Fall 2010 general discussion

[solairne]

This sub-forum is so dead. Let's start a thread where we discuss non-application/wait related things. Pretty much anything.

I'll start. I've been reading a few books during my semester break. Has anybody else read anything good in our field lately? I reread The Language Instinct, and a few books over the history of Latin, English, and German.

I'm pretty excited about The Crazies and Shutter Island to come out.

I'm also sort of anxiously awaiting to see what Apple's new tablet is going to be like.

[pangur-ban]

The book you read on the history of Latin wouldn't happen to be Michael Weiss's new one, would it?

[solairne]

The book you read on the history of Latin wouldn't happen to be Michael Weiss's new one, would it?

No, it was by Nicholas Ostler.

http://www.amazon.com/Ad-Infinitum-Biography-Nicholas-Ostler/dp/080271515X

[pangur-ban]

No, it was by Nicholas Ostler.

http://www.amazon.com/Ad-Infinitum-Biography-Nicholas-Ostler/dp/080271515X

Oh, *that* kind of history of Latin. How was it?

[solairne]

Oh, *that* kind of history of Latin. How was it?

Haha, what does *that* mean?

It was OK. Really nothing special or new. I just read it because it was a gift a year ago and I figured I should read it.

[pangur-ban]

Haha, what does *that* mean?

Well, the amazon.com descriptions made it sound like it was about the spread of Latin through Europe and the history of its use, while I was expecting a history of the phonological and morphological changes in the language itself, which is what the Weiss book is (though I have not read it yet).

[ColorlessGreen]

This sub-forum is so dead. Let's start a thread where we discuss non-application/wait related things. Pretty much anything.

I'll start. I've been reading a few books during my semester break. Has anybody else read anything good in our field lately?

I've been getting a head start on my reading for next semester, so mostly typology and SLA stuff. I'm reading through Lydia White's "Universal Grammar and SLA" (principles and parameters) currently. I'm also intending to read Bernard Comrie, "Language Universals and Linguistic Typology," but I haven't started that one yet - I've been slacking off terribly all through break. Those two books aside, there are about 15 papers I need to read for my classes before the semester starts. I should do that.

[solairne]

I've been getting a head start on my reading for next semester, so mostly typology and SLA stuff. I'm reading through Lydia White's "Universal Grammar and SLA" (principles and parameters) currently. I'm also intending to read Bernard Comrie, "Language Universals and Linguistic Typology," but I haven't started that one yet - I've been slacking off terribly all through break. Those two books aside, there are about 15 papers I need to read for my classes before the semester starts. I should do that.

Lydia White and Heather Goad are the two professors at McGill that I am interested in as advisors. I read that Universal Grammar book over the summer, it's really good and quite well written. I'm currently reading a few papers that were coauthored by both Lydia White and Heather Goad.

Pretty much all I do during the break is just read books and papers and go the the gym in the morning. It's getting pretty boring... I don't have any work either since I work at the university.

[fuzzylogician]

Wow. I admire all of you guys for doing all this work during the break. I usually spent my breaks doing nothing. Even now I'm slacking off more than I should, then doing everything in the last minute (it seems that's a common predicament among linguists; a professor told me I was early when I submitted a paper only one week late before leaving for winter break!). I'm not usually like that, though, I think it's the snow and grayness getting to me, heh.

My advice is -- use the break to read something non-school related! You won't have time to do that again for at least a year after you start grad school in the fall.

[pangur-ban]

My advice is -- use the break to read something non-school related! You won't have time to do that again for at least a year after you start grad school in the fall.

Haha, good! I was a bit reluctant to mention I've been reading this children's fantasy series (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) and the latest book by my favorite genre author (Jasper Fforde). But, I should find out tomorrow if my conference proposal was accepted, and if it was, that might be enough to scare me back to doing work. And if not, I'll probably celebrate that I avoided public speaking by drinking heavily.

[psycholinguist]

The book you read on the history of Latin wouldn't happen to be Michael Weiss's new one, would it?

Okay, how did I not know it was out? Want!

Haha, good! I was a bit reluctant to mention I've been reading this children's fantasy series (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) and the latest book by my favorite genre author (Jasper Fforde). But, I should find out tomorrow if my conference proposal was accepted, and if it was, that might be enough to scare me back to doing work. And if not, I'll probably celebrate that I avoided public speaking by drinking heavily.

* laughs * I've heard good things about that series! How've you found it?

I read a mix of things. Lately it's been fiction, biographies, fantasy, YA novels, and, yeah, linguistics/psychology. At the moment, among other things, I've got shiny new copies of Jean Aitchison's Language Change (third edition) and Andrew Robinson's The Story of Writing waiting to be read.

[psycholinguist]

Wow. I admire all of you guys for doing all this work during the break. I usually spent my breaks doing nothing. Even now I'm slacking off more than I should, then doing everything in the last minute (it seems that's a common predicament among linguists; a professor told me I was early when I submitted a paper only one week late before leaving for winter break!). I'm not usually like that, though, I think it's the snow and grayness getting to me, heh.

My advice is -- use the break to read something non-school related! You won't have time to do that again for at least a year after you start grad school in the fall.

I had a few winters of feeling really listless and discouraged in high-school thanks to seasonal affective disorder. Things that can help are natural-spectrum lighting, exercise, and taking lots of Vitamin D. (I've been on 2,400 IU per day this year and have barely felt the SAD at all!)

[pangur-ban]

Okay, how did I not know it was out? Want!

* laughs * I've heard good things about that series! How've you found it?

It seems like Weiss's new book wasn't publicized very much. I only heard about it because I read a lot of linguistics/philology blogs and one or two of them mentioned it. The one blog post in particular I remember had lots of praise for it, so I'm looking forward to taking a look myself. I should see if the library has it yet. If not I guess I could request it, since the $75 price tag isn't bad, but it's a bit hefty for something outside my area.

And I adore "Percy Jackson". I read all five books in two or three days, and although it annoys me a bit*, the premise, the stories, and the characters are so much fun, I'm willing to overlook it all. I'm really looking forward to the movie, too. I'd recommend reading it if the idea of it appeals at all.

*It's obviously written for kids, I would've liked more detail on the Greek myths, the occasional comments about girls being annoying piss me off, and there are inconsistencies in the "archaic" speech of one of the characters. (Happily, I'm not a classicist, so I can't comment much on the treatment of the myths.)

Edited January 8, 2010 by pangor-ban

[psycholinguist]

It seems like Weiss's new book wasn't publicized very much. I only heard about it because I read a lot of linguistics/philology blogs and one or two of them mentioned it. The one blog post in particular I remember had lots of praise for it, so I'm looking forward to taking a look myself. I should see if the library has it yet. If not I guess I could request it, since the $75 price tag isn't bad, but it's a bit hefty for something outside my area.

And I adore "Percy Jackson". I read all five books in two or three days, and although it annoys me a bit*, the premise, the stories, and the characters are so much fun, I'm willing to overlook it all. I'm really looking forward to the movie, too. I'd recommend reading it if the idea of it appeals at all.

*It's obviously written for kids, I would've liked more detail on the Greek myths, the occasional comments about girls being annoying piss me off, and there are inconsistencies in the "archaic" speech of one of the characters. (Happily, I'm not a classicist, so I can't comment much on the treatment of the myths.)

Agreed! Romance linguistics is only one of my secondary areas of interest, but yeah, the price isn't bad for a textbook, and Weiss is awesome.

And thanks for the recommendation (and disclaimers)! I think I'm going to borrow those from the local library when the neighbourhood kids aren't paying attention.

[solairne]

Agreed! Romance linguistics is only one of my secondary areas of interest, but yeah, the price isn't bad for a textbook, and Weiss is awesome.

My main focus is first and second LA and SLI, but I've done a lot with Romance and Germanic historical linguistics. It's really fascinating.

[psycholinguist]

My main focus is first and second LA and SLI, but I've done a lot with Romance and Germanic historical linguistics. It's really fascinating.

I've only had the chance to take one course on Romance historical linguistics, but I absolutely loved it! Seeing (and having to work out) how familiar Latin words phonologically and semantically changed into familiar French words was one of the coolest things ever.

[pointaken]

You productive people...

I've been catching up on my Netflix; I started watching Lost (from season 1...I'm on 5 now), and I just picked up Playing the Enemy, the book that Invictus (the film) is based on.

[ColorlessGreen]

You productive people...

I've been catching up on my Netflix; I started watching Lost (from season 1...I'm on 5 now), and I just picked up Playing the Enemy, the book that Invictus (the film) is based on.

Ha, not so productive. I was going to get a temp job over break, but instead I watched half of Hulu. Seriously, don't even ask how many shows I've watched. Currently I'm enjoying "Life." And the worst thing is, I haven't even finished all of my applications!

[solairne]

Ha, not so productive. I was going to get a temp job over break, but instead I watched half of Hulu. Seriously, don't even ask how many shows I've watched. Currently I'm enjoying "Life." And the worst thing is, I haven't even finished all of my applications!

I've also probably watched everything on Hulu and Netflix Instant View possible...

[Smaudge]

Yes! I just joined Netflix and I'm currently running through every season of 30 Rock while I wait on hold to talk to various admissions departments about various application oddities.

I'm also reading a book called Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, and the Linguist and the Emporer by Daniel Meyerson. The first is a pretty fun book about geniuses/oddly successful people and what makes them like that, and the second was supposed to be about deciphering the Rosetta Stone... but it's not really.

[solairne]

Has anybody been given an interview yet? Are they even a part of the Linguistics admissions procedure? None of my 4 programs perform them, as far as I know.

[ColorlessGreen]

Has anybody been given an interview yet? Are they even a part of the Linguistics admissions procedure? None of my 4 programs perform them, as far as I know.

I haven't heard anything from anyone yet - but as far as I'm aware, it's several weeks too early for me to expect to hear even from the schools with the earliest deadlines. As to which schools have interviews, I imagine fuzzylogician would know.

[pangur-ban]

I haven't heard anything from anyone yet - but as far as I'm aware, it's several weeks too early for me to expect to hear even from the schools with the earliest deadlines. As to which schools have interviews, I imagine fuzzylogician would know.

Or you can look through the results search from previous years to see which schools did interviews.

I made a little chart for myself of the range of dates people in previous years were notified by the schools I applied to. Hopefully this'll keep me from getting too anxious about my applications. Well, until those dates, at least.

[solairne]

Or you can look through the results search from previous years to see which schools did interviews.

I made a little chart for myself of the range of dates people in previous years were notified by the schools I applied to. Hopefully this'll keep me from getting too anxious about my applications. Well, until those dates, at least.

Yea, I'm not expecting to get a confirmation or rejection until at the very earliest mid to late February, but I keep my fingers crossed for an email from an advisor or something...

[ColorlessGreen]

I made a little chart for myself of the range of dates people in previous years were notified by the schools I applied to. Hopefully this'll keep me from getting too anxious about my applications. Well, until those dates, at least.

I know exactly what you mean. I carefully researched the full range of reported acceptance notification dates for each school already. I'm trying to ignore my fears until Google Calendar sends me the reminders I wrote for each one.