Thu, 08 Apr 2010: To err is human, …
… but to really screw things up takes a computer. Or a government agency. What if …
Tue, 19 Jan 2010: Illiterate spammers
Those irritating intrusions into one’s mailbox—or one’s blog. Came across a few recently that actually amused me. …
Sun, 06 Dec 2009: No dialysis for illegals?
After reading an article cited by Richard Russell, I found myself unwilling to edit my thoughts down to a reasonable comment size, so …
Sat, 07 Nov 2009: Tough love is good for children
“Confident, skilful parents adopting a ‘tough love’ approach to parenting, balancing warmth with discipline, seem to be most effective” in terms of generating “qualities such as application, self-regulation and empathy.” This from a U.K. study, which also found that these qualities made "a vital contribution to life chances, mobility and opportunity".
How should we respond to this?
Fri, 06 Nov 2009: You can tell …
Sometimes I’m impressed by the things our minds can do. Like recognize someone's voice in her whisper, or tell a bilingual person’s first language by the sound of his laugh.
A. P. recently cited another example on FLTEACH.
Sat, 17 Oct 2009: The Death of Language?
A BBC article looks at language extinction.
Among the ranks are the two known speakers of Lipan Apache alive in the US, four speakers of Totoro in Columbia and the single Bikya speaker in Cameroon.
The question is, …
Sat, 26 Sep 2009: Sounding Right
Why did Earl Stevick recommend that a beginning language teacher read The Inner Game of Tennis, by Timothy Gallwey?
Sat, 27 Jun 2009: It’s the Law!
Grammar rules are like laws of nature. They give an illusion of control. …
Sun, 01 Feb 2009: Common Sense
If you were dirt-poor and had no job, would you get “free gas” from a leaking tank truck? That’s what people tried to do this weekend …
Thu, 18 Dec 2008: TANSTAAFL
Were you offered a free iPod or other in-demand item for merely clicking a link? Heinlein says, “There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch,” but I decided to see how much I could find out without actually getting stung. I did not get stung, and I will pass on what I found …