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Sunday, August 16, 2020

Parsing

I've been reading the Little House on the Prairie books. It's a nice escape from our modern world.

When Laura is studying for her teaching certificate I'm always fascinated by her ability to do math in her head and the words they can spell! My spelling is atrocious, as you would know if spell-checker stopped working. 

Often, young people complain that they must learn things they will never use. Personally, math is something I've always used, but parsing a sentence still seems like the most useless skill ever. I love to read and write, but dissecting sentences... just, no.

On a bright note: I'm still slowly learning Norwegian. I don't know if I'll ever be able to pronounce bread and figuring out where to put 'ikke' hasn't sunk in yet. :)

5 comments:

Mama Pea said...

Keeping our brains working, whether it be doing a math problem or parsing (!), is said to be good for us. (Actually, necessary!) However, my family knows I'll never (ever, ever) be good at math! My husband just shakes his head when he sees me successfully conquering a complicated quilt pattern. Well, I tell him, I make a lot of mistakes, but where there's a will, there's a way! Now I want to see you go parse. (Hee-hee.) ;o)

Susan said...

You're learning Norwegian???? Good golly - who cares if you can parse! My father was on us like a cheap suit, when it came to spelling and grammar. As far as maths go, I am hopeless. The iron curtain comes down in my mind and that is that. I work crossword puzzles daily and I think that helps keep a few brain cells perking. It also gives me a lot of trivial knowledge that will never come in handy. Proa anyone?

Leigh said...

I love that series of books! They were part of the inspiration that got us where we are today. :)
I'm very impressed about your learning Norwegian! Knowing more than one language is important, I think. What course are you using?

tpals said...

Duolingo. It lets you set your own pace and it's free. :) Although it does nag if you don't practice every day.

thecrazysheeplady said...

I've re-read a bunch of "young adult" books this year, too :-D. Much nicer!