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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 13th, 2023

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  • This is just for the English speaker learning Spanish Duolingo course, which I’m told is one of the best ones, so it may not apply to other courses. But IMO it was easier to pick up the majority of the beginner vocabulary in Duolingo (they’ve got the drill aspect of language learning down pat) and then spread out to other sources. I especially needed outside help with grammar because (at least when I was doing the early parts) Duolingo didn’t explain grammar very much, so there was a bit of ramming my head against a brick wall.

    How long an article takes me to read depends on how many colloquial phrases it has that Duolingo hasn’t introduced me to, if uncommon words or jargon are used, etc. The dictionary app I use is pretty good and includes slang, so when I do run into unknowns it only takes a few seconds to look it up. But overall I’d say I read maybe 1/2 to 2/3 the speed I read English, depending on all the above factors. It does fatigue me a lot faster than reading English, but I think that’s a normal thing for second languages you’re still learning.

    Edit: oh oops I misunderstood your last question, it took me maybe a year to start on news articles and maybe another 6 months to get comfortable with them. Totally YMMV depending on how much and how seriously you study, this wasn’t anything like full time study for me.





  • This is what every news article about an assault or murder of a queer person used to be like in the 00s and earlier. Then after the local queer community spends ages protesting (if there was one, and who knows how many murders flew under the radar this way) maybe someone eventually gets a slap on the wrist charge.

    Maybe they’ll update these stories soon, but it’s not a great sign when they’re not even discussing the husband’s account. (The other stories, not the one you linked)



  • According to his husband’s posts on social media, these neighbors had subjected them to homophobic harassment and threats to burn down their home before now. And when they returned to find the skull of their dog out in plain view and started to cry, the neighbor came and killed Jonathan. His husband said he blocked the shot and saved his life.

    What do you fucking do about a community like that? These people don’t exist in isolation. It’s scary as fuck and a heartbreaking way to start pride month.






  • I’m sorry to report that a lot of American conservatives are like that IRL as well, and it’s not new. After public opinion turned on Nixon, conservative talk radio as a genre was formed to make sure that never happens again. Social media has only made it worse, if anything.

    The online conservatives are just more likely to be obsessed with niche political stars and topics, but for the most part they’re drawing from the same well when it comes to talking points.