Benefits of Second Language Acquisition #2

This also comes from the Duke Gifted Learning Center in Raleigh, NC. Delaying Alzheimers...who knew?

"Parents and language educators should embrace all languages and encourage learning multiple languages. As a Spanish teacher, I am constantly advocating for students to start a third language. Portuguese, for example, is a natural transition for advanced Spanish students. One of the life-long benefits of learning another language is that you're always learning, and it keeps the brain actively engaged. Recent studies have connected learning a second language with delaying Alzheimers for this very reason. So, while languages should be started in Pre-K, it's never too late to start learning another language." (Stewart)

Benefits of Second Language Acquisition #1

In addition to offering TIPS for learning a forieng language, I also explore with my students the benefits of second (or third) language acquisition. Here is one from the Duke Gifted Learning Center in Raleigh, North Carolina:

"Foreign language learning is much more a cognitive problem solving activity than a linguistic activity, overall. Studies have shown repeatedly that foreign language learning increases critical thinking skills, creativity, and flexibility of mind in students."

I find this particularly interesting because, for my students, walking into my class is less like walking into an English class and more like walking into a Physics or Math Class. This is because figuring out the meaning of "Quizas el motor esta roto" requires problem solving skills.

Foreign Language Learning Tip #2

When studying for school work, the surest sign that you know something is when you can teach it. When you can – from memory, without notes, without books, and without the help of others – produce knowledge of your subject, then you are on your way to mastering it. If you cannot produce it, then you do not own it. You can only give away what you already have.

So...

...this week teach what you're studying to your brother, your sister, your dog, your parents, your aunts and uncles, your doll collection, your other self (in the mirror), your webcam, your friends, your cat, your gerbil, or any audience that is willing to listen to you.

Singing The Soul Back Home Without Putting It To Sleep

Miriam Jones is a friend of ours from Vancouver who now lives with her stellar husband, Jez Carr, in the UK (Oxford). A bit of her bio is below, and some of her tunes are on her site. Enjoy.



Miriam Jones has a way of singing the soul back home without putting it to sleep, a feat not easily accomplished in the world of the woman singer songwriter. Poppy and light? Yes. Soulful and reflective? Indeed. Folky and human? Absolutely. Jones has a particular gift for writing earth and angels side by side, and a voice suited to sounding them so.

Jones, a Canadian, completed her first full-album effort in 2005 entitled Sign & Semblance, with which she stepped into the Vancouver music scene where a track from the album called 'Squander' caught the attention of Canadian Television's Falcon Beach producers who featured it in the show's 11th episode. Learning from the song's popularity, Jones began honing her songwriting in its footsteps. Two years later she flew to Nashville to complete her follow-up album 'Being Here' under award winning producer and songwriter Charlie Peacock. Jones then returned to Vancouver where CBC picked up the album and featured Jones as ‘artist of the week'. Several songs from the record have been contracted for use by various North American indie film-makers, and Jones has recently moved to the UK to promote the album.

Tip of the Day: Learning a Foreign Language

I teach high school Spanish. At the beginning of every period, I begin class with what I call a "Tip of the Day" aimed either at or offering advice for learning a second (or third) language or at helping students appreciate the short-term and long-term benefits of acquiring other languages. From time to time, I'll include some of my Tips here. A recent one I gave was:


While driving, relaxing, or working, consider listening to spanish radio and/or TV stations. Even if you don't listen to them very attentively, just having them burbling away in the background is beneficial as it helps you to tune into the sounds and rhythms of your second language, and to pick up new words and phrases.

The Hair of Os

Yesterday River, my daughter, cut the hair of Os, my son.

If you're wondering, she didn't have permission.

I'm glad that he likes the cut and that he still has eyes.

Disorder in the Court

Below are a few excerpts from the book Disorder in the American Courts and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while these exchanges were actually taking place.


ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?

---

ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard.
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
WITNESS: Unless the Circus was in town I'm going with male.

---

ATTORNEY: She had three children, right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS : Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?

---

ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 pm.
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: If not, he was by the time I finished.

---

ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS: Are you qualified to ask that question?

A First

For the first time in our adult lives, my wife and I are ordering cable tv for our home. Someone comes to the house this Saturday to assess our home's compatibility and, if all is well, to install.

My wife laughs, but I called various cable service departments six or seven times before ordering. Not all of the service attendants could answer my questions.

There are a number of shows that my wife is looking forward to watching, mostly on HGTV, but among my top reasons for ordering cable tv are at least the following:

the Braves
America's Funniest Home Videos
Matlock reruns
Saturday morning cartoons for the kids

Our decision to order cable was a two-year commitment...I hope it turns out to be a good one.

Seventy Cents

I was alone and sick in Andahuaylas, Peru, over New Year's of 2007.

To pass the time, I went into town during the Sunday market to buy some vegetables. On my walk, I came across a man forcing a long stick into the mouth of a large pig. By long, I mean about 4 feet. And by large, I mean a couple hundred pounds. The man was probably 5 feet 6 inches, 140 pounds, and a pretty tough guy.

I was walking by when, suddenly, he wrestled this unsuspecting pig to the ground. The pig screamed and wrestled back, but the man definitely had the upper hand. It wasn't a few seconds before the man grabbed the pig's tongue and began pulling it out of its mouth. When he had pulled out 4 or 5 inches worth of tongue, I thought, "surely that's enough tongue for whatever this guy has to do." But it wasn't enough...by far. The man grabbed the long stick, shoving it down the throat of the pig, and somehow managed to pull out more pig tongue. I didn't know that pig's had such long tongues.

Now I know.

After pulling out over nearly two feet of tongue, the man was apparently satisfied with what he saw, and so he let go of the pig. What surprised me most wasn't that the pig screamed, but rather how awful the scream was. It was long, loud, and piercing. It was awkward (for me). So I took a picture.

I needed some clarity so I asked someone casually, "so what's going on with the pig?" Turns out the man was checking for foot-and-mouth disease, which for pigs shows up first in the back of the tongue. I had heard of foot-and-mouth, a disease that causes sores on animals bad enough to merit killing them before it gets worse. And I was glad that he was checking for it. Apparently people can't contract foot-and-mouth by digesting the cooked meat of animals who had the disease, but they can get it while those pieces of meat are being chewed.

Turns out also that the pig-wrestling, stick-shoving man was paid by the pig's owner to check for foot-and-mouth. In fact, on that Sunday, he would check 5 or 6 other swine. The cost for his service: 2 soles per pig. Which, in US dollars, ends up being 70 cents.

Sounds to me like good work in Andahuaylas. If you can get it.

"Uh-oh"

That's what my son, Os, calls snow.

Today I have a day off from school because Gwinnett County Schools are closed. I have hopes of us playing in the snow today. River, my daughter, is sold; but Os isn't so sure. He wouldn't go in it yesterday.

So far he just stands at the window, looking at the falling snow or snow-covered ground, and says simply "Uh-oh."

At the Age of 97

Joy's great grandmother - Olli Singleton - passed away this past week. Joy wrote a blog entry about that honors her memory, and I've linked it here.

The picture is one of Joy, pregnant with River. She includes it on her blog and references it in her writing. I think it's an amazing pic. I'm particularly struck by the near-perfect roundness of her belly.