Linguistics (and the Amazon Kindle)
At my college, we take one class at a time for a period of about a month each. Right now I'm in a linguistics class called Language and Speech in American Society. I almost didn't take the course, but now I'm really glad I did. I feel like it's the perfect compliment to my English major, which normally focuses on literature. I like learning about the different kinds of English spoken in the U.S. It's interesting to think about the historical origins of people's accents. Do you speak with an accent? I'm from Colorado, which some people call "accent-less." Actually, British people would think we're the ones with the accents.
So far, the best part about the class has been learning about the differences between American and British English. I went to England this summer, and I wrote about the new words I heard. The main differences center around cars and highways. Before going to England, I had never heard the words "motorway," "dual carriageway," or "tailback" (traffic jam). I was amused to learn that they say "hoovered" to mean vacuumed. They also call the sidewalk "pavement." When they name the first floor, they mean what we call the second floor. Our first floor is their ground floor.
Now I'm learning about the grammatical differences. The one that really surprised me has to do with subject-verb agreement. When Americans about a big corporation or organization, we use singular verbs like this: "CNN is going to negotiate a merger." When the Brits talk about a company, they say something this: "The BBC are trying to appeal to their audience." If you're British, could you tell me whether or not this is true? It sounds so, so weird to American ears. Americans also use phrases like "maybe" and "sort of" a lot more than the Brits do. I wonder what that says about us.
Wow, this is kind of nerdy. In other nerdy news, I get to try out an Amazon Kindle (one of those new e-readers). My college owns it and is loaning it to me for a couple months. It's designed not to hurt your eyes if you read on it for long periods of time. It has chemicals under the screen that literally regroup to form the new letters every time you turn the page. I think they call it "digital ink." I like the way it looks, but the screen kind of flashes every time you turn a page. That makes me dizzy. I need to use it more to get a better feel for it. So far I think it's great--but with a few kinks to be ironed out. What do you think of the Kindle? Will you always prefer regular books?
The Kindle
So far, the best part about the class has been learning about the differences between American and British English. I went to England this summer, and I wrote about the new words I heard. The main differences center around cars and highways. Before going to England, I had never heard the words "motorway," "dual carriageway," or "tailback" (traffic jam). I was amused to learn that they say "hoovered" to mean vacuumed. They also call the sidewalk "pavement." When they name the first floor, they mean what we call the second floor. Our first floor is their ground floor.
Now I'm learning about the grammatical differences. The one that really surprised me has to do with subject-verb agreement. When Americans about a big corporation or organization, we use singular verbs like this: "CNN is going to negotiate a merger." When the Brits talk about a company, they say something this: "The BBC are trying to appeal to their audience." If you're British, could you tell me whether or not this is true? It sounds so, so weird to American ears. Americans also use phrases like "maybe" and "sort of" a lot more than the Brits do. I wonder what that says about us.
Wow, this is kind of nerdy. In other nerdy news, I get to try out an Amazon Kindle (one of those new e-readers). My college owns it and is loaning it to me for a couple months. It's designed not to hurt your eyes if you read on it for long periods of time. It has chemicals under the screen that literally regroup to form the new letters every time you turn the page. I think they call it "digital ink." I like the way it looks, but the screen kind of flashes every time you turn a page. That makes me dizzy. I need to use it more to get a better feel for it. So far I think it's great--but with a few kinks to be ironed out. What do you think of the Kindle? Will you always prefer regular books?
The Kindle