u/drunkstoned94

Time: 1997–2023
Location: United Kingdom

Hi all

I made a bar chart race of uk cities with the most ufo sightings from 1997 to 2023 using uk gov / foi data

Main source here

UK Ministry of Defence – UFO reports in the UK
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ufo-reports-in-the-uk

The gov page has reports from 1997 to 2009 with dates times locations and short notes on what people reported

i also checked some national archives / declassified ufo stuff aswell

not saying this proves aliens or anything lol, just thought it was interesting to put the data into a chart and see which places came up most

cities include london, manchester, edinburgh, birmingham, bradford, cardiff, liverpool, bristol, glasgow, leeds, sheffield and others

curious what people think of the rankings or any other ufo data worth doing next

I’m learning Polish at the moment but I’m still very early. I’m not even A1 yet, maybe about halfway through the beginner stuff on the app.

For ages I was nervous to actually say anything out loud. On the app it feels fine, but around real Polish people at work I kept overthinking it.

I finally just went for it and used a few basic words and phrases, like gdzie jest…, greetings, and other simple stuff.

Nothing impressive, not a proper conversation yet. Just small bits.

But they were actually sound about it. Nobody laughed or judged me. They helped me, corrected me a bit, and encouraged me.

One person even used some slang back at me in a joking friendly way, like cutting me off for a laugh, and it made it feel less awkward.

It made me realise I was building it up too much in my head. Even a few words in public felt like a big step.

I’d love to know the best way to actually learn Polish properly from here. What helped you most when you were still really early?

I’m learning Polish at the moment and I’m not even A1 yet. I’d say I’m maybe about 50% of the way there on the app I’m using.

For a while, I’ve been nervous about actually speaking it out loud to real people. Practising on an app is one thing, but saying words in public is completely different.

I work with Polish people, so I finally decided to just go for it and use a few Polish words and small phrases at work.

Honestly, they didn’t laugh or judge me at all. They actually helped me.

Some of them corrected me, some encouraged me, and one even used a bit of slang to jokingly cut me off in a friendly way. It made the whole thing feel less serious and more natural.

It reminded me that most people are not waiting for you to fail. A lot of native speakers actually respect the fact that you’re trying, even if your pronunciation or grammar is rough.

I’m nowhere near fluent, but this gave me a lot more confidence. It made me realise that you don’t need to wait until you’re “good enough” to start speaking.

Sometimes saying a few imperfect words is the thing that makes you better.

Has anyone else had that first moment where they finally spoke their target language in public and realised it wasn’t as scary as they expected?