Joaquim, in Two Languages

I didn’t fully learn Vietnamese, its diphthongs, its grammatical exceptions, and its history until I learned it from my professor, a man who loved German literature. His favorite book chronicled the friendship between Narcissus and Goldmund, in essence, a tug-of-war between the world of the senses and the world of the mind. He learned English [...]

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spellbound on a saturday night

During the Scripps National Spelling Bee 2010, the most commonly used phrases: 1. Could you repeat the origins of the word please? 2. What is the definition? 3. What are the alternate pronunciations of the word? 4. Am I pronouncing the word correctly? 5. Please could you use the word in a sentence? 6. Is [...]

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Lock-Out

Recently one night at a gas station, and for the first time, I locked myself out of my car. Just as I hung up the gas pump, I hear a series of clicks: I-click-spin-click. A-click-round-click. I look inside. The car keys, along with purse and phone book are there. I pull on all four door [...]

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