I stumbled (literally) across this personality assessment test called the "Myers-Briggs Type Indicator" and thought I'd give it a shot. It turns out I'm an INTJ personality type, which stands for "Introversion, iNtuition, Thinking, Judgement." Usually I'm pretty resistant to these tests that try and tell me what personality type I am, but this one kind of surprised me. After reading more in-depth about the INTJ type I found it is very similar to how I perceive myself. Mind you, not all of them are perfect matches but I have to admit it is pretty spot-on. INTJ's are supposed to make great scientists, which is what I want to be. Has anybody taken this test and know what type they are?
Kind of random, but I was searching for American dialects and the differences between them and found this site that compared and contrasted how people pronounce words or phrases differently. As a side note, I supposedly have a Midland Dialect, which is considered to be standard American English with no real distinct accent. One that I came across that I found particularly interesting was, "Where are you?" and, "Where are you at?" In the survey most people said they preferred "Where are you?" but also said they would only use, "Where are you at?" when asking how far along someone was in say a project or work, but never asking for location. This really surprised me because I use both interchangeably when asking for location but often shorten, "Where are you at?" to, "Where you at?" as a more informal way of talking to friends. Which do you guys use?
This also led me to think about the many contractions we use in English. The more standard ones like, "don't, won't, can't" for do not, will not, can not, seem to be the type of examples you would find in an English learning textbook. However, I wonder if things like, "I've, I'd, it'll, it'd, you'd" for I have, I would, it will, it had, you had/would, would be as common. Even less formal contractions like "Where're, don't cha/chu/ya know, dunno, I'd've, gotta, I'mma, oughta" for where are, don't you know, don't know, I would have, got to, I'm going to, ought to, etc. just add to the confusion. These are all contractions used very frequently in everyday speech but you rarely see them in writing. If I was learning English as a second language I know my head would be spinning every time someone used one of these. I might not even understand them. For those who learned English as a second language, how did you come to understand these contractions? Was it difficult to understand what people were saying when they used them frequently? Anyways, these are the types of things I think about my own language when I'm learning another. I find I choose my words much more carefully nowadays as a result. "How many ways can I say something? Which word fits best? Which way of saying it is most efficient?" are all things I think about much more often. I think a lot of times people take their native tongue for granted. Every language has a unique richness, history, and nuances to it. I know I've said this before but learning another language, if only for fun, is a great way to discover these qualities of one's language. If nothing else, it will definitely help you better understand the language you have been speaking your whole life.
Kind of random, but I was searching for American dialects and the differences between them and found this site that compared and contrasted how people pronounce words or phrases differently. As a side note, I supposedly have a Midland Dialect, which is considered to be standard American English with no real distinct accent. One that I came across that I found particularly interesting was, "Where are you?" and, "Where are you at?" In the survey most people said they preferred "Where are you?" but also said they would only use, "Where are you at?" when asking how far along someone was in say a project or work, but never asking for location. This really surprised me because I use both interchangeably when asking for location but often shorten, "Where are you at?" to, "Where you at?" as a more informal way of talking to friends. Which do you guys use?
This also led me to think about the many contractions we use in English. The more standard ones like, "don't, won't, can't" for do not, will not, can not, seem to be the type of examples you would find in an English learning textbook. However, I wonder if things like, "I've, I'd, it'll, it'd, you'd" for I have, I would, it will, it had, you had/would, would be as common. Even less formal contractions like "Where're, don't cha/chu/ya know, dunno, I'd've, gotta, I'mma, oughta" for where are, don't you know, don't know, I would have, got to, I'm going to, ought to, etc. just add to the confusion. These are all contractions used very frequently in everyday speech but you rarely see them in writing. If I was learning English as a second language I know my head would be spinning every time someone used one of these. I might not even understand them. For those who learned English as a second language, how did you come to understand these contractions? Was it difficult to understand what people were saying when they used them frequently? Anyways, these are the types of things I think about my own language when I'm learning another. I find I choose my words much more carefully nowadays as a result. "How many ways can I say something? Which word fits best? Which way of saying it is most efficient?" are all things I think about much more often. I think a lot of times people take their native tongue for granted. Every language has a unique richness, history, and nuances to it. I know I've said this before but learning another language, if only for fun, is a great way to discover these qualities of one's language. If nothing else, it will definitely help you better understand the language you have been speaking your whole life.
