THIS WEEK IN REFLECTION
Have any of you learned a second, third, etc. language? You should always learn from native users, of course. One tricky thing, I am learning, is that those native users change how they use their language. This is natural; it happens in all languages. But I see Deaf people of different ages argue about how to sign the same idea. Or, I learn how to sign something from one Deaf person and have another tell me it’s wrong. As a student, I find that frustrating because I want to make sure I never do a disservice to the language of another culture. But as a human, I find the dynamic quality of language endlessly fascinating.
At one point this week I was eating chocolate chips on the couch and watching a volcano documentary. Life is good. But also —
Much like plate tectonics, language is always changing, even when we’re not paying attention. Yellowstone is just Yellowstone except it’s inflating and deflating several inches every year, right? So, the way language changes and how learners of a second language process it has been on my mind this week.
IT DIDN’T MAKE IT TO GRAB THE LAPELS
I finished Come Closer, a novella by Sara Gran about a woman who becomes defiant because she’s being possessed by a female demon. It was fine and recorded beautifully, but I don’t have much to say about it.
THIS WEEK’S BLOG POST
Did you start clicking back through your mental browser to dig up your Earth sciences knowledge from high school? I hope so, because you live on a massive plate. And whether your plate is subducting, colliding, pulling apart, or doin’ a shaky dance will make a load of difference in your life. If you can’t get the Planet Earth Volcano book, then go get yourself another volcano book.
NEXT WEEK’S BLOG POST
Sometimes, I just don’t know what to make of books that are lauded by the New York City crowd, and To the Birdhouse by Cathleen Schine was no different. It sure left me stumped. Check out my review on Wednesday.
BOOKS I BOUGHT
Books I paid for (that are not textbooks) since January 2023: totalling $40.63
BOOKS ADDED TO THE TBR PILE
Thanks to Anne, Stefanie, and Laila for their recommendations this week!
Grab the Lapels 
My youngest daughter is doing her PhD in Geology on plate tectonics between Australia and Indonesia. In the early days, which may well be eight years ago now -she’s had any number of children since she started – I had to proof read her essays, so I’m full bottle on plate tectonics, well I would be if I had retained any of it. Really, any time I think about geology I just save up my questions until I can ask her. If you’re wondering, Australia is heading north, which might make it cheaper to get to Bali if there was actually any logic to airline prices.
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I didn’t realize your daughter is doing a PhD in geology! How exciting! The way I see my peers get overwhelmed in church is how I feel when I think about us floating around on a plate. It’s utterly astounding. I think if you’re moving north, Australia may get some volcanoes some day.
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My best German teacher was actually English – she taught French and German (and maybe Spanish? I didn’t take Spanish). I did have a German-born teacher at one point, but she was not good at actually teaching. She couldn’t manage the classroom and was very impatient with the slower learners. So while I definitely think it’s best to practice speaking with native speakers, I’d distinguish between a teacher and a conversation partner – I don’t think it matters what a language teacher’s first language is, as long as they’ve got the necessary skills! But I agree that all the regionalisms and nuances of learning a language can be frustrating.
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That’s an excellent point. Conversing with native speakers, I’ve been told, is the way to go. However, when it comes to ASL I’ve learned that some Deaf people don’t have a first language because they were denied access to ASL. Then, while we all take English class for 14 or so years, Deaf people are unlikely to take ASL. However, teaching is a skill mastered by few people, though most folks seem to think they can do it if they like the topic.
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I love how you’re so into plate tectonics. It’s so much fun to find a new topic to learn All The Things about!
I’ve been thinking about how language changes, too, though it’s been punctuation that’s been on my mind, and how we use it one way in formal occasions, and in an entirely different way in informal occasions.
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I’ve always been interested in geology and find it more relaxing to do an elevation map than an adult coloring book. However, I took an Earth Science class in college and soured on some of it because I did not pick my lab partner, a derpy person who stopped the lecture to ask what the difference between “thaw and unthaw.” She would lick the rocks to identify them during tests.
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I’ve heard of geologists and paleontologists licking rocks to identify bones vs minerals, but I’m betting your lab partner was not doing that
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There was one rock out of something like twenty that we were told had a slight salty taste. She wanted to get at least one right on the final exam.
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My son had a nonfiction book about volcanoes and earthquakes that we read constantly when he was little. It was very interesting!
I hope you enjoy the books by Devos. My coworker loves horror so maybe I’ll have more recommendations for you, ha ha! I feel like I’m learning about the genre from her. It’s one I’m not naturally attracted to as you know!
I am learning Scottish Gaelic on DuoLingo as well as practicing my French (I took French in high school and college.) it would be awesome to learn from a native speaker.
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How is it going with the Farsi? Do you still study that?
I was surprised to learn when I worked at the library how few librarians actually read, meaning they didn’t always keep up with book trends or have general info of stuff they don’t read, so it’s good you’re paying attention to your co-worker’s horror reading. It’s info sharing!
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Sadly DuoLingo doesn’t have Farsi! Waaah. And the app I was using for it was not good and very clunky so I stopped. Maybe I can find another one.
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You need to find a person who speaks Farsi, or even on Meetup.com they might have conversation groups in Farsi!
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“At one point this week I was eating chocolate chips on the couch and watching a volcano documentary. Life is good. But also —” LOL!!!
They tried to teach me Spanish in high school. I lasted one semester.
Krakatoa and The Drift look interesting!!!
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Ok, what happened in that Spanish class? 👀 Was it just no bueno?
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Mr Gums and I talk a lot about language and its changes and where we draw the line. He is more inclined to be prescriptive than I am because I appreciate more I think that language changes a lot. But on the other hand, I agree with him that in disliking the way language changes and meaning becomes confused.
I was fascinated however by your discussion about changes in ASL. It’s something I hadn’t thought of, but of course it makes complete sense that that would be the case because it is just another language.
I have always been interested in Krakatoa. but I’ve never manage to read it.
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In my linguistics class we talked about how prescriptive grammar can be insulting to certain user groups that, as part of their culture, don’t use grammar according to whatever rules were looking at (those change, too). I thought that was interesting.
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Language is endlessly fascinating isn’t it?
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I missed your volcano book review! I love geology and I really wanted to be a geologist however I’m not very good at maths and wouldn’t have got the science A-levels to go on to university. My cousin’s kid is just about to go and study geology at university though so I can live vicariously through him (his twin is doing forensics!).
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Browser went wonky so sorry if I’m double commenting!
Sadly, the only language I am halfway decent at is English so really admire you and other folks who are fluent in multiple languages. Took four years of Spanish in grade school and was ok at it but never got anywhere near fluent, though I can still puzzle out some of it. But I ditched Spanish for German when my high school began offering that. Took it two years and then two years in college and gave it up because the two teachers who regularly taught the language learning classes were a-holes. One of them constantly played favorites with the students who were able to afford to study abroad (not me), and the other constantly criticized my accent in a very mean way. I’ve tried to return to both Spanish and German on Duolingo but I always give up eventually because I just don’t have time to do all the things. Maybe when I retire?
Yay for volcanos, plate tectonics, and geology! I’ve been to several volcanos and some used to be volcanos and they are really neat! Also, having grown up in southern California I am quite familiar with what happens when plates move around. I lived in Northridge two miles from the epicenter of the 1994 6.7 blind thrust earthquake. Those were the most terrifying 20 seconds of my life.
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We talk a lot about how the only way to learn a language is to immerse themselves with native speakers, but sometimes the native speakers don’t want to sit there and hash out the alphabet with a noob. So, finding a conversation group, which, if you live near a college, is often free and easy to access.
I forgot you’re from Cali. I know many Californians seem to think little of earthquakes, but how can you forget what that is!?
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Earthquakes happen so often in California and most of the times they are small and cause no more damage than maybe knocking a book off a shelf, so people become complacent and think they are no big deal. Until they are.
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I’m glad you only have to deal with those greedy squirrels now!
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Can’t wait to hear what you think of the Drift! I just got the Jennifer Weiner sent to me by the publisher for review, which surprises me, because quite honestly, she’s such a bestselling writer I doubt my little blog will make much difference haha
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I just started The Drift today, and that opening sentence is fantastic. I had to quit a book called The Death of Jane Lawrence, which felt like a Crimson Peak rip off.
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I look forward to your review of The Drift!!!
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I wouldn’t say I speak a second language but I did learn French for several years. One tricky thing is that in schools here we learn Quebecois French so when I went to France a few years ago, there are words and expressions that are entirely different!
I thought of you this week – Peter and I are watching the show Only Murders in the Building and there was an episode from a Deaf character’s perspective, done entirely without spoken word with characters primarily communicating with ASL. It was an interesting way to get things across for the viewer and put us in this character’s shoes a little bit.
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It’s interesting to think about what Deaf person might notice is a situation where a crime has happened. They’re visual, so we’re frequently told they miss nothing from that perspective.
Interestingly, unless you lived in Quebec, I’m not sure when you would practice or use that type of French. And if there’s no one for students to continue practicing with, then what’s the point?
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It felt like they did it well in the episode. It wasn’t completely silent, for example at one point someone turns music up really loud and then you can sort of make out the bass line. I did wonder if the character’s lip reading ability was entirely believable, particularly in a couple of scenes where the characters weren’t facing him.
Any sort of federal job in Canada requires French speaking and Quebecois French would be the norm there. It used to be that working on an airline or in a bank also required French but that’s more lenient now. In my part of the country, speaking Mandarin, Cantonese, or Punjabi would be far more useful and schools are slowly starting to reflect this.
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That’s so cool how culturally mixed Canada is. Everyone just seems welcome to be there. Of course, this is an outsider perspective, and an American one at that.
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In our best version, that is what Canada is. We like to refer to ourselves as a mosaic rather than a melting pot. Meaning that you can hold on to your culture of origin while still being completely Canadian. I don’t think that’s how it plays out a lot of the time and we have a rising anti-immigration political party too unfortunately. I also live on the west coast which tends to be more left-leaning and I don’t have enough experience in other parts of Canada to say what it’s like there. Alberta, for example, has a reputation for being redneck and racist but I know plenty of lovely, not racist Albertans.
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