Words R Us

The benefits of MultiTasking along with the benefits of "MonoTasking", or focusing on one task only, along with a few examples on how to effectively use both.

Is Multi-tasking a skill that allows us to accomplish more in a shorter amount of time, or does it simply make us do more things badly?

Slightly more narrow survey of speeches compared to any of the earlier posts. Still I see that all of the speeches use great diction and word choice and center around topics that were and remain highly controversial and powerful even in today's society.

"So way back in April, I first had the idea of editing together inspirational speeches. Since then, the Dow has dropped 3,000 points and one million jobs have been lost. The people of the United States are now a ragtag bunch of scruffy underdogs, down by three touchdowns at halftime, with a whole horde of orcs waiting for us right outside those locker room doors. Inspiration has become something we need." - whoever posted the video I think that this video and the caption are very powerful, but unlike my previous post these speeches are from the mainstream media, not political or progressive figures, yet they are still inspirational.

What makes a speech great? Is it the topic or the rhetoric? Here are some of the great speeches of the 20th century, however, one should ask why they were selected in this order and, more importantly, why only political figures were chosen.

Is technology bringing us closer together or driving us farther apart? "Digital storage space is now 40% more likely to cause family arguments than hogging the landline (do people still have landlines?), with 50% of us admitting to accidentally deleting stuff and 25% losing photos or contacts."

Is technology killing other languages? Some seem to think that the internet is bias against foreign languages (not English) because the "lingua franca" of the computer world is English. With so many people learning English through technology is it worth the extinction of other languages?

The new generation is a technological generation. This new digital age has introduced a new medium for communication, texting. Is texting destroying language or creating a new one?

online Japanese etymology

A comprehensive, illustrated dictionary with etymologies, pictographs & definitions in English, displaying also Hiragana and Katakana, the Kana used in Nihongo

evolution of concept of, and language for, romantic love in Japan's history

forensic linguistics videos

While looking through videos for my U.S. History project, I stumbled upon this video which I thought contained very powerful language. Word choice, definite statements and crisp imagery are used to show just how serious the attacks have affected America.

Mali, teacher and slam poet, delivering a humorous take on "uptalk".

Interactive timeline of the history of English (spread across 10 different "acts") - includes sound clips (including Beowulf and the Canterbury Tales prologue), English language history, etc.

Adding on to Ryan's commentary: For each era, you can click on the different icons and do the following: 1. Read and hear a famous document 2. Get a brief historical overview 3. Linguistic developments 4. New words entering the language 5. A fast fact 6. A pun or riddle

This cool British Library link, enhanced with images, brief historical synopses, and transcripts, comes courtesy of Michelle Skinner: you can explore the evolution of the English Language by literary events, key works, and letters/newspapers/chronicles.