Despite the age of consent in Mississippi being 16, no one under the age of 18 will have access to digital materials made available through public and school libraries without explicit parental/guardian permission.

Mississippi has a new law on the books directly impacting access and use of digital resources like Hoopla and Overdrive for those under the age of 18 throughout the state. Even if granted parental permission, minors may not have materials available to them, if vendors do not ensure every item within their offerings meets the new, wide-reaching definition of “obscenity” per the state. Mississippi Code 39-3-25, part of House Bill 1315, went into effect July 1, 2023, and libraries across the state have scrambled for how to be in compliance.

life is pain

I've been on a spy fiction kick recently- I really enjoyed the recent The Man from UNCLE movie and I Expect You to Die video game. I'm looking for some novels that are in a similar vein (classic 60s spy versus an egomaniac villain out to take over the world). However, I cannot stand the sexism in Ian Fleming's books. He's got good prose and worldbuilding, but it bugs me too much to enjoy the books.

Are there any recent spy novels that fall into this genre?

Just played through the first two games after seeing RT Game's playthrough. I am looking forward to this one!

I don't know if the mods of /r/LearnJapanese planned on migrating their stuff over to a lemmy instance. They seem to be permanently private as of right now, so I just wanted to link to the internet archive of the subreddit's language learning resource list.

Keep in mind that the links on the internet archive lead to other archived sites. For example, archived google docs don't load properly, so after clicking on one, you will need to copy/paste the link into your address bar.

Why is there such a disparity between techniques used in formal language classes versus those recommended in online communities?

For example, I've recently started tutoring ESL at my library (I have no credentials, this is just volunteer work), and the program runners have stressed repeatedly how important it is for learners to speak, and to start speaking early. I can see why this is practical: at least in the United States, it's very difficult to communicate with anyone if you don't speak English. So even a few memorized "tourist" phrases can help a lot.

But in the long-term, this seems to run contrary to what I've seen different online communities talk about- be it Refold, Steve Kaufman, Steve Krashner, Dreaming Spanish, etc. Most online communities seem to stress immersion and natural methods, prioritizing input/comprehension over output/speaking. Some of these folks even say that you shouldn't talk at all in L2 until you reach a certain point (though others say that it doesn't matter).

Is this a genuine difference in language-learning philosophy, or are the needs of "practical" learners just different than "hobbyist" learners?

Since this is a cafe and all that...

I actually like the McDonald's ground coffee that you can make at home. For whatever reason, after you brew it, it doesn't go stale when you leave it sitting for a few hours. Maybe I should be more concerned about this.