#it's an sc it should sound like sk

[residentdragonfucker]

I just found out how scion is pronounced and I'm not surprised but I'm still disgusted

[learnlanguageswithani]

L’alfabeto italiano

In this post, I will cover the Italian alphabet, as well as the pronunciation rules.

***DISCLAIMER—My native language is English and the point of this blog is that I document my own learning process with the added bonus of maybe helping someone else start learning Italian as well.  I have never been to Italy or any other Italian-speaking country before.  I do not claim to be an expert on any of this material.  Please feel free to correct me if I make any mistakes!  Thank you.

Italian is a mostly phonetic language.

The alphabet is as follows:

A (ah or a)

B (bee or bi)

C (chee or ci)

D (dee or di)

E (eh or e)

F (effe)

G (gee or gi)

H (acca)

I (ee or i)

L (elle)

M (emme)

N (enne)

O (oh or o)

P (pee or pi)

Q (koo or qu)

R (erre)

S (esse)

T (tee or ti)

U (oo or u)

V (voo or vee or vu or vi)

Z (zeta)

Notice how the Italian alphabet is very similar to the English alphabet, but it’s short a few letters.  That’s because Italian words don’t use the letters j, k, w, x, or y.  However, these letters may be found in foreign words that have been adopted into Italian.

J is known as i lunga.

K is known as cappa.

W is known as doppia vu.

X is known as ics.

Y is known as i greca.

The vowels are: a, e, i, o, u

The consonants are: b, c, d, f, g, h, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, z

Pronunciation rules!

A (ah or a)

A is pronounced like the a in “father”: la mia cara mamma.

B (bee or bi)

B is pronounced as in English.

C (chee or ci)

C is pronounced like the c in “community” unless it precedes an e or an i, in which case it’s pronounced like the ch in “chill”.

Examples of the hard c, as in “community”: poco, caffè, caro, amico, cura, classe, scrivere.

Examples of the soft c, as in “chill”: cento, baci, ciao, Cesare, cinema.

Ch is a letter combination found only before an e or an i, and it forms the hard c sound: che, chi, pochi, perché.

D (dee or di)

D is pronounced as in English, but more dentalised: due, denti, vado, grande, modo.

E (eh or e)

E is pronounced two ways.

The first way is like the a in “late”: se Ebe vede te.

The second is like the e in “let”: ecco sette fratelli.

F (effe)

F is pronounced as in English.

G (gee or gi)

Similarly to C, the pronunciation of G is dependent on the following letters.  G is pronounced like in “garden” in all cases unless it precedes an e or an i, in which case, it is pronounced as in “imagine”.

Hard g, as in “garden”: pago, guida, lungo, guerra, gusto, grosso, dogma.

Soft g, as in “imagine”: gesto, gentile, giorno, viaggio, pagina.

Gh is a letter combination found only before an e or an i, and it forms the hard g sound: aghi, righe, laghi, paghiamo.

Gli is a letter combination that is one of the hardest sounds to pronounce in the Italian language.  I can only describe it as a mix between a y sound and an l sound.

This video from Learn Italian with Lucrezia on YouTube really helped me understand how to pronounce this sound.

Gn is a letter combination that makes an ny sound, similar to the ni in “onion”.  If you’ve taken Spanish, you’ll find that it’s the same as the Spanish ñ.  If you’ve taken French, you’ll find that it’s the same as the gn in French.

H (acca)

H is never pronounced: ha, hanno, ahi!, oh!, hotel.

I (ee or i)

I is pronounced like the i in “machine”: i vini di Rimini.

When I is unstressed and precedes or follows another vowel, it forms with the vowel a diphthong.  In doing so, the pronunciation of I changes to a y sound, like in “yet”: più piano.

L (elle)

L is pronounced as in English, but more forward in the mouth: la, lira, lei, libro, lingua.

M (emme)

M is pronounced as in English.

N (enne)

N is pronounced as in English.

O (oh or o)

O can be pronounced two ways.

The first is like the o in “soft”: oggi no.

The second is like the o in “oh”: nome e cognome.

P (pee or pi)

P is pronounced as in English, but less plosive: papà, Padova, dopo, piano, parola.

Q (koo or qu)

Q always precedes a u, and is pronounced like the qu as in “quest”: qui, quando, Pasqua, quale, quaderno.

R (erre)

R is always rolled: Roma, caro, treno, amore, vero.

S (esse)

S can be pronounced two ways

When it is between vowels or in combination with the consonants b, p, g, l, m, n, r, and v, S is pronounced like the s in “rose”: rosa, paese, esame, snob, sviluppo.

In all other cases, S is voiceless and pronounced like the s in “sell”: sto, studio, destino, rosso, sera.

Sc is a letter combination that has a soft sound like the sh in “shell” when followed by an e or an i: sciare, pesce, scienza, scena, scemo.

Sch is a letter combination that has a hard sound like the sk in “skill” when followed by an e or an i: schiavo, schema, dischi, mosche, maschio.

T (tee or ti)

T is pronounced as in English, but more dentalised: tre, Tivoli, alto, tempo, molto.

U (oo or u)

U is pronounced like the u in “rule”: una musica pura.

When U is unstressed and precedes or follows another vowel, it forms with the vowel a diphthong.  In doing so, the pronunciation of U changes to a w sound, like in “wet”: un uomo buono.

V (voo or vee or vu or vi)

V is pronounced as in English.

Z (zeta)

Z is pronounced two ways

Sometimes, it is pronounced as the ds in “beds”: zero, romanzo, zeta, mezzo.

Other times as the ts in “bets”: marzo, Venezia, pizza, grazie.

Double Consonants!

The sound of a double consonant is longer than the sound of a single consonant.  To pronounce a double consonant, shorten the sound of the preceding vowel and hold the sound of the double consonant for twice as long.  This is very important because by pronouncing a double consonant as a single consonant, the meaning of the word will change.  I’ve heard that beginners tend not to hold the sound as long as necessary, so you should hold the double consonant sound for longer than you think.

Examples: sono vs. sonno, sera vs. serra, casa vs. cassa, sano vs. sanno, rosa vs. rossa, camino vs. cammino, speso vs. spesso, lego vs. leggo.

Resources

Italian Alphabet Pronunciation—Learn Italian with Lucrezia on YouTube

Learn the Italian Alphabet: letters and sounds (Italian Pronunciation) (1/3)—Learn Italian with Italy Made Easy on YouTube

Italian pronunciation: la C dura (hard C) e la C dolce (soft C)—Learn Italian with Lucrezia on YouTube

How to Pronounce Double Consonants in Italian (My Best Tip) | PART 1—Learn Italian with Lucrezia on YouTube

How to pronounce double consonants in Italian (part 2) [ITA audio, subtitled]—Learn Italian with Lucrezia on YouTube

How to Pronounce Italian Like a Native Speaker—Learn Italian with ItalianPod101.com on YouTube

I also take notes based on the sixth edition of the Ciao! Textbook by Carla Larese Riga and Chiara Maria Dal Martello.

[sayitaliano]

Letter C pronunciation’s video.

(I’m not sure I explained all this clearly and properly, but I hope so)

Ciao! Oggi voglio parlarvi della lettera C e di come pronunciarla a seconda delle vocali che la seguono, quindi A, O, U, I, E; se abbiamo la doppia CC; se è seguita dall’H; se è preceduta dalla S; e tutti gli altri casi. Quindi vediamo un po’ come fare con degli esempi. La cosa che bisogna ricordare più di tutte è che la pronuncia della lettera C dipende particolarmente dalla vocale che la segue e dalla presenza dell’H o meno. Vediamo subito: - Se la C è seguita da una vocale A,O,U, abbiamo un suono duro come una K inglese, quindi CA, CO, CU. (CASA, CORSA, CUORE) - Se invece la nostra C è seguita da vocali I ed E, avremo una pronuncia dolce, quindi CINEMA, CERCHIO, quindi C come CIAO - Se volessimo far diventare anche la pronuncia delle vocali I ed E dura (well, actually of the C near I,E) , c’è un modo: bisogna aggiungere l’H. Quindi H seguita C più H più le vocali I ed E, ci permettono di leggere anche le parole con le vocali I ed E, come se avessimo una K. Per esempio: CHIESA, CHE. Se non avessimo l’H, leggeremmo CIESA, CE (a pronoun btw). Quindi l’H è importante perché ci permette di leggere determinate parole in maniera differente, cioè ci permette di cambiare il suono della lettera C che altrimenti sarebbe C come in CIAO.

Vediamo con l’H e la S, soprattutto con la S prima. Il suono, in presenza della S, diventa SC. Quindi il suono rimane dolce se dopo la C abbiamo una vocale I od E, quindi per esempio, SCIENZA: sentite che il suono della C rimane dolce. Anche in questo caso se volessimo avere un suono duro, dovremmo aggiungere l’H, quindi SCHIENA. Se invece ci fosse una vocale A,O,U avremmo comunque un suono duro quindi SCATOLA, SCORZA, SCUSA. Non cambia molto appunto, se non il suono che dobbiamo fare SC (SK o SC, a seconda che sia un suono duro SK, o un suono dolce SC).  Nel caso in cui avessimo una doppia CC, la regola è sempre quella: dipende dalla vocale che abbiamo dopo la seconda C: l’unica cosa che dobbiamo ricordarci di fare è di allungare un attimo il suono della C, quindi ACCETTARE, ACCIAIO, ACCAPARRARSI, ACCORRERE, ACCUSARE. I suoni cambiano sempre a seconda della vocale che c’è dopo, però vengono solamente allungati quindi ACCIPICCHIA, ACCUSARE invece avremo del solito CI, CU. Bene, queste sono le cose che dovete ricordarvi per pronunciare la lettera C, quindi dipende tutto da che vocale segue la lettera C e in caso dalla presenza dell’H o meno: sono quelle che cambiano la pronuncia della nostra lettera. Credo di avervi detto tutto, nel caso in cui abbiate domande o qualcosa non sia chiaro, scrivetemi qua e vi risponderò. A presto!

------

ENG:

Ciao! Today I want to talk with you about the letter C and how to pronounce it according to the vowel that follows it, basically A, O, U, I, E; if we have the double CC; if it’s followed by the H; if it’s preceded by the S; and all the other cases.  So let’s see what to do with some examples. The thing you have to remember is that the pronunciation of the letter C depends particularly upon the vowel that follows it and on the presence of the letter H (or absence).  Let’s immediately see: - If the letter C is followed by a vowel A,O,U we have a strong sound, like a K in English, so CA, CO, CU. (CASA = house, CORSA = running, CUORE = heart). - If instead our C is followed by the vowels I and E, we’ll have a soft pronunciation, so CINEMA = cinema, CERCHIO = circle, so C as CIAO = hi - If we wanted to make strong also the pronunciation of the vowels I and E (well, actually of the C near I,E), there’s a way: we have to add the H. So H followed C plus H plus the vowels I and E, make us able to read also the words with the vowels I and E as if we had a K. For example: CHIESA = church, CHE = that/what. If we didn’t have the H, we would read these as CIESA, CE (a pronoun btw). So the H is important because it helps us reading particular words in a different way, i.e. it let us change the pronunciation’s sound of the letter C that otherwise wouls be as in CIAO.

Let’s see with the H and the S, especially with the S in front. The sound, with the letter S, becomes SC. Basically the sounds keeps being soft if after the C we have a vowel I or E, so e.g., SCIENZA = science: you can hear the sound of the C staying soft. Also in this case if we wanted to have a strong sound, we should add the H, so SCHIENA = back. If instead we had a vowel A,O,U we would have a strong sound anyway so basically SCATOLA = box, SCORZA = rind, SCUSA = sorry. It doesn’t change much in fact, if not the sound that we have to make SC (SK or SC, depending on if we have a strong sound SK, or a soft sound SC). If we had a double CC, the rule is still that one: depends on the vowel that we have after the second C: the only thing we have to remember doing is to extend a little the sound of the C, so ACCETTARE= to accept, ACCIAIO = steel, ACCAPARRARSI = to grab, ACCORRERE = to hasten, ACCUSARE = to accuse. The sounds always change according to the vowel that follows, but generally they are extended so ACCIPICCHIA = dang, ACCUSARE = to accuse instead of the usual (short) CI, CU. Alright, these are the things you have to remember about the pronunciation of the letter C: everything depends on the vowel that follows the letter C and eventually on the presence of the H (or absence): these are the ones that change the pronunciation of our letter. I believe I told you everything, if you have questions or if something isn’t clear, write me here and I’ll answer you. See ya! 

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON: HOCKEY NEWS AND NOTES

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - While in our safe places under a pandemically-induced house arrest, there is some limited hockey news still going on. XL CENTER The XL Center, despite being shut down, progress on the facility's brand spanking new chiller project has officially begun. According to Michael W. Freimuth, the Executive Director of the CRDA (Capital Regional Development Corporation), a construction management contract was awarded to Hartford's Consigli Construction Co., Inc. “Consigli has bid out the chiller package to two qualified bidders who have completed NHL chillers in the past – Cimeco & Ice Builders – those bids are currently under review. The remaining bid packages are going out today and the bid packages are due on April 15th.” The project schedule indicates mobilization to begin in May and is set for completion by September 2020 in time for the start for both of the 2020-21 college hockey and AHL Wolf Pack regular seasons. NHL DRAFT Sadly, another victim to the COVID-19 virus that initially began in Wuhan, China is the summer NHL Draft spectacular that was slated to be held in Montreal on June 26-27. The NHL combines, NHL Awards Show in Las Vegas and the NHL Draft were all shut down. It looks like the NHL Draft will be held remotely at the NHL offices and will likely occur with a video hookup with all 31 teams. It will be handled with NBCSN and TSN who were going to broadcast Day 1 and TSN Day two. That is unless conditions dramatically change in the next three months in the US, Canada, and Europe and that doesn’t seem very likely. PRO SIGNINGS Ex-Bridgeport Sound Tiger, Matt Donovan, has re-signed with the Milwaukee Admirals for the 2021-22 AHL season. The team also signed ex-Pack captain, Cole Schneider (UCONN), to a new AHL, one-year deal for next season. Meanwhile, in Sweden, 2019 second-round draft pick of the Rangers center Karl Henriksson signs a deal with Frolunda HC (Sweden-SHL) and is eligible to play for Sweden 2021 WJC Team. This season just concluded, he played a majority of his games with Frolunda HC J-20 team in the Super Elite League, got in eight SHL games and was loaned out to Sodertalje SK in Allsvenskan League and skated for the 2020 Sweden WJC Team. -Ex-Pack Nick Latta signs with EHC Straubing (Germany-DEL) for next season after three seasons with EHC Wolfsburg. While ex-Pack Steven Moses goes from Jokerit Helsinki (Finland-KHL) to SC Rapperswil-Jona (Switzerland-LNA). -Greg Ireland, former AHL head coach with Grand Rapids and San Antonio was named Italian Nation team coach replacing Clayton Beddoes who he replaced with HC Bolzano (Italy-EBEL) mid-season. Beddoes had a solid college career with Lake Superior State in their heyday in the early 1990s and played for several years with Providence before heading over to Europe. COLLEGE HOCKEY The player signing numbers have picked up over the past week with several each day. The Wolf Pack latest signing was skating not far from the XL Center. Alex Whelan, a 6-0, 210-pound native of Ramsey, NJ, played four seasons at Quinnipiac University (ECACHL), including 13 goals,11 assists and a 24-point performance in 29 games this year as a senior for the Bobcats. Whelan, 22, an assistant captain led the Bobcat squad in plus/minus, with a plus 16, and finished second on the team in goals and third in points. He notched his second collegiate hat trick January 17th, in a 4-3 win at Holy Cross, and had a college career-best six-game point-scoring streak (4-3-7) from November 30 through January 10. In 141 career games with Quinnipiac, Whelan totaled 48 goals and 30 assists for 78 points, along with 38 penalty minutes.  He led the Bobcats in goals his sophomore season, 2017-18, with 16 in 38 games, and twice topped Quinnipiac skaters in shots-on-goal, with 175 in 2017-18 and 152 in 2018-19 his junior season. Whelan also earned ECACHL All-Academic Team honors for three straight years, from 2016-17 through 2018-19. - The latest signing came late Friday afternoon as freshmen Trevor Zegras (Avon Old Farms) left Boston University after one year and signed a standard three-year two-way entry-level contract. Joining him in SoCal in a rare Ivy League early exit is forward Jack Badini (Old Greenwich/CT Oilers-EHL) from Harvard to the Ducks. Hobey Baker candidate, Jason Cotton of Sacred Heart University (AHA) and his brother David of Boston College (HE) both signed with the Carolina Hurricanes. Jason signed a one-year free-agent deal and David, a two-year entry-level deal earlier in the week. Mattias Samuelsson, son of former New Haven Nighthawk and one time Ranger Kjell Samuelsson, has left Western Michigan (NCHC) for the Buffalo Sabres on a standard three year, two-way entry-level deal. Several Notre Dame (Big 10) players have signed deals like Callahan Burke (Colorado-AHL) and Colton Poolman (Calgary-NHL). The top school with the most signees is the Western Michigan Broncos (NCHC) with six, including the recently inked Rangers forward Austin Rueschhoff at 6’7 and 230 lbs. departing a year early on a two year, two-way entry-level deal. The other school with five signees is the Ferris State Bulldogs (WCHA), then with four are the University Vermont Catamounts (HE) and Michigan St. Spartans (Big 10) led by Patrick Khorodorenko who played one game with the Wolf Pack after signing before the season was suspended. In total, 58 Division I players have signed and 68 in total have signed pro deals so far. The Big 10 conference has 15 players, Hockey East has 14 signees and the WCHA and NCHC each have 10. Just one player has signed in Europe, in Teemu Pulkinnen Nebraska-Omaha (NCHC) with Jukerit (Finland-FEL) and there is just one grad transfer in Sean Dhooggee from University Wisconsin Badgers (Big 10) to Arizona State Sun Devils (NCAA Division-1 Independent). -Ryan Donald, an assistant coach with Yale University (ECACHL) has left to become head coach/GM of the expansion Cranbrook Bucks (BCHL) signing a four-year deal. He has been an assistant to head coach Keith Allain since 2014-15 and played four years for Yale. -The 10 finalists for the Mike Richter Award for the top college hockey goalie were announced including Spencer Knight (Darien/Avon Old Farms) of BC, unsigned Rangers draft pick senior Tyler Wall UMASS-Lowell (HE) and Jeremy Swayman, Maine (HE) who recently signed with the Boston Bruins. -The NCAA Division I/IIII Player of the Year is Norwich University Cadets (Northfield, VT) goalie Tom Aubruen (Chamonix, France). He finished with a 23-2-2 record and an obscene 0.77 GAA and a .967 save percentage in gaining, the Sid Watson Award. He was no academic slouch either with a 3.77 GPA in business management. His career playing numbers 65 games, a record of 50-8-5 and a .946 save percentage. He should get a training camp deal from some team in the NHL, AHL or ECHL. JUNIORS Very sadly, the Canadian Hockey League, the governing body for all three Canadian junior hockey leagues the OHL, QMJHL, and WHL formally canceled the playoffs and the 101st edition of the Memorial Cup, one of the great hockey treats in late spring. -The WHL has set its Bantam Draft for April 22nd and completed its first-ever US Prospects Draft on Wednesday, a two-round 44 player process of selecting prospects from the Western US. The only name of local interest is Riley Bassen, son of former NY Islander and Springfield Indian Bob Bassen, the current Director of Alumni Relations for the Dallas Stars who resides in Frisco, Texas.   EUROPE The KHL became the last hockey league to shut down as they canceled the rest of the Gagarin Cup playoffs at the quarterfinal round. This was necessary after two teams from outside Russia, Barys Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan and Jokerit Helsinki in Finland, because of their governmental restrictions they couldn’t host playoff games and travel restrictions prevented them from leaving their country. -The NHL announced this week that KHL free agents cannot be signed by NHL clubs till after May 1st. -One of two leagues to finish its tournament and crown a new champion was Turkey. The seven-team short season Turkish Super League (TSL) saw Buz Beykov SK of Istanbul end the five year run of Zeytinburnu SK as champion with a 4-2 championship-clinching win. Serkan Gumus, the first Turkish born non-import to win the scoring title tallied all four goals in the victory for Beykov. The Telford Tigers of the English Tier two National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) defeated the Peterborough Phantoms 8-3 to win the title with Brandon Whistle, nephew of former New Haven Nighthawk, Rob Whistle scoring a hat trick in the National Cup victory. In Serbia, they played just one game before the finals were canceled as Crvena Zvezda (Belgrade) won 4-2 over Vojvodina. -The Southern Hemisphere hockey season set to begin next month has been paused as well. The AIHL (Australian Ice Hockey League) has delayed the opening of its 30-game 2020 season that was slated to begin on April 18th. Neighboring nation New Zealand is still ready for its short season 16 game per team (five teams) NZIHL schedule and is holding firm on a May 15th start date, but are monitoring developments like the rest of the planet. The Southern Hemisphere is now entering its winter season and the possibility of a COVID-19 outbreak is expected from South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. -The IIHF has canceled the Worlds Championships scheduled to be held next month in Davos, Switzerland (Belarus, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Norway, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, United States) and all the other world championships tournaments as well. Division I: Group A in Ljubljana, Slovenia (Austria, France, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, and South Korea), Division I Group B to be held in Katowice, Poland (Estonia, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, Serbia, and Ukraine ). Division II: Group A in Zagreb, Croatia (Australia, China, Croatia, Israel, Netherlands, and Spain) and Division II Group B in Reykyavik, Iceland (Belgium, Bulgaria,  Georgia, Iceland, Mexico, and New Zealand). Division III: Group A set for Kockelscheuer, Luxembourg (Luxembourg, North Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and United Arab Emirates-UAE). Then Division III Group B in Cape Town, South Africa (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hong Kong, South Africa, and Thailand) Lastly, Division IV in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia and the Philippines) all were canceled. Read the full article

[honeybun1979]

I can't hear.

My brother was talking. Laughing and talking. I could see the joking nature in his face. I could see the words rolling off his lips. I just couldn't hear a word he said. I took it as my delirium from just waking up. Everyone knows I'm a tad loopy if recently awoken. My uncle once woke me up to tell me he was leaving for work, and I promptly asked him "Am I lighter or darker?" My poor uncle was scared to leave his newborn baby at home with this half sleep nutcase he called niece. There have been plenty of laughs and jokes at my expense about the weird things I do and say while in the state of sleepiness. So as my brother was jovially telling me whatever it was he telling me all I could think is "Is he saying anything, I can't hear this boy"...he left and I returned to sleep.

I've been waking up at 5am for almost 5 years for work, so somedays my body just does it's job, somedays I need all 4 alarms and the timer on the TV to jostle me outta my deep sleep. This morning.. my biological timer roused me.. but something was different. I didn't hear any house noises. You know, the deep slow hum of the refrigerator running, or the steady tap of the sink faucet that needed to be fixed weeks ago- nothing. I realized the TV was on but no sound emitted through the speakers. I grabbed the remote to listen to what the weatherman was rolling his sleeve up for, and the volume was on 68! That's when I realized- I CAN'T HEAR.

For exactly 2 minutes I panicked. Many people don't know or realize that I have been "hearing impaired" for my entire lifetime. I, nor anyone who actually knows me would put me in that category, but a medical professional would quickly place me in there. I am hearing impaired. I've never really asked about my deafness, at least I don't recall inquiring about it. I couldn't hear in my left ear and that was who I was. When other little girls told secrets about the little boys they liked and whispered in my dead ear, I just automatically turned to my good ear to them, and giggled with the same innocent natured sweetness as the other schoolgirls. I knew that I had a slight difference; I went to speech therapy before I could barely form words. Sk, sc, and st words were my nemeses. I spoke words like I heard them, not fully understanding that certain letters made certain sounds. Peggy Wheeler worked her butt off with me for one hour twice a week for all of my elementary school life. I vaguely remember speech classes, and I definitely don't recall the teacher during my middle school years. I don't know if it was determined that I had mastered the art of language or if funding had stopped for speech pathology in the Birmingham school system.. all I know is, I wasn't getting pulled out of class anymore to go to what my peers thought was a mysterious location that only I was allowed to go.

James Spann was in the background screaming about weather, and I couldn't hear it. I did the only thing a 37 year old could do- I went to my mama. When I told her that I couldn't hear and that she would have to call my job, her demeanor kinda shifted. I don't know if she saw those two minutes of panic in my eyes or was it just a "mom" thing to get anxious about the unknown in reference to your children. Either way, she regained her stature and called in for me. Meanwhile in went into action, googling Audiologists and ENT's. I found a audiologist office and without calling or making an appointment we set off.

After learning that this particular practice only takes referrals and established patients, the nurse kindly gave me a card for a ENT at one of the local hospitals. After squeezing me in with one of the Doctors, I was immediately sent to "The Box". I have no idea what the technical term is for it, I guess I should look into that, seeing as I'm in it every 2 weeks or so. But "The box" is a sound proof room you sit in with headphones that has wires connected to a instrument called an audiometer that is used to conduct various tests. While in this control box, you are asked to listen and respond to tones at different pitches and volumes. Let me deviate for a moment: If you've never been in a soundproof booth with earphones clamped on your ears and asking to differentiate sounds, you don't know what feeling absolutely insane is. You hear beeps that aren't there. You don't hear beeps that are there. Your brain won't shut up.. it's a mess. Anyways, I take the test and I knew I failed miserably. Afterward, my mother and I are led into a room, where a doctor and nurse comes in to access the damage. After checking my ears and not seeing any physical issues, he looks at the printed sheets "The Box" has spit out of my hearing inadequacies, And starts speaking to myself and my mother. Although I couldn't decipher the words coming out of his mouth, I could see the unsure look he had, and the change in my mothers disposition (again). I was looking to her to explain to me what he was saying, because even though I couldn't hear physically I knew could feel my mother's words. I never really thought of it before, but I guess over the years, in order to compensate for the "bad" ear I learned how to read lips. If someone was talking and not facing me, I would ask them to repeat themselves. It became second nature. So, as my mother was engaged with this doctor, I couldn't see her mouth nor could I hear his words- all I could see was the slight shrug of the doctors shoulders and the concerned bodily slump my mother had (my mama has wonderful posture) and I knew something wasn't right. He ordered me a heavy dose of Prednisone and gave me a shot in my hip, and ordered me to come back for a follow up.

As soon as we got in the car, my hearing started to come back. Steroids are a wonderful invention. Mama and I talked a bit, the doctor said that he couldn't see anything, but it seemed to be/ or could be nerve damage. That's EXACTLY what was the diagnosis was for my "dead ear" .. so what was the future for my right ear?

[we-androidtechnology]

Seven Ways to Profit With Retailers

With buyer spending sapped over the previous year by a sinking economy, gigantic cutbacks, and failing home costs, speculators have been worried about the monetary soundness of retail locations. Toward the beginning of the second quarter income report season, tried and true way of thinking trusted that off-value retailers would charge well while extravagance retailers would be hit as customers concentrated on cost and necessities. Kohls Credit Card Login

Second Quarter Report Card

Most retailers have now detailed their financial second quarter profit. Much to the help of financial specialists, profit have not been as terrible as dreaded. Counterbalancing steep decreases in deals with store terminations, stock cuts, and other cost lessening measures most retail locations beat second quarter profit conjectures.

While industry benefits declined for the ninth straight quarter, the 8% decrease in year-over-year second quarter profit was not as much as a large portion of the size evaluated at the profundity of the subsidence in late March.

There were a few amazements as well. Discounter Wal-Mart (WMT) detailed ho-murmur comes about while contender Target (TGT) surpassed investigators' conjecture by almost 20%. In top of the line retailing, Nordstrom (JWN) detailed benefits in accordance with experts' figure while Saks (SKS) lost not exactly dreaded.

Among building materials retail locations, Lowe's (LOW) disillusioned while Home Depot (HD) did not. In retail chains, Kohl's (KSS) revealed a gainful quarter while J. C. Penney's (JCP) comes about earned back the original investment. Dillard's (DDS) drained red ink at a lower rate than figures as the same-store deals declined for the twelfth straight quarter.

What's Coming down the road for Retailers and Retail Stocks

Retailing industry incomes seem to have balanced out but at a low level. Retail stocks as estimated by the S&P Retail Index (RLX) are up about 24% since Jan. 2 outpacing the S&P 500's 12% pick up.

Numerous retail industry boss are careful in their viewpoint. There are few signs that buyers will rapidly build their optional spending. Not at all like past retreats, customers are not depending on Visas to back their spending. For one, buyers are de-utilizing and sparing a greater amount of their salary. Second, monetary establishments have raised loaning gauges and brought down credit limits.

The school year kickoff shopping season has been moderately stifled up until this point. There might be some expectation here however as a few states go on an 'assessment occasion' this end of the week.

On the brighter side, retail shares additionally have a couple of variables going for them.

Year-over-year deals examinations for retailers remain to wind up less demanding in the months ahead. Retailers won't need to measure up against deals supported by the previous summer's jolt checks. Further, the precarious fall in retail deals cratered amid a year ago's final quarter should help examinations.

Following positive profit astonishes in second quarter, experts have been raising their entire year income gauges for some retailers.

Financial specialists with a sound measurement of hazard craving can locate some alluring open doors in the retailing scene.

Two Mutual Funds

Common reserve financial specialists can take a gander at no heap stores like Fidelity Select Retailing (FSRPX) and Rydex Retailing (RYRIX).

Three ETFs

In the ETF space, SPDR S&P Retail (XRT) is a prominent decision among financial specialists. Different alternatives incorporate PowerShares Dynamic Retail (PMR) and Merrill Lynch Retail HOLDRS (RTH). In fact, RTH is a unit assume that exchanges on the trade.

Two Stocks

Speculators searching for stocks thoughts can consider furniture retailer Kirkland's (KIRK) and markdown retailer 99 Cents Only Stores (NDN). The two organizations that have assembled a great string of positive income shocks in a testing retail condition. KIRK and NDN are retailers that endure Zack's stock screen for 'Two of every a Row at least 10% Positive Surprises'. KIRK exchanges at a forward P/E of around 15 while the less-unpredictable NDN shares change hands at a 19X forward P/E.

Sam Subramanian PhD, MBA alters the AlphaProfit Sector Investors' Newsletter, ten times victor of Hulbert Financial's #1 rank. The venture bulletin offers proposals on no heap shared subsidizes, for example, Fidelity finances and in addition little top esteem stores like the Yacktman support YACKX.

[timberwoolfwashere]

TLDR: By all known laws of the English language, there is no reason that it should exist.

English isn't that hard. All you need to know is:

1. Rhymes

Read rhymes with lead but not with lead.

Lead rhymes with read but not with read.

Bead rhymes with read and lead but not with bed, which rhymes with red and read and lead.

Head rhymes with bed and red and read and lead but not with bead or read or lead or heed.

etc.

2. Sounds

"ph" sounds like "gh" except when it sounds like "g".

"g" sounds like "gh" except when it sounds like "f".

"g" sounds like "ch" except when it sounds like ... I don't even know what. "tsch"?

"ch" sounds like "sh" except when it sounds like "k"

"k" sounds like "c" except when it sounds like "s".

"sc" sounds like "s" or "sk", but "ck" sounds like "k".

3. Words

Martial and Marshall are pronounced the same.

Wound and Wound are pronounced differently.

Bough is pronounced like bow, but not like bow.

Off means to deactivate or to activate.

Personal nouns like "it" can refer to the subject or the object of the sentence, so good luck interpreting section 2.

Plural personal nouns can refer to the subject, object, or both. Melissa and Jane were talking to John and Martin just before they were hit by a bus.

The word "dog" has no etymological origin.

Worcestershire isn't pronounced in any way you'd expect.

There is absolutely no good reason that "slogan" should be pronounced the way it is. By English's own rules, it makes most sense to pronounce it "slo-an".

I'll fight you on that.