{"about":"European software engineer.

Experience mainly with Swift, ObjC, and Java; usual smattering of experience in other languages (IDL, REALbasic [back when it was still called that], Python, PHP, JavaScript, etc.)

Human language knowledge:

- English: native

- German: self taught with apps and podcasts including Duolingo, Clozemaster, Babbel (both their apps and podcasts), EasyGerman, Coffee Break German etc., non-certified CEFR level B1 from three online placement tests where I've scored B1/B1/B2.1 (which matches my self-estimate because I can do normal daily things without having to reach for a translator, but surprises still confound me).

- Esperanto/Greek/Dutch/Spanish: also self-taught, but probably A1 or less, so while I can type ενα τσι και ενα σανδυιχ παρακαλορ without reaching for Google Translate, if I use GT to check my work I find I spelled "tea" and "please" wrong, and when I asked for that in Athens the person behind the counter just corrected me in English.

- Arabic: an attempt was made, to help pass time during the pandemic. I recommend you don't waste time trying to use Duolingo for learning this language.

- Futhark᛬ ᛚᛖᚨᚱᚾᛖᛞ᛬ᚦᛖ᛬ᚨᛚᛈᚺᚨᛒᛖᛏ᛬ᚨᛊ᛬ᚨ᛬ᚲᛁᛞ᛬ᚲᚨᚾ᛬ᚢᚾᛞᛖᚱᛊᛏᚨᚾᛞ᛬ᚦᛖᛗ᛬ᚹᚺᛖᚾ᛬ᚦᛖᚹᛁ᛬ᚨᛈᛈᛖᚨᚱ᛬ᛁᚾ᛬ᚦᛖ᛬ᚺᛟᛒᛒᛁᛏ᛬ᛟᚱ᛬ᛚᛟᚱᛞ᛬ᛟᚠ᛬ᚦᛖ᛬ᚱᛁᛜᛊ᛬ᛒᚢᛏ᛬ᛞᛟᚾᛏ᛬ᚨᛊᚲ᛬ᛗᛖ᛬ᚨᚾᚹᛁᚦᛁᛜ᛬ᚨᛒᛟᚢᛏ᛬ᚦᛖ᛬ᛟᛚᛞ᛬ᚾᛟᚱᛊᛖ᛬ᛚᚨᛜᚢᚨᚷᛖ

Currently:

- In 2024 I stopped working though Brilliant.org courses, not because I've done all of them, but because I've Peter-Principled myself on it: I've done harder and harder courses until I exceeded my competence, which was a lot of stuff, but not the most advanced calculus or group theory stuff: https://benwheatley.github.io/blog/2024/03/11-12.00.16.html

I tried looking at it more recently to see if it was worth re-subscribing, but it seems like the new material is all focussed on k-11 pupils rather than adult learners pushing themselves further, so I suspect I won't go back.

- Still trying to finish editing a SciFi novel: got stuck at 90%, the final 10% is in a rewrite loop where I'm never happy with what I produce

- Looking for working; my main experience is as a senior iPhone app developer, but I am open to be a noob again in some other aspect of software development.

https://kitsunesoftware.com has all the links to my other stuff","created_time":1481564571,"created":"9 years ago","id":"ben_w","karma":26091}