Belated Happy Holiday

Language for Profit

Drat! I missed it. Yesterday, September 24, was National Punctuation Day. It must be pretty popular because whenever I’ve tried to go to the site – NationalPunctuationDay.com – I get an error message I’ve never seen before: "Bandwidth Length Exceeded." So, let me be the first to wish you a "Belated Happy National Punctuation Day!"

I found a link to another blog that discusses the holiday a bit. The blogger has something to say about the importance of correct punctuation in resumes -- and I would guess cover letters -- and particularly disparages the hated usage of “it’s” as a possessive. The URL is http://paulbuckley14059.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/national-punctuation-day/

I’ll be checking back on the official blog from time to time and will let you know what other insights it provides. For now, just remember that punctuation DOES count, particularly in making a good first impression on a prospective employer.

To check on where you may need to bone up, see

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAR/cgi-shl/quiz.pl/punct_quiz.htm?cgi_quiz_form=1

It gives great feedback.

A New Service

I haven’t mentioned my company, Prince Language Associates Incorporated, before, but now I want to let everyone know that I will be providing a new service which may interest you. Do you want to study a foreign language? Do you have enough time to take a class? Are you motivated to study on your own? If you answered the first question in the affirmative, the second with a ‘no,’ and the third with a ‘maybe,’ then I can help you. In addition to being an experienced language acquisition expert (I blush), I’m also a trained co-active coach. Because I’ve discovered that many people who want to study a foreign language just can’t take a course, I’m now offering

Coaching for Language Self-study

If you’d like more information on this service, please contact me at either seileenprince@gmail.com or Pres@PrinceLanguage.com

Word for the Day

I hope you’ve been voting on which words should be saved from being turned into recrement by the Collins shredder. (BTW, my Word editor has indicated that ‘recrement’ is a misspelling or just not a word. Check it out on the site I mentioned yesterday.) It’s also been said that using these words may preserve them in the dictionary. I don’t know if this is really true, but I’ll be doing my bit.

Here’s a word that’s not in danger so far but perhaps not known or used by many people nowadays:

galivant

(Hmm. My Word editor didn’t accept either spelling this word: ‘galivant’ or ‘galavant.’ However, I was able to find it online.)

I like the definition from the American Heritage Dictionary that I found at http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/galavant:

1. To roam about in search of pleasure or amusement. See Synonyms at wander.
2. To play around amorously; flirt.

Spanish Vocabulary

I’ve already written that a good thing to say when introduced to someone who speaks Spanish is "¡Mucho gusto!" Now, here’s how to respond in case someone says this to you:

¡El gusto es mio!

This means “The pleasure is mine,” always a nice thing to say.

Well, it’s been my pleasure to write today’s blog. I hope I'll have the pleasure of reading your comments soon.

Ciao for now,

Eileen