Roseta Stone: Redux

[Sherman Wilcox]

On Feb 9, 2011, at 8:53 PM, Dan I. Slobin wrote:

> And when all of you Funknetters became undergraduate and graduate students, and later professionals, you were still acquiring many aspects of English grammar, vocabulary, and style.  Indeed, it goes on throughout the lifespan of an engaged individual.


Okay, so writing isn't the same as speaking. Nevertheless, I think this interview with Ernest Hemingway is relevant:

Interviewer: How much rewriting do you do?

Hemingway: It depends. I rewrote the ending of "Farewell to Arms," the last page of it, 39 times before I was satisfied.

Interviewer: Was there some technical problem there? What was it that had stumped you?

Hemingway: Getting the words right.


-- 
Sherman Wilcox, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Linguistics
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131