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English to Thai: The New Science of Dyslexia General field: Medical
Source text - English The New Science of Dyslexia
By Christine Gorman Monday, Sept. 08, 2003
When Sean Slattery, 17, looks at a page of text, he can see the letters. He can tell you the letters' names. He can even tell you what sounds those letters make. But it often takes a while for the articulate high school student from Simi Valley, California, to tell you what words those letters form. "I see a wall," he says. "I see a hurdle I have to get over." Some words are easier for Slattery to figure out than others. "I can get longer words, like electricity," he says. "But I have trouble with shorter words, like four or year."
Slattery has dyslexia, a reading disorder that persists despite good schooling and normal or even above-average intelligence. It's a handicap that affects up to 1 in 5 schoolchildren in the U.S., and which is also common among Asians. Though the statistics for Asia are often sketchy, researchers in Japan estimate that as many as 5% of Japanese schoolchildren have dyslexia. Yet the exact nature of the disorder has eluded doctors, teachers, parents and dyslexics themselves since it was first described more than a century ago. Indeed, it is so hard for skilled readers to imagine what it's like not to be able to absorb the printed word effortlessly that they often suspect the real problem is laziness or obstinacy or a proud parent's inability to recognize that his or her child isn't that smart after all.
The mystery–and perhaps some of the stigma–may finally be starting to lift. The more researchers learn about dyslexia, the more they realize it's a flaw not of character but of biology–specifically, the biology of the brain. No, people with dyslexia are not brain damaged. Brain scans show their cerebrums are perfectly normal, if not extraordinary. Dyslexics, in fact, seem to have a distinct advantage when it comes to thinking outside the box.
English to Thai: Body shaming yourself: How to fight the ‘pervasive sense that there’s something wrong with you’ General field: Other
Source text - English Body shaming yourself: How to fight the ‘pervasive sense that there’s something wrong with you’
By Angela Haupt
July 1, 2021 at 8:00 a.m. EDT
Katie Sturino says she spent 6 million hours wishing she could shrink herself and disappear, and approximately 850 years considering how much exercise she had to do to cancel out the calories she’d consumed. The estimates are tongue-in-cheek, of course, but they underscore her more serious point: What a waste of time.
“You pay so much money, then go on vacation — or take a day off and go to the beach — and spend it, what, hiding? Feeling uncomfortable and looking at yourself saying, ‘Oh, I need to go to the gym more?’ ” said Sturino, author of “Body Talk,” which published in May and is part memoir, part manual on body acceptance. “No! Go swimming.”
Sturino started body shaming herself at a young age: She was voted “heaviest kid” in her class at age 5 and spent decades feeling like the biggest person in the room. Throughout her adult life, she worried that she wouldn’t fit into her seat: at the movie theater, at tiny trendy restaurants, at the dentist or on an airplane. But in her 30s, she had a eureka moment: “My body is not the problem,” she realized — a stunning concept after a lifetime of feeling like something was wrong with her, and that her size determined her worth.
Why do so many of us, like Sturino, engage in such negative self-talk? And what can we do about it, especially as we emerge from a global pandemic during which so many of us have put on weight?
Nina Savelle-Rocklin, a Los Angeles-based psychoanalyst who specializes in food, weight and body-image issues, says it’s difficult for many Americans not to internalize the “pervasive sense that there’s something wrong with you” given the near-constant stream of toxic messaging in our culture, much of which is tied to the multibillion-dollar weight-loss industry. Consider the obsession with “skinny” everything, including lattes; the focus on “beach-ready” bodies; the endlessly popular before-and-after diet photos. In June, for example, photos of the singer Camila Cabello at the beach went viral, with droves of social media users making spiteful comments about how she looked in a bikini. And on TikTok, thousands of “What I Eat in a Day” videos, often posted by thin young women, promote the idea that if you eat like them, you’ll be able to look like them, even though genetically, we can’t all achieve specific body types.
Self-shaming is a destructive mind-set, Savelle-Rocklin said. “There’s a split between us and our bodies that happens when we body shame ourselves — ‘I’m against my body, I need to whip my body into shape, I need to change my body.’ And that is antithetical to a sense of well-being.”
English to Thai: Betrayal at Ravenswick: A Fiona Figg Mystery General field: Other Detailed field: Poetry & Literature
Source text - English I heard laughter-really more like giggling. I stopped to listen, which was my first mistake. "Don't worry, darling," said the familiar voice. "I'll take care of you." He had said the very same thing to me the night before. I flung the door open. There was Andrew, his arms around the little tart of a secretary, who was nibbling on his ear. He pulled away, but Nancy clung to him like a wet undershirt.
"How could you?" I cried. Andrew came toward me, the curvaceous shadow trailing behind him.
"I can explain--" He'd only been home from the Front six months and already he'd taken up with his secretary?
"Sack her!' I shouted. "She goes or I will."
"Fio, don't get hysterical."
"Hysterical!" I stepped backward, my second mistake. I was backed into a corner. "Don't call me hysterical, you cheater.'
Nancy giggled nervously and held onto the sleeve of his suit jacket. Her amber eyes flashed at me like a hungry cat's. If I were a man, I'd have socked her in her pretty little nose. How could he? How could Andrew do this to me? With that simpering imbecile no less? I didn't know which was worse, his infidelity or his insulting taste in women.
"It's her or me," I shouted. "Take your pick." The ultimatum was my third mistake.
"Fio, I've been meaning to tell you for weeks now." He glanced back at the little tart, and she smiled sweetly.
“Nancy and I are in love. We want to get married."
English to Thai: Hand-fasting: A Celtic Tradition for your Irish Wedding Ceremony General field: Art/Literary Detailed field: History
Source text - English Hand-fasting: A Celtic Tradition for your Irish Wedding Ceremony
Many couples who come to Ireland for their dream wedding are looking to incorporate some Irish traditions and elements into their special day. One detail many couples are choosing is hand-fasting. This post explores quickly the history behind the hand-fasting ceremony and how you can incorporate it into your dream Irish wedding. Today, we have some great tips on how to design your hand-fasting chord, and some ways to personalize it so it is truly unique to you as a couple.
HISTORY Dating back to ancient Celtic times, hand-fasting was, in the simplest of terms, the official wedding of the ancient Celts. Dating back far beyond 7000 B.C. in ancient Ireland, two people who chose to be married were brought together, often on a feast day such as Beltane, and faced each other. With arms extended, they clasped hands and a braided chord or ribbon was wrapped and tied around their hands, the Druid priest proclaiming the two persons are now engaged. This period of engagement would typically run the length of a full year, during which the couple were encouraged to cohabitate together (and consummate the relationship). It was a public declaration of intent to marry, signaling to potential suitors that the woman was intended to her betrothed and not to be harassed. After the period of a year was over, the engaged couple would return to the priest and declare their intent to be married, which would follow soon after. If they decided they were not a good match, the couple were allowed to dissolve their hand-fast and be free to choose another suitor and bride.
As Celtic culture spread from Ireland and Scotland through Britain and into western Europe, so did the customs of marriage. Hand-fasting became a staple of culture where all Celtic people resided, up through the introduction of Christianity. As Christian marriage ritual began to take over, some elements of paganism of the Celts remained, including hand-fasting. More often than not, the hand-fasting was incorporated into the Christian marriage ceremony itself, and remained as such for many years. Especially in settlements and villages outside of larger city-centers where monasteries and cathedrals were fewer and farther between, Christian Irish people exclusively used the hand-fast as de-facto marriage ceremony until a priest would visit the village, at which point he could “finish” the marriage rite properly with a Christian marriage ceremony. To be considered valid, the couple simply needed to declare their consent to be hand-fasted to each other in the presence of a witness, who would tie the knot for them. To this day hand-fasting is legally recognized in some Irish and Scottish villages as a legal and binding marriage!
TODAY Ireland’s marriage ceremonies have a required civil element (legal), which all couples must abide by, and then a spiritual element if the couple so chooses to incorporate. Be it a traditional Catholic marriage ceremony or one centered on Celtic spirituality or a simple blessing ceremony, a couple can incorporate virtually any element important to them on their Irish wedding day. Couples who come to Ireland to get married often look to the culture and history to gain inspiration, a great majority finding it in the hand-fast ceremony and using that in their own wedding as either an element woven in a traditional Christian wedding or blessing or as the main event itself. Couples love the visual representation that hand-fasting provides; it is literally “tying the knot“ right in front of your friends and family. And with some creativity and planning, the hand-fasting can be a truly meaningful keepsake for your wedding and heirloom to pass on to your children later.
THE CHORD Hand-fasting involves the part that is actually tied into a knot — called the “chord.” Traditionally it was made of rope or dyed cloth, embroidered if the skill and money afforded it. Today it can be anything from silky ribbons, thick or thin chords, fabric taken from heirloom dresses, or basically anything that could be theoretically tied around two hands. The resulting product is usually around a yard in length, allowing for it to be wrapped about the hands a couple of times to mimic the Celtic knot type pattern (celtic knots in artwork symbolize unity and everlasting). But as a couple you can choose virtually anything to work. Here are some ideas
If your wedding as a specific color theme, you can incorporate them in your hand-fasting chord. Plain silk ribbons from a fabric store work perfectly for this.
Have the kids help out! When we renewed our vows, I had our three kids each pick out a ribbon for our hand-fasting chord. They took turns helping me braid it into one thick chord. I look at it now once in a while and my heart fills with joy knowing that the kids help create such a special part of our day.
Add a charm to make it special! There are little charms used for jewelry; if there is a special symbol that is meaningful for you as a couple, think about adding that charm to the ends of the chord or ribbons. Not only will it give it a personal meaning, but it will have visual appeal and texture. If you can’t think of anything, add some golden shamrocks or a lucky horseshoe (also traditional Irish symbols of luck for a wedding day)!
Something old, something blue. For our vow renewal, one of my “something old” was actually a ribbon used in the hand-fasting chord. It was a beautiful purple and gold ribbon dating back to the Victorian era that I found on etsy. Not only did it offer a stunning look in the chord, offset by the darker purples and greens the kids chose, but it stood out as something unique and special. If you’re looking for your “something blue” then think about adding a blue ribbon here! If there is a family heirloom — dress, veil, article of clothing — where a piece can be taken out, consider using that as part of your chord.
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