Omniglot

The title of this post links to a very thorough website on writing systems. For linguists and others casually interested in language, it's worth a read-through.

I used to be able to transcribe IPA with reasonable accuracy, although I've pretty much lost the nuances. The one linguistics class I took (senior year of college, spring semester) explained so much to me that I wished I had taken it much earlier. Beyond cleaning up my pronunciation in French, it made me more aware of how sounds and words are formed, and how grammatical structures link together words according to a set of complex rules. If ever I were to pursue a doctorate (hah!), it would probably be in linguistics and second-language acquisition. Here's to dreaming!

Essence and Existence

I'm having trouble finding my own voice for this blog, which is why there have been so few postings over the last almost-year. I don't want to write about my work, although there is plenty of material there, believe you me. I don't think it's nice to blog about anyone close to me who doesn't know that I'm doing it, and since I have told nobody about this blog, there goes that source.

So mostly I'm left with my own musings. Which don't really seem to amount to much. I'm not particularly funny. I don't even keep up with world events or politics to a degree where I would feel competent to write about them. I don't travel enough lately (serious lack of funding) to merit any reflection on intercultural experiences, which was the original intent of this blog. What's left that hasn't already been done? And that wouldn't bore any reader (including myself) to tears?

Maybe this is a hint I need to find a new hobby.