Remembering 11 11 at 11:00
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Newsletter: 10 November 2011
Dear Friends,
Language is dialogue. This is a followup to my last letter in which I mostly talked about your own language, your own style, how you express yourself. But in fact, I have to admit that it stopped short – It didn’t get beyond you.
Language is dialogue. You’re not alone. If your language is like the clothes you wear and choosing your own style … well, it’s not enough to just talk to yourself in front of a mirror … Language is dialogue. And your choice of style has as much to do with yourself as it does with the community you live in and the people who make up your world. Yes, people first judge you by the clothes you wear and … even more, by the way you speak, by the way you express yourself.
Dialogue is feedback. Whether you’re talking to an audience of 2000 or whether you’re talking to one individual, adapting your speech to those you’re speaking to is like making the first move in a game of chess. You make a move. Your partner makes a move. You speak to a large audience; they respond. You feel it. You speak to someone you know. You get a response. It doesn’t matter who begins. It’s a dialogue. You’re always picking up where you left off.
Of course, we all know people who speak to themselves even when they’re speaking to others. How can I say that? We hear them every day. In person. In schools. In meeetings. People looking at themselves in a mirror … with polite onlookers. Have you ever seen anyone holding a phone at a distance from their ears?
Dialogue is listening. And reacting. Dialogue is pause. Dialogue is in time. Do you send and receive email? textos? How quick do you answer? What sort of dialogue is going on? Do you pick up on someone’s style and answer with the same tone?
It seems to me that so much misunderstanding between people comes from a failure to listen. In fact, talking back and forth … without a dialogue.
Two monologues. Each party listening to himself, herself.
When you take the time – and yes, I mean the time – to listen… or to read and take the time and make the effort to think about what others are telling you, are saying … then in fact, before saying a word, before asking a question, you’ve opened … a dialogue. A healthy one.
The best dialogues are those that last a long time. Those that never end.
Who are those with? That’s the definition of … friends. Friends listen.
When you practice the art of listening … you open a dialogue. And to do that, you need language. But you also need one thing more: courage. The courage to listen.
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From Howard Morrison: A favorite quote
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
Gandhi
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American Friends of the Musée d’Orsay
AFMO raises public awareness and financial support for the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée de l’Orangerie, located in Paris, France. These tax-exempt funds support exhibitions, education, building renovations, and provide cultural enrichment for Americans in the United States and Paris. AFMO also acquires works of art to lend and eventually gift to the museum.
AFMO raises public awareness and financial support for the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée de l’Orangerie, located in Paris, France. These tax-exempt funds support exhibitions, education, building renovations, and provide cultural enrichment for Americans in the United States and Paris. AFMO also acquires works of art to lend and eventually gift to the museum.
AFMO was begun by American citizens who recognized the contribution made by the Musée d’Orsay to American museums and to the American public. In 2008, following a highly successful collaboration between the Art Institute of Chicago and the Musée d’Orsay, Guy Cogeval, the new Président of the Orsay, and Olivier Simmat, Director of International Relations and Development, voiced their enthusiastic support for the formation of an “American Friends.”
AFMO was begun by American citizens who recognized the contribution made by the Musée d’Orsay to American museums and to the American public. In 2008, following a highly successful collaboration between the Art Institute of Chicago and the Musée d’Orsay, Guy Cogeval, the new Président of the Orsay, and Olivier Simmat, Director of International Relations and Development, voiced their enthusiastic support for the formation of an “American Friends.”
Click here for the site: American Friends of the Musée d’Orsay
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Newsletter: November 3, 2011
Language is such a personal thing. As I mentioned in a previous newsletter, we are all individuals with our own very unique styles and personalities. And we have so many facets!
Language is like the clothes we wear: the colors we choose, the styles we select for the occasion, the materials we feel comfortable wearing. Our vocabularies are like our wardrobes. In professional situations, we dress and act one way while when we’re out with friends or family, we might dress and act differently. We don’t dress and act in the same ways at home and in public. And we express ourselves stylistically according to the mood we’re in, the company we’re with … and, of course, according to the weather! The same goes for the language we use.
What sort of a person are you? Are you someone who loves to meet new people and explore new things? Do you have a tendency to be more introverted or extroverted? Are you more of a “talker” or are you more of a “listener?” How old are you? What sort of environments are you at ease in? Which situations do you avoid? Are you a traveller or a stay-at-home?
What sort of background do you come from? Are you more emotional or rational? Are you a reader or a watcher?
Of course, these are not absolutes. Every one of us, like the weather, is in a permanent stage of change. One day we’re smiling and on another … we’re not.
These are all questions which affect the language we use: both spoken and written.
As you develop your language skills, may I make a suggestion? Develop your own personality along with it! One of the keys to learning a language, including your native one, has to do with keeping up-to-date … with yourself!
No matter how young or how old you are … your language is YOUR language! Adopt, integrate into your “wardrobe” the words and expressions you like, the words you need. Think and act as yourself, your own self!
After all, we are all unique individuals! Of this I’m sure: we’re never too young … nor too old to try to say just what we want to try to say …. Unless you have a tendency towards frustration, don’t strive for perfection … excellence is good enough!
Thanks for reading The Paris Savannah Connection!
Mark
PS: You’ll never get to your goal without taking a risk!
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Possessives – from AWAD
with Anu Garg
My iPad, their Toyota, her house… In a typical day we talk a lot about possessions: having things. The word possess is from Latin possidere, from potis (having the power) + sedere (to sit). So when you possess something, say a patch of earth, you have the power to sit upon it, literally speaking.
The English language has many terms about who has what. Enjoy this week’s words that answer “Whose what?” but it’s important to remember that the best things in life are not possessed, they are free. We don’t say my ocean, his stars, or their sun.
You can subscribe to A Word a Day here: https://wordsmith.org/awad/index.html
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schedules – timing – postponing
to postpone- moving something planned to a later date. Is there a conflict in schedules? maybe we – or they – or you or I – are not ready, won’t be ready, won’t have met all the conditions for what was planned…
The interview was postponed … the meeting was postponed … the game was called off.
Sorry, I won’t be able to make it then … How about a rain check?
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Leslie Caron
Leslie Claire Margaret Caron (French pronunciation: [lɛzli kaʁɔ̃]; born 1 July 1931) is a French film actress and dancer, who appeared in 45 films between 1951 and 2003. In 2006, her performance in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit won her an Emmy for best actress. Her autobiography Thank Heaven, was published in 2010 in the UK and USA, and in 2011 in a French version.
Caron is best known for the musical films An American in Paris (1951), Lili (1953), Daddy Long Legs (1955), Gigi (1958), and for the non-musical films Fanny (1961), The L-Shaped Room(1962), and Father Goose (1964). She received two Academy Award nominations for Best Actress. She speaks French, English, and Italian. She is one of the few dancers or actresses who has danced with Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Rudolf Nureyev.
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