skywatcher

"Boom Panis" is a growing meme similar to the "Push mo yan, 'te" phenomenon (they were birthed nearly at the same timeframe, right?). It's a growing term used after punchlines and supposedly "funny" moments. (It's harder to explain it than to actually get used to the phenomenon.) I honestly believe this started with the "Boom Vanness" meme that originated when Meteor Garden aired again in the Philippines (after quite some time), being a play on Vanness Wu's name (Vanness) sounding closely like "Panes." In this context, "Panes" is not the same as "Panis" (spoiled). In the "Boom, Panis!" phrase, "Panis/Panes" is taken more as "Owned!/Pwned!" when we use videogame wording. In essence, the main thought of "Boom! Panis!" in the meaning it wants to convey is, "Boom! It's too awesome you couldn't resist the urge to feel its awesomeness, yes?" (Of course, the meaning varies, but this is the general message that it gives me). It's not practically that bad, though. To be fair, it's funny and entertaining (irritating perhaps for others who noticed/can't appreciate the rather mellow taste of other Filipinos when it comes to comedy), but I have to say it's not as hurtful as the Jejemon Phenomenon language-wise. Changing the last word sometimes makes it funnier, though. "Boom, Galit!" "Boom, Panot!" and other words. It doesn't get funny when it's taken too out of the context, though - but when the timing gets itself right, it can become something that's really entertaining. I still don't get why Vice Ganda had to make a song about "Push mo yan, 'te," though. It just says "Push mo yan, 'te," right? The "Boom, Panis!" one had a more entertaining vibe to it.

I do agree somehow, because even the Philippines, it's been a growing issue that the time learning general education subjects (including the native language, Filipino) will be lessened to make room for Mandarin, which is one of the most widely-spoken languages in the world. Given this, I think Mandarin will somehow dominate in the future - but not in the near future. At most, I see Mandarin to be "paired" with English when it comes to global communications, seeing as China is growing as an economic powerhouse and English still being widespread and is technically almost the secondary language of a lot of countries (if not most) around the world. Of course, this depends on how the Chinese language will further influence the language scene in the times to come.

Hm, I have this book that's a compilation of a lot of stories (it's the art that really captivated me). Unfortunately, I have been exposed more to stories than actual books, huhu. When it comes to stories, "The Stone Soup" really makes my day all the time. Aside from this, though, "The Little Prince" is also one of my favorites. "Hansel and Gretel" introduced me to sweets, and I really liked "The Little Red Riding Hood."

Oh, can I post an update? I'm starting to get the hang of it, haha! But I can only do it for a few times each day (sometimes luck), so I can't really guarantee that I'm getting there. But your tips really worked! Thanks, guys!

I love Night Vale! Though for me, I also tend to zone out while listening to audio books - but sometimes, depending on the audio books, they could really bring life to the book it was based on. Take World War Z, for example. Although I've already read the book, when I discovered an audio book available, I really wanted to try and see how they would depict the situations - because unlike other books that are either in pure first person or third person in narrative, World War Z is a collection of "interviews" regarding stories during the zombie apocalypse. For me, this was the most interesting aspect of the audio book - because somehow, I actually really felt the characters make a mark.

Though I haven't been an ESL tutor or teacher before, I do have some friends who've been ESL tutors before. The one piece of advice they always tell me (should I want to be a tutor) is that we should always take into consideration the kind of culture the people we're teaching have, because with this, we can easily identify their interests, their hobbies, and effectively find a teaching method that is effective for them. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten the chance to ask them for examples, but this was the biggest advice they gave me regarding their short experiences both abroad and with foreign students.

That book must probably be Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. It's not the best novel out there, but it's certainly one of the best I've read. It taught me that just because Armageddon is happening in a week doesn't mean things can't get awkwardly hilarious. And just because "God said so" doesn't mean we don't have the right to at least wonder about things. As much as it's not a religious work, Good Omens is the funniest account of the Apocalypse that I've ever read. Perhaps the inspiring part wasn't the comedy part, it's how they're able to integrate something funny in a story so filled with witty remarks and, in a way, passages that would really make you think.

I think this is rather unfair. Everyone should be able to write about anything if they (the writers) think it's going to help add more life to their story - including things like races and geographical differences. The only catch here is that, of course, the writers in question should also study and do research before writing these things because there can be a lot of misconceptions and things to consider when trying to depict different races (not that I'm being racist, but I think we should do more research when dealing with other races just so our works couldn't appear racist.)

I do this a lot, because I don't keep track of all the grammar terms being thrust at me in school - because I've kind of learned what I know most about grammar from my constantly writing and kind of "getting the hang of things." This means, I can "write" properly, but I can't "teach" how I write, haha. This means I always have to research the terms I've been hearing, only to realize that I've been doing the exact same thing. Or I can search for a term I've never heard before, and then realize that I've been doing something wrong. The hard part is that people expect us to keep on remembering all these terms and concepts when in fact, we're not even sure as to what extent are we going to use all the lessons we've been learning.

I'm more inclined to study a single language first, because I'm afraid I'm not that keen into being able to focus on two things at once. As much as this is a bit easy when it comes to multitasking with school works and other duties, language-learning is a completely different matter.

I think this depends, and I'm not exactly sure how "accurate" my "mistake-spotting" is, but I do admit that not all subtitles fit right with the actual definition of the terms being said. However, I also believe this depends on how dedicated and how much time the ones who make the subtitles (I'll call them subbers) put in constructing the translations. The more accurate the translations, the more time it takes for them before they release the translated subtitles, so I guess the real question is if the viewers could wait for more accurate subtitles (which really take time, depending on the length of the thing being subbed) or if they could settle with speed-subbed works. When settling for speed-subbed works, this really depends on the staff and their dedication to work on translation and proofreading of the material being subbed. Then again, the effectiveness of their translations depend on 1.) the scope of the knowledge of the Translator to the language being subbed, and 2.) how good is the Proofreader/Grammar Checker in spotting mistakes in the grammar/etc. Not only that, but "context" also has to be observed. Are the subtitles being created in context of what's actually happening (this means, in the anime/Japanese subbed context, a foreigner viewer in the world of anime - this means the "-sans" and the "-kuns" could be added and some terms have to be explained via translation notes), or are the subtitles created in the context that everything is happening around the vicinity (this means, in the anime/Japanese subbed context, the story is happening in our language context, this means the "-sans" and the "-kuns" are eliminated, and some terms are simply subbed into their nearest English counterpart).

Whoa, cool! I did this when I wanted to improve my English for a bit (as in, stories - I delete the files right away when I realize my work isn't that worth reading HAHA), but I'm not sure if I could do this just as easily when it comes to foreign languages. We're going to have Spanish as a class soon in college (as in, by July), so I think I'll have to try this tactic, haha.

I agree with the others, not everyone's grammar is "perfect" and we all make mistakes. Though if I were to be asked what makes "poor grammar," I do agree that consistency is part of it. It's okay if we make mistakes once in a while, but I think it gets to be "poor" when we do it all the time to the point of not even getting to notice the mistakes. But as for what you've just written, your grammar isn't "poor." It's actually fine for me - but I guess it all depends on the kind of output expected from you. In my case, style is also a factor as to whether or not my editors call my work "poor" or not. I've only learned quite recently that other publications follow their style seriously, and as much as someone's writing is good, if it can't follow a certain style no matter how many times you teach it, the writing can be considered "poor" - so I think context is also something to be considered.

I have this problem, too, and I'm nervous now that we have a Spanish class. It's something I've had ever since I was a child, and the problem is that my R's are sometimes turning into W's ("train" becomes "twain"), and it really bothers me. I could handle it better by being able to speak R on words with no rolling R's, but when it comes to the rolling R's, I'm really having an issue.

>Japanese - primarily because I'm heavily interested in Japanese culture, and there's a different "feel" whenever I encounter new sets of kanji >French - I'm, uh, 1/16 French, so I think it's a miniature obligation for me to learn the language. However, I also found the language interesting - especially the way speakers say words. As much as I don't want to see French solely as a "romantic language," the way the words are spoken are really good to the ears >Latin - not because of things like using them in science, music and other things, but primarily because I'm simply interested with the way phrases and sentences are formed. It's interesting because, as much as it's a dead language, I at least could get an opportunity to learn how life was like when Latin was still a living language >German and Russian - these languages have their certain appeal to me, a certain "beauty" of sorts that I couldn't describe. It's like, when I get to hear words spoken in German or in Russian, I get this pleasant feeling and a tendency to want to really learn how to speak the language. It's kind of more of a natural interest than actually having some sort of reason.