I had heard about this research a few months ago, but when a friend from work sent me a forward this morning I found it really interesting. Try and read this:
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?
So now I am wondering if english is your second language, would you still be able to read the paragraph above? Of course, I think it would depend on how well you read English in the first place, but I’m curious … if a speaker of another language can read this, does that mean they are fluent? I myself am familiar with trying to learn a second language, and am always wondering when do you get to a point that you can say you are fluent ? Since I don’t speak Spanish everyday, I’ve lost some of the skills I had about a year ago, but even at the height of my studies I was always too afraid to say "I’m fluent". My Dad always says when you dream in another language that is a sign of a new skill level. Of course, I’m not sure my dreams of lying on a beach and saying "una cerveza mas, por favor" count!
As I posted this, I did a quick google search and found some interesting additional reading on the research: http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/~mattd/Cmabrigde/
In that article they have a version of the paragraph in Spanish (other languages too), and guess what?! I could read it!! I am still too afraid to say I’m fluent, so I’m going to consider my fluency indicator theory above disproved!
It seems just a few months ago I couldn’t wait for summer to begin! Well, 6 months later, here I am ready for the long New England winter! I’m sure I will be eating those words soon enough. Even though the scooter has been stored away for weeks, I will probably get to drive it tomorrow because it is suppose to be 67 degrees! In any case, it was time to change up the blog theme … summer is officially over! May it snow lots and lots of lab heads this year!
I can’t believe I forgot to mention my Thanksgiving Day wound! It was horribly traumatic and almost ruined the garlic mashed potatoes. The day before my sister was making fun of my old potato peeler. It was rusty and a little bent, but it did the job. I decided to treat myself to a new fancy potato peeler for the big Turkey Day feast. So, I was roaring through a 5 pound bag of yukon gold potatoes. Just flying through them. I was so thrilled at the speed and precision of my new peeler, that is took a full 5 seconds until I realized that I had taken the tip of my left pointer finger off. Sliced a chunk of it right off! At this point I was about 3 pounds into the bag and looking down into the sink all I could see was blood pouring out of my finger. I did what anyone would do, ran into the bathroom screaming and then almost passed out. I am not proud of this reaction, but that is what happened, what can I say.
It is healing up quite nicely now, although Kevin shows me his deformed pointer finger and says mine may end up healing weird too. Actually, today – 5 days later – I can finally type with that finger again. This is a great feeling because I was really getting sick of typing "die" into my command prompt instead of "dir". Die this and die that and die * … it was a slow couple of days on the computer. Good thing it was just 1 finger, considering the 10 digits on my hands are my money makers. It’s like a dancer hurting her leg or a linebacker …. actually I’m not really sure what a linebacker might hurt during a game … maybe his achilles heel? Anyway, I am keeping the new peeler, but I will definitely be more careful the next time around. This is one of those kitchen mistakes that you NEVER ever make twice.
LABUnleashed had some technical difficulties recently, but things are starting to get back in order now. Did everyone think I was gone for good?! I am missing some posts, not sure what happened there, but I put my best IT guy (my husband) on it. In the meantime, we have a lot of ground to make up. First things first … Turkey Day …. although a complete wash out, went pretty well. We had to forgo our plans of frying our turkey this year, even after we had invested in all that turkey frying equipment. That was pretty disappointing, but you can’t control the weather. Instead, I tried some new things and roasted the turkey, like all those other normal people out there. I had a secret weapon though … brining. My buddy Emeril taught me a thing or two … or at least provided me with a recipe. Then my other buddy Alton Brown walked me through the brining process step by step. I have never tasted such a juicy turkey! The brining is now officially a family tradition that must be done 24 hours in advance! I also tried some new recipes: cheddar chive biscuits and praline bread pudding for desert! Both were keepers! The old standby’s were there too, Amber brought the green bean casserole and the candied yams. Mom brought the stuffing and black eyed peas. I handled the turkey, mashed potatoes, roasted beets, and the two new recipes. It was a feast! Oh … and Dad was in charge of the wine … Casillero del Diablo is still one of our dinner favorites!
I’m getting hungry now with all this turkey talk. I must go finish off some leftovers so that I can keep up my strength for all the blogging I have to make up for!
