tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15567858226862037452011-11-27T16:53:49.063-08:00Things that got me thinkingeslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.comBlogger281100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-33108205374953612202011-01-27T04:45:00.000-08:002011-01-27T04:45:54.255-08:00

Mass borrow to help save Isle of Wight libraryHundreds of books flew off the shelves at an Isle of Wight library as part of a protest over closures. The mass borrow was organised by campaigners trying to save nine out of 11 libraries under threat following government cuts to council budgets. Library members entered Newport library armed with trolleys and bags to carry their full book

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-63582415250774332282011-01-26T03:34:00.000-08:002011-02-04T22:19:20.342-08:00

According to Henry  Hitchings new book Language Wars there are only eight nations which donot have an official primary language. These are: the UK, the USA (though 20 states now have one), Pakistan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Costa Rica and Bosnia-Herzegovina. For me the African countries are the most surprising - would speculate that religious/linguistic/political divisions have been too

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-33098322320812842302011-01-26T01:39:00.000-08:002011-01-26T01:39:06.390-08:00

Henry Hitchings (yes, that's Hitchings not Higgins) has a new book sure to ruffle feathers: The Language Wars: A History of Proper English. As his near-namesake in Pymalion/My Fair Lady points out, when one Englishman opens his mouth it sure to offend another one. Like David Crystal, Hitchings takes a relaxed view regarding the alleged decline in standard. He points out that bitter protests

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-82976010644369345212010-11-01T12:31:00.000-07:002010-11-01T12:31:31.995-07:00

 I've posted on the language of US politics for Macmillan here:http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/ with a short listening comprehension here: http://www.esllistening.org/funfacts/fun facts/americanpolitics.html My prediction: GOP to win 70 seats and take back the House. In the Senate the Dems will hang on with the Republicans gaining 7 including Nevada  & Wisconsin but not California. Miller

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-16393520606911648492010-10-06T04:39:00.000-07:002010-10-06T04:39:22.415-07:00

Keynes has spawned generations of economists and politicians who think that spending money is the same thing as making money. You might recall Michael Douglas’s character in War of the Roses saying to his wife (played by Kathleen Turner): “It’s a lot easier to spend it than it is to make it, honeybun!” Well, not according Keynesian economists, it isn’t.Peter Smith takes up the cudgels

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-61490135371849848422010-10-01T02:59:00.000-07:002010-10-01T02:59:38.338-07:00

Have posted on spelling for OUP here: http://oupeltglobalblog.com/2010/09/30/20-most-commonly-misspelt-words-in-english/ Very much a case of feeling the fear and doing it anyway as I am very aware of my own shortcomings in this area.

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-58493663148595660332010-09-20T11:09:00.000-07:002011-02-04T22:41:14.101-08:00

Not another debate over the rights and wrongs but a peculiar linguistic quirk pointed out by Jay Nordlinger My colleague and I were talking about this, too: We say “Iraq War”; but “Afghan War.” Those are unequal. We would never say “Iraqi War” or “Afghanistan War.” Strange.We refer to the “Korean War.” But we would never say “Vietnamese War.” We say “Vietnam War” — and not “Korea War.”It is

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-4808445497178869932010-09-06T03:41:00.000-07:002010-09-20T11:27:33.750-07:00

Seems that Mr Hawking  has settled that whole God thing (thanks for that, Steve! If only we had known earlier we could have saved ourselves the trouble of building all those churches and fancy temples!)Of course there might still be a few straw-chewing, half wit dissenters from the wisdom of Dawkins et al. These  unenlightened  souls (sorry!) might find something of value in the lines of another

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-14668949041464604392010-07-24T22:23:00.000-07:002010-07-24T22:32:31.836-07:00

The Tower of Babel' by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Do the languages we speak shape the way we think? Do they merely express thoughts, or do the structures in languages (without our knowledge or consent) shape the very thoughts we wish to express?Provocative article is WSJ from Stanford psychology professor challenging - or at least refining - Chomsky's (almost) universal theory of a '

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-65950194650254048332010-07-23T03:26:00.000-07:002010-07-23T03:31:35.788-07:00

Queuing for passports in Dublin   In Ireland, the resumption of emigration is already well underway. During the Celtic Tiger boom, there was Irish huge pride in the fact that jobs in new industries were keeping locals at home. Ireland was even attracting its own immigrants in large numbers from elsewhere in Europe to work in everything from building to financial services.But that boom - which

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-84696370153184478182010-07-21T05:12:00.000-07:002010-07-22T00:09:39.828-07:00

Time Magazine has published a fascinating series of short articles: 10 ideas for the next Century.  Over the next few weeks I'll be looking at my looking at the ones that most interest me. 1. The Next American Century -  The end of the Second World War saw the USA emerge as the dominant force in the world, a position that was strengthened by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Many now suggest

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-61814647848543950202010-07-17T23:53:00.000-07:002010-07-17T23:53:24.387-07:00

Did you know that cricket cricket 'was stronger in America than in Australia until the 1860s – stronger than anywhere else outside England'? Or that the first know the earliest reference to baseball comes in a diary entry of an Englishman. Surrey solicitor, William Bray? He refers to playing 'base-ball' with his friends but as Scyld Berry points out  the bigger claim that America's summer sport

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-48598358770734184702010-07-15T04:47:00.000-07:002010-07-15T04:47:54.483-07:00

Have been posting for Macmillan Dictionary on new online vocabulary here  http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/. While corresponding with the editor I thought of two other new phrases currently in vogue: 'tipping point' and 'nudge theory'. Tipping point is another of the terms popularised by Gladwell - it refers to the moment when there is major change - from popularity to unpopularity for

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-67547376883330610632010-06-14T05:18:00.000-07:002010-06-14T05:18:34.564-07:00

The idea of individual 'learning styles' is one of  the sacred cows of recent teaching theory policy. Daniel Willingham offers a very persuasive challenge here:

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-85747400401055931142010-06-03T04:09:00.000-07:002010-06-03T04:09:44.270-07:00

My daughter is very fond of jumping on unclear usage of personal pronouns: 'Who is she?' she demands triumphantly, 'The cat's mother?'. Of course she learned this put-down from her parents - so no complaints. But as Jessica Love points out in this entertaining essay,  pronouns are tricky customers.

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-76905396701741001782010-05-20T11:32:00.000-07:002010-05-20T11:49:51.636-07:00

Started as guest blogger for OUP with this on making online reading easier.Really nicely designed site - think this will be fun!

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-43478554733691564972010-05-01T22:50:00.000-07:002010-05-20T21:59:03.703-07:00

Two fun posts here: Chinese Shakespeare & Shakespeare and Hollywood.

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-52877602945290436322010-05-01T22:38:00.000-07:002010-05-01T22:56:42.647-07:00

Pleased to be republishing my reader for young learners The Big Match . It was originally published by Macmillan in the Phoenix Bookshelf series and was singled out for 'particular excellence' in Bamford & Day's Extensive Reading in the Second Language Classroom (Cambridge, 1998). Unfortunately the Bookshelf collapsed in a flurry of takeovers and copyright returned to me.You can find the whole

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-5604754028210265072010-04-18T07:14:00.000-07:002010-04-18T11:13:48.259-07:00

 Shakespeare influenced the evolution of the English language in many surprising ways.                                                                                                                             

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-13424403141533170492010-03-31T05:01:00.000-07:002010-04-18T11:15:09.891-07:00

Nassim Taleb's The Black Swan (2007)puts forward the theory that the most important events are usually impossible to predict. The title refers to the fact that all swans were believed to be white - until a black one was discovered. This unpredictability is particularly important in relation to finance. A trader can calculate what he thinks is likely to happen in the market, taking into account

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-11057394079954174772010-03-29T06:35:00.001-07:002010-04-03T02:30:41.612-07:00

                                                                                                                                  

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-84517552921074558972010-03-25T12:20:00.000-07:002010-04-18T06:55:52.564-07:00

Something from my site: Origins of English Words You can find linked texts, quiz and other activities here http://englishlanguage.eslreading.org/english/vocabulary/latingreekfrench.html

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-84818312875551134802010-03-23T07:04:00.000-07:002010-04-18T06:59:58.092-07:00

Fortunately I've never had severe stress when it really mattered. The adrenalin of a big deal somehow keeps you going with no time left to worry. It's the little things that knock my confidence – missing an appointment, giving a poor speech or losing my mobile phone have all been enough to trigger it off. John Timpson Upside Down Management This struck me as an interesting insight and one

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-14762484777985455092010-03-23T02:08:00.000-07:002010-04-18T07:03:30.112-07:00

More on the making of the English language here:

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-72791794925440618432010-03-03T08:58:00.000-08:002010-04-18T07:01:08.293-07:00

Louis Menand of The New Yorker provides a fascinating description current scientific thinking about this debilitating condition. You can find the article here hear the audio (or download the podcast here.

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-76972162629597192242010-02-13T23:23:00.000-08:002010-04-03T02:35:10.658-07:00

Did you choose Option A for the dilemma in the last post? When the question was put to a group of doctors, the answers were as follows: Option A: 72% Option B: 28% It seems logical. Save some lives rather than risk the loss of all of them. But then the researchers offered the same doctors this choice: The U.S. is preparing for the outbreak of an unusual Asian disease, which is expected to

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-90071554607557772822010-02-12T02:26:00.000-08:002010-03-27T02:55:59.654-07:00

Here’s a dilemma for you from the psychologists, Tversky and Kahneman. They asked the following to a group of doctorsThe U.S. is preparing for the outbreak of an unusual Asian disease. It is expected to kill 600 people.Two alternative programs to combat the disease have been proposed. If program A is adopted, 200 people will be saved. If program B is adopted, there is a one third probability that

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1556785822686203745.post-6779173300975072962010-02-08T03:44:00.000-08:002010-04-15T04:28:06.901-07:00

Those of you with less than a passing interest in economics will find your eyes closing at the words inflation and deflation. It's worth opening them again for Amity Shales who does a great job of bring the subject to life. She argues against the current orthodox view that deflation (when prices fall) is not necessarily the biggest danger facing the economy: Deflation, as we hear so often now,

eslreadinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09621863930789856411noreply@blogger.com0