Saturday, August 28, 2010
DICTIONARIES + THESAURUSES + ENCYCLOPEDIAS
DICTIONARIES
SPANISH-ENGLISH DICTIONARIES
UNUSUAL DICTIONARIES
THESAURUSES
ENCYCLOPEDIAS
ABOUT THIS BLOG
HOW TO PARTICIPATE WITH THIS BLOG
This blog, English Ecologies, is designed to collect and provide links to important, dynamic, thought-provoking subjects in the English Language that will inspire people to question, investigate, compare, analyze, discuss, exchange ideas, and dialog in an open rhizomatic way, with the goal of improving and deepening our use and understanding of the English Language, as well as explore its impact, essence and purpose in the world.
It is also designed in very specific ways to provide excellent materials for people to practice their listening and reading skills in preparation for the TOEFL Exam.
The English Language has changed over time. Words that were commonly used years ago are barely known today, except for in some rare documents. All languages FLOW. In Shakespeare's day, spelling of words was not formal and fixed.
Most everyday dictionaries, for example, are about as extensive as you can pack into one thick book. But the reality is, the complete dictionary for any language would be at least as big as planet Earth.
And who creates and manages the words that are in use in our world today?
And who creates and manages the words that are in use in our world today?
The word "ecologies" is used here to indicate different states of mind, different viewpoints, different ways of being or seeing the world. An oil executive and a clean oceans activist might see things differently, have different ecologies they inhabit.
It is extremely important, then, to realize that no one perspective is complete, and that to be aware of as many different perspectives as possible is healthy.
If the English Language is reduced, as George Orwell suggested, from a rich abundant array, assortment, change, collection, combo, conglomeration, cross section, departure, discrepancy, disparateness, divergency, diversification, diversity, fluctuation, heterogeneity, incongruity, intermixture, many-sidedness, medley, miscellany, mishmash, mixed bag, mixture, modification, multifariousness, multiplicity, mélange, potpourri, range, shift, soup, stew, variance, variation,VARIETY of words available to use... into a world world where we could only use the word VARIETY... do you think this might affect how our minds work, how deeply we understand things, and how all of this directly impacts the world we live in?
This blog, then, seeks to explore a wide variety of ecologies as a way to increase our awareness, critical thinking skills, and understanding of issues in, through, and related to the English Language.
Everyone and anyone is welcome to participate in this blog project.
In order to be included, send an email to:
And in this email...
(1) you will explain WHICH POST on this blog you would like to ADD something to. Example: you would like to add a different perspective to the post on HISTORY, or on BUSINESS, or on LITERATURE...
(2) ...and provide an IMAGE for and A LINK to the materials you wish to add to that post.
Your submission will be reviewed (whenever time permits) and, if appropriate (not redundant, etc) it will be added to the post you wish to contribute to.
Some of the posts already call for specific things to do -- wherever you see the word ACTIVITY.
Peace!
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