Autumn at Sheffield Park Gardens, East Sussex
Autumn at Sheffield Park Gardens, East Sussex Originally uploaded by Anguskirk In a November 4th article in the Daily Yomiuri, Mike Guest wrote about marked language: “phrases like, “Japan’s four seasons” instead of the seasons, or “American joke” for any joke told by a foreigner. Marked by redundancy. ” Many Japanese will insist that Japan [...]
The Immediate Method Autumn seminar 2008
The other day, I took part in the 8th Immediate Method workshop at Kobe University. I gave a very brief report on how I’d been using IM in a couple of different university contexts. (A more detailed report was published in the Conversations in Class newsletter #3 (pdf), which can be downloaded from the Alma [...]
Is fair sometimes unfair? – Part 2
This is a follow-up to my earlier blog-post Is fair sometimes unfair? I was reminded of the article When Fairness Runs Foul, and of my earlier encounters with the Japanese sense of “fairness” when I read a chapter by philosopher Ayn Rand. Rand is here playing devil’s advocate – illustrating with an example of her own [...]
Is fair sometimes unfair?
Life is so unfair sometimes (63/365) Originally uploaded by labspics A colleague recently gave me an article from the Daily Yomiuri. “The Language Connection”, “Cultural Connundrums: When Fairness Runs Foul” by Kate Elwood, Tuesday November 4th, 2008. It compares Western (North American) concepts of fairness with Japanese. Yes, they are not always the same! Intercultural [...]
Is evolution a fact or a theory?
School Gate is a (UK) Times Online blog about schools and schooling in Britain. I read it to keep abreast of what is going on in British education. Today’s entry is This Science expert says that children should be taught creationism at school The comments are particularly interesting and mostly well informed, but even more [...]
