Summarizing the recent events in England --
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2011/08/11/the-english-riots-or-why-therell-always-be-an-england/

Student Rhiannon Brooksbank-Jones has had surgery to lengthen her tongue so she can speak Korean like a native. Some people are really crazy...

Wait, what's so crazy about that? It seems like a great idea to me. It's not like there's even a downside to it, just an improvement of ability. There's not much difference between this and an operation to remove a limp.

BornIn1142 wrote:Wait, what's so crazy about that? It seems like a great idea to me. It's not like there's even a downside to it, just an improvement of ability. There's not much difference between this and an operation to remove a limp.

All surgical procedures have inherent risks, this girl has exaggerated in my opinion. Anyway, I wouldn't compare a little pronunciation defect to a limp.

If she's looking to make a life and career in Korea, I can definitely see how her mastery of the language would be a big deal for her. If I had devoted myself to doing Korean Studies only to find out that I was limited by nature all along, I'd consider doing something about it as well.

^I can understanding this reasoning but she wants to live in Korea after university, she's just 19 years old, she could end up changing her mind or other things could prevent her from fulfilling her dream, I see no reason to take risks before she can be sure about her future life in Korea.
Anyway, I'm a prudent person and I never take unnecessary risks, so this could be the source of my amazement for her choice.

Talking about other things, today is the 50th anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall.

Hyper Shinchan wrote:Some people are really crazy...

I hear there's a trend for people over there to have plastic surgery in order to make their eyes look less 'Asian'. It's just going both ways now.

BornIn1142 wrote:Wait, what's so crazy about that? It seems like a great idea to me. It's not like there's even a downside to it, just an improvement of ability.

The fact of the matter is that unless she has a serious tongue defect, that's not what's keeping her from pronouncing Korean or any other foreign language correctly. (And she might have a problem, I don't know).

I've heard reports (see farther back in this thread) that there are Korean children having a similar operation done because their parents believe it will help them speak English better. This is patently ridiculous; there's millions of Korean-Americans who speak with the standard American English accent. The problem is in the way the brain learns language, not in the tongue itself.

....so you're saying we need to perform brain surgery on asian children...

ZapX wrote:....so you're saying we need to perform brain surgery on asian children...

That is slightly less terrifying than this:

^...I totally blank that out of my mind.

People actually remember that?

^YUP, sadly I forgot about it too till now. I still see the commercial on t.v. from time to time. :(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD9i39GENWU

ZapX wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD9i39GENWU

Dammit it ZapX, the geen guy's so creepy...

BoA has had it coming for some time, their stock price has been cut in half year-to-date (half of that in the last month) and zombie-AIG and BlackRock filed suits against them

perhaps the karma stench from TARP is growing, nice to see

I'm going to cheat, this is sort-of politics. Presidential candidate Herman Cain apparently really loves to quote the theme song from Pokemon: The Movie 2000.

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/08/did_herman_cain_know_he_was_qu.html

maybe he's either trying too hard to appeal to the youth vote or he has good memories of his kids with that movie or something?

drinian wrote:That is slightly less terrifying than this:

Bumping thid thread on account of cuteness!! THAT MUZZY PIC IS SO KAWAAIIII!!