fandomhigh | Languages Classes 10/25

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Languages Classes 10/25

Good morning.

First, two announcements: There will be no class on Thursday. Use the time as you wish, and have a pleasant weekend. I may have family visiting myself. Also, I will be in Professor Jerusalem's journalism class today, discussing perceptions and reality. I hope to see some of you there.

Languages of Europe: I am told this class may make some of you hungry. We are going to study the Spanish vocabulary for food. As homework for Tuesday, find and translate a recipe for something you like to eat.

Cat: Miss Kiki and Jiji were kind enough to be special guests last Thursday. Please remain in human form today and discuss what you learned from Jiji.

Next Tuesday, we will have a visit from Professor Jerusalem's cat. Some of you may find her appearance rather startling, but it should not change the essence of her language.

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Visit Dream or work in the language lab here.

6 arrives and slumps into a seat.

((Paige is helping to get Maia out of a coma, I'll post her late))

Lisa sits down and works on memorizing her vocabulary.

"Una zarzamora. Una zaaaaarzamoooooora. God, I suck at Spanish."

*Signs in*

"Talking with JiJi was very interesting. It made me realize just how complex speaking Cat with a native speaker can be. There are a great many subtleties that you can overlook as you are learning."

Elizabeth looked nervous as she knocked on the door to Dream's office.

Hank perks up when he hears that both Kiki and Jiji are guests today and smiles widely.

"I find the accentual differences of different feline breeds to be very interesting, especially when trying to translate them across a species divide. In addition, cultural upbringing appears to play much less a part of Cat language than it does in many human ones. However, the cultural differences are thereby deeper ingrained and much more difficult to perceive in oneself or change if needed."

Dream crosses his arms, looking satisfied.

Excellent observation, Mr. Samuelle. Could you give me one example?

True, Mr. McCoy. Cats tend to believe they are all the same -- perhaps because littermates may have such different markings -- but that is often not the case.

When might this deep-seated divide pose a problem?

Dream looks up from his book and puts it aside.

Hello. Are you Miss Weir?

"Yes, sir. Thank you for seeing me."

It is not a problem.

Why do you seek my help?

I've been having nightmares, and I've been having trouble sleeping because of them. *looks down at her hands* A couple of people suggested that you'd be able to help

I can. Sometimes.

Do you know why you have these dreams?

"The ethics assignment," Elizabeth says quietly. "The first night they were memories of things I've seen, which the ethics class brought up."

Ah. I had heard that assignment was disturbing for many students.

He looks sympathetic -- well, symapthetic for Dream, anyhow -- for a few moments, then becomes brisk again.

You have several options. I can bar you from the area of the Dreaming those nightmares originate in. Or I can make it so you will not remember your dreams. I can assign you a dream guardian, who will watch over you in your sleep and prevent any harm. I can try to teach you to control your dreams through focused meditation.

All have benefits and drawbacks, and I cannot guarantee the end result. Which would you prefer?

Elizabeth listened thoughtful, biting on her lip. "Which would you recommend?"

"The most obvious example that comes to mind is the possibility of two cats raised in extremely different environments, such as a pampered housecat and a feral-from-birth. The experiential differences are so severe that the world-view filters may literally be unable to translate certain concepts."

It is not my sleep that is being disturbed, Miss Weir. It must be your choice.

That having been said, I would recommend the meditation approach, with a dream guardian as a secondary choice should it not work. Your life, and your dreams, are your own. I prefer to interfere with that as little as possible.

Excellent perception.

Doing the homework makes Rogue hungery for her abuelita's homemade tamales.

Elizabeth nods. "Could we try the meditation then, please?"

"I had a sudden urge to clean my back paw and when I was done Jiji told me the wide variety of meanings that one action might have meant."

Dream pauses by Rogue's desk and speaks in a low voice.

Mss D'Ancanto, is the book I gave you helping?

Yes, I remember that interaction. Good example.

Dream nods, then goes to his bookshelf. He seems to have a hard time finding what he wants, and mutters somethign that sounds like Lucien. When he turns around, a thick blue book with Lucid Dreaming (http://www.lucidity.com/LucidDreamingFAQ2.html) on the cover is in his hands.

You may start by reading this guide. Parts of it are a little ... to be honest, a little silly. But there is truth, and it may help.

Come see me in a week if it does no good.

Elizabeth takes the book, and looks at the cover.

"Thank you, sir," she says, turning to go.

"I learned that cats are more intuitive than I would've thought. Which makes sense, now that I think about it."

When encountering a cat that deviates from the norm? I mean, Jiji was really surprised by how I looked. *toys with hair* But she really didn' want to show it.

You are welcome.

Another good example. Thank you.

She looks up, and smiles. "A little bit. I'm still having them, but I can make myself wake up earlier, before they get really bad. I'm working on it."

The techniques can take a while to be completely comfortable. But I am gglad you are having some success.

Let me know if you would welcome further assistance.

Paige signs in late "sorry sir I had to help get a friend out of a coma."

"Erm the main thing I learnt fro Jiji was that being a cat is about paradoxes."

What sort of paradoxes?

Intuition is one of the most valuable tools a cat has indeed. Thank you for your insight.

Paige tries to remember what he'd said exactly "er he said something about having to have a balance between playfulness and nobility, I think, he meant cat can have lots of fun when they want to but should remember to act with the proper decorum when they have to. I think."

She sighs "sorry sir I've had a bad few days, I'm not really sleeping"

Piper wanders into class, amused at the assignment as food is one of her favorite subjects.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Languages Classes 10/25

Languages of Europe, 10/25

Cat, 10/25

Office Hours & Language Lab, 10/25

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