Tajin

My ESL students introduced me to a great Mexican spice that has been around for a while, which I thought was unnecessary. But it's really good: Tajin. It's a combination of lime, salt, and a hot spice. You're supposed to put it on fruit, even watermelon (which I thought was unnecessary because it's so sweet), and it sounds weird to do that, but it's actually very tasty. I also put it on cucumbers and other vegetables.

I served some watermelon to some people who were born in the USA and had never tried such a spice, and at first they thought it was odd, but they thought it tasted okay.

But I think it's more than okay, and I plan on using the spice often.

And btw--the pronunciation is "Ta-Hin" (not Ta-Jin).

Going to TO again

If you've been reading this blog for a while, then you probably know that I've been to Toronto a few times. I went when this blog was in its infancy, then a few years ago, and am going again. So if I don't post much here, that's why. I'm hoping to get near a computer to post impressions of the place, including how many Chinatowns they have, and how huge they are. Maybe I'll try to take some pictures and post them here.

And I'm so into reading the Japanese manga and book I started, I'm bringing them with me, along with my dictionaries.

Another article that I got paid for

One of the reasons why I haven't really posted much here recently was because I was working on an interview that I got paid for through a grant that helps promote under-represented areas of Chicago (the areas that the media doesn't really care about unless there's some weird murder or whatever).

The neighborhood is called Back of the Yards, and I wrote about a woman who is trying to make things better for the community there.

My previous article that I got paid for through the same grant was about a recording artist from a rough neighborhood on the West Side.

Last week of teaching and other stuff

I know a number of people subscribe to this blog, and others just pop in, and you're probably wondering why I haven't been posting much lately, but it's a combo of teaching a lot of ESL this summer, in addition to other work and projects. But the teaching is ending this week, which means more writing time for me :D

Also, things have been developing with my podcast. I've been interviewing various people for the podcast, and was even mentioned in the Chicago Sun-Times, analyzed in Robert Feder's column, and even broadcast on Howard Stern's show because I interviewed his former program director who's become infamous.

Anyway, it's my last week of teaching, which means I will post more here and at Gapersblock more often. I'm sure they're not too happy about my infrequent posting there either.

The best part though is that I've still maintained my consistent Japanese reading, so I'm very happy about that. I don't know what the fall is going to bring for me though :/

They speak Portuguese in Portugal

I had to reread this sentence in an article about singer Nelly Furtado in a magazine that prides itself on representing an "exclusive" area: "Although she was raised in Canada, Nelly’s parents were from Portugal, and she’s spoken Spanish since she was 14..."

Then the article continues to talk about her new Spanish songs. So obviously, in a typical PR move, they put two facts together, Portuguese parents and Spanish, to justify her Spanish attempts.

What about Portuguese? If the magazine is as sophisticated as it claims, they wouldn't dupe the reader into thinking that Portugal and Spanish are in the same place.

But unfortunately, they watered down the information to perhaps appease the famous singer's publicists because it would be too complicated and perhaps confusing to reveal the fact that she's really Portuguese, not Latin American, and came from the Portugese language instead of the more profitable Spanish. It would obfuscate the marketing message.

I wish they would show some more intelligence and not make simple connections to promote a superficial idea to gain more album sales.

Good web design info

Here is a great site with very helpful articles on web design: Scratchmedia. They are a business, but they also offer a ton of great information. I also agree with their philosophy that simple is better when designing websites, though a lot of people want bells and whistles, even though such sites can take a long time to load and can feel cluttered.

"Boy" Bruce Lee

Here is a great quote from Bruce Lee: some producers called him "boy" and ordered him to get "his car" to pick up a celebrity, even though he was a star in The Green Hornet. When someone asked him how he dealt with such racism, he said, "Does it bother me? If I let it bother me, I wouldn't be Bruce Lee." Way to go! The video of this recollection is below. It's less than 30 seconds in.

Funny Engrish

There are various Engrish (odd English) sites out there, and feel free to share your discoveries, but here's one that someone sent to me that is really funny. I don't know why so much odd English comes from Asia, but maybe that's because the languages of East and West are so different, and probably because they don't want to hire anyone to check/fix their signs and packages. Or they don't have access to decent English speakers/writers.

Check out Engrish Funny if you want a laugh.

Talking Canadian

The Cantonese-comprehending Canadian told me about a documentary called Talking Canadian from the CBC. It's all about why Canadians use certain words and talk funny. Just kidding. But they sound American, even though there are differences, of course. Their language exists between American English and British English. I love seeing the comparisons/contrasts between us and them and witnessing their confusion. Just joking. But seriously, it's worth a watch for sure.

You don't need to know Japanese to find this funny

A Polish guy I work with showed me this video, even though he doesn't know Japanese and has never been there. Which is the point: it's totally visual.

I'm a fan!

Sorry I haven't been posting here as frequently, but I *have* been reading Japanese frequently, as a part of my ongoing New Year's Resolution, and what I'm now reading is really great.

I asked my Japanese teacher about a manga that's based on reality (not fantasy like crazy fighting or fairies or whatever), and she recommended 島耕作 (Shima Kosaku). I love it! I'm reading 課長島耕作14 (Kacho Shima Kosaku) which is from the early 90's, and since then, the series became a TV show, and now, Shima Kosaku has been promoted to 社長島耕作 (Shacho Shima Kosaku). Which means that he was previously a Section Chief (課長/kacho) and is now the Company President (社長/shacho).

The manga is now in its 25th year, and I can see why! It's a great way to learn Japanese while being entertained at the same time. Even though it's taking me a lot longer to read it than a Japanese person, of course :D

Good local group: Wolfgang Jay

I saw Wolfgang Jay at an after-hours event at the Chicago Recording Company, and they were really good.

They performed Walker, Memories Of, and Now and Then.

The real Indian caste system

I know a Singaporean who comes from an Indian background, who shared some info from a Singapore newspaper about what India's caste system really is supposed to be:

Originally known as the varnashrama system, it comprises four broad scientific occupational divisions in society - the educator class, the administrator class, the entrepreneur class and the worker class - where everyone has the opportunity to take up an occupation befitting his or her natural tendencies and qualifications. This is based on the psychological propensity and character of the individual, and not on birth.

The writer also said that the classes worked together, which really should happen in any society. I'm just glad the US doesn't have caste system. That would make life quite rigid and seem more unfair than it sometimes is.

Happy Bastille Day/La Fête Nationale!

Well, it's no longer Bastille Day in France, but it's still July 14th in the USA. So Happy Bastille Day/La Fête Nationale! Even though I've translated a lot of French into English, I've never been there and would love to go!

Not surprised by these findings

A Canadian (who also knows some Cantonese) gave me a link to an article citing research that has discovered "that a significant proportion of native English speakers are unable to understand some basic sentences."

I'm not surprised by this, and actually think that because the researchers assumed "that all speakers have a core ability to use grammatical cues", they were inevitably going to run into results that would contradict that assumption.

Specifically, they discovered that "A high proportion of those who had left school at 16 began to make mistakes" and "a proportion of people with low educational attainment make errors with understanding the passive, and it appears that this and other important areas of core grammar may not be fully mastered by some speakers, even by adulthood."

I think it's quite obvious that more education or more exposure to complex reading and writing will lead to an understanding of more complex grammar. One thing that bothered me when I was studying education and language acquisition in school was that everyone would gather around a theory, and if I would suggest anecdotal or observational evidence that would contradict what they were saying, they would dismiss it because the research didn't show that. But my experience did, so why diss it? Sometimes I think that academia doesn't tolerate exceptions because it messes up their tidy little package that they want to present to their peers.

Russell Peters on accents

I've been watching a lot of Russell Peters videos, and amazingly, there are more out there.

There's a really good interview with him where he talks about culture and international themes, including accents. It's a few minutes into the video below, but the whole thing is worth watching. You can watch part 1 here. Every time I see such good interviews, I want to do more myself (which I already do at my podcast, but on a much smaller scale). Maybe I should try to do an interview with him next time I'm in LA :D

She scored

Sue from Naperville Now recommended the book Girl in Translation, which is about an immigrant child from Hong Kong. I haven't read it, but it seems to be based on what the author and her mother experienced as well. Not the plot, but the difficulties of being an immigrant.

I'm sure it will become a movie, or will at least be optioned, because it's a bestseller and has gotten a lot of press, though the author keeps mentioning the same details (or the publisher does, and interviewers don't go beyond the basics). For instance, in various interviews and even a video, she says her family was "fairly well-off in Hong Kong" but had to start over in New York. But she doesn't say how they became poor when they came to the US. How can someone go from the good life to poverty in just one move? Why does she use the same general information without further elaborating?

Another thing I'm wondering about is why her mother never learned English even though she lived in New York for so many years. I know that it's hard to learn a new language, especially if someone is so busy, but eventually I'm sure her mother had the time to learn. I just think it's odd that people, especially who are educated, would choose to live in their own language for so long.

Anyway, the author had a hard life and overcame a lot to go to the Ivy Leagues and publishing world, so she's really scored.

Happy 4th! Independence Day!

Now that the Canadians had their Canada Day, it's time for our day: Independence Day! It's not when the US became a nation, but when the colonies declared independence from England through the Declaration of Independence. From there, there was a war that the colonies eventually won, of course. Otherwise, I'd be using British words and British spelling, and wouldn't be fascinated by the differences of our English :D

You can read it online. I actually made it a part of this week's test in my ESL class, though I think they were baffled by the 18th century English.

And the Canada celebration continues

A Canadian sent me this video on Canada Day. In case you want to become Canadian.

Happy Canada Day

A Canadian sent me a link to a site that celebrates Canada Day. It claims to offer a list of "unique summer activities" that actually seem very ordinary, so don't expect to get any specific ideas there. I can do a lot of those activities any day in the USA.

But at least they give some historical information: "Formerly known as 'Dominion Day,' Canada Day marks the anniversary of the Constitution Act of 1867, joining Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Canada province (now Ontario and Quebec) into a single country."

But you can get more, and better, information about Canada Day at Wikipedia. And if you want to find some activities, go to the government's site in Ottawa, the City of Toronto's site, or About.com. And there are all those Canadian newspapers, depending where you are.

However you celebrate it, Happy Canada Day!