TKT Glossary

Because TKTs are so vocabulary dependant and because that vocabulary needs to be easy to access from TKT to TKT, I’ve decided to create a glossary of terms used in TKTs which will be linked not only on the Writings page but also the TKT page. I’ll also try to remember to post it either at the beginning or end of each TKT from now on (and may go back and edit the others to Continue reading →

The case of the elusive declension

There are many aspects of languages that many people hear about but never get a chance to study either because they have never studied a foreign language or they have never studied a language which uses those aspects. One of the greatest things about langauge is that if you can come up with a consistent way for humans to use it in communication, it probably already exists in Continue reading →

Savez-vous…?

Today’s TKT isn’t so much about learning linguistic fact or research method as much as it’s about how important language learning is in general. Recently, the department was asked to create small posters giving facts about why language learning is so crucial. The idea to do posters was mine (Our Basic Studies supervisor’s idea was to play music in the classroom; Continue reading →

Piquer or mordre?

This isn’t quite a TKT (It being Wednesday), but it’s rather like that–being a musing on a linguistic occurence and etc.–so I toss it under the Linguistics category anyway and label it TKT. At any rate, here’s the deal: I got bit by a spider sometime last night in my sleep. It’s on the back of my right hand near where my index finger and thumb come together (Hmm, I wonder if there’s a Continue reading →

So the answers to yesterday’s riddles are: 1) What word in English changes pronunciation (and meaning) just by capitalizing it? (Lushbaugh got it:) Polish and polish; and 2) What word in English changes not only pronunciation and stress but also number and gender just by adding a letter? princes (stress on first syllable, masculine, and plural) becomes princess (stress on second Continue reading →

Stress

Hi again! Gee, I sure haven’t been updating at all lately, have I? Something I’ll have to fix once my life gets in some semblance of order. Say, next spring?

But that’s not important right now. What’s important is learning! And for today’s Thirsty for Continue reading →

The articles a and an

Today I’m going to go over the singular indefinite article in English: a and an. Before I get into that, do you remember the lesson recently on the International Phonetic Alphabet? I’ll be referring back to that today, so if you need to brush up on it, take a few minutes to review the symbols and how IPA works. Go ahead. I’ll wait. Continue reading →

Jargon

Damn, am I really updating so infrequently that I’ve had one post since the last TKT? Well, it’s midterms, so what can I say? I will admit that I have taken some time out recently for a new club that just started up on campus, and that’s one reason I have had less time to post, but it’s also a great reason to put up a new TKT. I just joined the “Knit Wits” club that had its first meeting Continue reading →

The International Phonetic Alphabet

I figured it’s about time I got around to teaching you all about the International Phonetic Alphabet, since it will probably come in handy in future TKT posts. I’ll stick to the IPA symbols used in English, though I’ll probably toss some of the ones for French up here eventually as well. That being said, let’s get started! Continue reading →

Lost in Translation

For today’s TKT, I thought I’d talk about how sayings are translated from one language to another. The sayings that I’ll talk about are idiomatic expressions which have a more or less fixed form and whose meaning really cannot be ascertained by the words/grammar used to form them. For instance, “Cat got your tongue?” is an idiomatic expression whose meaning “Why are Continue reading →