I remember being a young girl, 7 or 8 years old, sitting by my grandfather’s bed in my grandparent’s house. It was a big, mechanical hospital bed that had been brought in for him. I remember him reaching his wrinkly hand over to me and saying.. Hey sunshine, how was school? I remember, rather…
This is the run where I really just had a good time.
I got up at about 5:30, I slept really well last night and I felt great. I had no anxiety about the half a half. I was excited, I dressed, grabbed my stuff, and took off. In the car I had a Pumpkin Pie Clif Bar, some Diet Coke, some water, and…
Sometimes it’s very difficult to discern between making petty excuses and listening to common sense.
I woke up this morning feeling SO ready to do the distance on my plan. Week 9 of my marathon plan says “Half Marathon” for the long run. I didn’t register for one, so I was planning to just do my…
偽旗作戦 [にせはたさくせん] – False Flag
- 偽 [にせ] – false; counterfeit; fake
- 旗 [はた] – flag
- 作戦 [さくせん] – strategy
- 作 [さく・つくる] – to make; to build
- 戦 [せん・いくさ] – war; battle
The phrase “False Flag” refers to a…
- Interviewer: So why do you write these strong female characters?
- Whedon: Because you're still asking me that question.
乾坤一擲 [けんこんいってき] - to play for all or nothing; throwing all into a task; to stake everything (on something)
- 乾 [カン] – heaven (also means dry, drought)
- 坤 [コン] – earth
- 一 [いち] – one
- 擲 [テキ] – resign
For as long as I can remember, the prevailing ‘wisdom’ in language learning has been that children are far more capable of easily learning a language than adults. In linguistic circles, this notion…
My hometown paper, the Daily Times Herald in Carroll, Iowa, did me the honor of asking me to write an Op-Ed piece on why I think we should learn other languages. It’s a bit long, but they decided to…
Taiwan News published a story today on the “Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language” (TOCFL), a comprehensive test “designed especially for non-native speakers of Chinese.” I’m guessing that TOCFL is…
I’m working on an editorial piece for my hometown newspaper on why we (all) should learn a second (or third, or fourth) language. The first draft is done-ish, and I’m about to mail it to my contact…
The PlayStation Network has been hacked
Rather than wait for information from Sony USA or sift through the Twitter rumor mill, I decided to see what Sony Japan had to say about the…
“In my world there are only ponies. They eat rainbows and poop butterflies.”
If you’re a Russian learner, but bored with textbooks, why not check out the Russian version of LOLCats? Don’t expect to see Vanya asking for directions to the movie theater, though. Some of these pictures do to the Russian language what LOLCats did (and continues to do) to English. If your Russian slang helmet is a bit rusty, fear not. Each comes with its own English translation and, if it exists, a cultural or historical explanation.
皇室
天皇陛下：お言葉全文（１６日）
天皇陛下のお言葉の全文は以下の通り。
The Imperial Household
His Imperial Majesty: Full Text of His Speech (3/16/11)
The full text of the Emperor’s speech is as follows…
福島第一原発１号機、燃料の溶融が進んでいる可能性
The possibility of a meltdown in progress exists at Fukushima Daiichi, Reactor 1.
…
