Friday evening roundup and rambles and language-learning tips

Processed meat will kill you in direct as well as indirect ways.

Single supplements are obnoxious.

Is there any such thing as free art, including writing?

What languages do Wikipedia users use?

I hope Georgetown wins.

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On the topic of language: I was shocked when a friend who speaks Mandarin fluently told me how difficult she found French. I've not tried to learn Chinese (no point--I'm tone-deaf) but I think it's got to be difficult as all hell. I thought learning Japanese (all two months of it) was challenging beyond belief. I guess we all find different things difficult.

We got to talking about the mistakes people make when learning a language. The foremost, in my mind, is neglecting to understand that you're learning a system rather than a new set of words to place into an existing system.

Another mistake is giving up or tuning out because it's hard. A related mistake: thinking you have to understand something, especially the first time. Language learning often happens in bursts, in epiphanies. If you're stuck on something, just roll with it--fake it until you make it--and at some point, it will make sense to you. Asking "why" is good to a point--specifically, to the point that it helps you understand something; it ceases to be good when it keeps you from understanding something. Don't over-think it: just do that thing connoted by that dirty word--memorize--and use the words and phrases as the native speakers use them, and eventually that usage will make sense.

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On the topic of the article I posted this morning, what does this study about the correlation between "benevolent sexism" and breast-size preference say about our Dr. Frampton? How does someone even walk with DDDs?

BTW, I'm not kidding about the cabal. Check my Memorial Day weekend posts--I know I blogged about mom's telling me that (straight) men don't care about intelligence. I have a friend who says the same. And there are dating coaches that go on and on about this (I have stopped listening to them): men cannot fall in love with you for your savvy or your brains; they can only fall for your feminine qualities--your warmth, etc. They're not looking for a girlfriend for intellectual conversations; they can have those with their coworkers.

I'm ashamed to admit that I bought into this for a while, and it was a disservice to me and to the guys I was dating. It's just not true. Anyone worth dating wants to be able to have an intelligent conversation with someone. Which brings us back to what that says about Dr. Frampton.