# The SDMB Mentor Program **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 26, 2003, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304 "2003-04-26T12:36:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tanookie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@tanookie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanookie)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304/21 "2003-04-27T22:28:30Z")
This makes me wish I was really good at something… anything… I did want to chime in my agreement about how foreign languages are taught in American schools; although I am usually better at the grammar than the vocabulary part. I’ve studied 3 languages besides English and can’t speak any of them! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304/22 "2003-04-27T23:09:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zev\_steinhardt \* > \*\ ***Flymaster** , > > Would you mind if I pick your brain a bit too on OOPL? > > Zev Steinhardt \*\* Any time, Zev. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304/23 "2003-04-28T01:56:56Z")
I dunno what specifically I can add here … I mean, it’s not that hard to run naked through a thread;) Until someone better chimes in, I’m willing to lend a hand for anyone who wants some basic to deep intermediate French instruction. I’m also a passably good editor, so if someone is interested in learning how to go from thought to written word in a better way, I’m good for that too. This part might only apply to the high-schoolers here, but I seem to have a knack for balacing chemistry equations, and an equal gift for the maths between algebra and calculus (with a slight dip at geometry). ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304/24 "2003-04-28T02:16:57Z")
Exploration geophysics checking in. Drop me a line if that’s what you’d like to do (dwindling career opportunities here, but, hey, only the best survive, right?) ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304/25 "2003-04-28T02:36:29Z")
Cool idea. I’d be more than happy to help anyone with any music theory/history questions they might have. I’ve also got some skills in Latin that I’d be happy to put to good use. Hm… I also am pretty good at and enjoy proofing/critiquing papers. These are probably the only things I’m confident in at a college and beyond level. ---
**Author:** ![Omorka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Omorka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omorka)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304/26 "2003-04-28T02:46:09Z")
I’m a high school math teacher and would consider myself competent to mentor up through calculus. I could mange diff. eq. if I reviewed a bit. I’m also one-half of a spouse-pair who are the unofficial Weird Stuff Tour of Houston, TX people. Okay, that one is kind of narrow, but anyway, if there are people who are interested in interesting sites or architecture in Houston, I’d be happy to do that, too. On the reverse side, I’m going to be learning how to ride a real bicycle in city traffic this summer. I learned to ride on a one-speed girly bike on trafficless gravel roads in rural Mississippi. Any handholding and/or advice would be appreciated . . . ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304/27 "2003-04-28T02:47:29Z")
Whoa. I wish I had something to contribute that I could teach people, but I’m only a sophomore in high school, so there’s not really anything I’m really good at. Latin, maybe. I’ve taken almost 4 years now. I’m pretty good at sentence structure and all that, but at translating I’m not the best. If anyone just wants to be my mentor just for stuff I need to know but don’t want to ask my parents, I’m up for it. I always sort of wanted someone who I could ask about stuff, a grownup, who would give me an honest opinion and set me straight on things. IM me at rubylite12, or e-mail [rubylite12@aol.com](mailto:rubylite12@aol.com) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304/28 "2003-04-28T02:47:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MonkeyMensch \* > **Hey, Haj. Are you at UCSB or living in SB making a living? What does an ME do in real life? Take me to work on Monday. (No big deal, of course. I’m just always on the lookout for things to learn.)** I went to UCS_D_ for my BS and MS and have been in SB making a living for 13 years. I can’t exactly take you to work on Monday because I’m in Taiwan and it’s already Monday here! Barring a SARS quarantine, I’ll be back in the US later in the week. Rather than hijack this any further, drop me an email and I’ll be happy to answer any and all questions. Haj ---
**Author:** ![mipiace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb9ed0/32.png) [@mipiace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mipiace)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304/29 "2003-04-28T02:53:42Z")
Okay I am in. I don’t know that I am an expert in anything really…but I have some pretty good qworking knowledge about a few things. Abnormal psychology (my degree), living/working in Europe, the US Air Force, gardening, and pets. What I am really dieing for is someone to converse with in italian. I am forgetting my language skills and I would love anyone who speaks conversational Italian (or proper I am not picky) just to BS with. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304/30 "2003-04-28T03:04:39Z")
> [@](#): > > **On the reverse side, I’m going to be learning how to ride a real bicycle in city traffic this summer. I learned to ride on a one-speed girly bike on trafficless gravel roads in rural Mississippi. Any handholding and/or advice would be appreciated . . .** I did this for a few years, commuting/riding-for-the-heck-of it…drop me a line if you like. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tsubaki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@Tsubaki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tsubaki)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304/31 "2003-04-28T03:11:30Z")
I can offer Japanese (studied for 12 years, lived in Japan ten years total, plus live with a Japanese guy who could answer stuff if I’m unable to). ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304/32 "2003-04-28T03:22:43Z")
I also love to talk about drums and drumming (primarily drumset-related), so anyone who wishes to discuss/ask/debunk things along this topic is welcome to e-mail me as well. I _know_ there are plenty of things I would like advice about; let me take a rain-check and come back when I think of them. ---
**Author:** ![futureman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3da27b/32.png) [@futureman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/futureman)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304/33 "2003-04-28T03:37:53Z")
Por lo menos puedo hablar español. Pero ahora mi memoria me falta porque aprendo alemán ahora. I’m pretty good at spanish. But I learned most of my Spanish from a bunch of college students in Spain, so my vocab has a lot of useless words! ---
**Author:** ![jamesinwonderland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@jamesinwonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jamesinwonderland)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304/34 "2003-04-28T03:58:40Z")
I’d like to learn conversational Spanish - all I can do is order beer…comes in handy in Mexico, but a little more might be nice. As well, if anyone could help me learn semi-advanced fractions without a calculator that would be great, as I’ve got an exam coming up that I need to do really well on in order to take the courses that I want next year. Anyone who could help with this could email me at [dancing\_darlin@hotmail.com](mailto:dancing_darlin@hotmail.com) - thanks much 🙂 \*\*Jamie - btw, I don’t really have too many talents to speak of, but if anyone wants help with learning about dance (jazz mostly, some ballet and hip-hop), that’s about the only thing that I really know a lot about. that and books, I’ll read pretty much anything…but I don’t see how that can be all that useful ---
**Author:** ![Aceospades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Aceospades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aceospades)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304/35 "2003-04-28T14:25:56Z")
What a great idea! I need someone to hold my hand and teach me about Microsoft money and how I could get my finances in order. Also, can someone teach me how to re-point the side of my house? OH-OH and spybot! Can someone walk me through this (from what I heard) great freeware. My computer needs a cleaning and I don’t know how to do it. Drop me a line or IM me, both in my profile. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304/36 "2003-04-28T15:06:50Z")
Ooh! I can contribute AND make a request: **Contribution** I’m a bit of a unix geek - I work officially with AIX, HP/UX, and Solaris (I was a Sun instructor for a while). I might could answer your questions on any of those. **Request** I want to learn Mandarin Chinese!!! I went out and spent a couple hundred dollars on the 6-volume, 10 cassette Practical Chinese course, but not having anyone to speak at (or occasionally beat me into submission to actually study it) I haven’t made much progress. I don’t know how much of that can be done via internet, but… I would’ve taken **Tsubaki** up on Japanese if I didn’t already have the Chinese stuff 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304/37 "2003-04-28T15:14:37Z")
I’d like to learn to play Diplomacy. I read the threads about it and it seems interesting. I’m not an expert in anything, but I’m a life-long pet/horse owner, so I might be able to answer questions about those topics. StG ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304/38 "2003-04-28T15:22:11Z")
**Flymaster** (eep, or maybe now you are just Master!), thank you! I have mailed you 🙂 **LilyoftheValley** , if you weren’t just humoring me, I would be thrilled to get you started in Swedish. I have been teaching an Irish guy over the net for the past month, and he is now able to write gramatically correct emails with the help of a dictionary, it’s too funny 🙂 drop me a line at swedish AT techbase DOT eu DOT org Might I advise others not to just dump their email addys into the thread, but to break them up in some way, this might save you some spam. Could a mod break the ones that are in here already? I would hate to have people cussing me out 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Washte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Washte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washte)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304/39 "2003-04-28T16:27:04Z")
**jamesinwonderland** , I’ve offered for **Cisco** as well to teach a bit of conversational Spanish. You can drop me a line if you’d like with what you are interested in learning to say and I’ll not only tell you how to say it, but write it phonetically so you can pronounce it. Whatever it takes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Anahita](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9a28c/32.png) [@Anahita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anahita)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304/40 "2003-04-28T18:50:18Z")
What I can teach you, or tell you about: Living and working abroad (Japan, France, Ireland, US Virgin Islands) as a teacher, how to speak Farsi, bilingualism and second lang acquisition What I’d like to learn: How to make a basic BASIC web page. I can’t even figure out Yahoo’s do-it-yourself page. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-mentor-program/171304.md?page=3)