A guest post from Mei-mei

New books in the former native speaker's library, CNY prep edition

The former native Chinese speaker and I went to Bookman Books (書林) downtown this afternoon so she could look for a book for her monsters. I managed to find some books that I can take with me to the in-laws' this weekend and read while they play majiang:

• The Hidden Dimension, by Edward T. Hall
• Beyond Culture, also by Edward T. Hall
• Communication Between Cultures, 5th ed., by Larry A. Samovar and Richard E. Porter

See a theme here? Yeah, I'm thinking about the ICC course I'll probably offer again next fall. The third book is a possible textbook for that course. I've been using a reading packet the last few times I've taught this course, but now I'm thinking a textbook might be a better way to go about it so students don't just get my idiosyncratic view of the field. (Instead, they'll get 2 other people's idiosynctratic view.) I've got some time to look it over and decide if I want to use it. Also ordered an inspection copy of Intercultural Communication: A Contextual Approach by James W. Neuliep. That one's a Sage book, though, and the problem with Sage books is that they're so doggone expensive. The quoted price for Neuliep's book is US$59.95--close to NT$2000. If I used that book, I would definitely not have any students. At least the Samovar and Porter book is only around NT$400 (with a discount), which students will still probably scream about since the course is only a semester long. (On the other hand, they usually pay NT$2000 or so for their Norton anthologies that they use for a year...)

The first two books are ones I should have read a long time ago, but didn't have time for until--well, actually, I still don't have time for them. But I'll make time to read them before next fall.

(This website has some information about proxemics, which is the theme of The Hidden Dimension.)

[Edward T. Hall] [intercultural communication]

Photo of the former native speaker at work...

Courtesy of the Simpsomaker--or is it the "Simpomaker"? (Note: I had to do a "PrtSc" to get a copy of the image--which is why the cursor is still showing...)

Seomtihng to sohw sutdnets nxet smeseter

Got this (forwarded) from ERG:

Cna yuo raed tihs? i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rsceearh at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs rpsoet it.

It doesn't always seem to follow the rule it mentions ("the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae"), and a missing apostrophe in a contraction makes one word hard to read, but still...