it because it makes my "job" of moderating more difficult. If there were a lot of unknown languages used, I would spend too much time processing through Google Translate. It's more about making sure that illegal things are not going on than worrying about gossip, but there have been extremely few instances of anyone promoting or soliciting anything illegal (thank goodness).

EDIT: Ummm, maybe excepting the spammers. If spamming isn't illegal, it ought to be. It is a daily battle by all the staff to keep the boards clear of that junk.

Cheers