An Unexpected Blast from the Past

Not long ago, I carted a lot of old books to the used bookstore. I was hoping to get some money back, or at least some store credit, for them. Unfortunately, they couldn't take them, and I ended up donating them. 

 

This was placed in my book bin, even though it wasn't mine. Apparently, someone tried to trade this in and couldn't, and the bookseller had thought it was mine:

 

 

That's a box of "French: Level One" practice record sets. Yes, RECORD, as in 33 1/3 RPM. 14 Longplay microgroove, hi-fi records, copyright 1960. There were only 6 of the 14 in the box:

 

 

At the bottom there's a strip titled, "Care of the Record".

1. Store in this protective sleeve, to avoid scratching and dirt.

2. Handle this record by the edges and center only.

3. Use a microgroove needle only. Keep it clean, and have it checked occasionally to be sure that it is not too badly worn.

4. Keep record away from heat. Do not lay it in direct sun or on a radiator. (on a radiator?)

5. Always store records upright (not flat)

6. Play manually at 33 1/3 RPM.

 

And this is Practice Record Side A of Unit 8:

 

 

Most of my students wouldn't know what to do with this. In fact, they'd think it was a weird, oversized CD or a frisbee. Considering this set is 41 years old, it's in pretty good shape. I remember records like this, though I'm not going to tell you just how old I am.

 

Winter's Gone From the Mountains (30 Days of Creativity, Day 21)

Winter's Gone from the Mountains...

acrylic, ink

© 2011 by A. Dameron

Chinese calligraphy, from top to bottom, "Winter (is) gone (from the) mountains, clear water sparkles."

 

Lost in Translation, Part III...

Um...am I stolen?

All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2011

The Code of Kings, Mayan Culture and Language

Culture is much more than just the language. It is the architecture, the general mindset of the people, the relationships with others, the history...so many factors. It's hard to separate one from the other because their influence is felt in so many ways. As a linguist, I'm astounded just how complicated the word 'culture' really is.

I'm reading The Code of Kings: The Language of Seven Sacred Maya Temples and Tombs by Linda Schele and Peter Mathews. The Mayan Empire stretched across parts of Mexico, Guatamala, Honduras, El Salvador and Belize. It lasted from about 1000 BC to 1697 AD, when the Spaniards conquered the last independent Mayan kingdom. Archaeologists have discovered many tantalizing glimpses of Mayan life and culture.

The Mayans arranged their temples and holy spaces in geometrically precise layouts. In many cases, new rulers simply designed new buildings on the remains of old ones. They considered open spaces as sacred ground, so most of their religious ceremonies took place in plazas and ballcourts (similar to modern jai alai or basketball courts). Architects designed elaborate friezes and wall decorations to tell the histories of the great cities. Wherever you turned, you were reminded of your past and what was expected for the future.

The seven cities featured in this book are Tikal, Palenque, Copan, Seibal, Chich'en Itza, Uxmal and Iximche'. These places were all important centers of the Mayan Empire, but each city had its own unique style. Each place had its own history, its own triumphs and tragedies. The language used logographs (single signs), syllabic signs, or a combination of both. There were several ways of writing a single word, depending on the sounds involved and how it was used. These stylized pictures tell each city's story, from their earliest rulers to their eventual conquest.

Here is a brief sample of the Mayan language and how to pronounce words.

The word "lord" can be spelled ahaw, ahau, or axaw, depending on the translator. Like Chinese's pinyin or Egyptian hieroglyphs, there can be many different versions of the same word. Some sounds don't exist in English or Spanish; I've marked those with (*). The 'standard' orthography is:

a=pronounced a like 'father'
b=b like 'ball'
c=k like the English 'k'
e=e like 'set'
h=h like 'hello'
i= ee like 'see'
j= hard h sound, like the Spanish j (jabon, jai lai)
k= hard k, but with closed glottis (i.e. don't let the sound vibrate in your throat)
l=l
m=m
n=n
o= o like 'hold'
p=p
pp or p'= p with closed glottis
*q= (k deep in the throat. The closest equivalent is the 'r' in Arabic. There is no equiv. in English)
s=s
t=t
th or t'= t with closed glottis
*tz= no equivalent in English
*dz is pronounced tz'
u= oo sound in 'zoo', or it can stand for the letter 'w'
x=sh sound like 'shell'
y=y
z= s sound like 'soon'


All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2011

What am I Reading This Month? (April 2011)

My Reading List for April. Yeah, when do I have time to read? Usually later at night, after the kids go to bed and right before I go to sleep.

1) Ninja: The Shadow Warrior by Joel Levy. Richly descriptive with full-color pictures, this talks about the upbringing, training and the equipment of the ninja (also known as the 'shinobi no mono'). How can you separate the fact from the fiction regarding these shadow warriors?

2) Criminal Investigation: Evidence, Clues and Forensic Science by John D. Wright. How do forensic investigators go about processing a case? This book covers the steps of investigating a crime scene, and the various jobs involved. Other important members of the crime scene team include the photographer/sketch artist, criminal profiler, forensic pathologist, toxicologist, ondontologist (who identifies victim by dental records) and ballistics expert.

Note: This book is mostly focused on the UK, but other international law enforcement organizations are mentioned, like Ireland's The Garda, Scotland's New Scotland Yard, the United States' FBI, Canada's National Police Services (which include the Royal Canadian Mountain Police) and the UK's Forensic Science Service (including the National Firearms Unit in Manchester).

3) The Code of Kings: The Language of Seven Sacred Maya Temples and Tombs by Linda Schele and Peter Mathews. More on this book here.


 All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2011

Language Translation Oops of the Day...

Wonder if it's the supermarket that's suspicious or something else?

All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2011

Dreaming in Chinese by Deborah Fallows

Language and culture has always been intertwined and interlinked. In order to understand the heart of a second (third or fourth) language, one must understand the heart of the people who speak it. Many turns of phrase, idioms, and general attitudes about life depend on the environment around them.

I recently finished reading Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love and Language by Deborah Fallows. Ms. Fallows spent several years in China, learning about Mandarin and its intricate structure. The language highlights the way the Chinese see their lives, so different from the Western worldview. Ms. Fallows relates a story about the Chinese vs. Western view of love and romance: A Chinese friend of hers admits that she "loves her husband for now." For now? Was it just a matter of convenience?

The Chinese verb ai (fourth tone) means "to love", but unlike English, Chinese verbs do not change tense (in other words, it remains the same for past, present and future tense). They also do not change for number of people (I love, you love, he/she loves, we love, they love.)

So the expression "Wo ai ni!" can mean "I love you", "I loved you", "I will love you" and so on. It can also mean "I love you now, at this moment." If I wanted to say "I loved you yesterday", the sentence would be, "Zuotian wo ai ni." (Yesterday, I love you.). So when the woman says, "I love my husband for now", she doesn't mean it in a temporal sense. It just translates into English that way.

But a mix-up in translation can definitely make the wrong impression about someone's cultural norm. You can't separate the two, language and culture, and Ms. Fallows sees this time and time again during her travels through China. A different mind set, a different way of life, but utterly fascinating.

All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2011

What am I Reading This Month?

I haven't done one of these in a while...it's only recently that I've been able to squeeze some pleasure reading into my chaotic schedule. Here goes:

How to be a Villain: Evil Laughs, Secret Lairs, Master Plans and More by Niel Zawaki It's a step-by-step guide to joining the forces of Evil and Darkness. This book is a humorous look at every cliche of villainy in literature. After all, you need the catchy name, the flashy costume, the secret lair, the evil henchman, and the Plot to Destroy the World, right?

Aitchison's Linguistics by Jean Aitchison. This is part of the Teach Yourself (R) series. It's an introduction to basic concepts in the field of language and linguistics. There are many different sub-specialities (such as computational linguistics, sociolinguistics, historical linguistics and applied linguistics) that describe the many different branches of study. For the record, a philologist is a person who speaks many languages, while a linguist is interested in the structure and reason for languages (but does not necessarily need to speak all of them). Many start out as one and end up as the other.

The Art of War by Sun Tzu I had a smaller version of this classic treatise on the art of war, but lost it, so I got myself this particular version, printed by Arcturus Press (UK). I like this illustrated version, and I like how this is easily indexed and arranged by chapter and verse.

Lost Languages by Andrew Robinson I've read this one before, but I've decided to re-read it. It focuses on the linguistic puzzles of all time, including the Egyptian hieroglyphs, the Mayan glyphs, and ones that are still a mystery, like the Etruscan writing.


All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2011

Quotes about Language, Part II

More language quotes...

"Learn a language, get a new soul." Czech proverb

"Swearing was invented as a compromise between running away and fighting."  Peter Finley Dunne

"It's no coincidence that in no known language does the phrase 'As pretty as an airport' appear." Douglas Adams

"It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in a language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs." Thomas Hardy

"War is what happens when language fails." Margaret Atwood

"England and America are two countries divided by a common language." George Bernard Shaw

"Slang is a language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands and goes to work." Carl Sandburg

"I personally think we developed language because of our deep-seated need to complain." Lily Tomlin

"Any time you think some other language is strange, remember that yours is just as strange. You're just used to it." The Language Mystic

"'I am' is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be 'I do' is the longest sentence?" George Carlin

"The four most beautiful words in our common language: 'I told you so'." Gore Vidal

"Wer fremde Sprache nicht kennt, weiss nicht von seiner einigen." Those who don't know any other foreign language, don't know anything about their own. (German) Goethe

"Tir gan teanga, tir gan agam." A country without its language is a country without its soul. (Irish Gaelic)

"Cave quid dicis, quando, et qui." Be careful what you say, when and to whom. (Latin)

All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2011

Quotes about Language, Part I

It's been close to 15 years since I've formally studied anything to do with linguistics, but I've taken it up again. And I've found some quotes, stories and little ditties about language:

"Alice was too puzzled to say anything, so after a minute, Humpty Dumpty began again. 'They've a temper, some of them--particularly verbs, they're the proudest--adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs--however, I can manage the whole lot!'" --Lewis Carroll (Through the Looking Glass)

"Change and decay in all around we see. But not all change is decay, and some decay turns into new life." D.J. Enright

"I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse." Emperor Charles V.

"Euphemisms are unpleasant truths wearing diplomatic cologne."  Quentin Crisp

"In certain trying circumstances, urgent circumstances, desperate circumstances, profanity furnishes a relief denied even to prayer." Mark Twain

"Language is the means of getting an idea from my brain into yours without surgery." Mark Amidon

"Our language is a funny thing...a fat chance and a slim chance are the same thing!" J. Gustav White

"Let's not be so worried about not offending everybody that we lose the ability to distinguish between respect and paranoia." Larry King

"But if language can corrupt thought, thought can corrupt language." George Orwell

"When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose to mean, no more and no less.'" Lewis Carroll (Through the Looking Glass).

"There was a young man of Dunlaoghaire,
Who propounded an interesting theoghaire
That the language of Erse
Has a shortage of verse,
As the spelling makes poets so weoghaire."
J.B. Searle (note: Erse=Irish Gaelic and the "oghaire" is pronounced "eery" like "theory" and "weary." The place name is pronounced "dun-laeery".)


All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2011

Books and Stuff I Got for Christmas

My bookish, linguistic, bohemian side is jumping up and down this season. A $25 Barnes and Noble gift card from Hubby and some extra spending money gave me a chance to get some things I've had my eye on for a while. Most of the time, I only do window-shopping in the bookstores, unless I can get a good deal on something and/or it's something that I know I can't get anywhere else.

New on the bookshelf (links are to its entry on Amazon.com, where all the publication info is listed):

The Indie Author Guide by April L. Hamilton I definitely wanted to get this one. This outlines how to get organized, whether or not to have a brand name, and the ins and outs of POD publishing. The companion website http://www.indieauthorguide.com has additional information and tips too.

Biting the Wax Tadpole: Confessions of a Language Fanatic by Elizabeth Little This book has little anecdotes about how different languages (from Xhosa to Esperanto to Gaelic and Quechua) have things in common, and the little things that drive linguists nuts. She references pop culture icons like Dr. Seuss and Star Wars.

Doctor Who: The TARDIS Handbook by Steve Tribe Yes, I'm an unabashed Doctor Who fan. This book (published by BBC Books) chronicles the history and background of the transdimensional blue police box.

The Brilliant Book of Doctor Who 2011 Compiled of interviews, production notes and other tantalizing tidbits from Series 5, Matt Smith's first year as the 11th Doctor.

Fashion Design Portfolio Edited by Maite Lafuente I was excited to get this one. I'm mostly a landscape/still life artist...I used to avoid drawing people (and clothes) like the plague. Although I'm hardly a fashionista, I'd like to improve on my figure drawing. It's still lacking, but I'm practicing.

Basic Tagalog (for Foreigners and Non-Tagalogs) by Paraluman S. Aspillera While I was growing up, I heard my parents speak Tagalog (Filipino) among themselves and their friends, but they only spoke English to me and my two sisters. So I can understand it pretty well, but I can't speak it really well. It's a part of my culture and heritage, and I think it'd be nice to study the language of my ancestors. (MP3 Audio CD included)

Mandarin Chinese: Learning Through Conversation by Kang Yuhua and Lai Siping  Each lesson is on the MP3 Audio CD and the conversations are written in both Chinese characters and pinyin (transliterated from how the words sound, with diacritical and tone marks). Being able to speak fluently in a language is part of the whole package. You also need to know how to read it and write it too.

Other gifts: a pair of Hershey's Cocoa ornaments, a Virginia Tech-themed ornament, a pair of Virginia-Tech flip flops (complete with a football-y attachment on the thong part...don't ask), jewelry and hair accessories from Del Sol (that change color in the sunlight), gift cards (from Starbucks and other places).

The kids really enjoyed Christmas this year. They received (much needed) clothes and shoes, art supplies, music, flashcards, books and LEGOS!!! Baby Girl is a big LEGO fan. I can see her being an engineer or an architect someday.

So...how were your holidays??



All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010

Trying something new this season...

I'm eager to try new things, artistically speaking. I have a calligraphy pen with four different nibs, watercolor paints, black and gold calligraphy ink. The set's been sitting idle for the past year, since last Christmas. Lately, I've been reviewing both my Chinese and Japanese grammar and realized my kanji, katakana, hiragana, and Zhongwen are awful, since I haven't been practicing lately. My writing in English is decent (for a left hander, anyway), but you still need a decoder to read it.

So I'm back to practicing my characters with pen and ink. Earlier this week, I found some bottles of colored ink at Hobby Lobby for 40% off and picked those up as well. My hands aren't up to fine detail work anymore, but I  think I can manage to do some ATCs (artist trading cards) and postcards with them.

Wish me luck and that my hands will cooperate in this new undertaking. :-D

All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010

Detective Inspector, Grammar Police, American English Division

I used to teach ESL (English as a Second Language) to non-native speakers. Since I live in the US, I adopted and used the American English spellings for my lessons. I'm a native-born Brit and it took me a while to adjust to both spellings, depending to whom I'm talking, or to whom I'm writing. I'm sensitive to word spellings and constructions because I also do line editing. I'm so used to AE that a British friend dubbed me the title of this entry (in the most affectionate manner, of course).

So D.I. Annie presents to you some differences between British English and American English:

Just changes in spelling, but same meaning:
colour/color
honour/honor
favour/favor
centre/center
criticise/criticize
authorise/authorize
traveller/traveler
defence/defense (nouns end in -ce. If it's a verb, the British use the -se spelling)
cheque/check
storey/story (as in floor of a building)
aluminium/aluminum (note the extra "i" in the British spelling. It's pronounced "a-loo-MEE-nee-um")
anaesthesia/anesthesia (the British keep the extra "a")
grey/gray

Some British English (BE) words and their American English (AE) counterparts:

Davenport:a small writing desk (BE)
a sofa (American and Canadian)

Bomb (v): A smashing success (BE)
a failure (AE)

table (v): to consider immediately (BE)
to postpone till later (AE)

access (n) custodial rights (BE)
permission to go somewhere (AE: visitation rights)

Bristol fashion (adj) all taken care of (BE)
taken care of, all A-OK (AE)

Bungalow (n) modest house, cottage (BE)
one story house (AE)

Call (v) dropped by, visited (BE) The British say, "He telephoned" or "He rang." to refer to a phone call.
telephoned (AE).

catch (you) out (v) spot an error (BE)
The Americans say "Catch an error" or "Spot an error."

pavement (n) (BE)
The Americans say, "sidewalk."

razzle (n) A binge (BE) "To go on the razzle." means "to go on a spree" for Americans.
"razz" (v) to tease (AE).

run in (v) Breaking into a brand new car. (BE)
to meet unexpectedly, have an accident (AE).

slag (v) to mock, deride, tease (BE) to "slag (someone) down" means to "give someone hell, read them the riot act, call them on the carpet"
(n) destroyed (AE, military). "It was reduced to slag."

shake (someone) down (v) to let someone stay the night at your place (BE)
"shakedown cruise" in American naval terms is the maiden voyage of a newly commissioned ship.

flat, n. apartment (BE).
It's an adjective in AE, meaning two-dimensional.

bonnet (n) a car hood (BE)
a ladies' hat (AE)

boot (n) the trunk of a car (BE)
a shoe that goes above the ankle (AE)

zebra (zebra crossing) (n) pedestrian crossing (BE) Also called pelican crossing
crosswalk (AE). Also a sports term for the referee (who wears a black and white shirt)

wash up (v) wash the dishes. "Do the dishes" doesn't exist in BE.
use the restroom (AE)

And to clarify some numbers:
A zero in the US is a naught or a cipher in England.
A million in both countries is 1,000,000 (1 with 6 zeros)
A billion in the US is 1,000,000,000 (1 with 9 zeros). In England, it's a milliard.
A trillion in the US is 1,000,000,000,000 (1 with 12 zeros). In England, it's a billion.
A quadrillion in the US is 1,000 x 1 trillion (1 with 15 zeros). In England, it's a thousand billion.

So a billion in the US isn't the same as a billion in England. It does make a difference...a huge difference, by about 1,000.

And some commonly misused proper names:
(Note: Most people think of themselves as Scots, Welsh, Irish, etc. first, before being British)

British: a naturalized subject of Great Britain (it can include someone from Scotland, Wales, N. Ireland, or from any Commonwealth Country)
Briton: a person from Great Britain/England (shortened to Brit)
English: specifically from England in culture and outlook. (DO NOT refer to a Scot, an Irishman or a Welshman as "English". Just don't.)
Scot: A person from Scotland
Scottish: from Scotland (i.e. bagpipes, kilt, etc.)
Scots: Scottish English, Scottish dialect of English (NOT the same thing as Scottish Gaelic, which is Gaidhig)
Scotch: This is the English word for Scottish dialect (see above). The Scots themselves would not use this for their language.  It's also in certain expressions "Scotch whiskey" (whisky in England), and "Scotch tweed".



(Most terms from British English A to Zed: Revised and Updated Edition by Norman W. Schur, updated by Eugene Ehrlich ©2001 by Checkmark Books, New York)


All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010

Getting back to Linguistics 101

I'm going to be dating myself here. Fifteen years ago, I graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in Foreign Languages and Literatures (with a teaching certificate). My biggest ambition was to teach English overseas (maybe in Asia?), travel, and see places that I'd only read about.

Fifteen years, several unexpected turns, and painful lessons later, I'm nowhere close to that dream. But that doesn't mean I still can't work towards it. I've kept up my languages with reading, interacting with others on the Internet, and finding materials in teaching stores and used bookstores. I still watch Univision occasionally, and keep up with goings-on within International House in Charlotte. It's difficult, but it's doable.

My husband used to tell me, "You just have to wait for the right opportunity." (Insert snooty attitude here). He hasn't said that since I pointed out how elitist he sounded. If I just sat around and waited for "the right opportunity", I'd be waiting more than fifteen years.

So I've dug out my old textbooks and scoured the Internet for updated information. Yes, the teacher must become the student again...back to the basics. I must unlearn what I've learned (that having a family--and two autistic children and a toddler--should preclude your dreams) and learn what I've forgotten, namely what a locative-content transformation is, how to solve a substitution cipher, and what Chomsky's Theory of Universal Language is.

Allons-y! Wish me luck!

All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010

A Cute Cultural Comparison

I've been working quite a lot on my Spanish...translating kids' picture books, reading La Noticia with the help of a dictionary and watching one of the Spanish-speaking channels, Univision. Usually, it's in the background as I work. I need to improve my language skills and to do that, I need to actively use it instead of passively studying grammar points.

Spanish TV reminds me a lot of Italian TV. The majority of the day's programming seems to be soap operas (talk about melodramatic and over the top. US soaps could learn a thing or two...), talk shows, and variety shows. This morning, I watched ¡Despierta America! (Wake up, America!). I guess it's their equivalent of The Today Show, but the Today Show was never this wacky. I couldn't imagine Matt Lauer cavorting around with a plastic swordfish stuck to the back of his suspenders, or Al Roker giving someone a foot massage. There's a lot more interaction between the hosts, the crew, and the reporter at the news desk. Not to mention, they're loud, rowdy and obnoxious, but totally uninhibited and completely hilarious. It makes American TV seem puritanical.

In the afternoons, I sometimes watch a talk show named "El Gordo y la Flaca", which literally translates into "The Fat Man and the Skinny Woman". Imagine an American show with that title! You'd be sued by the Civil Liberties Union for violating someone's personal rights or you'd be hit with a defamation suit!) It's not a health show, but the title is somewhat appropriate because the two hosts are...well, a fat guy and a skinny woman. They look cute together, actually. The format is part Ellen deGeneres and part Today Show. Fashion, news, entertainment...nothing's sacred. Right after it is "Primero Impacto" (First Impact), which is their version of "Hard Copy" or "Inside Edition".

Spanish commercials are funny too. A lot of them are either a) translated from the English or b) attempts at advertising music CDs or soap operas. There's a definite dose of culture shock when I first started watching Univision. My first thought was, "This is so corny! How can they do that?!" But they are themselves, talking a mile a minute, cheerful, enthusiastic, emotional, expressive (I haven't seen them not use their hands in conversation), and (brutally) honest. Throw in outgoing, uninhibited (who cares if you have a plastic swordfish stuck to your bum) and willing to have any excuse for a party, or at least a few drinks.

It's almost childlike in a way, before you grow up. The women are all glamorous and the men are all macho.

Definitely different. I envy them in a way.

All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010

It's All Greek to Me...

We went to the 33rd Yiasou Greek Festival in Charlotte this afternoon. It's held at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church on West Blvd. There are rides for the kids, face painting and games, plus booths and gift stores inside the cathedral and outside in tents. The biggest draw is the famed Greek pastries, including their delicious baklava. The pastries are so popular that there's a drive-through lane specifically for those. You can pick up a carton of food and go on your merry way.

The church grounds were packed with people, even when it opened at noon. We parked the van at the park near Dilworth Elementary and walked the few blocks to the church. The rides were already in full gear, and the tables under the shady trees were filling up fast. Luckily, we found a good place to sit just in front of an outdoor stage. Robert went in search of food, while I distracted the kids. Robert and I had souvlakis, while the kids split another souvlaki and lemonade. I also brought their usual munchies (teddy grahams, fruit snacks and granola bars), in case they didn't want any of the food.

Sarah toddled her way to the nearby tables, much to everyone's amusement. Christina and I danced a little to the music that drifted out from the speakers. It was an effort trying to keep the kids entertained before and during lunch. After lunch, Christina started to show signs of extreme crankiness, so Robert told me to do my shopping...quickly.

The Orthodox Church has an impressive green dome at the top, and a series of rooms and chambers inside. The two cornerstones are written in both English and Modern Greek, established in 1953. The main cafeteria chamber featured a troupe of traditional Greek dancers on the stage as they did a circle dance. The rooms had items for sale, including nesting dolls, religious books, precious jewelry, art prints, all-natural lotions and beauty products and carved wooden spoons and crosses. I wandered through the series of rooms, peered into the jewelry cases and perused the books. I found a tiny box filled with items from the Holy Land, the perfect Christmas gift for my mother. Then I also found a slim book called "Essential Modern Greek Grammar."

"You got a language book?!" Robert asked in disbelief.

I'm a linguist, go figure. The extent of my knowledge of Greek was limited to what I learned during the kids' Wiggles videos. That included, "Opa!" "Agapame tin Athena" (We love Athens), and "Efkalisto" (Thank you). I took one semester of Russian and one semester of Latin in college for my languages degree, but I was never able to get into the Greek class (that class--and Japanese--always conflicted with my  required classes. The Classics professor was a nice guy and went to my church.). So I gave in to curiosity to look at it. I had flashbacks to my Latin class with all the declensions and conjugations and the alphabet reminded me of my really awful Cyrillic scrawl in Russian class. (My Cyrillic is still indecipherable, by the way.) But my interest was piqued.w

We watched a group of children dance on the outside stage, and a pair of bellydancers walked past me. After buying two containers of Greek pastries, we left and headed to the Dilworth Park, where the kids played on the equipment and Christina got herself soaked in the outdoor fountain. By the time we were headed back home on I-77, two of the three kids were asleep, and I couldn't wait to dig into the baklava.

I can't wait for next year, for more pastries, dancing, music...and language. Experiencing a different culture is always an eye-opener, no matter which culture it is.





All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010

Indiana Annie and the Used Bookstore

I step into the used bookstore and I feel like Indiana Jones in some sort of exotic temple with foreign languages on the walls and strange tales waiting to be read. Of course, I'm actually at Book Sellers, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the books are all arranged according to subject: science fiction, history, poetry, mystery...the list goes on.


The store has an interesting selection of book translations in other languages, including Korean, Chinese, Japanese, German, Spanish, Czech and Portuguese. I found German translations of the "Star Wars" saga and "King Kong", as well as a Portuguese translation of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's (Sorcerer's, US) Stone." You can find the most unexpected treasures there. Once I picked up "Winnie Ille Puh" in Latin.


The Writing section is farther down the same aisle. There are plenty of how-to books, others full of publication advice (some several years out of date, unfortunately) and blank journal books. Some are spiral bound, others are hard-bound, with colorful covers and all sorts of designs. I've found unique journal books there and have built up my stock of blank books to jot down all sorts of ideas.


In the back are several shelves of the one dollar bargain books. Old college textbooks, humor collections, classic stories and recent novels, exercise and fitness, cross-stitch patterns, and non-fiction galore. It's a undiscovered treasure chest. I've found books dating back to the 1920s (like a copy of E.M. Forster's "Captain Hornblower" and "Cartellas del Armas" from 1944), but you have to to really dig to find them. Once you find them, it's worth the one dollar you pay for each.


I'll keep coming back a few times a month to see what's "new" on the shelves. It's like a siren call that I can't resist, one that leads me to treasure. 



All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010

Language, Writing and Art Entwined

Whenever I can, I like to incorporate my various interests in my writing and art. One of my main hobbies is languages. I originally trained as a foreign language/English as a second language teacher in college. I love the sounds, the complexity of grammar, how semantics can change a spoken or written word, and how body language conveys messages on its own.

I think that's why I enjoy writing science fiction and fantasy. I can build my own worlds and make up their cultures and languages. Sometimes they are based on Earth peoples and places, other times they sound truly alien. I can draw on my experience as a linguist, teacher and artist to make my stories unique and believable.

Language can be a basis for art too. I'm currently studying Japanese, and brushing up on my Mandarin Chinese. My family history is from Southeast Asia, so it's also a link to my own cultural roots. Here are some examples of how I combine 3 of my loves: foreign language, writing and art.

Marumochi, Japanese rice cakes. The word is written in hiragana and kanji (two of the three writing systems in Japanese.

 Sakura, cherry blossom. The word is written on the right (and vertically) in hiragana.


 These two are Chinese calligraphy, yellow acrylic on a red acrylic background.  The character on the left is Ming, "bright", which consists of the characters for the sun and the moon. Makes sense, in a way, especially once you see the characters side by side to understand the meaning.

   The one on the right is Fu,  "happiness". This one's a bit more abstract. On the right side are the symbols meaning "to fill" (which consist of the symbols for "one", "mouth" and "field"), joined with the symbol for "heaven" on the left. To be filled with bounty from the rice field, sent from heaven equals happiness.

Language, writing and art are interconnected in many ways. I really enjoy incorporating the three in many different ways and in many different mediums. Fiction. prose, poetry, collage and art all tell a different story for different people. What does it tell you?

All writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010

More Books on the Reading List

A few more books on the summer reading list:


1) The Curved Planks, Poems: A Bilingual Edition, by Yves Bonnefoy, Translated by Hoyt Rogers A set of poems by French poet Yves Bonnefoy, with the original French alongside the English. Yeah, my French is pretty rusty right now.


2) Working IX to V: Orgy Planners, Funeral Clowns, and other Prized Professions of the Ancient World by Vicki Leon This is by the author of the "Uppity Women Series".  It outlines the more *ahem* interesting jobs in the ancient world, including something called astercorarius, also known as a "manure entrepreneur". Seriously.


3) Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp who would be Human by Elizabeth Hess. Nim was a chimpanzee, who was involved with an experiment by Herbert S. Terrace at Columbia University. Can chimps learn ASL (American Sign Language) and prove that language "isn't just for humans"? (Ironically, his last name is a play on Chomsky, a linguist who believed that language is only found among humans.) But when the experiment ended, what became of Nim?


As my sister once asked, "Don't you read anything for fun?" I do, but my idea of fun's a little different from hers.

All writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010

Decoding Baby Babble--Language in Motion

My younger daughter has been babbling up a storm. It's amazing to hear her, especially since my older two are autistic and non-verbal. I was trained as a languages/linguistics person, so this is something new for me.


"She's loud," my sister commented yesterday, trying to raise her voice over Sarah telling her about her day.


"Yeah," I agreed.


"She sounds like Mom."


"Mom babbles?"


"No. Well, yeah. I mean, she *sounds* like Mom. You know, how she talks. With everything, like her face and her hands."


Mom does talk loudly and fast with the occasional back slap to make her point. It's the Spanish side of the family (Filipino/Spanish/Chinese), the enthusiasm for life. And until Dee pointed it out, I didn't realize that Sarah had inherited that quality. It can be annoying or endearing, depending on whether or not you're in striking range.


A person's mannerisms can be a definite clue to their personality. If you watch someone in a coffee shop, you can pick up clues about their lives. Are they on a cell phone with their boss? Taking their toddler's hand out of the candy jar? Wanting their coffee *yesterday*, hurry up, they're on the clock? Flirting with the barista? Typing away on a laptop, oblivious to the rest of the world? Do they talk with a slow drawl, quickly, with an accent? Watch and listen, and you can learn a lot about character.


Today, I can tell Sarah is going to be just like my mom: loud, chatty and expressive. She'll definitely be quite a character.

All writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010