By Gretchen McCulloch Ms. McCulloch is the author of “Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language.” Dec. 27, 2019 It’s an internet tradition, when humor or sarcasm goes astray online, to apologize by saying something like, “You know, it’s just impossible to convey tone in writing.” But…

“What did she ever do to you?” and other great margin notes. Annie Watts One of the great truths in life is that used books are awesome. And one of the greatest things about used books are the weird, funny, sad, or just plain unforgettable notes you can often find left behind by previous readers. We…

China Stringer Network / Reuters In the early ‘90s, a New Zealand man named Neil Fleming decided to sort through something that had puzzled him during his time monitoring classrooms as a school inspector. In the course of watching 9,000 different classes, he noticed that only some teachers were able…

AddThis Sharing Buttons 434 Ten thousand stars bedazzle the eye on a dark night. Wait, how many stars in the sky? How many stars in the sky can you see? Bob King Go out on a dark night and you'd swear there are thousands of stars in the sky. Too many to count. 10,000 at least. But why guess when…

The most important skill you can develop is an innate sense of curiosity about yourself . Once you get in the habit of constantly introspecting, you’ll appreciate both good and bad experiences. There are two areas I’d like to discuss: introspecting about interactions with others, and with yourself.…

At a school in Paramaribo, Suriname, a student reads Dutch, the nation’s official language, during a recent history class. Tomas Munita for The New York Times PARAMARIBO, Suriname — Walk into a government office here and you will be greeted in Dutch, the official language. But in a reflection of the…

Quijada’s invented language has two seemingly incompatible ambitions: to be maximally precise but also maximally concise. Photograph by Dan Winters / Typography By AJ Frackattack There are so many ways for speakers of English to see the world. We can glimpse, glance, visualize, view, look, spy, or…

Charlotte Ager Today’s college students desperately want to change the world, but too many think that living a meaningful life requires doing something

The University of California, Irvine. David McNew for The New York Times The people who run the University of California, Irvine, found themselves with a problem this spring. More high school students than expected said yes to Irvine’s offer of admission — about 800 more. The campus didn’t have room…

Source: Masson/Shutterstock In today’s classrooms, students who have trouble printing or writing are allowed—if not encouraged or even forced—to use computers instead, but research and clinical experience suggest that adopting this practice too early may cause additional setbacks. Sensory…