Fluffbuff

Must be turning dyslexic. I meant drumroll in my previous post, not rolldrums. Whatever possessed me? I transpose keys a lot when I type, but "rolldrums" is not a motor coordination issue. Am I losing it?

Posted by Francesca at 2:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

    My friend Betta in Hamburg has put together a small English-Italian dictionary of knitting and crochet terms — Betta's Knitionary — that should prove very useful to Italian speaking knitters dealing with instructions written in English.

La mia amica Betta di Amburgo ha preparato un dizionario Inglese-Italiano di termini per lavoro a maglia e uncinetto — Betta's Knitionary — che sarà molto utile per persone di lingua italiana alle prese con istruzioni scritte in inglese.

Posted by Francesca at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

   Tonight marks fifteen years since I landed in LA. I never thought I'd still be here. I blame it on Ben. ;)
When we met, I was just about ready to move out and move on, then we started dating, I started grad school, we bought a house, started a business… Life happens.

My first two years here were very difficult. I had left all my family and friends behind, married a man who turned out to be a horrible choice, and found it hard to transition from a small town in Italy to the big metropolis. As a consequence, I went through culture shock, divorce and undergraduate school all at the same time.

Now, I have many good things going: a good relationship (I'm trying to convince Ben that that's portable), good friends (and yesterday I met an old friend from my Art Center days that I hadn't seen in over twelve years), two wonderful cats (they're portable, too), the business (hm, that's not as portable). So I have mixed feelings about being still here cuz I've been restless for a while, but the good stuff is good and I'm feeling more like celebrating than regretting or reminescing.

In true celebration mode, over the past week I have splurged on some aceto balsamico tradizionale…

…spicy hot chocolate, and hazelnut biscuits.

By biscuits I always mean what the British call biscuits, the Americans call cookies and the Italians biscotti. Of course, confusingly, the Americans use the term biscotti to mean something else, i.e. a specific kind of biscuit, er… cookie. I'm finally getting used to seeing Italian words used to mean something other than what they mean in Italian, though I really don't understand why someone would pick a foreign word to mean something different from what the word means in the original language. Take "latte" for instance. Latte is Italian for milk, but in the U.S. it's a coffee beverage that includes variable amounts of milk, coffee being still the primary ingredient. Why call it "latte" when they could call it "caffelatte" or "cappuccino" or make up a word in English?

I also got myself some flower tea…

and a tea posy…

I am going to spoil myself rotten this weekend. :)

Posted by Francesca at 9:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

  The nice people at Kinokuniya's in Little Tokyo agreed to order this book without having me commit to buying it. I'd been curious about this dictionary for a while but couldn't bring myself to part with the equivalent of 10,000 yen without seeing it first. And a good thing that was indeed. When I finally got to examine a copy of the English-Japanese Knitting Dictionary, it definitely was not what I had expected. I had hoped for a dictionary that included a lot of visuals along with translations of knitting terms, and one that would be equally useful to Japanese and English speakers. As it turns out, the visuals are scarce and a lot of entries are textual explanations of words in the same language, with only part of the entries giving translations from one language to the other. When I examined the book I was a little under the whether and probably not at my most alert, but my guess is that this dictionary will be most useful to Japanese speakers who are trying to decipher knitting instructions in English and not the other way around.

Also, when I first converted the yen price to dollars, I must have made a mistake because I was expecting the book to cost $80 (already a hefty sum for one book), but the price is actually $120! Now, I would have bought it at $20; I would have thought about it twice at $30, but at $120, I really didn't have to think.

Unfortunately I don't have pictures to show you, so this is probably not a very useful review as there is always a lot of subjectivity in making this kind of judgement, but I thought I'd share all the same.

日英最新ニット用語辞典
2006/12/20
510 pages
ISBN-10: 4881220853
ISBN-13: 978-4881220856

Posted by Francesca at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

You'd think that after almost fifteen years in this country I would have stopped italianizing English, but no, I'm still doing it.

As Mrs Peterson pointed out today in a comment to my Italian tubular cast-on tutorial, I wrote "pass as if to purl" when, of course, I should have written "slip as if to purl". And I checked and rechecked that entry for typos several times, but I forgot to check for un-englishness. So I'll go back and change pass to slip and I am sure this won't be the last time I italianize English. Even with a good vocabulary and a decent command of the English language, I do occasionally puzzle my friends or make them laugh.

One of my most notorious slip-ups happened a couple of years ago around Christmas when I was trying to explain to a friend how panettone is made and told her that it has to levitate for about 24 hours. You see, the Italian for "rise" in the context of a baking recipe is "lievitare". To this day, whenever panettone is mentioned, I think Janet gets this mental picture of a panettone floating in mid air.

Posted by Francesca at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

   This past week I've been knitting lace swatches, trying out patterns, yarns, and needle sizes. I eventually focussed on two patterns that are very much alike: Eunny Jang's Print O' The Wave Stole and one from the book Victorian Lace.

Armed with my swatches and samples of yarns for comparison and help in determining yardage requirements, I went down to Purlsoho's warehouse in Costa Mesa. Fortunately I went with my friend Theresa, so the trip was much more pleasant.

At Purlsoho, a very friendly Jennifer helped me find what I was looking for: two kinds of 2-ply cashmere yarn. I looked at Habu's and Jade Sapphire's 2-ply cashmere and almost immediately decided for Habu. The Jade Sapphire yarn was slightly thicker and the colors mostly variegated, to various degrees. Some solid colors, too, but I really liked the Habu yarn better for the lace stole I have in mind.

I was undecided between a charcoal gray, a brown and a golden yellow. I almost chickened out and went for the brown, but everything I bought this year clothes-wise has been either brown or dark gray so, what the heck, I went for yellow. Habu yarns come in cute little balls so, even thought the price of the two yarns was comparable, it's easier to get closer to the desired yardage with Habu because of the smaller quantities. I'd hate to have a lot of cashmere leftovers. So I bought four yellow balls (728 yards) and one charcoal, to make samples and see if I can knit it without losing my eyesight.

I bought also two Addi Turbo circular needles in size #0 (32") and #1 (40"). They don't carry Addi Natura, so I couldn't get the #2 I wanted. On the trip home, Theresa showed me her Holz & Stein rosewood DPN needles and now of course I have to have those! Well, I don't use DPNs, but I understand Holz & Steins make circulars as well. They are just damn hard to find in the US. I looked around the Web and there seems to be a lot of confusion about those needles. For one thing some people say that they are being marketed in the US under a different brand name, but a very thorough review of Holz & Steins, Susanne Bates, and Lantern Moon at sock prØn. dispels that notion. Now I only need to find someone who sells the small sizes, because the vendor mentioned on that blog doesn't seem to carry the very small sizes I am after. Theresa got her set from a former secret pal and told me that the needles are made from the leftover wood used to make musical instruments. I guess I must find this romantic, because as soon as I heard that, I wanted them even more.

After Purl Soho, we went to the Kinokuniya bookstore and bought some Japanese craft books. I bought a knitting book, an embroidery book (no, I haven't started embroidering, but that won't stop me from buying books) and a language book.

The titles losely translate as Knitted Accessories from Scandinavia and Embroidery Designs. Pictures from these books later today or tomorrow.

Posted by Francesca at 3:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Yesterday was guild meeting day and I got to see many friends and meet a few new people. As usual, we had about five new visitors and a couple of new members; our little guild is now more than 80-strong.

I had brought my quilting hoop with me and spent at least two hours practicing my quilting stitch. Not a whole lot of progress, but I am getting slightly less frustrated and that's incouraging. Trying out different fabrics and battings is also helping a bit, as some are easier to quilt than others. Mariko showed me how she does the quilting stitch and also spoiled me with unexpected birthday presents: two adorable Japanese craft books (this has really turned into Japanese book week for me), some sharp Japanese pins and a magazine article on Boutis how-to. Mariko-san, どもありがとうございました！

Both during and after the meeting, I was too busy having a good time to remember to take pictures. That's a good sign, no?

My practice in progress — PIP?

Cat hair courtesy of "il grigino".

Piper recognizes two categories of things: food and toys. When he sees something new, first he smells it to see if it's food…

… then he tries to move it to see if it rolls or bounces. He's our little Pelé and spends hours playing soccer by himself.

The quilting hoop is no fun; Pipie gets back to napping.

After the meeting, I joined Theresa, JoShell, Rose, Lisa and Marty and went to a café downtown to meet up with Andrea, who had overslept and missed the meeting. I think she was up again til dawn working on her mystery Fair Isle project. All my friends are getting so much done lately; I feel like I am underachieving these days.

Interestingly, half the people in our little group are interested in learning an Asian language. Rose is starting a class in Chinese Mandarin tomorrow. I just started again listening to my Japanese Pimsleur tapes this week, while I work out on the elliptical machine. Lisa is also considering Japanese and has been checking classes in Riverside. JoShell lived in Japan for 3.5 years. And I know Andrea has considered Japanese herself.

If only I could find someone who lives close to me to study together. I started studying Japanese so many times and then lost momentum that I think a buddy would be really helpful. Even when I was getting lessons, it was only an hour a week and that is just not enough for a language that is so different from the others I know.
Anyone out there who lives in the Pasadena/Glendale/Burbank area? Please, pretty please? Anyone?

Posted by Francesca at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

  When I spotted this little book in one of the language shelves at Kinokuniya's, I thought someone must have picked it up in the children's section or the comics section and put it down in the wrong place. I was wrong; it really is a language book.

Shironekokun (the white kitty) illustrates the use of some of the particles of the Japanese language by using whimsical illustrations to describe very simple sentences. Each sentence consists of a noun, a particle and a verb, and belongs to a set of two or three sentences that differ only in the particle, as in "neko to kagu" and "neko o kagu". The illustrations show the white kitty and a little girl in a variety of humorous situations. I simply couldn't resist.

しろねこくん
(shiro neko kun = the white kitty)
ISBN 4-09-727511-9

Posted by Francesca at 6:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

  Ultimamente mi è venuta la voglia di imparare il dialetto romagnolo come si deve. Dico come si deve, perchè capire lo capisco, ma non l'ho mai parlato sul serio. Un po' quando andavo a vendemmiare, sì, però facevo ridere i polli.

Lately, I've been toying with the idea of learning romagnolo dialect for real. I say for real, because I do understand it, but have never really spoken it. When I used to go grape picking in my late teens, I would speak a little dialect with the farmers and the other hired hands, but I was rather bad.

Mia madre ha fatto un po' di ricerca a Ravenna e mi ha mandato alcuni libri. Pare che anche in Romagna non si trovi molto materiale didattico per chi voglia imparare il romagnolo.

My mother did some looking around for me in Ravenna and found a few books. As it turns out, even in Romagna there isn't much literature for someone wanting to learn the romagnolo dialect. Quite a shame.

Il Vocabolario Romagnolo Italiano della Zanichelli, pubblicato nel 1996, ha 35.000 voci. Chi l'avrebbe mai detto? Ma 'sti buzzurri hanno pubblicato un mezzo dizionario, solo dal romagnolo all'italiano. E l'altra metà, dall'italiano al romagnolo, dov'è? Um pê d'sugnêr. Comunque il materiale è buono e contiene moltissimi esempi d'uso e note contestuali.

The Vocabolario Romagnolo Italiano published by Zanichelli in 1996 has 35,000 entries. Who would have thought? But they published only half a dictionary: Romagnolo to Italian. What about the other half, Italian to Romagnolo? The material is good, though, with lots of examples and contextual notes.

Vocabolario Romagnolo Italiano
Adelmo Masotti
Zanichelli Editore
ISBN 88-08-17352-6

Questa grammatica sembra scritta da un linguista per altri linguisti, per cui non è esattamente di facile lettura. Per di più, le scelte tipografiche e l'impaginazione rendono la lettura alquanto difficile. Comunque è meglio di niente e qua a Los Angeles non si trova proprio nulla del genere. Grazie mamma!

This grammar seems written by a linguist for other linguists, so it's not exactly an easy read. To make things worse, the book designer made some poor typographic and layout choices, aggravating the problem. Still, it's better than nothing and in Los Angeles I can't find anything at all on this subject. Thanks, mom!

Grammatica Romagnola
Adelmo Masotti
Edizioni del Girasole
ISBN 88-7567-351-9

Questo è il mio preferito fra i libri che ho appena ricevuto. È una collezione di proverbi romagnoli e non appena ho cominciato a sfogliarlo, mi son tornate in mente cose che avevo dimenticato da anni. Tipo… L'aqua la mêrza al budël e L'ora de' quajòn la vèn par tot.

This is my favorite among the books I received today. It's a collection of proverbs and as soon as I started leafing through it, I was taken back in time. Romagnolo is a very colorful language and I love it.

Proverbi Romagnoli
Aldo Spallicci
Giunti Gruppo Editoriale
ISBN 88-09-20832-3

Sono proprio contenta di avere questi libri. Magari non imparerò a parlare il romagnolo, ma almeno mi ritornerà in mente quello che sapevo.

I am so happy to have these books. They may not help me learn to speak my dialect, but they'll at least help me recover what I've forgotten.

Posted by Francesca at 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

My Intro to Linguistics class has turned out rather disappointing for me. We spend a good chunk of class time doing phonology expercises I am really not that interested in, and the rest of the time is spent in rather uninspired adherence to the textbook. I had expected a livelier environment with more discussion of ideas and a better sense of the big picture.

To find out more I started looking at books, and I am now reading The Power of Babel by John McWhorter, an associate professor of linguistics at UC Berkeley. So far (I am at page 55), I find it enormously enjoyable and informative. The only thing I have issues with at this point — and it may be addressed later in the book — is that the author assumes the existence of a proto language from which all existing languages derive without providing a context for me to make up my mind about the validity of the theory. Since it is a big assumption, I'd like to be convinced of it before I read all sorts of interpretations that are based on that assumption. Regardless, it's a very good read and I am fascinated by the explanation of how languages transform. McWhorter is careful about using the term transformation instead of evolution, and I like that. I hope the rest of the book is as interesting and entertaining as the first 55 pages.

The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language
by John McWhorter
Harper Collins
ISBN 0-06-052085-X

Posted by Francesca at 8:40 PM | Permalink

  What's going on here? I am not a soccer fan — I don't even like soccer — but I've been glued to my computer "watching" the game as live text on the BBC website gobbling down some yogurt for lunch. That's not like me: I've been taken over by aliens.

This is the last minute of extra time and it looks like we are going into penalties. Sigh. But I am enjoying the BBC coverage; maybe it's the novelty. The language is as entertaining as the game (well, I am not really seeing the game, am I?):
"Florent Malouda nutmegs Fabio Cannavaro"
"Thierry Henry skins Gennaro Gattuso on the left"
"Zinedine Zidane… headbutted Marco Materazzi in the chest."

A quick search on Google found that "to nutmeg" means to "to push the ball through a defender's legs" (quoted from the USAToday World Cup glossary of terms). At least I am learning something.

Back to "watching".

Posted by Francesca at 1:27 PM | Permalink

Last Monday we went to the first meeting of our Intro to linguistics class at UCLA. It was interesting and at one point things got quite funny. Our instructor — Natalie — was talking about affixes and mentioned infixes. I knew about prefixes and suffixes (or prepositions and postpositions), but never heard of infixes. It turns out that in English there is only one and all 17 of us in class tried to figure out what it was and came up empty handed.

It's "fuckin". As in un-fuckin-believable, but I can also think of abso-bloody-lutely, so perhaps Natalie was thinking of American English. Regardless, it's interesting to see that even in the case of words created outside of academia, people instinctively follow a system. "fuckin" gets inserted at a syllable boundary, usually just before the stressed syllable.

Now I really should go do my homework for tomorrow. Or maybe not… It's Sunday!

Posted by Francesca at 8:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We just enrolled in a UCLA Extension class on linguistics called "Languages of the World: Variable Topics in Linguistics". It'll be fun to take a class with Ben and we'll finally be able to add some scientific background to our conversations about language.

This is the class description and I can't wait for it to start (June 26):

• "An introduction to the distribution, classification, and structural characteristics of the world's languages, this course acquaints students with the principles and techniques of language classification and provides a comprehensive view of the linguistic diversity of the world. Topics include elements of areal linguistics, linguistic typology, and comparative and historical linguistics and their relationship to language classification. Other topics include language isolates, the genetic affiliation of contact languages, and the evolution of language".

Posted by Francesca at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yesterday, on the BBC website, I read the article "Drowning in France's alphabet soup" on adjusting to the frequency of acronyms, abbreviations and initials in France.

If he thinks things are bad in France, Mr. Schofield should try the US. Moving to California took me some getting used to the local shorthand and hyper-acronymic culture. You'd expect some clarity at least on the road, for safety's sake, but no. How was I supposed to understand words like FWY, CYN, and xing? Maybe you could figure out that FWY stands for freeway if you knew the word in the first place, but those things are called highways or motorways everywhere else I've been. And CYN for Canyon? Who knew that the hillsides in Southern California were called canyons? I thought that word was reserved for the majestic canyons of the Arizona desert. And xing for crossing? Give me a break.

But it's not only California; it's a national obsession that encompasses abbreviations, acronyms and other forms of language shorthand. I am not talking about the specialized jargon of specific groups such as accountants, surfers or geneticists. I am a web designer/developer so in my business environment I discuss XHTML, CSS, AJAX, dpi, png, and to me PMS means Pantone Matching System, not Pre-Menstrual Syndrome.

I am talking everyday, pervasive examples of excessive language reduction that can get in the way of clarity. Now I know that DOB is date of birth, but I had to ask as I was trying to fill out a form at the emergency room, er… ER, while holding the tip of my left thumb in place after slicing it off with a knife. So maybe I am not so smart, but shouldn't things be clear where lack of clarity can cause or aggravate serious problems, as when you are driving or in a medical emergency?

It still bugs me sometimes, even though I am fully integrated now. I even migrated to American English spelling. After all, I am Italian and I should adjust to the local customs. Next time I move to a new country, though, I'll try to adjust ASAP to avoid snafus.

Posted by Francesca at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Learning kanji (Part 1) reviewed a few books for those interested in learning Kanji. Part 2 reviews a couple more books plus other resources. In these two short articles, I have presented ideas and resources going more for variety than comprehensiveness. In some cases I have provided links to Amazon.com, but you can find the same and more books at other online sources and physical bookstores. Online you can try Amazon.co.jp and www.yesasia.com. If you live close to a Kinokuniya bookstore, I recommend paying a visit. There is nothing like leafing through a book and making your own judgement. Besides, the kind of serendipitous discoveries you can make in a bookstore are different from those you can make online. I like to browse both on- and off-line.

• Subject Grouped 1016 Kanji in Context, ISBN 4-590-01043-7 This book includes the 1016 kanji taught to Japanese children in their first six years of school, plus several of their compounds. Unlike other books that group kanji by frequency or radical, this one presents them according to topics. Twenty chapters illustrate kanji by topics such as: Geography, Weather and Universe, Food, Drink, Cooking, Body and Health, Transportation, Law and Crime. Each chapter comes with three sections: Reference, Vocabulary, and Reading Excercises.
• Kanji Fast Finder, ISBN 0-8048-3393-1
  You will love this book. It won't teach you kanji, but it will cut down how long it takes you to locate the 1,945 General Use Kanji in any dictionary, and in a big way. Trust me on this one: if you plan to use a dictionary, buy Kanji Fast Finder.
• Kanji-a-Day is a website built around the needs of students of Japanese who want to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), but it is just as useful to anyone interested in the language and especially kanji. The site's features include: Kanji of the day, Kanji lists and quizzes, dictionaries (Japanese-English and English-Japanese), personalized kanji and vocabulary lists, and now also a chat room. The Kanji lists are divided into four levels, level four being the lowest. Counterintuitive, perhaps, but consistent with the JLPT classification of proficiency levels.
  The site requires you to become a member to access almost all its features. Membership is free, but they ask for more personal information that seems necessary. I mention this because the site has had a prominent "Website for sale" sign on it for a while, and there is no telling who will get your personal information once the site is sold. This said, I find that the functionality you get access to is worth it and this is definitely the best website of its kind I have found so far.
• Electronic dictionaries
  There are many brands and models out there and most of them include similar functions: dictionaries (Engligh-Japanese, Japanese-English), Thesaurus, kanji dictionary with search by reading and stroke number, kanji stroke animated sequence and more. When functionality is comparable, choice comes down to look and cost. One word of advice. If you buy from Japan and you are not already proficient in the language, make sure you get your user manual in English. I had a friend of mine buy my Canon WordTank G50 in Japan, which saved me about 40%, but came with a Japanese manual. As a consequence, I got a lot less mileage from my electronic dictionary than I could have.

More on this subject at Learning Kanji (Part 1)

Posted by Francesca at 8:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you’ve decided to learn kanji – the characters at the base of the Japanese writing system – you may be overwhelmed by the amount and variety of available self-study material: books, magazines, CDs, websites, software, electronic dictionaries…

What you choose will have to do with why you want to learn kanji and how deeply. Are you planning a vacation? Studying for a language proficiency test? Is your company promoting you to the Tokyo branch? Whatever the circumstances, there is something just right for you.

Two main approaches to studying kanji. One focuses on a core of frequently used characters; the other on a systematic approach to learning all the joyo kanji – the 1,945 kanji published by the Ministry of Education as the minimum requirement for adult literacy.

Here are a few selected books.

• Japanese Characters, ISBN 4-533-01359-7.
  Great little book with hundreds of charmingly illustrated kanji and a wide range of useful information on topics such as hiragana and katakana – the syllabaries used in conjunction with kanji to transcribe the Japanese language – and tips on how to decipher a menu or the signs around town. Historical and cultural notes scattered throughout the book will help you put it all in perspective. Useful, affordable, and it fits in your pocket.
• The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary, ISBN 4770028555.
  Perfect for beginners and advanced students alike, this dictionary presents 2,230 kanji. For each it includes meaning(s); stroke sequence; on¹ and kun² readings; radical³ pattern, examples of compound words, and more. The entries are clear and the characters organized according to several criteria – ranked by frequency, listed alphabetically by on-kun reading, indexed by stroke number, and grouped by pattern. If you have more than a passing interest in the Japanese language, this is a must.
• Read Japanese Today, ISBN 0-8048-0496-6.
  In spite of the misleading subtitle (you will not master written Japanese simply by reading this book), this is a useful introduction to 300 kanji. Best read sequentially, for its narrative quality and because each group of characters builds on the preceding one.
• Kanji Pict-O-Graphix, ISBN 0962813702.
  Very much a picture book, this shows more than 1,000 kanji, each illustrated by a stylized drawing – not necessarily a faithful representation of the original pictograph, but useful in establishing a recall pattern. Entries are grouped by topic and you can tackle them in any order.
• Remembering the Kanji - Vol. 1, ISBN 4889960759.
  This is the most comprehensive flash card system with 2,042 kanji, grouped by radical, each with its primary meaning and mnemonic notes. While this is a great system for memorizing several related characters in a short time, it comes at a price: you will only learn the meaning of a kanji, not its readings; and by ordering kanji by their radicals, the book introduces early on words that you’ll hardly ever encounter. Do you really need to learn the kanji for "gall bladder" in lesson two? And if you are still eager to try it out, be prepared to part with $42 for the book and $130 for the companion flash cards.

1. On reading = a kanji’s reading derived from the original Chinese pronunciation. Typically used in compound words.


2. Kun reading = the Japanese native reading of a kanji.


3. Radical = one of 214 basic kanji that stand by themselves and are also used as components in more complex kanji. For instance, the kanji for volcano is made up by the characters for fire and mountain. In this case, fire acts as the radical, or root, of the compound kanji.



More on this subject at Learning Kanji (Part 2)

Posted by Francesca at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)