Link Love

I've read some really good articles recently on a variety of subjects which pertain to the content I normally talk about, so I thought y'all might enjoy them, too:)

First off, some writing tips from F. Scott Fitzgerald through two of his letters, posted in this article. Golden.

Secondly, some interesting thoughts from a great YA author on writing from the perspective of other races.

Here's a fun and short language quiz with some slightly obscure, but interesting questions. Let me know how you do! (Thanks to my sis for sending this one to me)

If you didn't do so well on the quiz and need some language motivation, Itchy Feet artist Malachi Rempen wrote this piece on keeping motivated:) (And I seriously suggest avidly reading all his comics one day when you're looking for something to procrastinate with. They're hilarious.)

As a follow-up, here are five reasons why learning languages is good for your brain!

One of my favorite bloggers told the story about how her little dog was lost and found this week, and how it helped her faith in the process. Isn't he just precious?!

So, I like to be prepared for things, even if they won't happen for years to come... which is why I enjoy reading marriage and baby advice even when I won't be ready for that stuff for quite awhile. Yeah, I'm weird. Anyway. I've read several blog posts about how to keep a marriage strong, and this article had some good advice I hadn't heard before, so it's worth checking out. And it can obviously be applied to any relationship!

Friday/Saturday Round-Up

I got so busy this week that I ran out of time for my Friday Round-Up! Here it is, a day late:) My apologies! This week marks the starting-to-freak-out-about-finals-coming-up time. Can't wait til it's all over a month from now!

This week on Andrea's blog, I wrote a response to her piece on mandatory study abroad for universities, mine being a bit more hopeful for this type of program.

So, Alphorn's are a famous trumpet-like horn from Switzerland, which are played at a lot of Swiss festivals, usually by older men. At a traditional Swiss restaurant last Friday night, a man played for several minutes and then let people try it out. It's surprisingly hard! I kept in mind I few things I knew about brass players, like licking your lips, tucking in your lips, and blowing hard from your gut, and I did pretty well! I even managed to play different tones by changing the air speed. Check out the wikipedia page for more pics and info on this sweet horn.

One day I was counting the cats and I absent-mindedly counted myself. 

Bobbie Ann Mason

Feeling a little crazy these days:)

Inferno- I only have about one hour of listening left with this one. It has definitely been interesting, but I guarantee that I won't retain more than about 20% of it, and maybe not even that. It was just so heavy with detail-specific accounts on various battles and comments on politics that it was putting me to sleep most of the time. I'm really interested in nonfiction, but this one just couldn't keep my attention. However, the information I heard when it sounded interesting has helped some of my understanding, not only about World War II, but war in general.

Conversations- It's going to be a goal this weekend to polish this one off, as I'm 2/3 of the way through. It's not interesting enough for me to be super motivated to sit down and read, but is teaching me enough that when I do, I'm not bored. The "teacher" speaker is definitely a know-it-all scholar, but he teaches some good lessons nonetheless.

Stargate SG-1's Guide to Learning Languages

I thought it would be fun to see what there is to know about language learning from the awesome now-discontinued TV series Stargate SG-1, so let's get to it! (Everything is based on my own opinion and should not be assumed to be officially tied to the series in any way.)

Sam and Teal'c above, Daniel and Jack below

From the main characters' perspectives:

Dr. Daniel Jackson: Languages are most assuredly necessary to our interaction with various cultures around the world and around the universe. We simply could not get by without learning many languages personally. It's already so important to be multilingual on our planet, but add in other planets and other galaxies, and it's a whole other story! (And if we're counting, I spoke 24 languages before the discovery of the stargate and now speak several more.)

Samantha Carter: Languages are definitely a vital part of our society, particularly with our recent discovery of interstellar travel. I would definitely love to study languages as Daniel does, but unfortunately, my research in astrophysics doesn't leave much free time!

Teal'c: I already speak a sufficient number of languages.

Jack O'Neill: That stuff's for nerds. Well, there was that one time I spoke Ancient and it was pretty cool, but it ended up backfiring on me, so I'm not interested in trying that again.

From a linguistics perspective, it's unfortunate that every planet the team travels to has the "aliens" speaking modern English, which is impossible in a true reality. There are only a few exceptions, like the Goa'uld language present throughout the entire series, the Nox needing "time" (really only about 5 minutes) to learn English intuitively, and the Unas speaking their primal language and only learning a primal form of English. Daniel Jackson speaks several languages a few times while on Earth, but his linguistic representation is still very low. The team does encounter races with other languages, like the Ancients and the Asgard, but they also speak English.

It seems fairly obvious that the reasoning for so little language representation is because of the effort it would take to invent languages for every planet and have Daniel figure out how to communicate with them for the first five or ten minutes, etc. It just doesn't make sense for a TV series. However, that wasn't the case for the movie that inspired the series. In the movie, the people on Abydos speak a language similar to Ancient Egyptian, and the Goa'uld speak their own language. Daniel had to learn the Abydos dialect in order to communicate, and although it was relatively fast, it made sense that he needed to do so. And then when the characters return to Abydos for the TV show, Daniel (who had stayed there for one year), had conveniently taught everyone English, and they almost never again encountered a planet where no one spoke English.

From my mom's fav episode where they travel back to 1969:)

Therefore, it ironically appears more necessary to speak multiple languages on Earth rather than for the purposes of traveling to other planets. Basically, English is the lingua franca everywhere. Everywhere. Isn't that magical?

However, there are several episodes which highlight the importance of knowing and learning foreign languages, as Daniel is often showed spending entire episodes "cracking the code" of some language, etc., and it saved their lives in all of those cases. Even during times on Earth, Daniel speaking other languages helped the team avoid a lot of trouble.

In the end, Stargate SG-1 basically teaches us that while learning multiple foreign languages isn't necessary for every person, it is very important as a whole, and the practice of linguistics and multilingualism is extremely important.

Haha!

Right from the beginning while watching Stargate SG-1, I decided that when I grew up, I wanted to be Daniel Jackson. Not an archaeologist, because it doesn't sound fun to bend over digging in the dirt all day, but Daniel Jackson. Linguist, polyglot, historian, smart alack. I would throw in "traveler of worlds," but I at least try to sound a little realistic. I definitely don't think I'll achieve Daniel Jackson status because I'm much too lazy to learn 24 languages and then some, but if I can get a handful in, that's good enough for me:)

Friday Round-Up

This week has been hard on me from getting back on a school schedule after a week off. Breaks are so bittersweet:) And now I'm moving into my new dorm room, so I keep discovering little things that I need. But this change is going to be amazing for me:)

This week, I gave some packing tips on Andrea's blog for a long trip abroad in response to another guest blogger who is stressed with figuring out how to pack.

Bomb robot demonstration!

Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion. 

-Rumi

I love this. I often feel insignificant, but it's good to remember that we all have our place in the world. You are important!

I've finished a few cool things on my list recently. 

First of all, today marks the end of my three month effort to publish at least two blog posts here each week! I made it! 

I also gave up soda for Lent, which was hard. But even now, I only let myself drink soda on the weekends.

Conversations sur la langue française- I'm still working through this one, but getting close to finishing. There's too many specifics to remember everything, but it gives a good general impression about how French has progressed and why.

Today I Believe

Today I believe...

cute scarecrow at Jardin Botanique

...that Twitter is overwhelming but fun. #torn.

...that new Internet friends are a blessing. It's great to make connections with others.

...that the maid assigned to clean my dorm room before I moved in was about as enthusiastic about it as I would be... aka I'm doubting that she actually cleaned.

...that I'm lucky to finally have a place of my own.

...that old friends can be one of the best things to happen to you.

...that Marzipan will never stop being delightfully tasty. Hello, new addiction!

...that the future is scary. Especially when thinking about exams and future schooling.

...that bakeries are the light at the end of the tunnel. My tummy and my nerves say thank you.


I got the idea for this blog post from Laura Meyers' blog, also @everydaybeliefs on Twitter.