Undoubtedly, the thing I hated most about taking the SATs in high school was the etymology needed to understand the word-association problems and readings. Looking back, I can't help but feel that today's high school students, with their vocabulary building readings and course content designed to improve test scores, have it a bit easier. Last summer, I found out just how much luckier they have it when G4TV named philologist Marina Orlova as the "5th hottest woman on the net", for her website and YouTube video series, Hot for Words. I didn't pay too much attention initially--surely another internet vixen vying for attention in the guise of "Intelligence is Sexy." And with what passes for "intelligence" on that network, I was confident I was missing out on much. But then her name starting popping up more often. She was in my wife's Cosmo, listed as "one of the top 3 channels on YouTube." She had a regular spot on the O'Reilly Factor. And I couldn't but check out her site. And I was pretty surprised with what I found. Sure, it's the website of a generally scantily-clad woman exploiting her sex appeal. But it's also a website dedicated to the study of words--their origins and meanings. She holds two degrees in philology and taught high school English and World Literature in Russia before coming to the United States to pursue her PhD. Needless to say, she got a little lost along way. Still, I'd be lying if I didn't admit the immediate buzzing in my head, trying to figure out a practical application for the classroom.
This past summer she even published a book collecting a lot of the information from her videos. I'd be surprised if you haven't seen it. The two Borders in Santa Fe have kept it prominently on display at the entrance of their shops for the past three months. I'm actually surprised I haven't bought it on impulse. But then, the disconcerting looks of a wife are a strong deterent, especially when I shared my classroom-application idea. She wasn't sure it was a feasible idea, and without trying to appear to back-pedal, I'm not sure it is either. It's actually kind of funny, because I could see this video shown in English classes at my old high school, but then that school was also private, in Canada, and all boys (though, strangely, run by Jesuits). So I'm unsure of the reaction were I to show these videos in even the college classroom, and whether there would even be a real purpose.But I'm a big believer in at least trying to embrace the culture of our students--I once made a great lesson connection by bringing the previous night's episode of America's Next Top Model (What? I can't watch TV with my wife?). And with attention from the likes of the above plus New Yorker Magazine, The New York Times, and (a random Google find) The University of Hawa'i's library workshop series, it seems Orlova's popularity and the popularity of those like her, will inevitably rise with time.
At the moment, my ideas for application are pretty basic. For example, anything that can lighten a dense subject is generally appreciated by the students. Undoubtedly, my Heroes, Villains, and Vampires students were sick of analyzing the discourse community of vampires as described by different authors, critics, etc. Orlova has a great video on the origin of the word "vampire" (or rather lack-there-of; check it out, it's kind of creepy). But my first idea involved our College Discourse classes. With their emphasis in grammar and basic socio-linguistics as a support class for Reading and Writing for College, these videos feel like they have some application, even if it's only vocabulary building--which is not a bad thing for remedial students.
So there you have it--sexy English education (though, arguably, all English education is sexy). But is there are place for it in our classrooms, or do our students need to learn the meaning of floccinaucinihilipilification on their own time?
Questions? Quibbles? Controversies?
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