tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post7001502953244630869..comments2023-10-15T10:29:12.991+01:00Comments on Karyn's erratic learning journey: Watch what you say... and how you say it!The upsychohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06345558899662051670noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-64178090304113459972008-03-25T10:56:00.000+00:002008-03-25T10:56:00.000+00:00Wow post! I am able to appreciate these finer poin...Wow post! I am able to appreciate these finer points more and more after I am reading your posts on e-learning. More than the manuals are teaching me. Thanks Karyn, hugs.Rina Tripathihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16855126746398058962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-75875668164920623192008-01-16T09:19:00.000+00:002008-01-16T09:19:00.000+00:00Dave: Whoops! Sorry about the mistake. And thanks ...Dave: Whoops! Sorry about the mistake. And thanks for the link to the ad. I have to point out, however, that I have a Swedish husband who will strongly dispute the claim that Canada is the first nation of hockey!<BR/><BR/>Ron: Thanks for the feedback, and I stand happily corrected on the "zed" thing. I can totally understand the need for your South African colleagues to adapt their word usage in an Aussie context, as I have had to do here. I find I have to substitute the word "it" in many places where I would normally say "that" (He's always like it; she's been like it since Tuesday).<BR/><BR/>You make a good point about the authoring needing to be done by someone tuned in to the audience, although I don't think I consciously reasoned it out like that when I made the call to take the authoring on myself. All I saw was that it wasn't working, so I took it upon myself to fix it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-41288662864627694962008-01-15T23:12:00.000+00:002008-01-15T23:12:00.000+00:00Hi Karyn, great post that really hit several marks...Hi Karyn, great post that really hit several marks for me. <BR/><BR/>Colour (not color) me Canadian and, yup, we all say zed. If any Canadians say zee, it means they have been watching too TV from below the 49th parallel. It's a very simple example of the cultural encroachment most Canadians don't realise is occurring.<BR/><BR/>Over fifteen years working on bespoke (that's a UK word, in Australia we just say custom) elearning projects, I teamed with several instructional designers from South Africa. Each had a particular word pattern that needed revision: they habitually wrote "you must" do this, when the preference is in Australia is to to just say "do this" or "try doing that" or if it were imperative, "you should".<BR/><BR/>It is difficult to talk about outsourced development without being seen as prejudiced. Your post is entirely objective, well done. In my opinion, any instructional design or writing should be carried out close to its audience. If I'm going to write for West Australian mining workers, then I had better spend at least some time there soaking in the culture and language.<BR/><BR/>Often I used caricatures to carry the "voice" of the material. Most were light-hearted but didn't treat the audience like children. Some were quite cheaky. But equally often, management buying the materials demanded more serious and ultimately more uninspiring materials for their staff.rlubenskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11518962181442701634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-86926155122641548322008-01-15T22:11:00.000+00:002008-01-15T22:11:00.000+00:00Karyn,Actually, I'm in Maryland, though I was born...Karyn,<BR/><BR/>Actually, I'm in Maryland, though I was born in Nova Scotia. (No matter how far away, and no matter how long it's been, Cape Breton is always "down home.")<BR/><BR/>I found a link for the <A HREF="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6724865161712814038" REL="nofollow">I Am Canadian</A> commercial, too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-50320529431909338952008-01-15T15:51:00.000+00:002008-01-15T15:51:00.000+00:00I didn't realise the Canadians said "zed", and I r...I didn't realise the Canadians said "zed", and I realise you're in Canada, and so are likely to know more about this than me, but I don't think it extends to all Canadians. <BR/><BR/>I had a Canadian biology teacher in high school who laughed uproariously the first time she heard us say "zed" - she was at great pains to point out that it didn't rhyme with or follow the precedent set by any other letters in the alphabet.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-25964872002812343452008-01-15T15:36:00.000+00:002008-01-15T15:36:00.000+00:00Karyn,So many things in your post produced a smile...Karyn,<BR/><BR/>So many things in your post produced a smile of recognition (or possibly shared pain).<BR/><BR/>Regarding a kind of idiom, while driving through toll booths this morning, I used an electronic device that deducts the toll from an account, so I don't have to stop and pay the attendant.<BR/><BR/>To Americans, the name EZPass makes great sense -- but not (at first) to Britons, Canadians, South Africans, etc., because for them (as the famous Molson's commercial pointed out), the last letter of the alphabet is not "zee," it's "zed." <BR/><BR/>I can't help pointing out that for years, Canada's major party on the right was known as the Progressive Conservatives.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com