One thing in the book, that really caught my attention was the part on sign language. I realize now that I accidentally started reading on 159 because I happened to leave the book open to 159 rather than 98, but I still felt that it was worth mentioning. My cousin, Jamie, is currently teaching her year old daughter, Alexis, sign-language, mostly because my cousin's in-laws are deaf. They are teaching her basics, like "more" and "eat," so she can always have some sort of communication with her grandparents. Alexis is better with sign language than English at the moment, since all she really says now (well, the last time I saw her) is Mama and Dada. It is interesting how she picks up the sign language so easily.
That section also reminded me of an Australian comedian, Adam Hills, who does many of his shows with a sign interpreter. I think they do British sign language, but I am not entirely sure. Of course, not all of the signs would be "school appropriate," but he had a skit on sign language that went into some of the british signs for things like Scotland, Ireland, and Australia. It was interesting to see how the sign related to the country or whatever he was talking about.
I found this reading really intriguing. I found this particularly interesting because I have always been better at writing new languages than speaking them. I tend to learn writing quickly because I can easily pick up grammar and other rules in order to write letters or notes to myself.
And I also love looking how people from who speak or spoke different languages write. I always have loved looking at hieroglyphics and other ancient writings. I may not be able to understand them, but the drawings or the characters are written so beautifully. I love watching documentaries where people decode the mysterious messages on the walls of the pyramids or the temple at Karnak. It has always fascinated me, probably because I love ancient Egypt and other ancient civilizations.
Also it is interesting to see the differences in people's handwriting today. I've noticed that generally older people tend to write more in cursive, while younger people like to print. There is even a Facebook group called "Third grade lied to me; I never use cursive." In my AP US History course, my teacher would write in cursive, and there were students who couldn't read it. I was always one of the few who wrote in cursive. My grandparents, older people at my church, older teachers, etc. seem to write in cursive more frequently than people my age.
I also found the analyzing handwriting portion pretty interesting. I've heard several different psychological analyses on it.
I can also relate to the part on spelling. I have always been a good reader, but I have difficulties spelling. This is partially because I was never taught how to spell, in general. In elementary school, we were taught how to spell certain words. We had these "no excuse words" every year that we had to be able to spell, but we were never taught phonics or other strategies to learn how to spell. I have always been quite thankful for spell check computers.
