Coining Phrases

Dear J-

Dunno if I’ve discussed it before, but as a budding numismatist in my youth, I was presented with innumerable opportunities, when working in my parents’ store, for the collection of all kinds of unusual coins.  We always seemed to turn up one or two Eisenhower dollars at some point during the day, but I always pounced on the foreign coins — being where we were, it was no wonder we pretty much only ever got Canadian coins, usually slipped in to rolls of coins (this was before the relative parity between the loonie and the dollar, and was easily sniffed out using magnets).

One particular coin that stands out in my mind (and now I can’t seem to find it) was a 1982 Confederation Constitution dollar — I’ve never seen one since and occasionally suspect it may have been the product of an overeager young imagination.  Of course, if I could actually find a picture of it online, that would go a long way to assuaging my sanity … ah, thank goodness!

It was my cheap way of travel:  these mundane things passed through countless hands and used in every day life sparked flights of imagination on the places the coins had seen.  Some day again I’ll be someplace that requires me to hear unfamiliar jingling in my pocket; someplace with foreign shapes (ever seen a Hong Kong two dollar coin?)  and I’ll be there, adding my own history to the coin in my hand.

Mike

Foreign ABC

Dear J-

All along, we were told that we learn a foreign language in high school as a sort of life skill, but from what I can tell, it was more a reason to make funny noises and embarrass yourself in restaurants years later.  Besides, they say that you’re more apt to learn foreign languages when you’re young, as your language centers are a bit more flexible — didn’t work for me, at least, when I didn’t particularly care to learn either Russian or Mandarin.  Cast your gaze in a different direction, then:  the other tack they give you is that it helps you learn your native language better.

Deciphering the rules of a foreign language (how do you conjugate that verb again?) gives you a better understanding of the rules you’re unconsciously familiar with.  Everyone has a different way of learning; not everyone sits down to read the manual, just as not everyone just leaps in, damn the torpedos and all.  Frustration sets in quickly as we realize our limitations though.  Good, but what does this have to do with foreign languages?

Hang me from a tree for saying it, but I’m starting to appreciate the way our new system is forcing me to re-learn our processes.  I didn’t fully learn the why of what we did when I first learned it.  Just in time, though, this new system with its new work process came out and forced me to understand why we do things in certain ways.  Killing me, though.  Lest I even try to get something done, it feels like I’m the only one who knows anything, and I end up fielding questions all day long, spinning my wheels and losing traction.

Mike