Trip to Indonesia, Part 1: At Singapore's Airport

Before you do it, it is hard to imagine how long 18 hours on an airplane really is. I left San Francisco on Thursday afternoon on my way to Jakarta, Indonesia for a business trip, and by the time I reached my connection in Singapore, it was early morning on Saturday.

Orchid garden at Singapore's airport

Fern garden at Singapore's airport

Singapore Airlines has made this trip as pleasant as could be expected. They provide unlimited free movies on the flights, plus good meals, free beer and wine, and excellent customer service. I took full advantage of the free movies, and watched "Salt", "Knight and Day", "Killers", "Eclipse", "Dinner For Schmucks", and "L'Amour, c'est mieux a deux" ("The Perfect Date"). I started watching "Flickan som lekte med elden" ("The Girl Who Played With Fire"), but the sound cut out after 20 minutes, so I couldn't finish that.

Singaporean musicians playing at a cultural demonstration at the airport

When I finally arrived in Singapore, I stayed at a simple, but comfortable hotel in the airport, the Ambassador Transit Hotel. The funniest thing about the hotel was that everything at the hotel, including their logo, is written in Comic Sans. Singapore's airport is huge and really nice, complete with a movie theatre, video games, more restaurants than you can imagine, and best of all, free wifi, where I am writing this now. In a few hours, I head out to Jakarta, but until then, time to enjoy the airport!

Airport koi pond

Expert Language Learning Techniques

Technique #1: 10,000 Sentences

Use computer-based flashcards to learn vocabulary and grammar. But instead of memorizing individual words, memorize entire sentences. The goal is to memorize 10,000 sentences, hence it is called the 10,000 Sentences Method. By learning entire sentences, recall is improved and you learn words in context so you can use them later.

Finding Sentences

You need places to find sentences. Look for sentences in any place you experience the language: film subtitles, books, news websites, etc.

Creating Good Flashcards

It's important to learn how to choose good sentences to make your flashcards. See Making Sentence Items (Antimoon.com) for simple advice on how to do this.

Flashcard Software

Use a computer program which uses a spaced repetition algorithm.  Spaced repetition software ensures that you see each card at the right time to help you remember it most efficiently. Any spaced repetition system will do, but I use Anki. Anki is a great program that is cross-platform and supports synchronization over the internet.

Tips for Studying

• Study in 15 minute blocks throughout the day so you don't get  burned out.
• When you get a sentence wrong, write it down manually to help reinforce it. See About Sentence Writing Practice (All Japanese All The Time).

Additional Information

• The method's developer, Khatzumoto, explains it here: 10,000 Sentences (All Japanese All The Time)

Technique #2: Shadowing

Use Assimil, Linguaphone, or a similar course. See Professor Alexander Arguelles' Foreign Language Study.

Technique #3: Scriptorium

Use Assimil, Linguaphone, or a similar course. See Professor Alexander Arguelles' Foreign Language Study.

Technique #4: Listening-Reading Method

Listen to an audio recording of a book while simultaneously reading the text of the recording aloud. Optimally, you will also have a translation of the text to refer back to immediately.  Even better, is to have the texts in parallel.

Materials needed:

• Audio recording in target language (L2) of a book (novels are best)
• Text of the book in L2
• Text of the book in L1 (a translation from L2)

Steps:

1. Read the L1 text. This ensures that you understand the story.
2. Listen to the L2 audio while reading the L2 text.  This gets you used to the speed of talking and helps you learn to hear the word boundaries
3. Read the L1 text while listening to the L2 audio. Refer back to L2 text when necessary.  Do this from the beginning to the end of the story three times.  This is where learning takes place.
4. Repeat after the recording as many times as necessary to become fluent.
5. Translate the L1 text to L2 in writing... use the L2 text to crosscheck your work.

Additional Information:

• Original forum post where user Phi-Staszek described the method: Listening-Reading System (How To Learn Any Language Forum)
• Distilled explanation: Listening-Reading Method (Learn Any Language Wiki)

Technique #5: Positive Reinforcement

Keep a log of all your language studies and award yourself points for studying every day and deduct points when you miss studying for a day. When you reach a certain number of points, you can reward yourself by buying an album of music in the language you are learning, a book in your language, or something else fun that is related to your language.

Technique #6: Cultural Immersion

Sources:

• Podcasts and Radio
• Television and Online Video
• Books
• Monolingual Dictionaries
• Websites (Gmail, Facebook, etc.)
• News

Additional Information:

• Khatzumoto is the king at cultural immersion. He learned Japanese fluently in a year by completely immersing himself in everything Japanese: film, video games, books, television, the internet, and more. His website is full of great advice: Guide to All Japanese All The Time.

Review: "Say Uncle", by Kay Ryan

I bought my copy of "Say Uncle" last year when Kay Ryan came to San Francisco and gave a talk on her work. When I saw her speak, I had never really heard of her before, but left the talk totally impressed by both her work and her personality.

This book contains dozens of very short, but very poignant poems. She approaches topics from everyday life, but frequently through an almost scientific detachment. She totally removes herself from the poems and makes them universally appealing. She is the ultimate observer, able to comment on the topics in the poems without bringing preconceived notions about that topic, which lets the reader see each thing anew.

Ryan uses a technique she calls "recombinant rhyme", in reference to how the DNA of two different individuals or even species can be combined to create a chimera, or hybrid. She does a similar thing with words and parts of words, and while her poetry has little perfect rhyme, the same or similar sounds are found sprinkled around the poem, combined together to make new words. With all this "recombination", slant rhyme and other imperfect rhymes are very common. Her verse is fairly free, though there are still times when the reader can start to fall into a metrical pattern, only to immediately be derailed by an extra word or phrase. When I heard her talk about her work, Ryan said that she intentionally avoids overly metrical lines.

I wonder if these types of poems are perfect for the Twitter Age: short, witty poems that can be digested quickly but lead the reader to frequent "Ah ha!" moments. Interestingly, the common expression "say uncle" which is the title of this book, apparently comes from a British joke about a parrot (See World Wide Words: Say (or cry) uncle)

Suggested Reading:

• "America's Busiest Poet" [Time Magazine]
• Kay Ryan [Wikipedia]
  

Finding Science-Based Answers to Health Questions

When someone has a health-related question today, they are most likely to do a Google search for their symptoms. Of course, what they are looking for is good advice on what will help them. But the results they get back will be a mixture of actual good advice mixed with con-men and quacks selling snake-oil cures. How can a person who wants to find reliable advice sift through all the mountains of useless information?

The key to finding good health advice is to seek advice that is supported by good scientific research, which can be difficult if you are not sure where to look. Here are the resources that I use when trying to find health advice:

Science-Based Medicine

Blog that covers all topics related to science and health. Posts on the site are written by a staff of ten physicians and researchers in various medical fields. They also provide a topic-based reference guide to direct you to information on different topics.

The Cochrane Collaboration

Systematic reviews of evidence-based health therapies and products. Use the search function to find evidence about your particular interest.

Quack Watch

A guide to fraudulent health products, services, and theories. Includes articles on quackery in medicine in general and how to identify it.

PubMed

Search the scientific medical literature directly. This site is a little more technical, but you can find information on the individual papers that support or contradict various health claims.

The above links are good general resources. In addition, here are a few random interesting sites:

Snake-Oil Supplements

A graphic showing which supplements are supported by evidence. Not a general reference, but a quick guide to get you started.

Intelligence Squared Debate: Is Atheism the New Fundamentalism?

This is a good debate regarding the "New Atheism" promoted by the current prominent atheist writers such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. Is their particular brand of atheism somehow fundamentalist?

The video has multiple parts:


Link to Video

Carl Sagan and the Beauty of Science

The Symphony of Science

Symphony of Science is an amazing set of music videos created by John Boswell that uses the technique called auto-tuning to change the voices of some of the greatest and most influential people of science into music. Anyone who has even a passing interest in space or science can't help but enjoy the way these songs convey the majesty and beauty of the natural world.

My favorite Symphony of Science video:


Pale Blue Dot

Carl Sagan, the late great astronomer and writer, features prominently in the videos. One of the first things I noticed listening to them was how poetic the words of Carl Sagan can be, at least when edited for Symphony of Science. But even without editing, his words are without a doubt, some of the most poetic and powerful things I have ever heard. His words will make you realize how small you are on the cosmic scale, and in turn, will make you realize how petty most of the problems humans create are. Pale Blue Dot is a video with Carl Sagan's words set to music, and powerful words they are.

Swedish Honeymoon, Day 7: Rainy Day in Gothenburg

Events of July 18, 2009

We woke up in Gothenburg to a rainy day.  After a breakfast at the hotel restaurant, provided for free and surely the greatest hotel breakfast I've ever had, we decided to spend most of the day in the room waiting for the rain to clear.  We watched television and read until nearly 4 PM.

The view outside our window with the rain:

The same view the day before...

Another view out our window of the beautiful buildings in the rain:

And some more buildings on the waterfront:

The night before, we washed all of our dirty clothes in the sink of our hotel, which worked out really well.  We realized that as long as we have a sink to wash our clothes in, we could live indefinitely on the contents of a medium-sized backpack each.  We used a pack of solid laundry detergent slips to wash them, and I highly recommend them for backpackers.

Our modest but nice hotel room:

Finally the rain cleared up a little bit and we decided to go to the mall, where we walked around for a little bit and had coffee at a cafe.  When we finished, we took the light rail from downtown Gothenburg to visit Birgitta (Melissa's aunt).  While visiting Birgitta, she served us a lovely vegetarian pot pie with broccoli and cheese, wine, and then a dessert of vanilla ice cream and warm rhubarb crumble.  Birgitta is more comfortable speaking Swedish than English, so we spoke Swedish for the entire night, and I got to use the Swedish I had been studying over the last 18 months.  It was tough, but Birgitta is a very patient person who helped me say what I wanted to say and spoke slowly and clearly to help me understand.

After dessert, Melissa and I took the light rail back to our hotel to retire for the night.

The light rail we rode to and from Birgitta's apartment:

There is a cafe in Gothenburg called the "Language Cafe" where you place a flag on your table to signal to others in the cafe which language you are interested in practicing. Then you can sit at any table and speak in that language. It is a neat idea and I really wish we had one of those in San Francisco. Also, notice that the cafe is on Esperanto Square:

Previous: Day 6: Exploring Gothenburg
Next: Day 8: Trip to Denmark

Swedish Honeymoon, Day 6: Exploring Gothenburg

Events of Friday, July 17, 2009

In the morning at our hotel in Gothenburg, we ate a huge delicious breakfast, then we met Birgitta, Melissa's aunt who lives in Gothenburg.  She has lived in Gothenburg for a long time, so knew all the best places to take us in the city.

Birgitta, Melissa, and I about to enter the Haga neighborhood of Gothenburg:

First, we went to one of the areas in the city that is best preserved from the 19th century, called Haga. Here is a view down one of the market streets, early in the morning before all the tourist traffic arrives:

Haga is filled with cobble-stoned streets and little cafes:

Next, we climbed a hill to visit on of the most recognizable sights in Gothenburg, the Masthugg Church.  It was built in the early 1910s in a very traditional style, and is very beautiful.  Melissa walks up to the church, with its ornate tower:

The inside of the church was very peaceful and beautiful, also:

From the top of the hill where the church sits, there are excellent views of the whole city:

Looking towards downtown:

Looking towards downtown, you can also see what the locals call the Lipstick Building, which has got to be one of the strangest skyscrapers I've ever seen:

Birgitta and Melissa ponder something as they look over the valley:

After visiting the church, we took a ferry up the river to do some sightseeing along the trip. Birgitta is also a vegetarian like Melissa and I, so she took us to a great vegetarian restaurant in downtown Gothenburg for a delicious meal.

Next, we all went to a beautiful park in Gothenburg called the Trädgårdsföreningens park.  In the park, we visited a 19th-century style greenhouse called Palmhuset, which is very similar to another greenhouse in San Francisco, the Conservatory of Flowers:

Inside Palmhuset, we saw some huge water lilies:

On the way out of the park, we visited a rose garden:

In the park, we walked by a family of ducks, where a mother duck was keeping her little ducklings safe.  Melissa thought they looked so cute that we all watched them for ten minutes while she got her fill:

After Birgitta went home for the night, we visited the Maritime Museum in Gothenburg, where we walked through an old Swedish destroyer, a submarine, and other retired ships.  Melissa presents the submarine we toured:

The finish up the night, we caught a showing of the new movie "Brüno," with Swedish subtitles.  Brüno was laugh out loud hilarious and incredibly disturbing, so basically, if you liked Borat, you'll love Brüno.  Afterward, we headed back to the hotel to eat dinner at the restaurant at the top of our hotel.

Previous: Day 5: Hello, Gothenburg!
Next: Day 7: Rainy Day in Gothenburg

Swedish Honeymoon, Day 5: Hello, Gothenburg!

Events of Thursday, July 16, 2009

Early in the morning we got up and rode to Stockholm's central station again. From there we hopped on a bullet train headed for Gothenburg, known as Göteborg in Swedish. The trains in Sweden are fast, efficient, and clean. People say we can't afford transit in America, but that's because we spend everything on roads. Sweden, like most of Europe, is easily 10 years or more ahead of the US in transit.

Melissa on the train as we prepare to depart Stockholm:


Me taking a nap during our scenic ride across Sweden:


Gothenburg is the second largest city in Sweden after Stockholm. Two of Melissa's relatives live there: Pär (her first cousin) and Birgitta (her aunt), so we were looking forward to meeting with both of them.

The trains in Gothenburg remind me of those in San Francisco:


They even have streetcars like we have in San Francisco:


A bustling square in Gothenburg:


When we got to Gothenburg, we had planned to eventually meet up with Pär's fiancée, Loulou. But at the train station in Gothenburg, we happened to run into her by chance! Along with Loulou, we met Loulou and Pär's daughter Ellie. Loulou helped us find a tourist help desk, where we booked a hotel for the night. After booking the hotel, we headed to a little cafe where we ate a delicious lunch of pea soup (pea soup is traditionally eaten on Thursdays in Sweden) and cakes.

Loulou and Ellie:


After checking into our hotel, which we were informed was one of the best in Gothenburg, we headed over to Pär and Loulou's apartment for a dinner of Indian food and wine. Loulou is originally from Scotland, so she is also learning to speak Swedish. She recommended that I try reading adult easy reading books in Swedish. I had read children's books in Swedish before, but they always ended up boring me with their simplistic stories. Easy reading books, however, are written with adult learners in mind, so are much more interesting.

The view from Pär and Loulou's window out towards Gothenburg:


Melissa with her backpack as we head to our hotel, with the Gothenburg water front in the background:


After saying goodbye to Pär, Loulou, and Ellie, we went back to our hotel and caught up with world events on CNN. Gothenburg is further south than Stockholm, so it thankfully got a little darker at night, plus our hotel room had black-out shutters!

A view of the Gothenburg waterfront on the walk back to our hotel:


Previous: Day 4: Applying for the Passport
Next: Day 6: Exploring Gothenburg

Swedish Honeymoon, Day 4: Applying for Passport

Events of July 15, 2009

Early in the morning, we headed out to Stockholm again. We were in a rush to get to the US Embassy, so at the train station, we picked up rolls and orange juice at a Pressbyrån, a Swedish convenience store similar to 7-11.

When we got to the embassy, we got in pretty quickly and explained our situation to the woman working at the desk. Giving us a stern look, she told us that Melissa technically broke the law by leaving the US without her passport. The woman shuffled some papers and then walked away from her desk. As minutes passed, Melissa anxiously fretted the impending arrival of military police to haul her away to a long prison sentence. Thankfully, her fears were unfounded and the clerk came back and asked us to come back in a week and pick up a new passport.

The US Embassy in Stockholm from a distance. Notice the concrete slabs keeping cars away from the entrance to the embassy:


A view across a bridge as we crossed:


With the passport fiasco behind us, we headed to the Vasa Museum. The Vasa was a huge Swedish warship that sunk in Stockholm harbor on it's maiden voyage in 1628. The ship laid on the bottom of the harbor for nearly 350 years before being raised in the 1960s. The ship was partially restored and moved into its own museum which is where it is today.

The exterior of the Vasa Museum, with three simulated masts poking out of the exterior of the building:


A model inside the museum showing what the Vasa looked like the day it sailed:


The Vasa as it currently appears inside the museum:


After touring the amazing museum, we took a short nap on the grass and overlooked Stockholm harbor. The weather was warm and sunny making for a perfect nap in the sun.

A typical view across Stockholm harbor:


After the nap, we got some ice cream from one of the many vendors on the streets of Stockholm. Here is a stand looking a little lonely all by itself during a brief pause in the tourist crowd:


A view across one of the many bridges of Stockholm (here Melissa makes her famous pirate face):


Another view across the same bridge:


We walked back to Gamla Stan where we ate at Hermitage Vegetarian, a lovely vegetarian restaurant. Tired after our day of trekking around Stockholm, we headed back early to Tumba to get some sleep, in preparation for our trip to Gothenburg the next day.

Previous: Day 3: First Day in Stockholm
Next: Day 5: Hello, Gothenburg!