Can't believe summer is almost here! Although I won't be going out of town, as I had previously plan, I am looking for opportunities that will allow me to have a good time. I still don't know what I will be doing, but I always leave that room for suggestions. Do any of you have any? Come on! Share some. I am sure I am not the only one who because of financials and/or work won't be leaving our beautiful city.

Meet the Fockers

On Wednesday, after a long day at school and work, as soon as I got home I threw myself on the couch ready to be relieved by the "anesthetic for the pain of the modern world:" television. As I was flipping through the channels, a scene from the movie "Meet the Fockers" caught my attention. A grandfather, portrayed by Robert De Niro, was grooming his 1-year-old grandchild to be a genius. He was teaching him all kinds of communication skills -including baby sign language, and pictographic language. I was surprised on his efforts to rear his child in to the next big thing.

I have seen enough TV announcements like "Your Baby Can Read" enough times to assume that there are desperate parents trying to help their children on becoming successful. But..Come one! Give children a break. They must learn at their own speed. Don't think that I underestimate children's learning ability. I just think that children should be encouraged to learn, not forced.

What do you think?

How rude!

Politeness varies in different cultures and languages. In the Tongan community it is accustomed to burp after every meal to show your host that you enjoyed the food. My mother, who is Mexican, would beat the heck out of me if I ever did that regardless of how much I enjoyed the meal.

Linguistic realivity is not only expressed verbally. It can be expressed in our actions and reactions. Being aware of the cultural differences of others and our own helps us more communicate more effectively. Effectiveness in interpersonal, collective or mass communication is essential everywhere.

Linguistic efforts

A few days ago, my friends and I decided to try an unfamiliar type of cuisine. We visited a restaurant located in the north of Houston. When I opened the menu I was surprised to notice some singuilarities. Previous my visit, I have always encountered "bilingual" menus. In other words, if the restaurant was offering any type of ethnic food, the menu would give out the name of the dish in the language of the country from which the dish originated and then translated it into English- if possible. The menu in this restaurant was indeed bilingual; it had the names of the dishes in both English and Spanish. What got my attention was that in addition to the translation was what seemed like an imitation of a phonetic alphabet. This imitation tried to reproduce Spanish pronunciations in English.

Although these efforts do not compete with the IPA, they are worth of respect. I was glad to notice people's appreciation of other languages, and the tolerance for those who can't speak one's language.