1,187 Matching Annotations
  1. May 2022
    1. To manage this new capacity, we switched from ad-hoc project lengths to repeating cycles. (It took some experimentation to find the right cycle length: six weeks. More on that later.)

      We formalized our pitching and betting processes.

      My role shifted again, from design and product management to product strategy.

      I needed new language, like the word "shaping", to describe the up-front design work we did to set boudaries and reduce risks on projects before we committed them to teams.

    2. We needed language to describe what we were doing and more structure to keep doing it at our new scale.

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    1. a recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences argues that a language’s power doesn’t come from the sheer number of people who speak it, but from who those people are.

      Interesting paper to read. I was interested an Indian point of view thinking that - Does a language being monopolized by the elite, to produce their scholarship, but not the language of the commoners - such as Sanskrit, Persian and now English in India, prevent it from being a surviving eventually?

  2. Apr 2022
    1. allow Jakobson to explain why the first person and its cognates are both thelast linguistic acquisition of the child and the first linguistic loss of the aphasiac.Jakobson’s first essays to be translated into French came out in 1963. Barthesrefers to them, the very same year, in the preface to the Critical Essays where heidentifies (if one may say so) both positively and negatively with those two invalidspeaking subjects whom, for not having yet (or having no longer) access to thefirst person, he promotes as models or examples for the writer, granted one differ-ence: the writer takes responsibility for not uttering the “I” that both the childand the aphasiac are constitutionally unable to use.

      Is it broadly true that the first person and cognates are the last acquisitions of children and among the first losses of aphasiacs?

    1. never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he orshe feels forgotten. The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, thehomeless refugees — not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude byoffering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory

      The speaker uses descriptive imagery of how the victim feels when treated indifferently and why indifference hurts others more than we think. This is the author using pathos to get the audience feeling pity and guilt for these children and victims. This creates a critical tone because his words are harsh about what happened to the victims.

    2. profoundfear and extraordinary hope

      He ends his speech dramatically using an oxymoron to tug at the audiences extreme opposite feelings. Mr. Wiesel does this to make a lasting impression, prompting the audience to take action.

    3. I was here and Iwill never forget it

      Mr. Wiesel uses a hyperbole here to show that it was a very memorable moment that will be stuck in his memory for a long time.

    4. Why were they so few? Why was there agreater effort to save SS murderers after the war than to save their victims during thewar?

      He asks more rhetorical questions to make the audience question whether or not they were indifferent.

    5. What happened?I don't understand. Why the indifference, on the highest level, to the suffering of thevictims?

      He asks rhetorical questions that get the audience to think about their countries actions and why they were indifferent to begin with.

    6. Hemobilized the American people and the world, going into battle, bringing hundredsand thousands of valiant and brave soldiers in America to fight fascism, to fightdictatorship, to fight Hitler. And so many of the young people fell in battle.

      He uses imagery here to describe how great Roosevelt was, but it creates a heartbreaking and sad tone.

    7. just the railways, just once

      Repetition is used here to show the desperation the children had in being saved. He shows this by repeating "just" twice to create a sense of hopelessness and desperation.

    8. strangers to their surroundings

      Mr. Wiesel uses personification, suggesting the surroundings are strangers or people the prisoners don't know. This means the prisoners were in a state of confusion and isolation.

    9. broken heart

      Mr. Wiesel uses a hyperbole here to show how devastated people feel when seeing children in pain or abandoned because adults were indifferent to them. This helps him relate to the audience more by using pathos.

    10. Does it mean that we have learned from the past? Does it mean that society haschanged? Has the human being become less indifferent and more human? Have wereally learned from our experiences

      More rhetorical questions are used to raise even more doubt about whether or not the audience has truly learned from there mistakes and are willing to do better in the future. This creates a critical tone that's a little harsh at times.

    11. But this time, the world was not silent

      The personification of the world being silent represents everyone on the world not speaking against indifference. This implies that everyone needs to stand up and choose not to be indifferent.

    12. save those victims, those refugees, those who were uprooted by a man

      He uses repetition here to show there are many people who suffer from indifference.

    13. with hundreds ofJewish shops destroyed, synagogues burned, thousands of people put inconcentration camps. And that ship, which was already in the shores of the UnitedStates, was sent back

      Mr. Wiesel uses imagery to show many examples of indifference in other places because of the US government. This is to create a tone of guilt and it also creates pathos, which helps the audience realize what mistakes they made and how they were accidently indifferent to others.

    14. , his image in Jewish history — I must say it — his image in Jewishhistory is flawed

      Mr. Wiesel uses Repetition here to show how important Roosevelts image is and how his image is flawed in Jewish history.

    15. God is wherever we are. Even in suffering? Even in suffering

      Rhetorical question that means God is wherever we are even in suffering, helping us realize someone is always watching over us and staying with us.

    16. human being inhuman

      Mr. Wiesel uses a hyperbole here to show that being indifferent makes you a monster, or someone who doesn't care as much as the average human does.

    17. They were dead and did not know it

      A hyperbole exaggerating how the prisoners were. This creates pathos because the audience feels sad for the prisoners and maybe guilty for not helping them.

    18. It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptionsto our work, our dreams, our hopes. It is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to beinvolved in another person's pain and despair. Yet, for the person who is indifferent,his or her neighbor are of no consequence.

      Vivid Imagery of why people are indifferent, which creates a critical and wise tone.

    19. lives are meaningless

      A hyperbole stating people who are being treated indifferently have no value. Everyone has value and are meaningful, but Mr. Wiesel states this to show how the person feels when being treated terribly.

    20. What is indifference? Etymologically, the word means "no difference." A strange andunnatural state in which the lines blur between light and darkness, dusk and dawn,crime and punishment, cruelty and compassion, good and evil

      Mr. Wiesel uses imagery here to explain to the audience what indifference is in his point of view. This is to help the audience better understand what he will be implying about indifference later.

    21. Thesefailures have cast a dark shadow over humanity

      A metaphor is used here comparing the many failures to some large object that casts a dark shadow. The meaning of this is that the failures are difficult to understand, they block the light from humanity, and it effects everyone. This creates a gloomy tone

    22. What will the legacy ofthis vanishing century be? How will it be remembered in the new millennium?

      Rhetorical questions asking what the future generations will think of them, and how will they be remembered. Will they have a legacy of being indifferent or helping others.

    23. and I am filled with a profound andabiding gratitude

      Hyperbole, he is not actually filled with gratitude, Mr. Wiesel just has a lot of it.

    1. Dante wrote this Comedy not in highly regarded Latin, but in the spoken dialect of Tuscany. The decision helped turn that dialect into the legitimate language we now call Italian, a tribute to the importance of literature in shaping language.
    1. Researchers have demonstrated, for instance, that intentionallyimitating someone’s accent allows us to comprehend more easily the words theperson is speaking (a finding that might readily be applied to second-languagelearning).
  3. Mar 2022
    1. In years past, having two languages in one brain was deemed by some to be confusing and a cause for learning delays (Kroll et al. 2014).
    1. The Torres Strait comprises five major island groups, each with aunique geography. The Islanders are culturally Melanesian, but withclose links to Aboriginal communities on the mainland and in thesouth-western island group. Two major languages are spoken: KalaLagau Ya (and various dialects), a Pama–Nyungan Aboriginallanguage spoken in the western and central islands, and Meriam Mir,a Papuan language spoken in the eastern islands. Today, a majorityof Islanders speak English and Yumplatok (Creole)

      map of Torres Strait Islands between Australia and Papua New Guinea

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    1. Evaluations of the platform show that users who follow the avatar inmaking a gesture achieve more lasting learning than those who simply hear theword. Gesturing students also learn more than those who observe the gesture butdon’t enact it themselves.

      Manuela Macedonia's research indicates that online learners who enact specific gestures as they learn words learn better and have longer retention versus simply hearing words. Students who mimic these gestures also learn better than those who only see the gestures and don't use them themselves.

      How might this sort of teacher/avatar gesturing be integrated into online methods? How would students be encouraged to follow along?

      Could these be integrated into different background settings as well to take advantage of visual memory?

      Anecdotally, I remember some Welsh phrases from having watched Aran Jones interact with his cat outside on video or his lip syncing in the empty spaces requiring student responses. Watching the teachers lips while learning can be highly helpful as well.

    2. In a study published in 2020, for example, Macedonia and a group of sixcoauthors compared study participants who had paired new foreign-languagewords with gestures to those who had paired the learning of new words withimages of those words. The researchers found evidence that the motor cortex—the area of the brain that controls bodily movement—was activated in thegesturing group when they reencountered the vocabulary words they hadlearned; in the picture-viewing group, the motor cortex remained dormant. The“sensorimotor enrichment” generated by gesturing, Macedonia and hercoauthors suggest, helps to make the associated word more memorable

      Manuela Macedonia and co-authors found that pairing new foreign words with gestures created activity in the motor cortex which helped to improve the associative memory for the words and the movements. Using images of the words did not create the same motor cortex involvement.

      It's not clear which method of association is better, at least as written in The Extended Mind. Was one better than the other? Were they tested separately, together, and in a control group without either? Surely one would suspect that using both methods together would be most beneficial.

    3. the use of gestures to enhance verbal memory during foreign-language encoding.

      Manuela Macedonia wrote her Ph.D. thesis on the use of gestures to enhance verbal memory for language acquisition.

    4. Back then, Macedonia foundherself increasingly frustrated with the conventional format of foreign-languagecourses: a lot of sitting, listening, and writing. That’s not how anyone learnstheir native language, she notes. Young children encounter new words in a richsensorimotor context: as they hear the word “apple,” they see and touch theshiny red fruit; they may even bring it to their mouth, tasting its sweet flesh andsmelling its crisp scent. All of these many hooks for memory are missing fromthe second-language classroom.

      Most foreign language leaners spend all their time in classrooms or at home sitting down, listening, reading, and writing. This is antithetical to how children acquire language in more natural settings where they're able to move around, interact, taste, touch, smell, etc. as they learn new words in their language. These additional sensory mnemonic techniques add an incredible amount of information and associative hooks to help them remember new words and grammatical structures.

    5. S CLEAR THAT spontaneous gestures can support intelligent thinking. There’salso a place for what we might call designed gestures: that is, motions that arecarefully formulated in advance to convey a particular notion. Geologist MicheleCooke’s gestures, inspired by sign language, fall into this category; she verydeliberately uses hand movements to help students understand spatial conceptsthat are difficult to communicate in words.

      There are two potential axes for gestures: spontaneous and intentional. Intentional gestures include examples like sign language, memetic pantomimes, and dance or related animal mimicry gestures used by indigenous cultures for communicating the movement and behavior of animals.

      Intentional gestures can also be specifically designed for pedagogical purposes as well as for mnemonic purposes.

      cross reference to Lynne Kelly example about movement/gesture in indigenous cultures.

    6. Cooke often employs a modified form of sign language with her (hearing)students at UMass. By using her hands, Cooke finds, she can accurately capturethe three-dimensional nature of the phenomena she’s explaining.

      Can gesturing during (second) language learning help dramatically improve the speed and facility of the second language acquisition by adult learners?

      Evidence in language acquisition in children quoted previously in The Extended Mind would indicate yes.

      link this related research

    7. People who are fluent in sign language, as Cooke is, have beenfound to have an enhanced ability to process visual and spatial information. Suchsuperior performance is exhibited by hearing people who know sign language, aswell as by the hearing impaired—suggesting that it is the repeated use of astructured system of meaning-bearing gestures that helps improve spatialthinking.

      Evidence indicates that those who are have experience or fluency in sign language (both hearing and non-hearing) have increased visual-spatial intelligence and reasoning. Practice using gesturing directly improves spatial thinking.

    8. Studies show that children whose parents gesture a lot proceed togesture frequently themselves, and eventually to acquire expansive spoken-wordvocabularies.

      Studies show the importance of gesturing in developing children as a precursor to language. Adults who gesture more have children who gesture more as well. There also seems to be a direct correlation to the gestural vocabulary of children at 14 months and their verbal vocabulary at 4 and 1/2 years of age.

    9. Children can typically understand and act on a request to point to theirnose, for example, a full six months before they are able to form the spokenword “nose.”

      Many children are also able to begin using sign language for their needs prior to being able to use spoken language as well.

    1. Understanding a strange codebase is hard.

      John Nagle is fond of making the observation that there are three fundamental and recurring questions that dominate one's concerns when programming in C.

      More broadly (speaking of software development generally), one of the two big frustrations I have when dealing with a foreign codebase is the simple question, "Where the hell does this type/function come from?" (esp. in C and, unfortunately, in Go, too, since the team didn't take the opportunity to fix it there when they could have...). There's something to be said for Intellisense-like smarts in IDEs, but I think the criticism of IDEs is justified. I shouldn't need an IDE just to be able to make sense of what I'm reading.

      The other big frustration I often have is "Where does the program really start?" Gilad Bracha seems to really get this, from what I've understood of his descriptions about how module definitions work in Newspeak. Even though it's reviled, I think Java was really shrewd about its decisions here (and on the previous problem, too, for that matter—don't know exactly where FooBar comes from? welp, at least you can be reasonably sure that it's in a file called FooBar.java somewhere, so you can do a simple (and cheap) search across file names instead of a (slow, more expensive) full-text search). Except for static initializers, Java classes are just definitions. You don't get to have live code in the top-level scope the way you can with JS or Python or Go. As cumbersome as Java's design decision might feel like it's getting in your way when you're working on your own projects and no matter how much you hate it for making you pay the boilerplate tax, when it comes to diving in to a foreign codebase, it's great when modules are "inert". They don't get to do anything, save for changing the visibility of some symbol (e.g. the FooBar of FooBar.java). If you want to know how a program works, then you can trace the whole thing, in theory, starting from main. That's really convenient when it means you don't have to think about how something might be dependent on a loop in an arbitrary file that immediately executes on import, or any other top-level diddling (i.e. critical functionality obscured by some esoteric global mutable state).

  4. Feb 2022
    1. Argument that popular modern dictionaries are taking the wrong approach by defining words as plainly as possible. That makes it no fun to use them except for definitions.

      For writing at least, using something like the original Websters dictionary is a great help to improve your style.

    1. The basic approach is in line with Krashen's influential Theory of Input, suggesting that language learning proceeds most successfully when learners are presented with interesting and comprehensible L2 material in a low-anxiety situation.

      Stephen Krashen's Theory of Input indicates that language learning is most successful when learners are presented with interesting and comprehensible material in low-anxiety situations.

    1. This is a pretty cool looking project for language learning.

      <small><cite class='h-cite via'> <span class='p-author h-card'>Manny Rayner </span> in Manny Rayner’s review of Abécédaire le petit prince | Goodreads (<time class='dt-published'>02/18/2022 11:40:10</time>)</cite></small>

      We have been doing some work recently to make LARA support picture-based texts, and this is our first real example: a multimodal French alphabet book based on Le petit prince. If you're a fan of the book and beginner level in French, you might find it fun! Start Chrome or Firefox and go here.

      There's a set of 26 pages, one for each letter, and each page comes in three versions. In the Semantic version, you can click on the picture and hear the word spoken in French; hovering gives you a translation. In the Phonetic version, you can hover over the word and spell though it one letter group at a time. Clicking on a letter group will play the sound and show you other words where that sound occurs. In the Examples version, you'll see a French sentence from Le petit prince which uses the word, annotated with audio and translations both for the individual words and for the sentence as a whole.

      The screenshot above illustrates. The D word is dessins ("drawings"). This is the Phonetic version: I've just clicked on the letter group in, and it's played the sound /ɛ̃/, the nasalised vowel that this letter group usually represents in French, and shown me that the same sound also occurs in invisible ("invisible") and jardin ("garden"). If you go to the Examples version, you see the sentence Mon dessin ne représentait pas un chapeau. ("My drawing wasn't supposed to be a hat") from the first chapter of the book.

      Comments will be very welcome! We're thinking of doing more of these and want to know where we can improve things.

  5. Jan 2022
  6. Dec 2021
    1. To test whether these distributed representations of meaning are neurally plausible, a number of studies have attempted to learn a mapping between particular semantic dimensions and patterns of brain activation
    1. Neither, we think, would anyonewho has ever learned a truly alien language deny that doing so takesa great deal of imaginative work, trying to grasp unfamiliar concepts.

      Learning and mastering an alien language takes a tremendous amount of work, taxing one's imagination attempting to come to terms with similarly alien cultural concepts.

    1. Catala, a programming language developed by Protzenko's graduate student Denis Merigoux, who is working at the National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology (INRIA) in Paris, France. It is not often lawyers and programmers find themselves working together, but Catala was designed to capture and execute legal algorithms and to be understood by lawyers and programmers alike in a language "that lets you follow the very specific legal train of thought," Protzenko says.

      A domain-specific language for encoding legal interpretations.

    1. I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide

      This metaphor unfolds how powerful the speaker is as it acts as a symbol of energy and immensity while hinting at the color of her skin. Comparing herself to a compelling force of nature, she portrays herself as strong and majestic going with the highs and lows of the "tide" or society's challenges.

    2. That I dance like I’ve got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs?

      The alliteration in this line - in which the words begin with the consonant "d" - make the line easy to read and flow nicely, thus suggesting that the speaker dances with joy and content. The simile conveys that she embraces herself, her body, and culture and that she will not change to fit a societal mold.

      Symbols of wealth are spread throughout the poem: gold mines, diamonds, and oil wells. This suggests that Angelou feels wealthy when surrounded by the elements of her community. She does not have an abundance of financial wealth and society does not view her or her community as wealthy and also restricts them from gaining wealth. s

    3. like I’ve got oil wells Pumping in my living room.

      This simile portrays Angelou's success with her previous poetry collections as she recognizes herself as an accomplished female black writer. Oil wells are a symbol of prosperity; the richest countries in the world were selling oil. Thus when reading this line, the reader should picture a wealthy girl with their head held high.

    4. like dust, I’ll rise.
      1. Simile

      This simile contrasts that of the symbol in the line above. Using the symbol of dirt to convey the unvalued and downtrodden significance of the African Americans to society, she counters this with the simile of dust. She implies that, similar to dust which rises from the ground when stepped on by a heavy foot, her community will rise up and fight against this oppression.

      1. Irony

      This set of two lines at the end of this first stanza address direct oppression and demonstrate irony. She explains that in an attempt to try and oppress her, the oppressors are giving her strength and determination to survive. With the intention to stop her from moving forward by stomping her into the dirt, it has an opposing effect. She is able to rise higher. The presence of oppression strengthens her resolve, and followed by "I'll rise" emphasizes her resistance to give in. Typically a negative and dirty image, Angelou is able to twist dust into a positive and strong image to show her community's desire for equality.

    5. dirt

      Dirt represents how the black community was treated. They were constantly being pushed down or insulted. The community was not accepted as a true part of society as they were seen as a low, disrespected class.

    6. history’s shame

      "History's shame" could be interpreted as an understatement. Slavery generated extensive suffering through tearing apart families, destroying the spirits of African people, and many died. The effects still present today - seen with some still prevalent racist beliefs - demonstrate that slavery changed the course of American history.

      To view more about the history during this time period and how Maya Angelou impacted this crucial era of American history, view the Historical Context page note.

    7. I rise I rise I rise.

      The repetition of "I rise" at the end of the poem drives home her desire to work together with the African American community to rise and face the adversity and hardships that society imposes. It not only creates rhythm, but also reinforces the persistence and strength of the speaker.

    8. Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

      When talking about her ancestors, Angelou is referring to her great grandmother who was a slave (and passed away in 1942). By saying she is the dream, Angelou is attempting to set an example for others of her race in regards to rising above hard situations. Her goal with her work is to inspire change. She is demanding that society leave behind the negative effects of slavery and history of oppression with intent to rise above.

      Shown through her later works, Angelou's great success with not only poetry, but other aspects of American culture. being a poet of presidents, civil rights activist, filmmaker, actor, dancer, and above all educator. She was the first of many special experiences for the African American community; for instance, she served as the first black female street car driver in San Francisco, she wrote the first script by a black woman to be made into a Hollywood film, and her best-selling, award-winning autobiographical book (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings) was one of the first ever written by an African American woman to generate widespread readership. Overall successful in her rise above the deep-rooted racist American beliefs as she played a major role in the civil rights movement.

    9. Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

      This line contrasts that of the dark images portrayed in the line above regarding nights of "terror and fear." This juxtaposition highlights the bright future ahead with her hopes for the civil rights movement by using the images of night and day.

    10. huts of history’s shame

      Alliteration from repeating the consonant "h" creates a line with a heavy sound as she refers to the history of slavery. Even though her people have been. oppressed in the past they have overcome these challenges and will continue this movement.

    11. Does my sexiness upset you?

      Alliteration is used in this line as the consonant "s" is repeated, making the line taunting. The repeated rhetorical questions place society on trial for the harm and injustice pitted against the African American community. While incriminating them, she reveals incredible self-confidence despite the hardships.

    12. like air

      Air in the simile illustrates that the speaker will continue to rise above the challenges set forth, no matter the harm that someone tries to inflict upon her.

    13. kill me with your hatefulness

      The oppression is brought to the climax in this stanza as Angelou compares the hate to death. Saying that the oppressor's hate might kill her spirit, she continues in the next line ensuring the reader that she will rise above. Overall from this stanza, the dark and grim connotation emphasize the aggression towards the African American community. In these lines she is referring to more deep emotional pain rather than physical hurt; however, she uses these tangible, violent objects to show her message. One's words and looks can destroy another person's emotional spirit and one's hatred can kill caused by certain societal rejections.

    14. cut me with your eyes

      This metaphorical weapon refers to the violence of a gun comparing it to the cruel looks of the oppressor. The looks are so hurtful and agonizing in the regard that they are sharp and cutting, like a knife.

    15. shoot me with your words

      Angelou uses metaphorical weapons in this stanza to emphasize the pain of the oppression. Referring to the violence of shooting a gun, the metaphor demonstrates the pain of the oppressor's hateful language.

    16. ’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines Diggin’ in my own backyard.

      By comparing gold mines to her laugh, she portraying that she laughs with the confidence of someone who is wealthy, like she had gold has been discovered in her backyard. She may not be wealthy in a financial sense; however, she has a great wealth of hope and spirit. This simile can also be interpreted as describing the richness of Angelou's culture. The traditions and ties to the culture and "backyard" shows she is close and involved in her community.

    17. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes?

      Another set of rhetorical questions, Angelou is painting a picture of defeat. Being direct and pertinent, she is accusing the oppressor for their actions. She is aware that her success is received with bitterness by the racist society. A few interpretations can be drawn from this stanza. This may literally be a picture of a slave who was abused and she is referring to a broken person. But it can also be taken as a person with a broken spirit as this poem is an autobiography. When Angelou was a young child, she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend and informed of his death after he was murdered soon after; the traumatic series of events led her to be almost completely mute for several years. This interpretation can be of her broken heart and broken spirit from those traumatic childhood experiences. Finally, a general interpretation applies this brokenness and defeat from challenge as an experience that everyone can undergo throughout their life - making it relatable and applicable to the general public, or someone who is experiencing similar despair.

    18. Shoulders falling down like teardrops

      This simile shows the impact of societal conditions on her and the black community - that she is working towards fixing. The speaker refers to being upset and distraught to the point that one's shoulder collapse or sink down, just as tears fall off of one's cheek.

    19. Just like hopes springing high

      This simile stresses her point about maintaining high hopes and confidence during this time of oppression.

    20. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides

      In this simile, Angelou is comparing her resilience to the rising sun and moon in how she will continue to live her life even after people insult and ridicule her. It is her nature to stand against oppression just like the nature of the tides to respond to the moon. The word "certainty" is significant in this line because it emphasizes that no matter how difficult the challenge, she will rise above it with certainty and confidence.

    21. Why are you beset with gloom?

      These first two stanzas contain rhetorical questions that notice society is upset with her success as a writer. Seeing as her work mostly dealt with speaking out against inequality, when Angelou's activist efforts became popular, she received backlash for being an African American woman. In this poem, she is questioning those who would try to deny her the right to succeed and become an accepted part of society. Throughout the poem, she refers to this "you," or the antagonist. Interrogating them, she holds the antagonist accountable for the painful events that her community has been subjected to for countless years.

    1. oaths

      Double meaning: The author's lover swears an 'oath' to them of love, a promise, but since that promise is false, according to the final line of the stanza, it also resembles a curse.

    2. dye to grace her,

      The author implies falseness in their lover, since she appears as a lily, but masks herself in another flower's coloring.

    3. whether?

      In calling their (female) lover a 'lecher', the author not only implies a gross unchasteness, they imply a masculinity, since lecher was most frequently applied to men.

    1. words rang as a knell,

      "Knell" refers to a bell that rings to announce a death or a funeral. Poe uses a simile to compare the sound of wedding vows to the sound of a death knell. This comparison introduces the concept of death, a major characteristic of gothic literature, into the poem, and it also shows the bride's mixed emotions towards her wedding.

    1. JavaScript is actually surprisingly fast because the demand for fast web browsers is huge

      Another way of saying that the use of V8 means that JS isn't actually an "interpreted language" (not that that's even a real thing).

  7. Nov 2021
    1. http://countryoftheblind.blogspot.com/2011/10/product-review-remembering-traditional.html

      Review of Remembering Traditional Hanzi, by James W. Heisig and Timothy W. Richardson which is related to Heisig's similar Japanese book.

      While Heisig's book in Japanese is interesting, it's interesting and feels less useful than a similar and more contextualized book by Kenneth Henshall.

    1. Huang, speaking in Chinese, agrees that radicals can facilitate the mastery of characters while also building cultural understanding, yet he also encourages teachers to become versed in common inconsistencies.

      Learning radicals in languages like Chinese and the related Japanese can not only help vocabulary and literacy, but build cultural understanding of the language and culture.

    2. Mingquan Wang, senior lecturer and language coordinator of the Chinese program at Tufts University, insists that radicals should be a part of the curriculum for teaching Chinese as a foreign language. “The question is,” he says, “how that should be done.” In spring of 2013, Wang sent an online questionnaire to 60 institutions, including colleges and K–12 schools. Of the 42 that responded, 100 percent agreed that teachers of Chinese language should cover radicals, yet few use a separate book or dedicate a course to radicals, and most simply discuss radicals as they encounter them in textbooks.

      This has been roughly my experience with Japanese, but I've yet to see an incredibly good method for doing this in a structured way.

    1. Over the years in academic settings I've picked up pieces of Spanish, French, Latin and a few odd and ends of other languages.

      Six years ago we put our daughter into a dual immersion Japanese program (in the United States) and it has changed some of my view of how we teach and learn languages, a process which is also affected by my slowly picking up conversational Welsh using the method at https://www.saysomethingin.com/ over the past year and change, a hobby which I wish I had more targeted time for.

      Children learn language through a process of contextual use and osmosis which is much more difficult for adults. I've found that the slowly guided method used by SSiW is fairly close to this method, but is much more targeted. They'll say a few words in the target language and give their English equivalents, then they'll provide phrases and eventually sentences in English and give you a few seconds to form them into the target language with the expectation that you try to say at least something, or pause the program to do your best. It's okay if you mess up even repeatedly, they'll say the correct phrase/sentence two times after which you'll repeat it again thus giving you three tries at it. They'll also repeat bits from one lesson to the next, so you'll eventually get it, the key is not to worry too much about perfection.

      Things slowly build using this method, but in even about 10 thirty minute lessons, you'll have a pretty strong grasp of fluent conversational Welsh equivalent to a year or two of college level coursework. Your work on this is best supplemented with interacting with native speakers and/or watching television or reading in the target language as much as you're able to.

      For those who haven't experienced it before I'd recommend trying out the method at https://www.saysomethingin.com/welsh/course1/intro to hear it firsthand.

      The experience will give your brain a heavy work out and you'll feel mentally tired after thirty minutes of work, but it does seem to be incredibly effective. A side benefit is that over time you'll also build up a "gut feeling" about what to say and how without realizing it. This is something that's incredibly hard to get in most university-based or book-based language courses.

      This method will give you quicker grammar acquisition and you'll speak more like a native, but your vocabulary acquisition will tend to be slower and you don't get any writing or spelling practice. This can be offset with targeted memory techniques and spaced repetition/flashcards or apps like Duolingo that may help supplement one's work.

      I like some of the suggestions made in Lynne's post as I've been pecking away at bits of Japanese over time myself. There's definitely an interesting structure to what's going on, especially with respect to the kana and there are many similarities to what is happening in Japanese to the Chinese that she's studying. I'm also approaching it from a more traditional university/book-based perspective, but if folks have seen or heard of a SSiW repetition method, I'd love to hear about it.

      Hopefully helpful by comparison, I'll mention a few resources I've found for Japanese that I've researched on setting out a similar path that Lynne seems to be moving.

      Japanese has two different, but related alphabets and using an app like Duolingo with regular practice over less than a week will give one enough experience that trying to use traditional memory techniques may end up wasting more time than saving, especially if one expects to be practicing regularly in both the near and the long term. If you're learning without the expectation of actively speaking, writing, or practicing the language from time to time, then wholesale mnemotechniques may be the easier path, but who really wants to learn a language like this?

      The tougher portion of Japanese may come in memorizing the thousands of kanji which can have subtly different meanings. It helps to know that there are a limited set of specific radicals with a reasonably delineable structure of increasing complexity of strokes and stroke order.

      The best visualization I've found for this fact is the Complete Listing of the 214 Radicals and Major Variations from An Introduction to Japanese Kanji Calligraphy by Kunii Takezaki (Tuttle, 2005) which I copy below:

      A chart of Japanese radicals in columns by number, character, and radical name & variations with a legend for reading the chart

      (Feel free to right click and view the image in another tab or download it and view it full size to see more detail.)

      I've not seen such a chart in any of the dozens of other books I've come across. The numbered structure of increasing complexity of strokes here would certainly suggest an easier to build memory palace or songline.

      I love this particular text as it provides an excellent overview of what is structurally happening in Japanese with lots of tidbits that are otherwise much harder won in reading other books.

      There are many kanji books with various forms of what I would call very low level mnemonic aids. I've not found one written or structured by what I would consider a professional mnemonist. One of the best structured ones I've seen is A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters by Kenneth G. Henshall (Tuttle, 1988). It's got some great introductory material and then a numbered list of kanji which would suggest the creation of a quite long memory palace/journey/songline.

      Each numbered Kanji has most of the relevant data and readings, but provides some description about how the kanji relates or links to other words of similar shapes/meanings and provides a mnemonic hint to make placing it in one's palace a bit easier. Below is an example of the sixth which will give an idea as to the overall structure.

      I haven't gotten very far into it yet, but I'd found an online app called WaniKani for Japanese that has some mnemonic suggestions and built-in spaced repetition that looks incredibly promising for taking small radicals and building them up into more easily remembered complex kanji.

      I suspect that there are likely similar sources for these couple of books and apps for Chinese that may help provide a logical overall structuring which will make it easier to apply or adapt one's favorite mnemotechniques to make the bulk vocabulary memorization easier.

      The last thing I'll mention I've found, that's good for practicing writing by hand as well as spaced repetition is a Kanji notebook frequently used by native Japanese speaking children as they're learning the levels of kanji in each grade. It's non-obvious to the English speaker, and took me a bit to puzzle out and track down a commercially printed one, even with a child in a classroom that was using a handmade version. The notebook (left to right and top to bottom) has sections for writing a big example of the learned kanji; spaces for the "Kun" and "On" readings; spaces for the number of strokes and the radical pieces; a section for writing out the stroke order as it builds up gradually; practice boxes for repeated practice of writing the whole kanji; examples of how to use the kanji in context; and finally space for the student to compose their own practice sentences using the new kanji.

      Regular use and practice with these can be quite helpful for moving toward mastery.

      I also can't emphasize enough that regularly and actively watching, listening, reading, and speaking in the target language with materials that one finds interesting is incredibly valuable. As an example, one of the first things I did for Welsh was to find a streaming television and radio that I want to to watch/listen to on a regular basis has been helpful. Regular motivation and encouragement is key.

      I won't go into them in depth and will leave them to speak for themselves, but two of the more intriguing videos I've watched on language acquisition which resonate with some of my experiences are:

    1. linguistically relevant OER

      The Darakht-e Danesh Library ("knowledge tree" in Dari) offers a collection of OER for learners in Afghanistan and is available in two official languages, Dari and Pashto as well as also languages Uzbeki, Munji, Nooristani, Sheghnanom Pashai.

      These open source resources include lesson plans, pedagogical tools, exercises, experiments, reading texts, work books, curricula and other resources for use in Afghan classrooms.

      These resources can be freely accessed by registered users, and we encourage users to add to the repository by uploading their own resources and expand this collection for the benefit of Afghanistan's teachers.

    1. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2296962-origins-of-japanese-and-turkish-language-family-traced-back-9000-years/

      Martine Robbeets et al have used linguistic, archaeological and genetic evidence to show that millet farming communities in north-east China 10,000 years ago may have given rise to the Transeurasian language families that became Japanese, Mongolian, Korean, and Turkish.

      Journal reference: Nature, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04108-8

    1. These findings provide strong evidence for a classic hypothesis about the computations underlying human language understanding, that the brain’s language system is optimized for predictive processing in the service of meaning extraction
  8. Oct 2021
    1. A retrospective of 50 years as a human being on planet Earth.

      The Art of Noticing

      This is a compilation of articles that I had written as a way to process the changes I was observing in the world and, consequently, in myself as a reaction to the events. I have come to think of this process as the art of noticing. This process is in contrast to the expectation that I should be a productive member of society, a target market, and a passive audience for charismatic leaders: celebrities, billionaires, and politicians.

      • Social: fame
      • Economic: wealth
      • Political: power

      An Agent of Change

      To become an agent of change is to recognize that we are not separate, we are not individuals, we are not cogs in a machine. We are complex and diverse. We are designers. We are a creative, collective, self-organizing, learning community.

      We are in a process of becoming—a being journey:

      • Personal resilience
      • Social influence
      • Economic capacity
      • Political agency
      • Ecological harmony

      This is how we shift from an attention economy to an intention economy. Rather than being oriented toward the failures of the past, the uncertainty of the present, or the worries of the future, in a constant state of anxiety, stress, and fear, we are shifting our consciousness to manifest our intention through perception (senses), cognition (mind), emotion (heart), and action (body). We are exploring how we imagine, design, and build the future together.

      We are the builders collective.

      We are one.

  9. Sep 2021
    1. I connected with Gien Wong through a meeting about the Infinity Project through the work of Rūta Danyte in the Design Science Studio. The next morning, the Stop Reset Go team had their first meeting.

    1. "If you look at a map of the distribution of languages around the world and you compare it with maps that show the distribution of mammal species or bird species, you see an extraordinarily similar picture: The hot spots of linguistic diversity, in so many cases, coincide with hot spots of biological diversity," he said.

      Making the connection between language diversity and biodiversity.

    2. "Learning about plant medicine, you need to be able to address the plant by its name," Pitawanakwat said. "It's just respect, like a simple courtesy that you extend to every other person."
    1. we in us find the eagle and the dove

      Metaphor: Donne is comparing his lover and himself to and eagle and dove. Typically the eagle symbolizes a powerful and sturdy image, while the dove symbolizes a calm, soft, and innocent image. The juxtaposition among these words can show the power imbalance in the relationship as Donne is the stronger male character represented by the eagle who rules over his lover categorized the the submissive innocence and purity of the dove. On another note, by saying "we in us" Donne could be moving past the stereotypical gender norms and implying that the love is both strong and innocent.

    2. The phœnix riddle hath more wit                 By us; we two being one, are it. So, to one neutral thing both sexes fit.          We die and rise the same

      Extended Metaphor: Throughout these lines, Donne compares him and his lover to a phoenix and the action of rising and dying. This intertwines both the spiritual and sexual in his writing.

      Allusion: This can also be a religious reference as the phoenix and its well known actions of rising and dying is commonly used as a symbol of the resurrection of Christ.

    3. are it

      Metaphor: Donne is saying that now that the two are united as one they are the phoenix as they now die and rise together.

    4. quarrels move

      Imagery: Donne describes these grand events using descriptive language that has a darker denotation (cold, sigh, injured, tears, war, etc.). This gives the reader an idea of what their love does not consist of, as he is saying that despite these events happening their love continues.

    5. Alas, alas, who’s injured by my love?          What merchant’s ships have my sighs drowned? Who says my tears have overflowed his ground?          When did my colds a forward spring remove?                 When did the heats which my veins fill                 Add one more to the plaguy bill?

      Repetition: The author uses the repetition of questions at the beginning of this stanza. This repetition highlights how Donne believes his love to be harmless compared to the outside world.

      Antithesis: Through these rhetorical questions Donne creates contrast between small actions (such as crying) to grand events (like the seasons changing).

    6. fly,

      Metaphor: Donne is comparing the lovers to flies in order to emphasize the insignificance of their love in comparison to the rest of the world based on the size of a fly.

    7. Canonization

      Extended Metaphor: Canonization is the process by which a dead person becomes a saint in religious tradition. This idea is continually carried throughout the poem as Donne is describing that he and his lover will be made saints for their love.

    8. love

      Repetition: Donne begins and ends each of the stanzas with love. This ensures that the reader knows that the couple's love is the central idea of this poem.

    9. “You, whom reverend love          Made one another’s hermitage; You, to whom love was peace, that now is rage

      Antithesis: There is contrast found within these lines, specifically involving the words "reverend," "love," "hermitage," "peace," and "rage." The contrast created among these lines conveys that people appear to appreciate their love, but their actions do not match their words.

    10.  well a well-wrought urn

      Alliteration: In this phrase, Donne repeats the letter 'w' when discussing an urn. This draws the readers attention to this reference and highlights the strength of their relationship and love.

    11. hymns

      Allusion: The reference to hymns suggests that their love is nearly at the level of Scripture.

    12. it will be fit for verse;

      Metaphor: Donne is saying that if the two lovers die in vain that their love will not be forgotten as it will last historically in the form of poetry. Although the couple may not last physically, their love will be validated via poetry.

    13. we two being one

      Allusion: This line of the poem refers to Christian religion, specifically the concept of marriage as two people unite as one body after being married.

    14. We’re tapers too

      Metaphor: This metaphor compares the lovers in the poem to tapers, or candles. This suggests that he thinks of him and his lover as burning candles - which eventually disappear. He and his lover will burn out, or die eventually, consumed by their passion for one another.

    15. let me love

      Repetition: Donne repeats "let me love" at the beginning and end of this stanza, suggesting a demanding tone. The author is emphasizing this phrase to demand from the reader the freedom to love his lover.

    1. Just like buffers, strings always have a fixed maximum length in Clarity.

      Note of Strings' length.

    2. Buffers are unstructured data of a fixed maximum length. They always start with the prefix 0x followed by a hexadecimal string.

      What is Buffers?

    3. Clarity provides three different kinds of sequences: buffers, strings, and lists.

      There are three kinds of sequences.

    4. Since types cannot mix, a list can only contain items of the same type.

      In Clarity, types cannot mix.

    1. bool, short for boolean. A boolean value is either true or false. They are used to check if a certain condition is met or unmet (true or false).

      What is Booleans?

    2. uint, short for unsigned integer. These are 128 bits numbers that can only be positive. The minimum value is therefore 0 and the maximum value is 2128 - 1. Unsigned integers are always prefixed by the character u.

      What is Unsigned integers?

    3. int, short for (signed) integer. These are 128 bits numbers that can either be positive or negative. The minimum value is -2127 and the maximum value is 2127 - 1.

      What is Signed integers?

    4. Primitive types are the most basic components. These are: signed and unsigned integers, booleans, and principals.

      There are four categories of Primitive type in Clarity.

    5. Clarity admits two different kinds of principals: standard principals and contract principals. Standard principals are backed by a corresponding private key whilst contract principals point to a smart contract.

      There are 2 kinds of principals: standard and contract

    6. A principal is a special type in Clarity and and represents a Stacks address on the blockchain.

      What is a principal in Clarity?

    1. Types fall in three categories: primitives, sequences, and composites.

      There are three categories of types in Clarity.

    1. abovementioned issue of class privilege

      There isn't a lot of technical language being used in this report. I think this and the word "feminism" are the only terms someone might find difficult to understand.

    2. highly normative femininity such as ‘girlish enthusiasm’, which can beconstrued as a willingness to work all hours for very little pay in thehope of gaining a foothold in the field”

      Here is another instance of language some might understand. It is nice that the author quickly defines what concepts she is talking about right after it is introduced. Also shows another quotation for evidence!

    Tags

    Annotators

    1. Humans perform a version of this task when interpretinghard-to-understand speech, such as an accent which is particularlyfast or slurred, or a sentence in a language we do not know verywell—we do not necessarily hear every single word that is said,but we pick up on salient key words and contextualize the rest tounderstand the sentence.

      Boy, don't they

    1. ving... Haste is seen as a lack of decorum combined with diabolical am

      Haste is seen as a lack of decorum combined with diabolical ambition.

      What a fantastic definition of haste!

      via P. Bourdieu, "The attitude of the Algerian peasant toward time", in Mediterranean Countrymen, ed. J. Pitt-Rivers (Paris, 1963), PP. 55

    1. subtle knowledge constructs, modeling languages, elicitation, and validation processes
    2. One complicating issue when trying to make sense across multiple communities is that not only do different communities have different cultures and practices, but also different epistemologies: different languages to describe their community and the soci(et)al context it operates in, with often different meanings attached to the terminologies used.
    1. Focused on one particular topic

      Glimpses of mastery

      Some basic needs of language learning are fulfilled here:

      • sympathetic listener
      • immersion
      • role model
      • 24/7 practice

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox6MdRTc0yE

    1. Haber, N. A., Wieten, S. E., Rohrer, J. M., Arah, O. A., Tennant, P. W. G., Stuart, E. A., Murray, E. J., Pilleron, S., Lam, S. T., Riederer, E., Howcutt, S. J., Simmons, A. E., Leyrat, C., Schoenegger, P., Booman, A., Dufour, M.-S. K., O’Donoghue, A. L., Baglini, R., Do, S., … Fox, M. P. (2021). Causal and Associational Linking Language From Observational Research and Health Evaluation Literature in Practice: A systematic language evaluation [Preprint]. Epidemiology. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.25.21262631

  10. Aug 2021
    1. In the vast majority of cases when I'm using prettier-ignore I'm only really looking to prevent it from breaking my code into new lines, whilst keeping its other transformations such as switching quotes and adding space between brackets. When ignoring single lines, fixing these formatting problems by hand is very manageable. With the ability to have Prettier ignore entire blocks of code I think the ability to specify what you want it to ignore is essential.
    2. This should be basic functionality.
    1. The Simplified Spelling Board of the early 1900s in the United States made gauge one of its targets in the early 1920s, urging the replacing of au with a to yield gage. From Simplified Spelling Board, Handbook of Simplified Spelling (1920): Principles Adopted Its [the Board's] recommendations, accordingly, have been based on the following principles : 1) When current usage offers a choice of spellings, to adopt the shortest and simplest. EXAMPLES : blest, not blessed ; catalog, not catalogue; center, not centre; check, not cheque or checque; gage, not gauge; gram, not gramme; honor, not honour; license, not licence; maneuver, not manoeuvre; mold, not mould; plow, not plough; quartet, not quartette; rime, not rhyme; tho, not though; traveler, not traveller.
    2. What happens when you look it up in a dictionary rather than as a phrase in Google? Google just catalogues other people's [mis-]uses
    1. While it is clear that technologies of communication change societiesand permit different forms of human organization, it is not clear that theychange the basic human thought processes embedded in language. The humanbrain does adapt differently to different technologies (recall the differences inbrain wiring between readers of ideograms and of phonetic alphabets), butthe evidence to date indicates the human brain adapts in order to translateinformation into language, so as to exchange information and permit concertedaction with others with whom we communicate. This concerted action is nolonger, as at the dawn of language, action undertaken by people in close contactbut rather is activity undertaken because of reliance upon expectations storedin individual and social memory.
  11. Jul 2021
    1. En dashes, which are about the width of an upper-case N, are often mistaken for hyphens. But, traditionally, en dashes function as a kind of super hyphen. They’re meant to give you a little extra glue when you have a compound modifier that includes a multi-word element that can’t easily be hyphenated. For example, the phrase Elvis Presley–style dance moves uses an en dash because Elvis-Presley-style dance moves is awkward; “Elvis Presley” isn’t a compound modifier, so hyphenating it looks odd. But, keep in mind, not all readers will notice en dashes or understand what they mean. Sometimes, it’s better to simply reword the phrase. Elvis Presley–style dance moves or: dance moves like Elvis Presley’s pre–World War II buildings or: buildings constructed before World War II En dashes are also used to show ranges of numbers, such as times, page numbers, or scores (I’ll schedule you from 4:30–5:00). But, outside of formal printed publications, this type of en dash is commonly replaced with a simple hyphen.
    1. We reached the house, in the temper of two strange dogs, coupled up together for the first time in their lives by the same chain.

      Betteredge uses some interesting figurative language. I'm curious to see if the style changes in the Second Period.

    1. Anne: What was family life like with you and your brother and your mother and father? Did you guys speak English at home? Did you do American things, activities? Do they work a lot? Tell me a little bit about family life.Juan: Right now, my dad, he's always been the boss of the family. He's always worked, he works in construction, and as you know, Utah, with the climate change, it snows, it rains, all of the climates. Since he works in construction, he does work outside all the time, so even if it snows or even if it rains, even if it's minus five degrees outside, he still goes out and works because nobody's going to give him the money to provide for his family.Juan: In a way, my dad, you can say he's one of those hard working men who doesn't look out for himself, but rather looks out for his family. In my house we spoke Spanish all the time because of my mom. To this day, she doesn't want to learn English even though we tell her to learn English. My little sister, she doesn't speak Spanish, she speaks more English and with her it's different. We tell her, "You have to learn Spanish because it's going to help you," but she doesn't want to learn.Anne: Is she a citizen?Juan: Yes, she was born in the US. So my parents didn't really adapt to the American culture. They always wanted to follow Mexican traditions, even when it's Mother's Day over there … I think here it's May 10th but over there, when is Mother's Day?Anne: I think it's the second Sunday of May, so it could be different days.Juan: We could take that as an example. They'd rather follow Mother's Day here in Mexico than over there. Also Christmas, I guess the one thing they did adapt to was Thanksgiving. We don't celebrate that here in Mexico, but they do celebrate there, and they did adapt that. Another thing, Easter day. You go out with your family, you hide the eggs as a tradition, no? They adapted to that, but here in Mexico they don't do that. They don't even know about that. In a way they wanted to keep their Mexican culture alive even though they were in the US, but they also wanted to adapt to the things that they did there.

      Time in the US, Homelife, Mexican traditions, Holidays, Spanish language, US traditions, Holidays

    1. Anita:Remind me finally, where did you learn your English?Beto:I learned English in California.Anita:How?Beto:[37:17] I went to middle school. I learned the hard way because my dad actually just put me into school like from one day to another, and it was like I was in the middle of nowhere. I felt like a little ant. Everybody was like, "The new guy" but I didn't know what they were talking about. And you feel very, very tiny listening into everybody. They put me into ESL classes as well. Now that I'm 41 years old and trying to remember when I was like 13 years old, I'm thinking at that time it was 1991 when they had these ESL classes. Where did they get these ESL classes from? At that moment, there wasn't that many immigrants. Everything in California was pack of Americans. It was an all-American state. They had this ESL class that they put me in. Most of my friends talked in Spanish. I was feeling like home. But it was just a certain class for me to learn how to say parts of my body and clothing. After that you need to go to history class. "Huh? Okay." You got to learn who is Abraham Lincoln. "Okay. I heard about him." But then the language, I just heard the teacher going, "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah."Beto:Okay and I understood “Abraham Lincoln,” and that’s all. "Abraham Lincoln." "Good. What about him?" Yes. It was difficult. Math? I didn't talk at all. I was good at math because I learned –here in Mexico, they're very good at math and still they are very good at math. My algebra teacher – It was a Chicano girl. I remember that Chicano girl. The teacher pointed at me for something and then the girl told me, "Hey he's calling you. The teacher is calling you." She said that in Spanish. "Mm-hmm. What you want me to do? What does he want me to do?" "He wants you to go to the board and complete the mathematic there.”

      Time in the US, School, Learning English/ESL

    1. commonplace book From IndieWeb Jump to: navigation, search

      Commonplace books - "a way to compile and store knowledge, usually by writing information into books, notebooks, card catalogs, or in more modern settings on one's own website."

  12. Jun 2021
    1. Anne: So, you were playing this game with the tapes—Ben: With the tapes and stuff and then later we started elementary school and then once I started elementary school, it changed. Well my mother had a rule, she goes, "No English inside of the house.” Before, it’s “Speak English, speak English,” but once we started school, she goes, "I don't want you all speaking English here inside the house” to me and my brother. And we used to think that’s because she didn't understand, but it was because she wanted us to practice the Spanish.Ben: And when I would get home from school when I was going to kindergarten—my brother would get out an hour later—I would get home and my mother would give me these little comic magazines, Mexican comic magazines, and she'd have me read them. And then she would make me write letters to my grandmother. So that's how I was able to learn a little bit of, keep the Spanish and English. But English I did, I went through elementary, middle school, went to tenth grade in high school, then I dropped out of high school to go help my father. He started a small construction business, but then he got sick and he was hospitalized for three months.

      Time in the US, School, Kindergarten, Elementary, Learning English, Arriving in the United States, Living situation, Homelife, Parents, Expectations

    1. I knew the basics, but sometimes I'd start a conversation with a family member or somebody and then they'd start saying a couple of words that I didn't understand, and I would actually be like, "Oh, what does that mean?" A lot of people would say, "Oh, well it means this." But a lot of others would just laugh and they'd be like, "How could you not know Spanish if you're Mexican?" And it’s like, yeah, I'm Mexican. I know the basics but—I don't know, it was very confusing. My mom used to always say that we were kind of nomads because we weren't from the States. We were raised there but we're not from the States, but we weren't from Mexico either because we may have been born here, but we didn't know anything about it.
    1. Luisa: I made the decision of returning, and I uprooted my sisters. My little sister was a year old when we left. She knew nothing about Mexico. She barely spoke Spanish, so I selfishly made everyone move back to Mexico.Anita: Because?Luisa: Because I wanted to continue my education.

      Leaving the US, Reasons for Exit, Higher Education in Mexico

  13. May 2021
    1. Julia, however, seemed unable to mention the Party, and especially the Inner Party, without using the kind of words that you saw chalked up in dripping alley-ways. He did not dislike it. It was merely one symptom of her revolt against the Party and all its ways, and somehow it seemed natural and healthy, like the sneeze of a horse that smells bad hay.

      Julia's language revolt vs. Winston's life-writing

  14. Apr 2021
    1. "The Analytical Language of John Wilkins" (Spanish: "El idioma analítico de John Wilkins") is a short essay by Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges originally published in Otras Inquisiciones (1937–1952).[1][2] It is a critique of the English natural philosopher and writer John Wilkins's proposal for a universal language and of the representational capacity of language generally. In it, Borges imagines a bizarre and whimsical (and fictional) Chinese taxonomy later quoted by Michel Foucault, David Byrne, and others.
    1. He is particularly known for An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language (1668) in which, amongst other things, he proposed a universal language and an integrated system of measurement, similar to the metric system.

      This may be well worth reading with respect to my research on memory, stenography, shorthand, etc.