Vito's recent activity

  1. Comment on US to stop processing visa applications from seventy-five nations in ~society

    Vito
    Link Parent
    In the case of my country this seems spot on. In Uruguay we are culturally very similar to Argentina, but our government is from the left, so we are in the list.

    In the case of my country this seems spot on. In Uruguay we are culturally very similar to Argentina, but our government is from the left, so we are in the list.

    3 votes
  2. Comment on What's a culture shock that you experienced? in ~talk

    Vito
    Link Parent
    I think that's an uncharitable way to interpret my comment. I never said my culture was superior. It can easily turn into a bad thing doing things for people without return. Some people definitely...

    I think that's an uncharitable way to interpret my comment. I never said my culture was superior. It can easily turn into a bad thing doing things for people without return. Some people definitely take advantage of that.

    Where the big difference lies I think is in our relationship with money. Our tip culture for instance is vastly different. And most people here don't have extra money they can give to other people.

    Let me give you another example. On the same trip we later went to Disney world. We didn't stay at a Disney hotel, because it was cheaper not to. We heard that people staying at Disney world get a bracelet they could use for entering parks and paying for anything inside the parks. Information everywhere said that if you stayed elsewhere you could just buy the bracelet. But we wanted to know if it was necessary, if you needed to buy it in order to enter the parks. Advice online said you should buy it or that it wasn't technically necessary, there was a way to enter the parks for free, but why wouldn't you buy it, it's just 10 bucks. We ended up not buying, because we didn't need it, and most people in my country would have done the same.

    2 votes
  3. Comment on What's a culture shock that you experienced? in ~talk

    Vito
    Link Parent
    I think it's funny that you're telling me all the reasons why I shouldn't have been shocked, when the culture you think is normal is your own. My culture is different. I'm not saying she had no...

    I think it's funny that you're telling me all the reasons why I shouldn't have been shocked, when the culture you think is normal is your own. My culture is different. I'm not saying she had no reason to do it, or that she was wrong to do it, I'm saying no one where I live would do it and it was surprising.

    2 votes
  4. Comment on What's a culture shock that you experienced? in ~talk

    Vito
    Link Parent
    Very good points, it's just that in my country things are different. It was a culture shock for us and everyone in my family was shocked when I told them. I guess we just have a different...

    Very good points, it's just that in my country things are different. It was a culture shock for us and everyone in my family was shocked when I told them. I guess we just have a different relationship with money.

    5 votes
  5. Comment on What's a culture shock that you experienced? in ~talk

    Vito
    Link Parent
    It's the same in my country, maybe even more extreme. For example, I'm a teacher and every day when I get to work I have to greet every other teacher in the staff room with a kiss, including my...

    It's the same in my country, maybe even more extreme. For example, I'm a teacher and every day when I get to work I have to greet every other teacher in the staff room with a kiss, including my bosses. One year there was a new Canadian teacher. I didn't know, so I introduced myself and kissed him. He was so uncomfortable! Poor thing, I later had to remember not to kiss him. Btw, it's not really a kiss, it's bumping cheeks basically.

    4 votes
  6. Comment on What's a culture shock that you experienced? in ~talk

    Vito
    Link
    I once stayed at an Airbnb in the USA, just a room in someone's house. We spent new year's eve there and it was very cold and rainy outside, so we decided to stay in. The lovely lady who lived...

    I once stayed at an Airbnb in the USA, just a room in someone's house. We spent new year's eve there and it was very cold and rainy outside, so we decided to stay in. The lovely lady who lived there had a lovely cat who needed to be fed. She had a party that night and asked us if we would mind terribly feeding the cat. Of course we would, it was a few seconds of our time.
    The next day we woke up to find a thank you note, which I thought was a really nice gesture, but it included some money. A decent amount, at least for us. It felt strange to me. Very transactional. In my country nobody would do that, you just do favours for people. I asked my husband if we should refuse to take it, but he said it might have offended her. I did enjoy that money, not gonna lie, ha ha.

    27 votes
  7. Comment on Pluribus full season discussion in ~tv

    Vito
    Link Parent
    You're totally right about how similar series are to movies now. Before we had the ability to binge them, almost every show had a status quo of some kind they returned to at the end of every...

    You're totally right about how similar series are to movies now. Before we had the ability to binge them, almost every show had a status quo of some kind they returned to at the end of every episode. Now they are just long movies. I get it, but I also miss the status quo structure sometimes.

    That said, I watched pluribus on a weekly basis and enjoyed it anyway, but that's probably because I really liked it.

    1 vote
  8. Comment on Pluribus full season discussion in ~tv

    Vito
    Link Parent
    I actually loved the ending, I thought it was very funny that they would give her a nuke.

    I actually loved the ending, I thought it was very funny that they would give her a nuke.

    3 votes
  9. Comment on I don't care much for symbolism in ~creative

    Vito
    Link
    This reminds me to when I was reading game of thrones at the same time as a friend. I remember that every time a prophecy was mentioned, I'd just read through it. Then my friend would ask me, did...

    This reminds me to when I was reading game of thrones at the same time as a friend. I remember that every time a prophecy was mentioned, I'd just read through it. Then my friend would ask me, did you see that x character is going to do/be x thing? I'd answer: What? When did it say that? Maybe I'm just bad at interpreting, but I just wanted to read, I didn't want to have to do puzzles.

    5 votes
  10. Comment on Rosalía's LUX is NPR Music's No. 1 album of 2025 in ~music

    Vito
    Link Parent
    I found it very interesting when my classical music loving mother insisted that I watch the videoclip for Berghain. When I finally did, I understood why. Rosalía could be making millions just by...

    I found it very interesting when my classical music loving mother insisted that I watch the videoclip for Berghain. When I finally did, I understood why. Rosalía could be making millions just by composing mindless reggaeton, but she's obviously a real artist.

  11. Comment on A new take on Colombia’s cocaine hippos in ~enviro

    Vito
    Link Parent
    Sorry for the correction, but the country is Colombia.

    Sorry for the correction, but the country is Colombia.

    3 votes
  12. Comment on What are creepy, spooky or scary places you've been? in ~talk

    Vito
    Link
    My father was in charge of maintenance in a hospital and they bought a whole new building which had previously been a hospital as well. It had been unoccupied for years and he took me there before...

    My father was in charge of maintenance in a hospital and they bought a whole new building which had previously been a hospital as well. It had been unoccupied for years and he took me there before they started fixing it. I got to run around the unlit, falling apart building on my own as a teen. The massive kitchen, the morgue. It all just felt so cool, like a creepy videogame.

    7 votes
  13. Comment on What common misunderstanding do you want to clear up? in ~talk

    Vito
    Link Parent
    Thank you so much for your reply, and for all the resources. I'll definitely check them out. I understand what you mean by saying that you're glad a language academy doesn't exist for English, but...

    Thank you so much for your reply, and for all the resources. I'll definitely check them out. I understand what you mean by saying that you're glad a language academy doesn't exist for English, but I think RAE is proof that it can be done well.

    4 votes
  14. Comment on What common misunderstanding do you want to clear up? in ~talk

    Vito
    Link Parent
    I think it's interesting that in Spanish we have something called RAE (real academia española), which is an organization which decides what is "proper Spanish" and what is not. It sounds terrible,...

    I think it's interesting that in Spanish we have something called RAE (real academia española), which is an organization which decides what is "proper Spanish" and what is not.

    It sounds terrible, as in why would we police language, but in my opinion it's actually pretty great.

    I find it particularly useful when I have to write something academic. You have an easily accessible place where we can all agree about how things work.

    Spanish is also very complex because of all the different cultures that speak it. I speak a variation that is basically only used in two cities and RAE, even though it's from Spain, includes everything we say as a correct variation.

    They are also willing to evolve and as people start using new words or using words differently, they just add them, even if they are borrowed from other languages (looking at you, French).

    They even have a doubts section which I find extremely helpful. It's not just about grammar or spelling, it's about punctuation too for example.

    I teach English and I wish I could just check an English RAE to make sure I'm not making mistakes. I know I can check the big dictionaries, but they sometimes differ.

    Not every Spanish speaker shares my opinion, but I think it's great and they do a very difficult job in a great way.

    10 votes
  15. Comment on The neo-Victorian neo-nazi lesbian BDSM cult that made video games in ~humanities.history

    Vito
    Link Parent
    Thank you so much for sharing, I'm obsessed. I love everything about this video. I'm going to look for more :)

    Thank you so much for sharing, I'm obsessed. I love everything about this video. I'm going to look for more :)

    1 vote
  16. Comment on McDonald’s is cutting prices of its combo meals to convince customers it’s affordable again in ~food

    Vito
    Link Parent
    Ok, I thought it as a general situation, but I can see it. Thanks.

    Ok, I thought it as a general situation, but I can see it. Thanks.

    1 vote
  17. Comment on What's a question you could ask to determine if someone is an expert in your line of work? in ~talk

    Vito
    Link Parent
    Those examples are great! The last one I would change slightly to: If I wanted candy I would have bought some. And that one is none of the structures I mentioned because it's a mixed conditional...

    Those examples are great! The last one I would change slightly to: If I wanted candy I would have bought some. And that one is none of the structures I mentioned because it's a mixed conditional (a mix of 2nd and 3rd)

    I'll do another one. Why is 'been' part of the formula for present perfect continuous?

    answer

    present continuos: to be + (verb+ing)
    present perfect: have + past participle
    present perfect continuous: have + been + (verb+ing)
    (been is the to be for the continuous and the past participle for the perfect)

    3 votes
  18. Comment on What's a question you could ask to determine if someone is an expert in your line of work? in ~talk

    Vito
    Link
    What is the relationship between different conditional structures? job English teacher as a foreign language answer 1st, 2nd and 3rd conditionals are linked by reporting their structure, you can...

    What is the relationship between different conditional structures?

    job

    English teacher as a foreign language

    answer

    1st, 2nd and 3rd conditionals are linked by reporting their structure, you can form one from the other by going one step to the past.
    If + present simple, will
    If + past simple, would
    If + past perfect, would + have + past participle

    1 vote
  19. Comment on McDonald’s is cutting prices of its combo meals to convince customers it’s affordable again in ~food

    Vito
    Link Parent
    Sorry for the unrelated comment, but I was wondering. Why is it their Mom specifically you're not judging? They didn't mention any family members.

    Sorry for the unrelated comment, but I was wondering. Why is it their Mom specifically you're not judging? They didn't mention any family members.

    2 votes
  20. Comment on The vast majority ~90% of us only consume, never post and never comment. So come on in, leave a tildes-worthy comment, and join the 10% my dear lurker in ~talk

    Vito
    Link Parent
    Tildes Is the first "social media" I have ever dared to comment on, so maybe.

    Tildes Is the first "social media" I have ever dared to comment on, so maybe.

    6 votes