Hmm…

Author: harmamae

  • Read The Iliad!

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    by

    harmamae
    in ,

    “Sing to me, Muse, of the wrath of Achilles…” – Homer, The Iliad I was blown away by how good The Iliad is. I’ve read classics before and wondered why they were considered classics, but I have no doubt as to why The Iliad managed to survive for thousands of years. And I’ve never been…

  • Is it a Language or a Cultural Problem?

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    by

    harmamae
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    “A speaker of variety A who is dismayed or annoyed because speakers of variety B do not talk like the folks back home does not have a linguistic problem but a cultural one, which can only be solved if one is genuinely willing to work to develop the ability  – which does not come naturally…

  • Real-life Romance: The Scholarly Professor and Edith

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    harmamae
    in ,

    Real life is better than fiction sometimes. More unbelievable than fiction too, but that’s another topic. This post is the second of four to mesh two of my favourite blog topics: romance and history. Because I realized, when I thought about it, that I knew at few stories from history that were eventful enough to…

  • Real-life Romance: Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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    by

    harmamae
    in ,

    Real life is better than fiction sometimes. More unbelievable than fiction too, but that’s another topic. This post will be the first of four to mesh two of my favourite blog topics: romance and history. ‘Cuz I realized, when I thought about it, that I knew at least four stories from history that were eventful…

  • Beware the “Self-Appointed Language Arbiter”!

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    harmamae
    in

    “The view of language as a variable system is at odds with the notions expressed in traditional grammars and adopted by teachers who insist that there is only one “correct” way to speak the language… Though unsupported by any scientific evidence, such notions are propagated by a host of self-appointed language arbiters who proffer inept…

  • Surviving a Language Immersion, in 3 Steps

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    harmamae
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    I write about languages because I’m interested in them. So yes, this post is kind of a general interest post, rather than a writing post, but I will start by putting in a plug for writers to learn a little of the languages of the countries they are writing about. After all, you wouldn’t want…

  • The Dog Days of Summer

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    harmamae
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    These are the dog days of summer. No, that’s not really a quote from anywhere (though you can feel free to quote my phrase as much as you want, as long as you attribute it to me 🙂 ). It’s just such a common description of these dead, hot summer days, and it just made…

  • How Not to Write About Brazil (Several Tips)

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    harmamae
    in ,

    Let’s just say you’re going to write a novel set in Brazil. I know, I know, there’s not a whole ton of novels out there set in Brazil, but I think the world could use a few more set in South America. If you’re going to go that route, or even if you just want…

  • Love In Friendship*

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    harmamae
    in

    Today is Monday, so it should be Quotables Day, but I am writing a longer post because I’ve been MIA for about three weeks now. Nice to be back, by the way! While I was travelling, I came to the realization that friendship love doesn’t get the respect it deserves. Sure, people go on and…

  • Jet Lag

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    harmamae
    in

    I can’t believe I thought I’d be aware enough to write a post today. The sad thing is, I know what I want to write, but I can’t put the words together coherently right now. So once I recover from two days of traveling back to Canada, I will update. See you then!