Jonathan, speaks , learning , from - italki

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Adissiatz ! M'apèli Jonathan. Soi francés mas vivi actualement en Olanda, dins la vila de Leiden. Ma lenga mairala es lou francés mas parli plan l'anglés, lo neerlandes et tanben l'espanhol. Ara aprendi l'occitan !

Learning

FrenchNative

Spanish

Occitan

Language Skills

Dutch

English

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Lesson history

	Last month	Last 3 months	All time
Completed lessons	0	0	13
Attendance rate	100%	100%	93%

Teacher reviews

Helen

English

Jul 17, 2017

I enjoyed our lesson, it was interesting to meet you and hear about how you use English and Dutch in your work :-)

Wayne

English

Feb 27, 2017

Jonathan had chosen Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari to be our study piece and had read the first two chapters which we focused on for our conversation. In these first chapters Yuval presents a brief summary of the known history of the universe and sets the subject of the book, 3 revolutions which changed humanity, being the cognitive, agricultural and scientific. Yuval proposes that we have chanced upon our high status in the food chain not by the usual slow evolutionary methods of growing into our ecosystems, but by an extremely rapid change of cognitive experience which has left us thus, in an artificial and misunderstood position of top-dog, afraid and uncertain as to our position or purpose in the grand scheme and continues to explain the consequences of such phenomenon. The idea here being to extend the comfort zone and to discuss opinion at a greater aptitude than is offered with general conversation. Thank you for your synopsis and time Jonathan.

Activities

Posted
Beyond Any Reasonable Doubt If you have never attended a trial before, I would strongly advise you to pay a visit to your local court. Most proceedings are held in public which means that, as a citizen, you have the right to attend at least part of the trial. In the courtroom, both the prosecution and the defense go to great lengths to persuade a jury of the validity of their arguments. A witness called to give evidence is first examined by one party. The questions put to the witness seek to back up the calling party's claims or substantiate its submissions. The judge then gives the floor to the other party to conduct the cross-examination. The purpose of a cross-examination is to disprove the other party's case through asking questions that might well cast doubt on the evidence. After they have heard all the witnesses, the jury will weigh the evidence and eventually deliver a verdict, i.e. determine whether the accused or the defendant is to be found guilty or not. If he/she is found guilty, the accused is then sentenced to imprisonment or to a fine. If not, he/she is acquitted.
September 11, 2017
2
1
Posted
Ready, Steady, Go! I had a great time yesterday evening. After having dinner outside in the garden, we decided to go and watch an athletics competition nearby. At first, I thought it was a run-of-the-mill event with local athletes but it turned out they had invited a field of international athletes, some of them with Olympic experience. My six-year-old daughter was very much impressed, especially by the pole-vault contest. The 100-metre dash was also amazing. As we were very close to the track, we could feel the energy bursting out of the athletes every time they dashed just in front of us. It was sensational!
June 18, 2017
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0
Posted
Paying compliments Today I would like to write an entry about compliments. Paying compliments to people you interact with, whether complete strangers, friends, colleagues or relatives, is something I find extremely difficult. Why is it so hard to show people our appreciation or to praise them just for being who they are? First of all, a genuine compliment must come from the bottom of your heart. You must mean it, otherwise it might be perceived as being backhanded and will do more harm than good. So, before paying somebody a compliment you should first check your intentions. Do you really mean what you are about to say? Or is it just a way of running somebody down through a double-edged praise? My second piece of advice is: Don't overdo it! Praising somebody to the skies might seem like a nice thing to do but, in my view, exaggeration is bound to backfire. First, the person on the receiving end will probably doubt your honesty and, more importantly, you will make it difficult for him or her to actually accept your compliment. Accepting a compliment is arguably more difficult than making a compliment! Last but not least, we should not be afraid of paying compliments to people as long as we truly mean it! It could be anything, ranging from someone's haircut or culinary skills to showing gratitude to a friend or loved one for their support after you went through a rough patch. Small acts of kindness can make a huge different!
June 17, 2017
1
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Corrected
Les malheurs d'élever des enfants en juin
Pauvre de moi! On est en/Nous sommes en juin (is a chatty way of saying it which I think fits better in your text) et, entre la chaleur et les vacances d'été qui approchent, mes enfants et moi nous épuisons vraiment (maybe commençons à vraiement nous épuiser. Otherwise être sur les rotules is a nice expression that would fit well here).

Nous avons déjà été en retard à l'école trois fois cette semaine. Quoi que je fasse, ils ne m'écoutent pas quand l'heure de partir arrive. Il y a toujours quelque chose qui nous empêche de partir à l'heure. L'un ne peut pas trouver ses chaussures, l'autre doit faire pipi encore une fois. Quelquefois ma fille s'allonge juste sous la table de la salle à manger en disant "Non, pas aujourd'hui!". Et puis je dois décider, vais-je essayer de la rais<strike>s</strike>onner ou vais-je simplement la relever et la porter jusqu'à la voiture? Je me demande parfois "Que pensent les voisins??"

Bien, j'arrête de me plaindre maintenant ! :)
0 voted
June 16, 2017
1
Corrected
Dictionnaire / C77
En apprenant le français, j’ai appris à aimer la conjugaison des verbes. C’est peut-être quelque chose qui ne plaît pas à tout le monde, mais moi ça me plaît – du moins quand je peux conjuguer les verbes correctement et sans hésitation. Au début c'était difficile, mais j'ai été consciencieuse et j'ai consacré un temps considérable à étudier afin de conquérir (peut-être plutôt acquérir) les temps et les modes les plus communs. Je n’ai pas encore mémorisé le passé simple, mais en lisant beaucoup, je peux le connaitre de vue (What do you mean here? That you can recognise it when you see it written in a text?) . Quelqu’un m’a conseillé de ne pas apprendre les conjugaisons dans l’ordre consécutif, mais tout bien considéré, tant qu’on est conscient de cela et qu'on varie de temps en temps, je ne crois pas qu’apprendre de cette manière soit un problème. À vrai dire, à mon avis, je pense que cela m'a aidé parce que j’ai pu voir et faire des connexions entre les mots plus clairement. Mais, chacun a besoin d’apprendre de la manière qui lui convient le mieux.
0 voted
June 15, 2017
1
Posted
So young and yet so wise Yesterday, I attended a conference on the prosecution of war criminals in war-torn Congo. The panel of speakers were engaging, articulate and erudite. The audience was made up of people from all walks of life, but all sharing a keen interest in Africa. I particularly enjoyed the speakers' ability to explain complex legal notions in layman's terms without oversimplifying the subject-matter. While I was waiting for the bus to get back home, I was joined by a young lady whom I had noticed at the conference. She greeted me and asked whether I had enjoyed the event. After some small talk, it turned out that we both shared a keen interest in foreign languages. I did not need to ask where she came from as her accent immediately gave her away. She grew up in the US and was taught Spanish by her mother at an early age. Later, she set out learning French and Italian as a teenager. She now reads law and wishes to brush up her French as she is planning to study international law in France next year. We talked about this and that while waiting for the bus. She told me that, next to her study, she was helping migrants and asylum seekers with their paperwork in the US. After having worked as a trainee in several US law firms specialised in business law, she had figured out that working around the clock and under constant pressure just to climb up in the corporate pecking order was definitely not her cup of tea. Hence her move to Europe where the workaholic culture is less prevalent, or so she hopes. She seemed to know exactly what she wanted with her life. So young and yet so wise!
June 15, 2017
2
0
Corrected
L'été à Calgary
Déjà il est onze heures et je n’ai pas trouvé le temps d'écrire un peu en français. Aujourd’hui était un jour typique pour juin à Calgary. Je me suis réveillé avec le soleil rayonnant par ma fenêtre, qui est ma façon favorite de commencer la journée. Apres un petit-déjeuner léger, j’ai pris mon vélo et je suis allé au travail. Ma route longe la rivière et avec le vent dans mon dos c'est une bonne façon d'arriver au travail. J’ai passé la journée à faire un travail que j’aime, pendant l’heure du déjeuner je suis allé me promener, il y avait beaucoup de vent et déjà la tempête de pluie qui est typique pour les après-midis en juin avait commencé à se former. Au moment où je suis parti, il y avait beaucoup de pluie mais c'est bon pour mon jardin et le soleil retournera demain.
0 voted
June 14, 2017
0
Posted
Sports Before diving into today's topic, i.e. sports, I would like to say how grateful I am to those italki members who take the time to correct notebook entries. I have corrected a few entries written in French myself. It takes just a few minutes of your time but is a valuable feedback to those who hone their writing skills in a foreign language! The first sport I did as a child was rugby. I do not recall whether I was keen on playing rugby myself or whether I was influenced by my father's interest for the game. Anyway, I kept playing rugby until the age of 19 and ultimately decided to quit because I dreaded the idea of playing in the adult leagues where I would have played against people twice my age and, more importantly, twice my weight! After that, I took up several sports which I had been doing sporadically before like tennis, badminton and mountain-biking. After I graduated and moved abroad, I gave up all these sports - though I still ride my mountain-bike occasionally - and started running. I usually go running several times a week. These days, I am more into outdoor sports like trail-running, surfing, kite-surfing, mountain-biking again, etc. Being connected with nature - the sea, woods, etc. - helps me cope with the strains of modern life and I usually feel invigorated after working-out outdoors!
June 14, 2017
3
0
Corrected
L'astronomie
J'ai lu ces mots dans un article sur l'astronomie pour les débutants et j'ai fait quelques phrases les utilisant. Pourriez-vous m'aider avec ça?

Merci beaucoup!

1. L'œil nu
On peut voir les étoiles à l'œil nu.

2. Lié
L'éclat des étoiles est lié de leurs distance de la Terre.

3. La sensibilité
Ta capacité à voir les étoiles dépend de la sensibilité des yeux.

4. La pollution lumineuse
La vue du ciel est limitée par la quantité de la pollution lumineuse

5. S'émerveiller
Je m'émerveille toutes les fois que je regarde les étoiles

6.le foisonnement
Le foisonnement d'étoiles m'émerveille

7. Distinguer
C'est difficile de distinguer entre les deux

8. S'entraîner
On peut s'entraîner à reconnaître les constellations

9. I'll suffit de
Pour commencer à observer le ciel de nuit, il suffit de lever les yeux

10. Grossièrement
La planète de Jupiter se trouve grossièrement à 588,000,000 kilomètres de la Terre

Voilà! Merci! [emoji][emoji]
0 voted
June 13, 2017
2
Posted
Time Flies (2) In my previous post, I wrote about my early childhood and how remeniscing about my past made me feel both nostalgic and excited. The next stage in my trip down memory lane is dedicated to my best childhood friend. His name is Eric. We fell out of touch some 25 years ago when his parents decided to move to a different region where his deaf sister could attend a special school. As luck would have it, he got in touch with me recently through Facebook. I have a vivid recollection of all the wild adventures we planned together, like sailing around the world or travelling to the North Pole with a dog-drawn sled. Unfortunately he now lives in Canada which makes it difficult to meet face-to-face. Still, I hope that one day we will reunite and catch up! Sometimes I wonder whether he has changed with time or whether we still share the same dreams we had as boys. Maybe I shoud just book a flight to Canada after all!
June 13, 2017
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