Random Quote
One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain't nothin' can beat teamwork.
---- Edward Abbey
Arguments over grammar and style are often as fierce as those over IBM versus Mac, and as fruitless as Coke versus Pepsi and boxers versus briefs.
---- Jack Lynch
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy.
---- Isaac Newton
Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.
---- Lily Tomlin
Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.
---- Leonardo DaVinci (1452-1519)
Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.
---- Lily Tomlin
If the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur.
---- Doug Larson
The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink.
---- George Orwell
Don't knock the weather. If it didn't change once in a while, nine out of ten people couldn't start a conversation.
---- Kin Hubbard
Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation.
---- Author Unknown
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.
---- Arnold Lobel
Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.
---- Malcom Forbes
No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee's frothy goodness.
---- Sheik Abd-al-Kadir
Isn't it interesting that the same people who laugh at science fiction listen to weather forecasts and economists?"
---- Kelvin Throop III
Any man whose errors take ten years to correct is quite a man.
---- J. Robert Oppenheimer
"It was on my fifth birthday that Papa put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'Remember, my son, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm.'"
---- Sam Levenson
I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're going and hook up with them later.
---- Mitch Hedberg
It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.
---- Franklin D. Roosevelt
This may be the most interesting blog theme I've ever seen. http://eflgeek.com/index.php Definitely in my top 5 at least.
---- Steve Dembo
I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him.
---- Galileo Galilei
Hanging is too good for a man who makes puns; he should be drawn and quoted.
---- Fred Allen
Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar.
---- Edward R. Murrow
The voodoo priest and all his powders were as nothing compared to espresso, cappuccino, and mocha, which are stronger than all the religions of the world combined, and perhaps stronger than the human soul itself.
---- Mark Helprin, Memoir from Antproof Case, 1995
Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.
---- H. G. Wells
Those who know nothing of foreign languages, knows nothing of their own.”
---- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749 -1832)
Free Classes from MIT (linguistics + more)
MITopencourseware offeres free access to course notes, exam questions, & essay assignments in courses covering a broad spectrum of disciplines including a large selection linguistics courses.
- Introduction to Linguistics Spring 2002
- Language and its Structure I: Phonology Fall 2002
- Language Acquisition Fall 2001
- Psycholinguistics Fall 2002
- Grammar of a Less Familiar Language Spring 2003
- Language Processing Fall 2002
- Linguistic Theory and the Japanese Language Fall 2001
- Language Acquisition I Spring 2002
- Argument Structure and Syntax Spring 2003
- Pragmatics in Linguistic Theory Fall 2002
- Introduction to Phonology Fall 2002
- Laboratory on the Physiology, Acoustics, and Perception of Speech Fall 2001
- Advanced Semantics Spring 2003
- Topics in Semantics Fall 2002
a free and open educational resource for faculty, students, and self-learners around the world. OCW supports MIT’s mission to advance knowledge and education, and serve the world in the 21st century. It is true to MIT’s values of excellence, innovation, and leadership.
MIT OCW:
Is a publication of MIT course materials
Does not require any registration
Is not a degree-granting or certificate-granting activity
Does not provide access to MIT faculty
While the course notes are not extensive the readings listed provide a good bibliography. Additionally any of the readings that are available on the internet are hyperlinked.
Critical Thinking in “non-western” leaners
Jeffinkorea Wrote a long piece on critical thinking and willingness of learners to take risks with an extensive quote from Richard Feynman I would highly recommend any teachers who have experience the frustrations of having students unwilling to ask questions or participate in class due to the risk of losing face read this post as well as the discussion that continues in the comment section.
Here is a couple of excerpts
I have ranted for years about the uselessness of the rote memorization system of education that prevails in Korea… I have seen it in every area of education that I have been exposed to in this country. There is memorizing and pure knowledge being accumulated, but there is very little, if any, true learning and educational growth occurring.
Jeff then goes on with a personal anecdote followed by a long quote about teaching physics in Brazil. It is really astounding the parellels that can be drawn here. As Jeff suggests just replace Brazil with Korea (or whatever country you teach in) and you will see little flashes of light exploding in your head.
Marmot
Special thanks to The Marmot’s (final) Hole for promoting this blog as well as three others in this post. My average daily traffic for the past two weeks has been averaging around 24 hits but today I’m already at 41 and it is only 4:00pm! Quite easily traffic will double, at least for today.
All the visitors from Marmots (final) hole, thanks for dropping by, I hope you find something interesting here and will come back.
Verbed
What other words have been “verbed”? I can think of some companies such as xerox which is not on the verbed noun list over at the word spy.
If enough words get verbed perhaps, as hobbes mentions language can be a “complete impediment to understanding”
enough fun for today - Must study now.
Classroom layout
I was reading Technology and Teaching English Language Learners I came across a this diagram (click for full size pop-up) which shows my dream classroom.
I of course would want to teach in the technology enhanced language learning enviroment, but unfortuneately my classes are laid out a lecture format and no real way of reconfiguring the classroom layout. The best I can do is have students work in pairs as they are two to a desk or turn around and work as a group of four. This is, however, awkward and unfortable due to space constraints. The classrooms are so cramped that when I stand in front of the class my materials are actually resting on a students desk and I stand approximately 15cm in front of the desk with little space behind me. My current university is supposed to be a cutting edge engineering school, but our classrooms have old uncomfortable desks and chairs, use chalkboards instead of whiteboards, and we don’t even have access to cassette recoreders let alone CD players. But we are using a text which comes with a CD - guess all the listening portions get to be homework.
I can keep dreaming that I will end up with a classroom that is well equipped with the essentials. Maybe even one day I will be able to teach in a room with some modern technology. according to several news reports (Forbes, Time Asia, & Wired News) Korea is the most wired nation on earth. well you wouldn’t know it from my teaching context.
Sean. inscribed these words of wisdom on Thursday Mar 4, 2004 at 11:01 PM
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