tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677916501490353207.post543692946375864422..comments2023-09-09T05:56:20.255-07:00Comments on Perception Unearthed: And Summer Rolls to an End...Rachel Kolbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12953481886156344682noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677916501490353207.post-69777732140109816662013-09-27T02:44:30.530-07:002013-09-27T02:44:30.530-07:00Wow, two subjects, that are dear to my heart. The ...Wow, two subjects, that are dear to my heart. The first is the diversity of accents in the UK. Having lived in the UK and worked for a British company, I have always found the diversity of accents fascinating since they represent both geography and social status. You will be richly rewarded to explore these, even though they will certainly be a challenge.<br /><br />If you are familiar with the Redwall series, it adds to the reading experience to "hear" the accents of the characters and brings a constant smile to see these applied to the animals. If you haven't read them yet, it should be required as a part of your study of contemporary literature!<br /><br />Somewhat related to this and your background in New Mexico is that there is some interesting research there on Spanish of the 1500's which has been preserved in some small Spanish communities in the state. There is a similar preservation of 14th Century English in some coastal communities in the Delmarva Peninsula.If you have a chance, I think you would find it fun to spend some time in Cornwall at the "local" and then visit a place such as Chincoteague, VA at the time of the Pony Roundup which will reward your equine interests as well. :>)<br /><br />The other area of this post that is interesting is that I have been thinking about and discussing the design of hearing aids apropos of your back country trip to Utah.<br /><br />A major objective for a hearing aid is speech discrimination and the elimination of "noise." But "noise" is like weeds, plants that you don't want, but still plants and in many environments, plants that are vital to other life.<br /><br />While the back country is devoid of urban sounds, it isn't really a silent environment. There are the sounds of wind blowing. Sounds of water in a creek or the rain falling through the leaves of the trees.. There are sounds of all the animal life: birds, crickets, and little creatures scurrying through the underbrush. These all add to the richness of these environments just as being able to see them does.<br /><br />So it seems that hearing aids need at least two modes: speech discrimination and appreciation of the sounds of the environment. Even in an urban context this makes sense. If I'm walking down the streets of San Francisco and not talking with someone, my hearing aid ought to be able to provide me with the sounds of someone approaching on the sidewalk on a bike and about to run me over rather than filter that out as "noise."<br /><br />Enjoy Oxford and learning about all the different shades of grey that the English weather presents.<br /><br /><br />Edward Murrayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06688920261195088879noreply@blogger.com