Idiosophy is a blog site “maintained by Joe Hoffman, former physicist, current modeling and simulation engineer, foil and épée fencer and coach, and vegetable gardener.” As he explains on his blog , we need never live in darkness again. The internet can provide us with information, discussions, ideas and people such as he who has a passion for physics, literature and nature. The internet has a vast array of knowledgeable and experienced people who can looks at things in compelx ways and share those ideas. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs is a stalwart of motivational theory in psychology. But what if we applied it to literature? Joe Hoffman’s clarity around the concept of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs of Fictional Genres is well worth the read.His discussion is well thought out and interesting.
The BBC world book club does a lot to support reading, authors, interest in reading and knowledge of books. It regularly offers podcasts where they discuss particular books and you can email in questions to ask the author if you keep a track of which podcasts are coming up. They also have a bank of video clips where authors discuss their books. You can listen live or use the on demand services. It really is a good site to help keep reading and authorship real and authentic.
Another good site is Goodreads. You can track your reading and write reviews. It is also a site which offers insight into authors and books and encouragement to read. Right now they are holding a vote on the best books for 2017 which you might like to participate in.
Both of these sites offer a strong connection development between authors and readers and that’s how you do it in 2017.
There is a constant stream of information now about the cognitive benefits of learning languages. Learning a language develops your hippocampus, enables you to retain and recall information and helps you sort information better. SBS television has just put out another article about the benefits of bilingualism and again there is indisputable evidence that it benefits your brain and your thinking amongst other things. I can relate to what they are saying in the video about people speaking more than one language . When you are immersed in a language you can block other languages. If you are in a situation which is prompting other languages you know, then it’s true, you will think of the German word instead of the French one. I have taught a number of German international students French. My instinct is to talk to them in German. They are here to improve their English and are in my French class. Like me they have a ready facility to go from their native language to another but to make them go from English to French or French to English is initially very hard. They will then revert to German. I find it hard to go from German to French. One language has to be dominant but I have been in places where people readily go from one language to another in 10 minutes. In Sydney airport I heard a businessman go from Dutch to German to French to English in one call on his phone. That kind of linguistic capacity is learned and becomes a habit. The internet and technology devices have improved considerably in helping people to learn languages. YouTube has some good channels and then there a number of apps for learning languages in a sequential way. My own favourite is Duolingo because it works across all devices and delivers very good practice. Depending on the language you want to learn you can learn it in bite size pieces very easily on a phone or tablet.
The ICDL is mustering many of the well loved children’s stories of yesteryear and quality children’s literature in many languages. It is becoming an archive and irreplaceable resource for language development and culture. The books are available as e-books and can be read on the site by turning the pages. The driving force behind the site is tolerance and respect for cultures. Award winning books are also featured and some very valuable links out to sites which promote reading and writing for students.
TeachThought always comes up with good posts and this one about technology aiding reading is really worth the read. Terry Heick has analysed and articulated the benefits of reading with technology and how it actually works. There is also a list of apps for close reading. E-readers certainly aid reading development because there is quick and easy access to an e-dictionary as you read. When you are trying to learn a language then the dictionary facility is vital to ensure you do not skip over words you don’t understand. As a teacher of French I can isolate expressions, words and really focus on language development, improvement and linguistic competence because I have a whole range of tools to break down sentence structure, paragraphing and vocabulary. I can so easily shine the light on what needs to be learned . Technology offers tools to create linguistic diversity and depth.
Idiosophy is a blog site “maintained by Joe Hoffman, former physicist, current modeling and simulation engineer, foil and épée fencer and coach, and vegetable gardener.” As he explains on his blog , we need never live in darkness again. The internet can provide us with information, discussions, ideas and people such as he who has a passion for physics, literature and nature. The internet has a vast array of knowledgeable and experienced people who can looks at things in compelx ways and share those ideas. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs is a stalwart of motivational theory in psychology. But what if we applied it to literature? Joe Hoffman’s clarity around the concept of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs of Fictional Genres is well worth the read.His discussion is well thought out and interesting.
The BBC world book club does a lot to support reading, authors, interest in reading and knowledge of books. It regularly offers 
E-WOT 