@Ksenia Спасибо :)

@K P Yes, it's frustrating when you can't easily express a common idea in another language. The word frustration is another good example X)

Спасибо, Maxim! :)

Popular or Well-liked?

Yesterday, I read an article about a study on what modern adolescents prefer better: to be popular or to be well-liked.
Previously, these two concepts didn't seem something to be opposites in my mind. Sure, people can be well-liked even without being popular. And obviously, popular ''subjects'' may have their haters. But it also seems rather logical to presume that if smb or smt* somebody or something is popular, then it's liked by some more or less wide smaller or greater number of people, isn't it? Or does popularity simply derive from being well-known?

If so, does it mean that popularity of any product or any media-face media personality is basically just a result of a promotion? ''It is everywhere, it must be good!'' - just like that? But still, even if an advertisement worked well so that smb or smt* had turned become well-known, wouldn't it still be ''a must'' to be liked by the crowd? Otherwise, how could the ''product'' achieve its popularity stable? Not liked, the brand/the name would have been merely forgotten soon soon be merely forgotten... or not?

So, is there any essential difference between ''being popular'' and ''being well-liked''? Or is ''being well-liked'' included into in the concept of ''popularity''?

The study displayed demonstrated that the most of teenagers would rather be well-liked for their vitues than be popular. Personally, I would better prefer to be popular for my deeds - being just nice is not enough to be a full-functional social item fully functional member of society.

* You're not writing a text message so it's not appropriate to use these abbreviations here.

Instant Reading

Have you ever been in case a situation when you are extremely needed desperately need to be able to read in a language you don't know? I guess, you have. And so do have I.

As an example, here is a case from my first trip to Hungary.
I had just arrived to in Budapest when I realised that I had no idea how to get to my hotel (usually, I'm used to take taking my booking prints printouts with me, but not this time!). Following a simple logic I managed to get out of off the metro at on the (approximately :D) the right station and hoped that google-maps would have finally led me to the desired destinaton. But I was wrong. As it turned out, navigation in the middle of Pest was quite a tricky thing even for my virtual guide. After a few desperate tries to ask some locals for the directions I conceded that I had no other option but to call up the hotel...
Thanks to a rather stable internet connection, I'd quickly found the hotel contacts information and dialed rang the receptionist... and... here we go! What is the first thing you need to tell the one coordinating directing you on the phone? Right! You must interpret ypur location!
On At that very moment I realized that right there and right now then I needed to be able to read in Hungarian! Just instantly! Otherwise, how could I explain what street I was standing on? Surprisingly, I did manage that problem task at the first try attempt! I was moving walking and telling the hotel-worker what streets I was crossing by simply reading their names on the buildings around me. Actually, there's nothing outstanding about it.
I believe, everybodies that everybody who travels on their own and does not use a car or a taxi, they takes their first language lesson right when they get on public transport. Listening to the names of stations while seeing them displayed on a bus/tram/metro information tables timetable makes you subconciously analyze the spelling rules of the language you're surrounded by.