79733139:
Mr Etrange, you are the real OG! You were one of my sources of motivation to start learning French. I sent you a message several months back asking if you are in Canada, but then I saw one of your comments indicating that you are indeed in Canada now, so I edited my comment.

Salut !

Sorry, I must have missed your message. Yes, I’ve been in Canada for years. I’ve also been naturalized. It’s exciting to know I contributed to your determination to learn a whole new language. That’s a huge achievement! What about you, are in Canada? If not, what stage are you currently in?

Meanwhile, thank you for all your contributions on here, I do hope your story becomes a source of motivation to others.

SIRTee15:


To my understanding, paganism mean religions outside of the main ones and possibly could refer to animist religions.
.
I don't think traditionalists consider idols deity and most don't worship them.
They idols are mostly symbolic representation of the unseen deity but they are not deity themselves.

That's why I'm asking why those who kiss a stone for symbolic reason accuse traditionalist as idolaters?

While the definitions I gave is in line with Christian theology, the general definition of paganism (outside the prism of the Abrahamic religions) is the belief in any alternative god other than the god or gods of the “mainstream” religions. Similarly, idolatry is the worship of idols. It’s important to stress that idols here mustn’t be a physical object, it could also be any god other than the god of the speaker. This is regardless of the presence or absence of symbolic physical objects.

Now, going by these definitions, a Christian is right to call a traditionalist an idol worshiper (idol here meaning an alternative god) just as much as the traditionalist has the right to call a Christian an idol worshiper. Both are right because both believe their own god is the real god and the other’s god is an idol. However, the expressions “idolatry” and “idol worshipper” stem from Judaism. A traditionalist may have an entirely different expression for referring to people who don’t believe their gods. For example, Muslims might call Christian infidels, but Christians don’t ask why they’re being accused cause they understand it’s just a matter of point-of-view.

So you might argue that they both use symbols, but when you consider the fact that what a Christian refers to as an idol isn’t just the physical object but also the god represented by the object, then you see why they call those people idol worshippers. Like I said earlier, the traditionalists don’t have to accept that name but they also can’t cry foul cause no one is complaining about whatever name they choose to call those who don’t believe in their gods. However, to be fair, originators of these terms (Judaists, Christians and Muslims) have the power of numbers and that’s why, today, these terms have become almost synonymous with other religious beliefs other than these three. At the end, it’s all a matter of POV. That’s why we must put humanity above all.

Religious practices are basically the same at the core. Those terms you mentioned aren’t inherently bad (ideally). They are just terms that define certain religious beliefs. Peganism refers to any religion in which the followers believe that they are multiple gods and god hierarchies. Abrahamic religions don’t believe this, and that’s why they’re not referred to as peganism. On the other hand, idolatry is any religion in which a physical image, object or animal is worshipped as a deity. Again, this isn’t the case with Abrahamic religions, thus the reason they’re not referred to as idolatry.

The reason this terms have negative connotation is simply because they originated from the side of those who do not agree with the practices they define. As a pagan or idol worshiper, you aren’t obliged to refer to yourself using any of those terms (in fact, those terms don’t even exist in many non European languages). Even if you accept the nomenclature (just the way blacks internally accepted the N word), it doesn’t have to have to be perceived as negative amongst you (again, just like the N word isn’t offensive when used by a black person to refer to a fellow black person).

Finally, nothing really stops followers of non Abrahamic religions from having their own terms for Christians/Muslims. They probably do, but you wouldn’t know cause you grew up on the Abrahamic side of the divide, and that’s why you know and question their terms. One thing we can’t do, however, is force others to change their language because of us.

immortalcrown:
Take what belongs to you and return what does not belong to you. Two wrongs do not make a right.

Honestly, this is a no brainer. Just take your 300k and give him his balance. Sending him 450k is foolishness. Keeping the entire 500k makes you just as bad as the other party if not worse. By giving him his 200k, you’ll get what belongs to you and also leave his conscience to deal with him.

Dauphine:

Nice one bro, I’ve always wondered, can you please add TCF to the title of the thread 🙈

I’ve actually thought about that. I’m just skeptical cause the last time I tried to modify the first page, the entire thread was taken down by Nairaland bot due to the multiple external links in the original post. We had to get Justwise to bring up the thread again. I, therefore, worry that this might happen again if I tried to modify any part of the original post. I could give it a go if you think it’s worth the risk. Otherwise, I’d suggest we hold on till Justwis.e confirms it’s safe to do so.

Hi everyone!

My name is etrange. I created this thread about 6 years ago, and I’m just here today to encourage everyone to keep on going, even when the going gets tough. Though learning a new language is a lifelong process, getting to a point where you are able to ace the TEF exam is very much attainable within reasonable period of time if the right amount of effort is dedicated to it. Getting permanent residency in any western country is more difficult now than ever, yet you guys that know French have the best shot at it at the moment. As a Canadian citizen myself, I can tell you that it’s worth the hard work. Yes, things are hard in the country right now. Our real estate is probably the most expensive in the world, and jobs aren’t as readily available as they used to be. But it’s still better than Nigeria. Our passport, which has the same power index as that of the US, comfortably occupies the 7th position at the global stage.

Years ago, people believed learning French language was a waste of time. French language teachers weren’t taken seriously back then. I still remember how some of my friends sarcastically asked me where I intended to work with my “common talevu”. Today, I am pleased that this subject we are all passionate about is finally getting the attention it deserves. I am personally delighted that something I learned as a hobby ended up becoming a life changer for me, and I always look forward to hearing the stories of immigrants who made to this country on the back of their French language skills.

A big thank you to everyone that has kept this thread alive, the teachers and the students alike. It’s not easy, but hang in there. There’s light at the end of this tunnel, the type that’s not constantly interrupted by NEPA.

Ciao !

Emu4life:

They are. Dangote and BUA's Children dress decently. Don't they?

So this lady we are all looking at is indecently dressed to you?

.

No one deserves this no matter what. Surviving the surgery is one thing, living your life knowing it could strike back at any time is another. I wish him all the happiness in this world!

shortgun:
In your initial post you said the sheded skin was twice as long the length of the snake.....that was what I responded to .
What you are saying now is entirely different. I believe you are trying to safe face which is okay

I said almost as twice. This is the text from wiki including the part I had earlier cut off:

“A shed skin is much longer than the snake that shed it, as the skin covers the top and bottom of each scale. If the skin is shed intact, each scale is unwrapped on the top and bottom side of the scale which almost doubles the length of the shed skin.”

Why is it difficult for you to just say “oh I didn’t know the shed skin could be much longer than the snake itself.” It’s not a big deal.

Here is the URL: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakeskin

I wonder what next your mangled ego would push you to type.

shortgun:

The shade skin is twice as long as the snake that shade it?
Snakes shade their skin because they have outgrown it and it can no longer accommodate their new size
Where do you all crawl out from

The shed skin is longer because when it’s on the snake’s body, it wraps both the upper and lower (hidden) surface of each scale on the snake. In other words, it folds underneath each scale before continuing to the next one. However, when it’s shed without breaking , each single wrap unfolds, thereby increasing the total length of the shed skin to a great extent. Below is an excerpt from Wikipedia:

“A shed skin is much longer than the snake that shed it, as the skin covers the top and bottom of each scale. If the skin is shed intact, each scale is unwrapped on the top and bottom side of the scale.”

That something doesn’t sound logical to you doesn’t mean the person saying it is daft. Take a moment to consider the possibility that you might actually be the one not knowledgeable about the subject. Even if the other party is wrong, etiquette demands that you engage with civility. Isn’t ironic that you’re asking where someone crawled out from when you’re the one engaging with a total stranger like a street child? Why are some of you always in a combative mode? Why is it so difficult to have a decent argument on here without it degenerating into total intemperance? What then is the point of your education? Sad.

It’s called a shed skin in English or just snakeskin (written together). The snake that shed that skin isn’t nearly as long as the shed skin. Normally, the shed skin is almost twice as long as the snake itself.

So you consciously opened the app, clicked on her profile and watched her pictures because you do not like her, right? That makes a lot of sense. And when you’re done not liking her pictures, you took your time to screenshot the profile and then created a thread about it here so these other morally stainless guys could join you in not liking the pics, right? Chaste men like you are rare. I’m sure most of these other guys also went to her profile to not like it. Kudos to y’all.

Chudyfuto:
Both are superb but the second guy is from another planet... So beautiful 😍

They did excellently well. I personally was more impressed by the first guy. He wasn’t just trying to sound like commentators, he was also saying something actually engaging. Both his content and his delivery were on point. The second guy was cut off so we didn’t get to hear what he had to say, but he started off great as well. Kudos to them and their instructor.

AcuraZDX:
Lmao.

The Reverend emirate now a caricature 😂😂

Reverend emirate?

bukatyne:


And how does feminism solve the problems listed above?

You imply that the families these things don't happen are 'feminists'/ believe in feminism?

What do you think feminism is?

GloriousGbola:


I will always remember when I went to a classmates house and her junior brother had a computer. He was the third or fourth born. There was another senior sister. Senior sister was reading law. This girl was reading engineering. I am not sure the brother was in uni at the time.

I asked her where is your computer? Girl shrugged. My dad bought a computer for my brother only. So many boys like this grow up privileged in homes where their sisters are taught to actively and passively that they are nothing more than homemakers then grow up with delusions of male superiority.

As an aside
Feminism is why black women did the science and maths that put men on the moon.

Read hidden figures or watch it

You want to hate on Linda ikeji? So what has her junior brother achieved? He is a man after all.

I wish you knew refreshing it is to see a comment like this coming from a fellow guy. It goes to show that we still have a lot of very confident men out there who aren't scared of empowered women!

cococandy:
just wait

Their pick mes are about to come and argue with you that these things don’t happen anymore. 🙄

Of course. Lol

SmartyPants:


If you read the OP you would have seen that this us exavtly the idea of feminism the girl has. Besides, what rights would a Nigerian woman say she doesn't have today? Genuinely curious.

You may not see it because you aren't the one on the receiving end, and that's okay. The problem only arises when it's presented to you and you still find ways to dismiss them. I'll give you a few and it's going to be one hell of a long list:

- Do you know that ladies don't get late parent's inheritance in many traditional settings?
- Do you know that a man can send his wife parking without a dime in Nigeria regardless of how long they've been together?
- Do you know there's a huge pay gap between men and women at work?
- Do you know that ladies are still forced into marriage today?
- Do you know that many landlords won't rent out thier spaces to single ladies today?
- Do you know child marriage is still a thing today?
- Do you widows are still made to go through spiritual rites to prove they didn't kill her husband?
- Do you know some ladies still get mutilated?
- Do you know fathers beat thier daughters to pup for having a boyfriend?
- Do you know that men are considered first for management positions at work and political positions, and ladies are only considered when their track records are overly obvious? This implies that women need to work twice as hard to be there.
- Do you know that many educated women are doing small businesses today because thier husbands believe "someone has to run the home" or because their spouses are threatened by the the possibility of them becoming career ladies?

The list is endless, yet all these are more or less institutional and they are NOTHING compared to societal perception and gender stereotypes below:

- Do you know that women are judged by what they put on but we all went on a huge protest when SARS started profiling guys based on thier outfit/hairstyle.
- Do younknow that a woman with a cheating husband is expected to fight for her marriage and find a way to regain his interest while a cheating wife should be sent home?
- Do you know that when a lady get raped today, many people still ask "what was she doing at his place? What was she wearing? Why did she accept his money? Etc."
- Do you know that when a man commits a crime, we all come on this app to criticize him, but when it's a lady, everyone starts insulting the gender "fear women", "Nigerian women are useless", "women of now-a-days", etc.
- Do you know that when a corps member sleeps with his students who indicated interest in him and creates a thread about it on here, many people gather to talk about how these girls are spoiled and not about the adult that took advantage of a teenager?
- Do you know that Davido went around sleeping with different women and getting them pregnant and him that slept with multiple people isn't a hoe, but the individuals he slept with are called hoes even though they were exclusive with him when it happened?
- Do you know that most families reduce the potentials of thier girl child by teaching her how to be a good wife and not how to survive on her own? She does the cleaning and cooking, she learns how not to dress, she learns how to speak gently like a lady, etc. while the boys go out there to explore, make mistakes, learn from them and build the confidence required to push through life as an individual.
- Do you know that morality in society is degenerating and people still believe it's because girls of now-a-days are into money or because they sleep around?
- Do you know that a girl that goes into a guy's to indicate interest in him is a hoe but a man that does it is a sharp shooter?
- Do you know that merely being a lady in the entertainment industry gets you labeled as a hoe?
- Do you know that regardless of how successful a single or divorced lady is, people will still focus on the fact that there is no man in her life?
- Do you know about 90% of all the ladies on this platform left between 2014 to 2024 due to the growing sexism on here?
- Do you know that I only stopped typing cause I have things to do and nor because there isn't more to type?
- Do you know that most guy would quickly dismiss all these as 'imagined' or by saying 'oh, we have issues too'?


You see, feminism is about gender equality. Fighting for equality isn't all about changing the written laws, it's also about changing mindset and empowering women. To be a feminist isn't about hating men or not cooking at home. It's about freedom of choice and equal playing ground. It's not against men (except you really believe one gender should be superior to the other). In fact, feminism will help reduce the pressure on men in our society today. When a feminist preaches, they don't target men alone, they also target all those overly dependent women that you all complain about (the urgent 2k and those that bring nothing to the table). Therefore, we should all be feminists.

The OP has a very brilliant younger sister who is discerning enough to recognize these things at her age, but he's here asking for ways to cut her wings and subdue her. Tomorrow, when she goes after men for survival, he will still be the one to come here and cry foul.

She deserves a smarter elder brother.

judedwriter:


Gays, lesbians, transgenders are all welcomed here!

And you think that makes the country a good or a bad place?

So nothing like independent journalism anymore?

uchman:
She no too send her husband, na her kids be her priority.

I wonder how people like you would see a beautiful moment like this and still find a way to be negative. Nawa

Biggie225:
If I travel abroad, I will never interact with black men again, especially Nigerians.

Wait till you travel and see how dynamics of race out there. Then you'll rethink this comment.

judedwriter:
Don't know much about Poland except that Germany invaded them to Kickstart WW 2...

Do they speak English? Are the people friendly? Which jobs are available?

By the way, I sight an LGBT flag on a window....that speaks volumes on its own.

What does the flag tell you?

ValCon888:
Tomorrow, they will insult men for sexualizing them. Meanwhile, they are the ones sexualizing themselves.

You guys make the most the most disgusting excuses to support your promiscuity. This is a lady doing what she as an individual wants to do. It doesn't excuse you sexualizing that girl down your street.

Ever8090:
What do you need such information for? for crying out loud ... queen Sheba na your wife?

Hahaha...

Cousin9999:
I don't think black people truly understand that only black people possess the humanity and mental capacity to relate normally to other human beings. This doesn't present a problem for us. Even something like Yoruba vs Igbo, or gang violence could never compare to how nonblacks think.

Nonblacks don't think normally like we do. They don't.

Most black people just assume that these people think normally because they see them do/achieve/live in a way that suggests it. But that's just the surface. And mind you, they only have what they do from constant destruction, theft, oppression, deception, and etc.

They also hide who they really are from media and certain company. And they stay "on code" about hiding that. Most of you will probably never see a glimpse of who they really are.

They literally believe things that you would think impossible for anyone who is educated, lives in a developed country, and has spent generations in a developed, urban environment. There's something very, very wrong with them. There's no other way to describe it but mental illness or sociopathy or some other lack of normal biological function. These people even try to defend their behavior by saying "Well, we're all animals." Think about that. When have you ever thought to defend your behavior by claiming similarity to animals? Who even thinks in that way? That's not something that comes from a healthy mind.

ETA: They're like a child abuser or serial killer, meaning, they present as totally normal (job, marriage, education, friends, active in church/community, well-liked), but still think abnormally and do terrible things. This is probably the best way to summarize what I'm trying to convey as far as the threat posed by these people and how they think.

You type the most absurd things.

The skinny dogs look more organized than the hunters.

Lord... people are really suffering.

You expel some white men from your country and bring in another set of white men into your country. Yeah, Niger is free.

Freshtruth:
Rema is now bigger than done jazzy truth be told he is ripe to form is record label he does not need Don't jazzy influence anymore he ihas his own influence now.

What's your point? So because he is bigger and doesn't need him anymore, it justifies dragging the person on whose shoulder he stood for years? Nawa o