Blog

June 9, 2012 | Review Period

Me et Moi

French makes me muse about pronoun forms in English.

Now we are at Brandt’s 25th college reunion in Williamstown, Massachusetts. We graduated from college the same year, but in different parts of the same state. In a break between reunion activities, I found Tunnel City Coffee to be…

June 13, 2012 | Review Period

Grammar in Cleveland!

I teach my favorite subject in Ohio.

As I have mentioned, I teach grammar, business writing, and e-mail etiquette for corporate clients through Syntaxis, the company I have with my husband. My very favorite of all is the grammar. I am pretty sure I could teach grammar…

June 23, 2012 | Review Period

Coffee Reduction, Grammar Proliferation

I am down to one shot of espresso a day.

Some months ago I said on this blog that I was going to quit coffee altogether. I did not quit coffee altogether. In fact, I did rather the opposite. The employees at the coffee shop I frequent began looking…

June 26, 2012 | Review Period

iPad!

More Mac products to aid in language learning.

Two days ago I bought an iPad. Since then I have used it to read newspapers in four languages. I’m talking about the ones I am currently reviewing: Spanish, French, German, and Italian. It has been fabulous, and fun. …

June 28, 2012 | Review Period

Grammatical Problems in Grammar Books?

Questions for experts in Italian, French, and/or German.

I am continuing to read news from around the world, as accompaniment for my stingy little single shot of espresso in the morning. But I am still studying grammar, too, and I am perplexed by some things I have come…

June 30, 2012 | Review Period

My Review Period Ends

There are pros and cons to studying multiple foreign languages at once.

I have just spent the past three months reviewing four languages simultaneously. For sure knowing things in one would often help with the others. As I have documented rather extensively, I was often confused. But I could also sometimes guess…

September 1, 2013 | Review Period

A New(ish) Chapter

In which I plot my next steps, linguistically speaking.

This project has gotten way out of hand. I was supposed to be done in late June 2010, then late June 2011, and now here I am, on the verge of Labor Day of 2013, still going. To be honest, I cannot imagine…

September 5, 2013 | Review Period

Another Dream in Yiddish

Though my Yiddish-while-sleeping skills leave much to be desired.

Before I went to bed last night, I was studying 501 Essential Spanish Verbs, from Dover Publications, and before that some French vocabulary, and before that some Italian grammar, and before that some Portuguese Pimsleur—but in the night…

September 6, 2013 | Review Period

But I Don’t Want to Be a Dummy!

To my annoyance, darn it, I am initially liking a language book in the "For Dummies" series.

I have my entire adult life studiously avoided books from the For Dummies and Idiot’s Guides series.  For Dummies books come from the publishing company Wiley. Launched in 1991, this…

September 9, 2013 | Review Period

It Is Impossible to Extract Review Copies from McGraw-Hill

But I am going to keep writing about them anyway, because they have a lot of cool stuff and I can't help myself.

I am pretty annoyed with McGraw-Hill right now. What I have gone through since the advent of this website to try to get review copies out of them: too embarrassing to detail here. I am, where McGraw-Hill is concerned, impotent.…