My German class at school lasted for 5 years and at the end of that time most of the people in the class could barely string together the simplest of German sentences. How is that possible? 5 years to learn almost nothing. It's mindboggling when you think about it.
I went through 11 years of compulsory Welsh in school. Picked up absolutely nothing. To be fair in secondary school the teachers pretty much gave up and we spent the lesson watching This Morning.
In Welsh, I hope
Of all his talents, I don't think Philip Schofield was fluent
My German class at school lasted for 5 years and at the end of that time most of the people in the class could barely string together the simplest of German sentences. How is that possible? 5 years to learn almost nothing. It's mindboggling when you think about it.
I'm not fluent in French now but my French will be better than that of 95% of retired Cumbrian farmers. We had a pretty good French teacher married to a useless one. But the subject as taught only bore the slightest passing relationship with French as you will meet it within the Hexagon.
But the converse is also true, albeit for different reasons. The Holy Grail French speaker is a very good parody of English as it is taught in France and when some students I once knew learnt how to speak English properly they were heavily marked down for it.
Sadly the diversion between what is taught and reality doesn't just affect language teaching. I assume those who think Maths should be taught to 18 actually mean Arithmetic. And we waste time even with our own language. Instead of teaching English Language we waste years of school time parsing the views of one early Jacobean writer as the guru on human motivation.
It's a political truism that oppositions don't win elections, governments lose them. I think a big factor in Labour's rapid unpopularity is that Labour really didn't win the last election, but had victory handed to them by the shambles that the Tories had been in the 2019-24 Parliament.
The public didn't want Starmer and Labour, but they saw no alternative way to fulfill their desire to be rid of the Tories.
Taxing machine translation...how would that even work? You can outsource all of this, its already built into google, into ChatGPT, etc. We would have to go all Great Firewall of China. Its like saying you will tax companies for using LLMs to assist with software development, its not feasible.
The poor translators are merely the first row of soldiers to be mowed down. Most other cerebral jobs will follow - what then? This is coming at us very very fast and no one has a clue what to do
I do accept Francis's point but yours is what I was getting at. In theory, AI will present more general opportunities at grand strategy level, and merely do the grunt work, and there's something in that for a while, but I'd suspect not for very long. In principle it's wonderful, but at the individual careers advice level more problematic. "Study something that either requires understanding of people (e.g. psychology) or requires hand and brain coordination (e.g. engineering)" is the best I've been able to come up with.
That said, many companies seem to take graduates on the basis that they've proved they can think coherently over a period of years, rather than expecting them to arrive with total expertise in the specific area of work.
My own daughters - either at uni or entering it - ask me for advice and I don’t know what to say other than “study what you love”
Do what you love. Then for a second degree do a law course. If they become lawyers they will have enough spare time and money to do what they love part-time.
I see Starmer has strapped himself to Trumps Gaza Peace Plan. Trumps Peace Plan/Ultimatum to Palestinians is dead in the water already. It requires Palestinian Authority to drop all involvement in the legal cases being taken against the US and Israel at the international court of justice (ICJ) and the international criminal court (ICC). The ICJ is still examining whether Israel has or is committing a genocide in Gaza, as well as whether Israel has breached the UN’s immunities by throwing the UN Palestinians right agency Unrwa out of Gaza. The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
I’m not Islamic or Palestinian, yet I wouldn’t sign up to that clause after what we have witnessed. That clause kills it.
I see Starmer has strapped himself to Trumps Gaza Peace Plan. Trumps Peace Plan/Ultimatum to Palestinians is dead in the water already. It requires Palestinian Authority to drop all involvement in the legal cases being taken against the US and Israel at the international court of justice (ICJ) and the international criminal court (ICC). The ICJ is still examining whether Israel has or is committing a genocide in Gaza, as well as whether Israel has breached the UN’s immunities by throwing the UN Palestinians right agency Unrwa out of Gaza. The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
I’m not Islamic or Palestinian, yet I wouldn’t sign up to that clause after what we have witnessed. That clause kills it.
Indeed.
Any outcome that makes it less likely Twatface ends in prison is a bad deal.
It's a political truism that oppositions don't win elections, governments lose them. I think a big factor in Labour's rapid unpopularity is that Labour really didn't win the last election, but had victory handed to them by the shambles that the Tories had been in the 2019-24 Parliament.
The public didn't want Starmer and Labour, but they saw no alternative way to fulfill their desire to be rid of the Tories.
Starmer’s Labour got the amount of votes that usually gets leaders the sack. The fact it got him a whopping majority papered over the cracks, along with people kidding themselves it was down to tactical voting. But the cracks were there regardless
My German class at school lasted for 5 years and at the end of that time most of the people in the class could barely string together the simplest of German sentences. How is that possible? 5 years to learn almost nothing. It's mindboggling when you think about it.
Taxing machine translation...how would that even work? You can outsource all of this, its already built into google, into ChatGPT, etc. We would have to go all Great Firewall of China. Its like saying you will tax companies for using LLMs to assist with software development, its not feasible.
The poor translators are merely the first row of soldiers to be mowed down. Most other cerebral jobs will follow - what then? This is coming at us very very fast and no one has a clue what to do
I do accept Francis's point but yours is what I was getting at. In theory, AI will present more general opportunities at grand strategy level, and merely do the grunt work, and there's something in that for a while, but I'd suspect not for very long. In principle it's wonderful, but at the individual careers advice level more problematic. "Study something that either requires understanding of people (e.g. psychology) or requires hand and brain coordination (e.g. engineering)" is the best I've been able to come up with.
That said, many companies seem to take graduates on the basis that they've proved they can think coherently over a period of years, rather than expecting them to arrive with total expertise in the specific area of work.
My own daughters - either at uni or entering it - ask me for advice and I don’t know what to say other than “study what you love”
Do what you love. Then for a second degree do a law course. If they become lawyers they will have enough spare time and money to do what they love part-time.
To be fair on Starmer, he's clearly come to the same conclusion on universities with this shift in messaging, away from 50%.
I see Starmer has strapped himself to Trumps Gaza Peace Plan. Trumps Peace Plan/Ultimatum to Palestinians is dead in the water already. It requires Palestinian Authority to drop all involvement in the legal cases being taken against the US and Israel at the international court of justice (ICJ) and the international criminal court (ICC). The ICJ is still examining whether Israel has or is committing a genocide in Gaza, as well as whether Israel has breached the UN’s immunities by throwing the UN Palestinians right agency Unrwa out of Gaza. The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
I’m not Islamic or Palestinian, yet I wouldn’t sign up to that clause after what we have witnessed. That clause kills it.
Indeed.
Any outcome that makes it less likely Twatface ends in prison is a bad deal.
I think I know who you mean by twatface. But no, it won’t save twatface, he is certain to die incarcerated in prison. But it is the sort of sneaky gagging clause no one should be bullied into signing.
Taxing machine translation...how would that even work? You can outsource all of this, its already built into google, into ChatGPT, etc. We would have to go all Great Firewall of China. Its like saying you will tax companies for using LLMs to assist with software development, its not feasible.
The poor translators are merely the first row of soldiers to be mowed down. Most other cerebral jobs will follow - what then? This is coming at us very very fast and no one has a clue what to do
I do accept Francis's point but yours is what I was getting at. In theory, AI will present more general opportunities at grand strategy level, and merely do the grunt work, and there's something in that for a while, but I'd suspect not for very long. In principle it's wonderful, but at the individual careers advice level more problematic. "Study something that either requires understanding of people (e.g. psychology) or requires hand and brain coordination (e.g. engineering)" is the best I've been able to come up with.
That said, many companies seem to take graduates on the basis that they've proved they can think coherently over a period of years, rather than expecting them to arrive with total expertise in the specific area of work.
My own daughters - either at uni or entering it - ask me for advice and I don’t know what to say other than “study what you love”
Do what you love. Then for a second degree do a law course. If they become lawyers they will have enough spare time and money to do what they love part-time.
To be fair on Starmer, he's clearly come to the same conclusion on universities with this shift in messaging, away from 50%.
Blair’s institute at one stage pushed for it to be 75%
Learning a foreign language is incredibly difficult and that's probably how it should be. There's never going to be any shortcuts. I've totally failed at learning any of them.
No one will bother learning foreign languages. Not now. Why make all that mental effort when a bit of plastic takes away the need?
We are all going to get stupider and stupider
There will still be the need, but it will be much more specialised e.g. legal document translation. But being bilingual for general business purposes isn't going to be a major boost anymore. I remember somebody telling me how they had employed somebody who could speak something like 10 European languages to conversational level and they used them to do converse over email and phone for processing orders etc, that sort of person isn't required.
Yet in the US, ahead of everyone else on AI, the number of people employed in translation and related work is still rising.
Language learning remains a way to gain insight into other cultures and feel less of a tourist, and is excellent exercise for the mind, both in the short term and to fend off the passage of time. Maybe the mental skills so learned spill over into other areas. So it's no more pointless than paying to go to a gym and sitting on some exercise machine.
I used to have freelance translation as a useful second income, but the market has almost completely collapsed in the last 4 years. My niche was legislative translation, which you'd think would be relatively resistant to AI, but all you can get now is a draft AI transation which is 98% correct (which if we're honest is all that most humans could do), and get paid a pittance for looking for the odd gap (AI doesn't put ??? if it's stumped, it just omits the phrase). I've simply retired (I'm 75 and don't need it) but professional translators in their 40s must be looking at a cliff edge. I wouldn't advise anyone to learn languages except for pleasure.
In an ideal world, of course, the government would smooth it out by taxing AI translation and perhaps subsidising alternatives, but the real world doesn't work like that. Advising current students on what to specialise in is very tricky - something with a lot of human interaction and/or a manual trade.
Yes. @IanB2 is quite wrong and you are quite right
The market for human translators and translating has collapsed. I met a girl in Sardinia who speaks six languages and who used to do this - she confirmed it
Even the EU is surrendering
“The European Commission’s translation unit has adopted AI-assisted translation, leading to a 17% staff reduction over the past decade, but human oversight remains irreplaceable. Agencies must integrate AI tools strategically while maintaining human-led post-editing processes.”
All of them will go in the end. Do we employ humans to check the mathematical output of pocket calculators?
The fact I provided - that language translation and interpretation is a growing employment sector - up until 2024 at least - in the US, appears to be correct.
If you seriously think “translation is a growing industry” then it puts all your other observations in a new context. You’re a nutter
@NickPalmer does this - did this - as a job. He’s just told you
I know professional literary translators in my work. Same story. Falling incomes, shrinking opportunities
The increasing number of language translators in the US will be working in police stations and courthouses. It’s a different industry to that in Europe.
My German class at school lasted for 5 years and at the end of that time most of the people in the class could barely string together the simplest of German sentences. How is that possible? 5 years to learn almost nothing. It's mindboggling when you think about it.
I went through 11 years of compulsory Welsh in school. Picked up absolutely nothing. To be fair in secondary school the teachers pretty much gave up and we spent the lesson watching This Morning.
In Welsh, I hope
Of all his talents, I don't think Philip Schofield was fluent
It's a political truism that oppositions don't win elections, governments lose them. I think a big factor in Labour's rapid unpopularity is that Labour really didn't win the last election, but had victory handed to them by the shambles that the Tories had been in the 2019-24 Parliament.
The public didn't want Starmer and Labour, but they saw no alternative way to fulfill their desire to be rid of the Tories.
Starmer’s Labour got the amount of votes that usually gets leaders the sack. The fact it got him a whopping majority papered over the cracks, along with people kidding themselves it was down to tactical voting. But the cracks were there regardless
Yes. With the votes that Labour received in 2024 you'd normally expect them to be the Opposition. Instead the magic of FPTP and the fractured nature of British politics gave them a landslide.
Obviously the public did want to see the Tories obliterated, but I think the public didn't really want that to mean Labour received a landslide. If the voters decide they have to correct that at the next election then, well, someone has to win the seats instead.
I have my doubts that negative opinions about Reform will be sufficiently strong to override that.
Looks like I was very wrong about the military get together in the US. Seems like they just wanted the top brass to be the backdrop for some light culture war baiting and Trump self-love.
Pete Hegseth whacked himself in the nuts with a skateboard on live TV yesterday.
It was less embarrassing than this event
That's an old clip from his Fox days. There's also the axe throwing one, where he nearly kills a bystander. Which is probably closer to today's nonsense.
The only way to get such low approval as Starmer now has is to unite all sides of the political debate against you. I think that’s the fundamental weakness here.
If you triangulate and compromise, which is generally a reasonable approach in a pluralist democracy, then if your approval is high it’s very high, but if it’s low it can be crushingly low.
Neither Trump nor Biden/Harris ever plumbed those depths because they retained most of the hyper-partisans. Starmer doesn’t have those.
His easiest route to becoming less unpopular (though not actually popular) would be to take a very clear side on something divisive. I think that may be what he's now trying.
My German class at school lasted for 5 years and at the end of that time most of the people in the class could barely string together the simplest of German sentences. How is that possible? 5 years to learn almost nothing. It's mindboggling when you think about it.
[swaggering] I got GCSE A-grades in BOTH French AND German!
The only way to get such low approval as Starmer now has is to unite all sides of the political debate against you. I think that’s the fundamental weakness here.
If you triangulate and compromise, which is generally a reasonable approach in a pluralist democracy, then if your approval is high it’s very high, but if it’s low it can be crushingly low.
Neither Trump nor Biden/Harris ever plumbed those depths because they retained most of the hyper-partisans. Starmer doesn’t have those.
His easiest route to becoming less unpopular (though not actually popular) would be to take a very clear side on something divisive. I think that may be what he's now trying.
ID cards be that issue! Even half the PLP don’t want want to die on that Blairite hill.
Looks like I was very wrong about the military get together in the US. Seems like they just wanted the top brass to be the backdrop for some light culture war baiting and Trump self-love.
Unless ofcourse there's a private meeting, and a public meeting. That would be the only other thing to look out for on the schedules.
My German class at school lasted for 5 years and at the end of that time most of the people in the class could barely string together the simplest of German sentences. How is that possible? 5 years to learn almost nothing. It's mindboggling when you think about it.
[swaggering] I got GCSE A-grades in BOTH French AND German!
My German class at school lasted for 5 years and at the end of that time most of the people in the class could barely string together the simplest of German sentences. How is that possible? 5 years to learn almost nothing. It's mindboggling when you think about it.
[swaggering] I got GCSE A-grades in BOTH French AND German!
Ausgezeichnet!
As did I at O Level, and my French was exécrable.
Oh, and gesundheit.
I only got C grades in French and German at O Level many years ago...
My German class at school lasted for 5 years and at the end of that time most of the people in the class could barely string together the simplest of German sentences. How is that possible? 5 years to learn almost nothing. It's mindboggling when you think about it.
[swaggering] I got GCSE A-grades in BOTH French AND German!
Ausgezeichnet!
As did I at O Level, and my French was exécrable.
Oh, and gesundheit.
I only got C grades in French and German at O Level many years ago...
My German class at school lasted for 5 years and at the end of that time most of the people in the class could barely string together the simplest of German sentences. How is that possible? 5 years to learn almost nothing. It's mindboggling when you think about it.
[swaggering] I got GCSE A-grades in BOTH French AND German!
Ausgezeichnet!
As did I at O Level, and my French was exécrable.
Oh, and gesundheit.
I only got C grades in French and German at O Level many years ago...
If we were serious about foreign languages we could start younger, as suggested earlier, or we could return to the short, immersive courses used for young servicemen during the cold war. But we are not serious and it probably does not matter because everyone speaks English and Leon's new toys will cover the rest.
My German class at school lasted for 5 years and at the end of that time most of the people in the class could barely string together the simplest of German sentences. How is that possible? 5 years to learn almost nothing. It's mindboggling when you think about it.
[swaggering] I got GCSE A-grades in BOTH French AND German!
Ausgezeichnet!
As did I at O Level, and my French was exécrable.
Oh, and gesundheit.
I only got C grades in French and German at O Level many years ago...
If we were serious about foreign languages we could start younger, as suggested earlier, or we could return to the short, immersive courses used for young servicemen during the cold war. But we are not serious and it probably does not matter because everyone speaks English and Leon's new toys will cover the rest.
I think President Trump might have declared civil war. It is hard to be sure.
I am still in California, meeting with a start-up I co-own. I’m eating breakfast and Trump is speaking on the telly. He’s just been complaining about how Obama walked down stairs.
Starmer was very impressive. First significant speech I've heard from him. Much better than I was expecting. Giving Farage both barrels was perfectly executed. Intriguing comment by Lammy at the end when he was asked whether Starmer was criticising the man and not the policies he said Starmer doesn't do that and neither will he. 'And whether or not Farage flirted with Nazism when he was younger is not something he's interested in discussing!'
I may be alone in listening to Starmer's speech in in its entirety. While I'm sure most of the fair-minded contributors on PB, and elsewhere, will conclude that it was rubbish, it was actually surprisingly good. I won't bore you all with a full analysis. Suffice to say, it will certainly have bought him time - I can't see any serious challenge to his leadership before May '26 now.
My German class at school lasted for 5 years and at the end of that time most of the people in the class could barely string together the simplest of German sentences. How is that possible? 5 years to learn almost nothing. It's mindboggling when you think about it.
[swaggering] I got GCSE A-grades in BOTH French AND German!
Ausgezeichnet!
As did I at O Level, and my French was exécrable.
Oh, and gesundheit.
I only got C grades in French and German at O Level many years ago...
If we were serious about foreign languages we could start younger, as suggested earlier, or we could return to the short, immersive courses used for young servicemen during the cold war. But we are not serious and it probably does not matter because everyone speaks English and Leon's new toys will cover the rest.
Thanks to Youtube and Netflix, it does appear that English is the definitive lingua franca of the 21st Century.
I think President Trump might have declared civil war. It is hard to be sure.
I am still in California, meeting with a start-up I co-own. I’m eating breakfast and Trump is speaking on the telly. He’s just been complaining about how Obama walked down stairs.
I thought he was praising the way Obama walked down stairs and complaining about everything else Obama did. He's not very keen on Biden either.
OK. He's finished. Thats all, folks! It's hard to take Sousa seriously.
This is an enormous wow moment. It’s going to stun people
You do know you are the epitome of the cry wolf proverb. One day, maybe even today, you are going to announce something that is best or worst ever and it will be and we will never know.
I think President Trump might have declared civil war. It is hard to be sure.
I am still in California, meeting with a start-up I co-own. I’m eating breakfast and Trump is speaking on the telly. He’s just been complaining about how Obama walked down stairs.
I thought he was praising the way Obama walked down stairs and complaining about everything else Obama did. He's not very keen on Biden either.
OK. He's finished. Thats all, folks! It's hard to take Sousa seriously.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting calls for Angela Rayner to return to the Government
"We want her back, we need her back"
That's a bit Boris era, well yeah we know you have done a big scandal, but 3 weeks on the naughty step, that's plenty of time. The public...you what....
My German class at school lasted for 5 years and at the end of that time most of the people in the class could barely string together the simplest of German sentences. How is that possible? 5 years to learn almost nothing. It's mindboggling when you think about it.
[swaggering] I got GCSE A-grades in BOTH French AND German!
Ausgezeichnet!
As did I at O Level, and my French was exécrable.
Oh, and gesundheit.
I only got C grades in French and German at O Level many years ago...
If we were serious about foreign languages we could start younger, as suggested earlier, or we could return to the short, immersive courses used for young servicemen during the cold war. But we are not serious and it probably does not matter because everyone speaks English and Leon's new toys will cover the rest.
Thanks to Youtube and Netflix, it does appear that English is the definitive lingua franca of the 21st Century.
I've started watching a lot of triathlons recently, particularly long-distance ones, and it surprises me how many of the competitors speak fairly good English.
Then it struck me why this might be: these guys and gals do not just compete together; they often train together, or go to training camps in the same sort of area. And if you get a couple of Norwegians, a Frenchman, an Italian, and a German together, about the only common language that might be expected is English.
At the shorter distances this is not as often the case; and I wonder if that's because most competitors at the shorter distance are younger.
My German class at school lasted for 5 years and at the end of that time most of the people in the class could barely string together the simplest of German sentences. How is that possible? 5 years to learn almost nothing. It's mindboggling when you think about it.
[swaggering] I got GCSE A-grades in BOTH French AND German!
Ausgezeichnet!
GCSEs? Is that not after the onset of Grade inflation?
I was AAAAB for O-levels for both types of English, French, German, and (I think) Latin, though that may have been a A as well.
My German class at school lasted for 5 years and at the end of that time most of the people in the class could barely string together the simplest of German sentences. How is that possible? 5 years to learn almost nothing. It's mindboggling when you think about it.
[swaggering] I got GCSE A-grades in BOTH French AND German!
Ausgezeichnet!
GCSEs? Is that not after the onset of Grade inflation?
I was AAAAB for O-levels for both types of English, French, German, and (I think) Latin, though that may have been a A as well.
I'd be interested to know the PB averages.
Will teachers need to check for Airpods while invigilating next year's exams?
My German class at school lasted for 5 years and at the end of that time most of the people in the class could barely string together the simplest of German sentences. How is that possible? 5 years to learn almost nothing. It's mindboggling when you think about it.
[swaggering] I got GCSE A-grades in BOTH French AND German!
Ausgezeichnet!
GCSEs? Is that not after the onset of Grade inflation?
I was AAAAB for O-levels for both types of English, French, German, and (I think) Latin, though that may have been a A as well.
My German class at school lasted for 5 years and at the end of that time most of the people in the class could barely string together the simplest of German sentences. How is that possible? 5 years to learn almost nothing. It's mindboggling when you think about it.
[swaggering] I got GCSE A-grades in BOTH French AND German!
Ausgezeichnet!
GCSEs? Is that not after the onset of Grade inflation?
I was AAAAB for O-levels for both types of English, French, German, and (I think) Latin, though that may have been a A as well.
I'd be interested to know the PB averages.
As in Latin and English, too. It might not surprised ydoethur to learn my only B was in history.
My German class at school lasted for 5 years and at the end of that time most of the people in the class could barely string together the simplest of German sentences. How is that possible? 5 years to learn almost nothing. It's mindboggling when you think about it.
[swaggering] I got GCSE A-grades in BOTH French AND German!
Ausgezeichnet!
As did I at O Level, and my French was exécrable.
Oh, and gesundheit.
I only got C grades in French and German at O Level many years ago...
If we were serious about foreign languages we could start younger, as suggested earlier, or we could return to the short, immersive courses used for young servicemen during the cold war. But we are not serious and it probably does not matter because everyone speaks English and Leon's new toys will cover the rest.
Thanks to Youtube and Netflix, it does appear that English is the definitive lingua franca of the 21st Century.
I've started watching a lot of triathlons recently, particularly long-distance ones, and it surprises me how many of the competitors speak fairly good English.
Then it struck me why this might be: these guys and gals do not just compete together; they often train together, or go to training camps in the same sort of area. And if you get a couple of Norwegians, a Frenchman, an Italian, and a German together, about the only common language that might be expected is English.
At the shorter distances this is not as often the case; and I wonder if that's because most competitors at the shorter distance are younger.
I watch Formula 4 and Formula 3 drivers, they’re all aged 15-18 and speak fluent English. Some of that will be school, some will be from extra classes because they have media commitments, and others will be because they’ve been doing European kart championships since they were 12 or 13, and it’s the most common language they can use to speak to each other.
You do get the occasional exception though, Yuki Tsunoda clearly learned English from his mechanics, and got in trouble for some of his language early in his career. No, 20-year-old F2 driver, racing in your first international series outside Japan, you can’t say to the live TV media that it was a f***ing s**t day if you started 1st and finished 3rd.
My German class at school lasted for 5 years and at the end of that time most of the people in the class could barely string together the simplest of German sentences. How is that possible? 5 years to learn almost nothing. It's mindboggling when you think about it.
[swaggering] I got GCSE A-grades in BOTH French AND German!
Ausgezeichnet!
GCSEs? Is that not after the onset of Grade inflation?
I was AAAAB for O-levels for both types of English, French, German, and (I think) Latin, though that may have been a A as well.
I'd be interested to know the PB averages.
As in Latin and English, too. It might not surprised ydoethur to learn my only B was in history.
Latin has just won the 3.52 race at Bath. If you'd marked it Betting Post, we'd have been on.
Comments
He’s used to the Acclaim
It's Spaccanapoli - one word. And Castel dell'Ovo.
If you have time, get yourself to Gay Odin (https://gay-odin.it/) and buy some of this - https://gay-odin.it/foresta/cioccolato-foresta-nera-fondente.html - for me. I'm in London in December. You will make me very happy!
If you're very nice to me I'll even show you where Palazzo Cyclefree is.
He was treated shittily
"@YouGov
Latest YouGov government approval ratings, 27-29 September 2025
Approve: 12% (-2 from 20-22 Sept)
Disapprove: 70% (+1)
Net: -58 (-3)"
https://x.com/DPJHodges
But the converse is also true, albeit for different reasons. The Holy Grail French speaker is a very good parody of English as it is taught in France and when some students I once knew learnt how to speak English properly they were heavily marked down for it.
Sadly the diversion between what is taught and reality doesn't just affect language teaching. I assume those who think Maths should be taught to 18 actually mean Arithmetic. And we waste time even with our own language. Instead of teaching English Language we waste years of school time parsing the views of one early Jacobean writer as the guru on human motivation.
You keep thinking “this is as low as it gets, surely” -
Then it goes lower
The public didn't want Starmer and Labour, but they saw no alternative way to fulfill their desire to be rid of the Tories.
The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
I’m not Islamic or Palestinian, yet I wouldn’t sign up to that clause after what we have witnessed. That clause kills it.
Any outcome that makes it less likely Twatface ends in prison is a bad deal.
Sorrento was packed with tourists from cruise ships last week. You couldn’t move for them.
Obviously the public did want to see the Tories obliterated, but I think the public didn't really want that to mean Labour received a landslide. If the voters decide they have to correct that at the next election then, well, someone has to win the seats instead.
I have my doubts that negative opinions about Reform will be sufficiently strong to override that.
Thugs burning down libraries.
Is that broken Britain?
Er, yes.
It was less embarrassing than this event
There's also the axe throwing one, where he nearly kills a bystander. Which is probably closer to today's nonsense.
As if Pete Hegseth has nuts.
If you triangulate and compromise, which is generally a reasonable approach in a pluralist democracy, then if your approval is high it’s very high, but if it’s low it can be crushingly low.
Neither Trump nor Biden/Harris ever plumbed those depths because they retained most of the hyper-partisans. Starmer doesn’t have those.
His easiest route to becoming less unpopular (though not actually popular) would be to take a very clear side on something divisive. I think that may be what he's now trying.
Ausgezeichnet!
Not impossible.
Oh, and gesundheit.
I am not tempted to get one of these.
Ahhh…this is…not good.
My Samsung Galaxy Ring’s battery started swelling. While it’s on my finger 😬. And while I’m about to board a flight 😬
Now I cannot take it off and this thing hurts.
Any quick suggestions
@SamsungUK @SamsungMobileUS
https://x.com/ZONEofTECH/status/1972664720642478478
OK. He's finished. Thats all, folks! It's hard to take Sousa seriously.
There's are advantages to not being an early adopter with some technology.
"We want her back, we need her back"
That's a bit Boris era, well yeah we know you have done a big scandal, but 3 weeks on the naughty step, that's plenty of time. The public...you what....
https://x.com/foxnews/status/1973007242510139723
“No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses."
"No more climate change worship, no more division, distraction, or gender delusions."
"We are done with that s***.”
Then it struck me why this might be: these guys and gals do not just compete together; they often train together, or go to training camps in the same sort of area. And if you get a couple of Norwegians, a Frenchman, an Italian, and a German together, about the only common language that might be expected is English.
At the shorter distances this is not as often the case; and I wonder if that's because most competitors at the shorter distance are younger.
I was AAAAB for O-levels for both types of English, French, German, and (I think) Latin, though that may have been a A as well.
I'd be interested to know the PB averages.
Latest YouGov poll.
REF: 29% (-)
LAB: 22% (+1)
CON: 16% (-)
LDEM: 15% (+1)
GRN: 11% (-1)
Fieldwork 28 and 29 September.
It might not surprised ydoethur to learn my only B was in history.
You do get the occasional exception though, Yuki Tsunoda clearly learned English from his mechanics, and got in trouble for some of his language early in his career. No, 20-year-old F2 driver, racing in your first international series outside Japan, you can’t say to the live TV media that it was a f***ing s**t day if you started 1st and finished 3rd.