Learning Strategies

Recent Posts - page 18

• A very traditional Christmas dinner

  By ljd42 on December 26, 2022

  

  In accordance with tradition, Barbara and I had our Christmas dinner yesterday at a Chinese restaurant: Chau Chow in Dorchester. It was more a feast than a dinner, leaving plenty of yummy leftovers. Unfortunately they were sold out of roast… Read More ›

• They say that Christmas is for everyone—even Jews. But is it?

  By ljd42 on December 25, 2022

  

  Julie Golick posted the following observations to Facebook in 2018. In response to several requests, she then made the post shareable by all . Every year, I run into a discussion about how Christmas isn’t REALLY religious anymore and about… Read More ›

• Fantastic ______s and Where to Find Them

  By ljd42 on December 24, 2022

  

  This book reminds me of the caller who asked the Magliozzi brothers a question about his Volkswagen Quantum: he couldn’t get it repaired because he didn’t know any Quantum mechanics. What’s the connection? Well, first you need to know what… Read More ›

• Answers for linguistics quiz

  By ljd42 on December 21, 2022

  Six days ago I gave you a linguistics quiz that Lynne Murphy designed for the holiday season. The quiz is reprinted below so you don’t have to flip back and forth. Here are the answers, with annotations in some cases:… Read More ›

• At holiday time…

  By ljd42 on December 20, 2022

  

  …we always want to return to our local favorite where everybody knows your name. In our case, that’s the Ashmont Grill, with excellent food, first-class service, and the feeling of being home. So Barbara and I had our penultimate 2022… Read More ›

• Hints for linguistics quiz

  By ljd42 on December 18, 2022

  

  Four days ago I gave you a linguistics quiz that Lynne Murphy designed for the holiday season. The quiz is reprinted below so you don’t have to flip back and forth. Full answers will be posted on Tuesday. For the… Read More ›

• ChatGPT from OpenAI

  By ljd42 on December 16, 2022

  

  Apparently I’m late jumping on the bandwagon. Everywhere I look, someone else is trying out ChatGPT and commenting on it. This app is supposed to respond like a real human being, given any particular prompt you may type. So I… Read More ›

• Flicka naps in the sun.

  By ljd42 on December 15, 2022

  

  Flicka is feeling Turkish and has found the best place to nap on a sunny day:

• Your lingquiz for the season

  By ljd42 on December 14, 2022

  

  You have been selected to take this language/linguistics quiz written by an American-British linguist. No fair asking Dr. Google or anyone else for help! Hints will be posted on Sunday, answers on Tuesday.

• Did Hemingway write in short sentences? You probably think so. But you’re wrong! Science wins again.

  By ljd42 on December 12, 2022

  

  You can believe actual data. We’ll call that Door #1. Or you can believe your general “impression.” We’ll call that Door #2. Or you can believe what other people tell you—the “common knowledge” that everyone “knows.” We’ll call that Door… Read More ›

• Why are there so many Thai restaurants when there are so few Thai Americans?

  By ljd42 on December 10, 2022

  

  According to the U.S. Census, far fewer than one tenth of one percent of Massachusetts residents identify as Thai. So why are there so many Thai restaurants? For instance, on Dorchester Avenue alone we have three: Just Thai, Thai Oishi,… Read More ›

• Searching for Italy in Dorchester

  By ljd42 on December 8, 2022

  

  Pizza and pasta: that’s what 72% of all Americans think Italian food consists of. But we know better here in Dorchester. There’s no need to drive to the North End, where it’s impossible to park. Just go to Chris Douglass’s… Read More ›

• “Dear parents of math geniuses…,” writes Tanya Khovanova

  By ljd42 on December 6, 2022

  

  As a teacher, would you prefer hearing from Parent A or Parent B? Parent A: “My ten-year-old finished her calculus course: here is her picture to post on your blog.”  Parent B: “My daughter can’t do math, but I told… Read More ›

• A dozen new Miss Marple stories… but how is that possible?

  By ljd42 on December 4, 2022

  

  Agatha Christie died in 1976. So how could she be publishing a collection of new Miss Marple stories in 2022? Did she leave them behind, only to be discovered four decades later and published posthumously? That’s certainly what a glance… Read More ›

• Who cares about the burning of the library at Alexandria?

  By ljd42 on December 2, 2022

  

  “At least half of what Sagan says about history is outright false, but his authority is still seemingly unimpeachable today, forty-two years after the programme first aired.” So says the distinguished “Kiwi Hellenist”, Peter Gainsford, who is a classicist from New… Read More ›

• It’s Magpie Murders, not The Magpie Murders!

  By ljd42 on November 30, 2022

  

  Yes, the definite article makes a difference…not because we’re being pedantic, but because we’re being attentive to anagrams and acrostics. Here’s the problem: I’m talking, of course, about the recent PBS Masterpiece series by Anthony Horowitz, titled Magpie Murders, as… Read More ›

• Math anxiety

  By ljd42 on November 28, 2022

  

  When people find out that I’m a math teacher, the most common response among adults over 30 is “I was never any good at math.” An excellent short article in the Harvard Gazette recently explained what’s going on here. The… Read More ›

• The Department of Rare Books…

  By ljd42 on November 26, 2022

  

  Speaking of women in libraries…this seems to be the time of year to read and review books about women in libraries, especially mysteries about them. After The Woman in the Library, my next example is The Department of Rare Books… Read More ›

• The solution to that Estonian puzzle

  By ljd42 on November 24, 2022

  And here is the full solution to the puzzle about telling time in Estonian. First the answers, in case you want to check your answers before following the link to the full solution: Challenge 1a. 9:25b. 11:45c. 2:30d. 3:15e. 6:35… Read More ›

• Shy (the book, not the song)

  By ljd42 on November 22, 2022

  

  “Everyone should marry a gay man at least once,” says Mary Rodgers (better known as the daughter of Richard Rodgers, but an important figure in her own right, and not just for Once Upon a Mattress) on page 128 of… Read More ›

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