Category Archives: Language

Posts about writing, words, reading.

Making Light’s Commonplaces

by Tim Posted on 12/4/2009

Commonplaces from Making Light. Please read them all. “We are prophets of a future not our own.” (Oscar Romero) “Peace means something different from ‘not fighting’. Those aren’t peace advocates, they’re ‘stop fighting’ advocates. Peace is an active and complex … Continue reading →

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This French Life.com

by Tim Posted on 11/26/2006

English journalist Craig McGinty blogs about life in France at This French Life. Ironically, I found This French Life not while looking up travel information. No, it came up while while looking for advice on septic tank maintenance, and how … Continue reading →

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What not to do in France

by Tim Posted on 11/10/2006

Behave, baby. Wikipedia’s list of French faux pas. Here’s one: “Like in many languages featuring a T-V distinction, addressing people with the familiar “tu” (like in Middle English thou) when they should be addressed with “vous” (_you_) is seen as … Continue reading →

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FSI Language Courses

by Tim Posted on 9/18/2006

Nice find, this: Language Courses from the U.S. Foreign Service, including text and audio files free for the download; apparently in the public domain, having been produced with American taxpayer dollars.

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“Somewhat”

by Tim Posted on 1/1/2006

First in this category, and first of the new year, of words to avoid: somewhat. After reading around the web, looking for guides to implement a GTD system, I kept finding this word, and realized it’s indistinct, overly cautious, and … Continue reading →

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