Time to Focus

"The way to know life is to love many things."

Orpheus Eurydicen suam vidit perdidit occidit 

(Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy, 3.50-51)

Vidit

Perdidit

Occidit

felt it in my fist, in my feet, in the hollows of my eyelids shaking through my skull, through my spine and down through my ribs

felt it in my fist, in my feet, in the hollows of my eyelids shaking through my skull, through my spine and down through my ribs

because no one else

makes sense.

the linguistics students

thick reference books with paper thin pages and minuscule font

collecting idiomatic phrases from other languages, finding meanings that can’t be conveyed precisely in your mother tongue

seeing language like a puzzle waiting to be solved

a love for the complex power of words

fighting to preserve dying languages

studying the essence of communication

a shelf stacked with pocket dictionaries, useful phrases marked by sticky notes

interest in the related fields of history, anthropology, and psychology

learning the international phonetic alphabet

a deep belief in the importance of human language

repeating unfamiliar phonemes until the sounds start to make sense in your mouth

wishing you could learn any language instantly

appreciating the importance of context and nonverbal communication

neat syntax diagrams in your notes

researching how your language has developed over time

deciphering archaic dialects

debates over what, exactly, constitutes language at its core

crowded sidewalks and the buzz of words you don’t understand

a fascination with language families and their similarities

hearing the difference between bilabial and labial fricatives, or aspirated and unaspirated consonants

a willingness to try new things