32 Days!?

Seriously, I've been doing lots of blogging lately. Topics and conversations rolled around in my head for weeks. They just never saw the light of day.

Summer, glorious summertime is here. No homework, no paper grading, no confiscating cell phones with lewd messages on them. Oh wait, that was me.

So far, I've filled every conceivable waking moment with even more activities, chores and projects to do. It's summer vacation yet we act like it's the end times and we have three months to cram in every activity known to man.

I've narrowed my list to just the summer time necessities: swimming, biking, vacation...Although learning Hebrew could go either way. No significant news yet, except Ethan, our 7 year old, pitch forked his own foot. Thankfully, it didn't go all the way through his foot. It did merit a trip to the ER, where I used my "frequent customer card." You know, after 10 visits, the eleventh visit is FREE.

If you haven't already seen this video, you should check it out for inspiration:
Also, there's a catchy video about learning the Hebrew 'aleph bet'. You'll get hooked on these phonics, baby

Summer School

Speaking of summer reading, I usually try to concoct some sort of educational project for the kids and me to do together. I try to down play the academic aspect so as not to be accused of teaching in the summer.


I've tried a couple of things each summer...drawing class, grammar lessons (slight dip in popularity with that choice), zoology, astronomy...some worked, some are fodder for this blog.

There was the summer that I bought Latin workbooks and audio tapes. We had a great time trying to learn the basic construction of a dead language. We listened to the voice on tape pronounce the letters and sounds and we would repeat. It took almost an entire workbook to realize there was a very big reason these tapes were priced so low. Apparently, the narrator giving the Latin pronunciation spoke with a lisp, so the pronunciations weren't completely accurate. Instead of learning to speak Latin, we were, in actuality speaking Lathin.

Last summer I found a website called Teach Yourself Persian in 100 Easy Lessons. This became more practical than the Lathin. Having a working understanding of Persian, which is Farsi, a popular language spoken in Iran, carried over into matters of national security.
Believe it or not, when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave those caustic speeches to us Americans, I was the only one in the free world who could accurately translate his diatribe. Instead of screeching about oil and bombs he was actually auditioning for a spot on The View. Several key elements in his speeches were misrepresented in a malevolent light. Instead of bloodshed, he actually said, "I like to wear expensive suits," and "How can I get on Wheel of Fortune?" But nobody else really knows that.

Plus, when you don't have anyone to practice a language with, you lose it pretty quickly. So now the only word I remember in Farsi is frog, which doesn't come in handy on a daily basis, but if it's ever a Jeopardy! question, I'm all over that.