ThePoorHangedFool

irregardless irregardless irregardless irregardless...I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Don't be offended. I just couldn't let it sit there pretending to be a real word any longer.




Carry on.

I think Two Espressos is absolutely right; however, both Rosetta Stone and traveling to study and/or live abroad (which I can't remember if you said was your purpose during the trips you've made to France) are each expensive in their own ways. Fast and somewhat temporary immersion is sometimes the most beneficial way to use time spent abroad actively improving one's skills with regards to speaking/writing/read a language, so if your periods in France were more along the lines of 1-3 week trips, you probably gained more from them than you realize quite yet.


If you've literally never taken Spanish and have no way to begin without a pretty step-by-step manual (this would also go for most languages that use the same alphabet as that of the English language), that's exactly what you need. Look on eBay or Amazon for textbooks meant for middle- or high-school introductory Spanish classes, which these days often come with DVDs or computer softwar as auxiliary lessons or as electronic resources (dictionary, etc.). Incidentally, my Spanish I book was actually called Paso a Paso (step by step), and I remember it being readable, understandable in its use of directions, and generally easy to use (I had already taken Spanish, however).

I would highly recommend doing a conference presentation if for no other reason than a confidence boost. When I was working on my MA, I attended two graduate-only conferences, which was nice, but I knew was far different than a professional one. So, since I took this last year off to work adjunct, I decided that I should try to get my feet wet at a national conference. I presented at the College English Association's national conference in St. Petersburg, and it really solidified that I was not only going to survive this aspect of the job, but it boosted my confidence tremendously. It re-ignited my love of what I do, and I heard some really awesome papers in the mean time. I know that the College English Association encourages graduate students to participate as well, and it's a fairly well-known conference that also has a journal. Several of the professors where I got my MA present at their conferences and publish in their journal, so they are worth looking into, too. Also, their next conference is going to be in Richmond, which is a much easier location for a lot of people to attend. I plan on submitting a proposal for their conference again this upcoming year, so it'd be nice to see face from here while I'm there!

I'd be happy to read/proofread it for you; I know extremely little about Environmental Policy, so would have more input on aesthetics and sentence construction/grammar/etc. than about your content. I can assure you I'm really good at editing those sorts of issues, or at least have been told as such by fellow students whose essays I read over from time to time.

If that's not what you have in mind, though, then no worries. Just figured I'd ask.

Seriously, guys... I legitimately can't remember the last time I corrected someone's grammar (which I've been doing since elementary school, to give some perspective) and he or she didn't subtly begrudge me indefinitely for doing so (I'm pretty sure that over time I lost more than a few friends that way, but evidently most of them have a kid and/or are married, so...can't say I'm overly regretful).

Alternatively, this could very well be the first time anyone has taken my admittedly annoying red-pen remarks in a way not immediately described most accurately as "livid."

My heart overfloweth... This is why the people who have no interest in the realms of higher education or academia are the same people who were annoyed by my attempts to help them sound less uneducated...

: )

irregardless irregardless irregardless irregardless...I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Don't be offended. I just couldn't let it sit there pretending to be a real word any longer.




Carry on.

Check out regional Medieval memberships as well. I belong to RMMLA (Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association), MAP (Medieval Association of the Pacific), and Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association. Regional organizations can give you great opportunities for conferences and, in my case, publishing opportunities. Do both the large national and regional groups and you'll get a lot more exposure.

Wanted to say the same thing Poor Hanged Fool. . .sorry. . .drives me batty. . .

irregardless irregardless irregardless irregardless...I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Don't be offended. I just couldn't let it sit there pretending to be a real word any longer.




Carry on.