to get me motivated to finish up my school for the year!
And nothing like Biology to get me UNmotivated. Biology is the worst subject ever to be forced upon innocent unscientific people. I can manage Chemisty, General Science and even Physical science, but Biology just confounds me. There are too many weird words like "Mitosis" and "Meiosis"... how am I supposed to remember which one is which... even if I could remember the separate definitions in the first place? I'm still slogging through Biology... and yes, I started it two YEARS ago. Don't get me wrong, I find it all very interesting. But I want to read about it, and then forget the definitions. I would rather memorize the definitions to new words that I could use in ordinary conversation instead of some arbitrary word that describes something so particularly exact that it can only be used in a discussion of Biology. I even prefer Advanced Mathematics to Biology. As much as I dislike the constant repetition and uselessness of all this higher weird math, at least I understand it and there are no lengthy definitions to memorize.
I'm definitely an English kind of person. Even though I think English is a ridiculous language (yes, more ridiculous than languages with feminine and masculine nouns) I still enjoy the proficiency behind a well-written work. The way a well-written sentence instantly discloses its meaning, instead of forcing you to see past the words, intrigues me. I know I am far from having that proficiency myself, but I look forward to continuing to learn to use English well.
I'm also interested in learning to fluently speak other languages. English, while I enjoy it, seems so dull and stoic compared to languages that seem to flow like music and roll of the tongue easily. Spanish is not my favorite... but it is helpful, considering that our nation is soon going to be completely overtaken by Mexicans. (Hey, they still have tons of kids, while most Americans average about 2.1 children per couple.) Gaelic is what I really want to learn... yep, a dead language. It's just so beautiful...
So anyway. There's my take on schoolwork. I would infinitely prefer to learn how to cook, decorate, arrange flowers and sew LOTS of things, along with my English. But that's what I'll get to do more of as soon as I'm done with school! YES!
School is what you HAVE to learn... and then after that, you get to have fun learning! :P
~Lizzie
Timothy's Twelfth Month!
5 years ago
13 random thoughts:
Sterling, a friend of mine, and I are talking about getting together on friday afternoons once the school year starts to learn gaelic independantly. You want to join us?
At least I'm not the only one who takes two years to finish subjects and is still working on last year's school. :)
English is actually one of the richest languages; there are usually at least three words for the same thing (usually one from Anglo-Saxon, one from Latin, and one from French).
Unfortunately, WT doesn't offer a course in Gaelic. If it does, tell me now so that I can beg my mom to let me switch from French.
Allie: I don't know Sterling... and what are you using? Books, tapes, Rosetta Stone?
J: That's definitely comforting. =P
I think mitosis involves something (cells? Maybe multiple things) splitting apart, while miosis is sort of the opposite. And I don't think that's the exact definition, but I believe it was how I kept them straight throughout the book.
See how much of it stuck when I went through that book? :D I couldn't stand Biology either...even though I like Apologia's science books! And they usually took me a couple years to finish. But yeah, I pretty much agree with that whole first paragraph. :)
Yeah, I know you don't know him. And I'm not sure yet. Haven't thought that far ahead yet. :P
Mitosis is where a cell splits so that each daughter cell is genetically identical to the other and the mother cell; meiosis is where a cell splits so that each daughter cell only gets one of each chromosome. But I couldn't tell you the steps if my life depended on it - so it didn't stick with me to well either. :) I doubt I remember many other definitions.
Well, if I had done everything in that book, I'd still be working on it, too. But I just read through it, remembered the stuff that was interesting to me, did a couple experiments, and felt satisfied.
I think the actual average amount of children has gone down to 1.8, but I could be wrong.
And *I* love the English language. I mean, other languages would be interesting, but I would probably want to study Latin, because I like roots of English words. :)
Natalie: Yes, I like Apologia's science books too! Except the Biology... but I noticed that the Biology book was co-written by Dr. Wile and (I think, Marilyn?) Durnell, while all the other books, I believe, are just by Dr. Wile.
Allie: Well, let me know what materials y'all come up with!
J: Still, you remembered enough to impress me! =P
Jess: I wish I could do that, but Daddy insists that he wants me to get a passing grade on all the tests. And if I HAVE to get a grade, then I prefer it be an 'A'...
Well, if the average hasn't gone down already, I'm sure eventually it will. Last I checked, America was at 2.1, which is just barely at repopulation rate. *idea for new post*
I love English! I just think that other languages sound prettier. =P
English grammar and spelling makes no sense whatsoever.
As an english major, I must disagree...I love the language!! :)
J.: Hmm...okay, I didn't really remember it right then. :P Maybe I only had the mitosis part memorized.
Lizzie: Yes, that's right...I wonder if her writing (or teaching) style is harder to remember or if it's just biology that's difficult. I loved the Physical Science book. And Dr. Wile is very good at explaining things. It does bug me the way they pronounce "apologia" though. :D
Oh, and in about 1961 the average was 2.58....if you go by The Phantom Tollbooth and the child who was .58 of a child. :D Sorry, literary reference.
Hehe....I love the Phantom Tollbooth. :)
Yes, Lizzie, write that new post. I know of a youtube video called "Muslim Demographics" about how Muslims are having an average of 8 children and how our whole world is going to be Muslim dominated with little Christians if we don't step up and start having more children. I can link you to it if you want...
Jess, I'm going to assume this is the vid you're talking about. Here's both a blog and snopes.com explanation to why it's an erroneous vid.
http://tinyfrog.wordpress.com/2009/05/03/muslim-demographics/
http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/demographics.asp
While the first is a blog, it's also written by an evangelical Christian who is a muslim scholar. So thus making it a valid source. And he provides awesome sources to back his evidence up.
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