> Science isn't bad, once you get into high school. By then, you're used to the fact that everything they teach you is a half-truth. (Particle theory in grade 9 - atomic theory in grade 10 - quantum theory in 11 and 12 - I don't know what they're going to teach me next...). A big problem is that these are developing fields so much of what you learn is out of date within about 2 years.

They taught you quantum theory in bloody *eleventh grade?* Where do you go to school?

> Second languages are fine. They normally don't lie to you. The only problem is that, even if you've passed a second language course in school, that doesn't mean you're really fluent in that language.

I disagree on this one. I took Spanish for four years of high school, and I am fluent in it. When I got to college, I took a placement test in Spanish, got a perfect score, placed into SPA 3290 (Great Spanish and French poetry of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries), got an "A," and effectively completed a college Spanish program in the first term of my freshman year. :-}

> English class is terrible. If you ever want anyone to read anything you ever write, DON'T write like you're supposed to in English classes. Write the way you do on this formum instead. A well written novel, professional memo, textbook, instruction manual, or just about anything is accessible and easy to read. A well written English essay is inaccessible and just about impossible to read by someone who isn't trained to decode it; as well such an essay is structured in an annoying and highly artificial manner.

The trouble is, all of my English teachers in high school were thrilled to death by my semi-casual writing style, and I received high marks for it, which gets me chewed out nowadays by professors who want a more "structured" approach to essay writing. (Sigh)

> I could go on for volumes. I have before...
>
> [Space "don't get me started" Bar]

People tend to do that around here. If you do go on for volumes at any point, you may well become a household name! (Sorry, I couldn't resist)

Dar "Dick and Jane are at the beach. See Dick and Jane at the beach. The beach is fun." ien