That Solves That

My state ended the pandemic lock down at the end of last May(June 12 for the elderly and medically sensitive populations). Since then, I've been seeing stories about other states with lock downs or restrictions, some of them quite bizarre like restrictions on outdoor dining when there's no science to support such a thing. Sunlight, it kills the virus. The wind, it blow it away. Part of all that was election year politics. Blue states were attempting to make the pandemic seem worse than it was in reaction to red states that wanted to keep things in perspective and push forward. I think both sides overdid it. Blue states had more restrictions than scientifically warranted, and red states seemed to be taking unnecessary risks with public health and safety. There were contradictions. In some blue states it was okay for a 100-person capacity bar to be open but not okay for a church of the same size.

I've been puzzled as to how blue states could keep restrictions going when those ended going on a year ago where I live. It's been almost nine months since the lock down ended. We still have mask requirements, but not everyone wears one. Nobody says anything about it. It's the freedom of personal choice. Masks are more like a "requirement". I wear one when I have to venture forth among possible plague carriers, but once summer gets here, it's going to be too hot for a 5-layer KN95 mask.

I think I've discovered why states like California still have heavy-handed restrictions. According to this article, California has a strain of the virus that spreads faster than the original virus and "evades" vaccine-generated antibodies and antibodies gained from prior infection. The California strain has "probably" been around since last May and is now the dominant strain in California. It might be the case that government officials there have known about it for a while, and that's the reason for the continuing restrictions. It's hard to know for sure. It's surged since about September. I wouldn't be surprised if other states have strains of which the public isn't being informed.

With vaccines here I've been more relaxed about the pandemic. Herd immunity seems to be on the way. However, vaccine-resistant strains like the one in California are something to keep an eye on.

Have a great weekend.

The French Front

Doing 15 to 20 hours a week on the French front has been challenging. I've been splitting the time among reading, listening and online lessons. I'm reading at least 20 paperback book pages a day of C1+ material. Before Covid I was trying to do 10. During Covid, a lot of days I'd do only a few or end up not doing it. I never stopped my online listening, but that's easier to keep up with.

Having a goal, passing the B2 or C1, has made a difference. My reading ability has exploded. I'm able to read and understand more easily than I was when I was doing 10 pages. I think part of it is that I'm having to look problem words up more often, and that seems to make them easier to remember. I think part of it is that even when not doing so much during Covid I was still learning with what I was doing, which included some reading online. I think the constant reinforcement of common words is helping a lot, too. My listening seems to be better. I ran across a learn French section on tv5monde.com and took the listening test. They rated me at B2. Last week I took a short test online that rated my reading level at B2. It makes me feel better about the B2 exam, but I know I still have a ways to go.

Udemy.com has courses for all kinds of things. I picked up a few of the French ones for cheap. One of them is a 12-hour course called French for you. French language course for English speakers. It claims to be A1 to B1. I thought it would be a great review and a chance to learn some grammar rules. The problem with reading books is that there aren't any grammar explanations. I need to know more of the rules if I want to pass a test on them. The course does have grammar, but I'm having a hard time seeing how someone could learn French from it. The first three sections feel random. Starting in section four, the lessons are taught in French. How could someone who doesn't know French possibly learn from lessons that are in French? Yes, immersion is great, but oh my goodness. I can understand it, but as a beginner I'd be completely lost. I give it two stars. Another problem it has is inconsistent volume level. I'm grinding through it.

I've mentioned Abebooks.com before and how it's possible to find books on there for $3, shipping included. Those are still there in English, but I'm having a harder time finding French books than I was last year. It's been a nightmare. Before Covid I found some books for $3+. Then they started being $4 or $5 or $6. Those are still there, but most of what I'm seeing is $10 and up. I've been looking online at French bookstores, etc. Eleven Euros for shipping. I've seen Canadian prices of $25 a book. I found a series on Amazon.com that cost $10.99 per Kindle book in French but started at $2.99 in Italian. It was even cheaper in Catalan than in French. I didn't buy it.

In France, if I could walk into a bookstore, the same books are $1 or $2 used in good or better condition, but they won't ship to the U.S. Amazon.fr's shipping to the U.S. for one book is $3+. French books should cost me $4 or $5 per book but don't. However, I found a 4-book series for $25 shipped plus $1 currency exchange fee and ordered that. $6+ a book isn't bad, considering they're 500+ pages long. If the cost of airfare hadn't exploded, it would probably be worth it to get a passport and fly to France and buy 100 books for a dollar each. At the prices I'm seeing that many books would cost at least $1,200 to $2,000 online, if I can't find cheap ones. A passport, airfare, hotel(two nights) and food, etc., would cost at least $1,021. It would be worth it just for the experience if I had the money to blow on that.

The solution to stores not shipping to the U.S. is to hire a shipping forwarder/freight forwarder. Instead of using my address, I would ship to the forwarder, and they would repackage and ship to me. Unfortunately, with all the fees the price still comes out to $25 to $30 a book. Can't do that. Maybe, if I keep searching, I'll find a bookstore that ships across the pond for the $3 that Amazon charges.

I'm thinking that maybe I could take the B2 in the summer instead of autumn. We'll see.

Have a great weekend.

DELF or DALF?

Here's an article about whether ignoring robocalls makes them stop or not. It's relatively short.

I've decided to go for the DELF B2 exam in French. According to a chart on this page, it takes 560-650 hours to reach B2. I took a short test on a random site I found in a web search, and it said I'm already at B2. However, that's a written test. My Achilles heel is listening comprehension. Plus, my accent isn't that great for every word despite how awesome and masterful it sounds in my head when I read. Unfortunately, I can't just go out and take the test. I need to study a lot first. Testing in the nearest location, Atlanta, is postponed until further notice. That's okay. The next test was scheduled for April 2, which is too soon for the amount of time I need to put into it. I was kind of targeting autumn anyway.

What would a B2 get me? It would allow me to enroll in French universities without language testing. Not interested. It would allow me to teach French. That might be interesting. I would be able to be a substitute French teacher for local high schools and colleges/universities, assuming they would accept that alone and not require a teaching certificate. I believe I could teach French in Europe with a B2 alone. I'd have to look that up. I would be qualified to work in French-speaking countries for a job I'd already be qualified to do. I could also do freelance translation work from home. That's the main reason for my motivation. I could do that from anywhere in the world that I could afford a place to live. Another part of my motivation is learning verb forms and grammar I never learned in a class and correcting my "Algerian" pronunciation. My first French teacher was from Algeria, so I have some speech patterns that need fixing in order to get a more authentic Parisian sound. That will also help me understand spoken French better since I won't be listening for accented sounds that never come.

I've started working on it already with daily reading, listening and going through a course in which I have to verbalize the answers. It's already helping my pronunciation. My goal is to put 15 to 20 hours a week into it. Since I probably wouldn't take the exam until autumn, that would give me enough time to learn French from scratch. Hmm. That got me to thinking. According to the chart linked above, C1 takes 810-950 hours to reach. At most that's 300 hours more than the B2. If I'm already testing online at B2, what if I went for the C1 exam instead? Fifteen hours a week minimum gives me 480 hours in 8 months. Twenty hours would put me at 640 hours. And that's on top of all the hundreds of hours I've already done. Could I get to C1 by autumn? I'm not sure, but I think it could be possible. Putting in hours alone isn't good enough. It has to be the right material.

The B2 is about two and a half hours of written testing plus 50 minutes of listening/speaking. The C1 is 4 hours total, 70 minutes of which is listening and verbalizing. The B2 I could do myself with online materials. For the C1 I would probably need to be online doing a language exchange with native speakers. If chatting with pretty French women online is what I have to do to pass the test, that's just what I have to do.

Book Stuff

I've gotten a wee bit done on the book front. 

Have a great weekend.

George Orwell Called

If you ever read George Orwell's 1984, you remember the Ministry of Truth that decided what was true and what wasn't and how truth changed depending on what the government decided truth was. So-called "experts" have recommended that Biden appoint a "reality czar". The reality tzar would be the person who tells everyone what the truth is based on what the Democrat party decides it is. The reality tzar would, of course, be helped by Big Tech. It would literally be the Ministry of Truth from 1984. Big Brother would be watching and rewriting history.

In other news Florida is cracking down on Big Tech with new regulations, including a $100,000 a day fine for companies that suspend political candidates. The full list is in the article. I hope this gets traction in other states. The attack on democracy by Big Tech and the Democrats has to be stopped.

As part of the attack on democracy, the Pentagon has ordered a 60-day stand down to root out "extremism". In the new reality I assume "extremists" are constitutionalists. Both political parties are in violation of the U.S. Constitution. It serves their interests to remove or intimidate patriots who are loyal to the United States of America and not a political party or who would otherwise put the interests of the nation before the interests of Washington political players. During his terms, Obama removed a lot of generals and replaced them with people friendly to the Democrat party. I wouldn't be surprised to see more of that as well.

Democracy is under attack like never before. When I was in school, I read extensively about World War II and watched WWII movies on television. They were far more common back then. The Democrat party is following the same path the Nazi party followed in the 1920s and 1930s. Before the Nazi party became the evil Nazis, they were a left-wing socialist party that believed in gun control, fought social injustice, didn't care for Christianity or Judaism, embraced paganism and the occult, promoted socialism, etc. They couldn't get traction with voters, so they created it with incessant harassment campaigns like the ones against Trump and his supporters. Their version of Anitifa/BLM was Kristallnacht. The parallels are uncanny, and they're for the same reasons, lust for power that can't be won at the voting booth. The values and beliefs of the Nazis didn't reflect the values and beliefs of the German people the same way the values and beliefs of the Democrat party don't reflect the values and beliefs of the United States of America.

If true Americans don't stand up, democracy is going to fail in the U.S.

Have a great weekend.