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| this is from a washington post article...
President Bush said Wednesday that he will ask Congress for $114
million to teach Americans little-taught languages such as Arabic, Chinese,
Hindi and Farsi. The initiative is vital, he said, because "we need
intelligence officers who, when somebody says something in Arabic or Farsi or
Urdu, knows what they're talking about." Diplomats also need to speak the
local language.
The new funding, he told the U.S. University Presidents Summit on
International Education, is needed to "defeat this notion" that the United States
is "bullying" people.
People who speak the same language feel more at ease with one another,
he said, noting how much easier it is to conduct foreign policy with foreign
leaders who've studied here and speak English.
"In order to convince people we care about them, we've got to
understand their culture and show them we care about their culture," Bush
said.
"When somebody comes to me and speaks Texan, I know they appreciate
the Texas
culture.
"I mean, somebody takes time to figure out how to speak Arabic, it
means they're interested in somebody else's culture," he explained.
You know, people study for years to speak fluent Texan.
all i can say is... WHY!?! why does he even TALK without his speechwriter's consent?!
i mean, i'm proud to
be a texan (as a person), but ITS NOT A DAMN LANGUAGE Georgie...its ppl like
him who make all texans (the people, of course) look stupid
AND he didnt even watch the game...what kind of fan is he??!
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| that was the best game ever!
and for those longhorn fans who left before the game ended, never ever
doubt the strength of our longhorns again! come early, be loud, stay
late!
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| i think i've started every entry the same, but, really..it HAS been a
long time since i wrote xanga...anyway, not too much going on...just
chillin in dc..work is great..i love working with kids...and they love
me, i think :) its sometimes stressful, and getting up in the
morning is still hard, but once i'm working, its the best..i ENJOY my
work..which is how i hope it'll always be...and i still love living in
dc..its great..and i have more friends here from tx..renee just moved
in w/me cpl months ago..priya's here and beckey too...so they're my tx
ppl here..and i'm still close w/all my americorp friends, even though
most of us are in diff cities now! so..now i'm trying to focus on
my future...want to go back to school to get my masters in speech
pathology...i'm supposed to be studying right now..i'm planning to
take the GRE in 2 weeks! agh! something about getting on w/my
life and educating myself isnt all that its cracked up to be haha..and
i HATE studying..why cant everything be simple like it was in high
school..i dont remember ever studying more than 10 mins for a
test...and then college ruined that...and now this damn gre crap...i
was reading my prep book..and it was so funny:
"The test writers, the Educational Testing Service (ETS), claim that
the GRE measures 'certain developed verbal, quantitative, and analytic
abilities that are important in academic achievement.' Okay. But
what does that actually mean? ETS argues that 'the test necessarily reflects the opportunities and
efforts that have contributed to those abilities.' Of course, thats what ETS would say.
ETS has a vested interest in maintaining its monopoly on this and other
standardized tests. Whatever the GRE purports to measure, it does
not test the skills you developed in college, nor is it in any way an
intelligence test. Most important of all, ETS's claims aside, the
GRE has nothing to do with aptitude for graduate study....The bottom
line is quite simple: The GRE tests how well you take the GRE."
So, my question is, if everyone KNOWS this, then why the hell do we
have to take these tests..why do make such a difference? (i know i
know..its the one way to measure all students by)..but why arent there
other "ETS"
companies..other tests co's so that ETS does not have control...ETS is
the Big Brother of standardized testing!
ok..so i guess thats enough complaining...i should get back to studying :(
p.s. i love track 1 of this cd! its a good song; everyone should hear it!
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| man! it has been a LONG time since i've written..i haven't even had the chance to read ppl's xanga's either! i guess it has to do w/the fact that i'm busy w/my new job, and also because i don't have access to a computer anymore! since i don't work in an office, it def limits my access..i wish i could have a laptop, but that would def be a luxury buy, as opposed to something i really need!
so,new job: i'm working as a therapist for autistic children...and its really fun and i really enjoy it...it's so challenging and somewhat overwhelming, but i think i'm handling it really well now...i started in jan so, it's been about a month now...i have 4 kids that i see reguarly, and its so different w/each one of them...that's one unique thing about autism, each kid has different abilites and deficits...so, you'll never find 2 kids w/all the same exact behaviors..o yea, so we do behavioral therapy...its actually called applied behavioral analysis...so i've learned so much this past month and i really like it...i think i'm still going to get my master's in speech pathology, but, i know now that working w/autistic kids is a def possibility...so its good..i'm glad i made the choice to move towards speech pathology and take this job as a step in that direction...some things that do suck abt this job is 1) i have to work for a cpl hrs each weekend for the first 6 months! and 2) it can be hard to deal w/kids who will hit, bite, or cry for minutes on end and not show a reaction...bc it is def irritating....but then again, these kids are also so cute too :) so, i guess it balances out! i know i shouldn't complain, bc part of my job is playing w/kids..and not many ppl get to do that!
so, i'm also working part time (until i get more full time hrs at above job) at NCRC, which is where i was working this past year through americorps...they have this annual conference coming up again, so my old supervisor hired me to help out w/planning and organizing that...so its fun to be back in the office and see friends that are still there and also to just be doing something else i enjoy! so i'm lucky i guess...both jobs i have right now are things i like and enjoy doing...and even if i'm not making loads of money, at least i enjoy going to my job...so thats good!
ooo yea...so other stuff that's happened...some friends of mine went to guatemala to learn spanish...they're havng so much fun and i'm so jealous! they climbed an active volcano last week! what else? o i saw JOHN KERRY at church on ash wednesday! that was kinda awesome! i go to this church near me, and since i live on capitol hill, i guess alot of hill workers came to this Mass, and when ppl were walking back from Communion, there he was! he looks the same as he does on tv, except he seemed taller in real life..and he's back to looking sick and skinny!
hmm..what else..o yea i saw the documentary "born into brothels" yest. night, and it was so good! it's def. a good movie and worth every cent! ok..well thats abt it for now!
p.s. baby -- thanks for missing my thoughts! :)
interesting: just saw this highlighted on msn.com -- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6947652/?GT1=6190
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