Tip #202: Don’t be a digital potty mouth

Tip of the Week

This tip seems pretty obvious.  At least to me.   

Evidently, it is not obvious to everyone.  

Here’s the tip: Don’t be a digital potty mouth.  

If you have a blog, a YouTube channel, or if you are on any form of Social Media, keep it clean.  

I heard Seinfeld make the same recommendation years ago.  Keep your work clean, he said (I’m paraphrasing), and you can work anywhere.  

When you are a digital potty mouth, you may impress younger audiences, I suppose.  Not that’t there’s anything impressive about swearing.  Doesn’t take any skill.  

I’m not exactly sure what you gain by swearing online.

I can tell you exactly what you don’t gain.  

You don’t gain an older audience.  

And, if you are trying to make a living online, you are shooting yourself in the foot.  It’s older audiences who have most of the money, after all.

If you are using inappropriate language in your blogs and videos, you are likely losing money.

Last week, I recommended the frugal ninja site, Trip of a Lifestyle: https://www.tripofalifestyle.com/.  (I double-checked the link this time.) 

I follow quite a few frugal sites.  But, most of them contain unnecessary vulgarity.  I will not be recommending any of them.  

As far as I can tell, you are not going to need to plug your ears when Stephen and Lauren (https://www.tripofalifestyle.com/) blog about frugality.  They are not digital potty mouths. 

If you have an online presence, imitate Stephen and Lauren.   

Don’t be a digital potty mouth.

Summer school
Okay.  It’s gotten too hot in Tennessee.  I am taking the month of July to drive around listening to French and Spanish podcasts while looking for bike trails in cooler climates. 

In August, classes will resume.  We will pick up where we left off.  Classes will resume Tuesday, August 10.  

During the month of August, we will meet on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings.  

After Labor Day (Monday, September 6) classes will meet every weekday morning, Monday through Friday.  

Here is what I will be teaching:

Latin 3: Third Year Latin by Robert Henle  • 6:30-6:55 am CST

We have six chapters left in this book.  We will resume in chapter 16.  Skip this class if you can.  Instead, read Lingua Latina by Hans Ørberg.  But, if you have to read the Henle book, I will do my best to help.  

Spanish • 7:00-7:25 am CST  

We stopped at the end of Chapter 17 of the book All Spanish Method by Guillermo Aviles. In August, we will pick it back up in chapter 18.  I am still learning Spanish.  So, I am “teaching” this class.  Really, I am learning in front of my students.   If you want to learn from someone fluent, I recommend my friend David Durham.  His site is here: https://daviddurham.org/language.

French • 7:30-7:55 am CST  

Last year, I took students through the first 20 chapters, or so of Le Francais par la Methode Nature.  This August, we will start the book again.  What I said about Spanish also applies here.  I am still learning French.  So, I am “teaching” this class.  Really, I am learning in front of my students.   If you want to learn from someone fluent, I recommend my friend David Durham.  His site is here: https://daviddurham.org/language.

Latin 2: Lingua Latina, Exercitia Latina  • 8:00-8:25 am CST  

We stopped at the end of Chapter 19 this morning.  In August, we will pick it back up in chapter 20.


What do I recommend?

“To learn Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, Italian, or German, which books do I order?”  This is the most common question I receive.  

To find my answers, just go to my site, www.dwanethomas.com.  

Find the resources tab, and find the language you are looking for in the dropdown menu.  

For example, if you are looking for the books I recommend for learning Latin, click on the Latin tab: https://dwanethomas.com/resources-latin/

Same for Greek.  Same for Spanish.  And, so on.  

Down at the bottom, below languages, you will see three more tabs, Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise.  

These are the three categories I have used for years to organize my goals.  They are based on Benjamin Franklin’s maxim: “Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”

In these tabs, I include books and links that help me achieve these goals.  You may find them useful as well.

I’ll make it easy for you.  Here they all are:


And now… the same thing I say every week.

Subscribers sometimes use my weekly emails as reminders to unsubscribe from my site.

Just keep in mind… I offer something no one else in academia (as far as I know) offers.  Stick with me for 3 uninterrupted years and you will have a lifetime subscription.

I now know this is a dumb business decision on my part, but I have heard from many of you that it is a huge help, so, for now, the offer stands.

Of course, if you are just starting out in Latin, you may be happier with Visual Latin.

Visual Latin is a full-blown Latin course.  It is rigorous, just not as rigorous as the classes on my site.  The classes on my site are more “next level” classes, really.

By the way, if you are into etymology (the history of words), and if you would like to see me make a fool of myself, you might enjoy Word Up.

Five years ago, or so, we launched this series just to see if it would work.  It did.  And, after years of listening to many of you beg for more, I finally gave in and agreed to make a fool of myself once again.  So now, Volumes 2 and 3 of Word Up are available.

And… if you aren’t a member of my site and would like to join, click here: https://dwanethomas.com/join/.

I hope you had a very happy Saturday!
Dwane

P.S.
If someone forwarded you this email and you would like to hear from me every week, just go to this page: https://dwanethomas.com/
Scroll down a bit until you see my book, Via.  Enter your name and email and you will hear from me weekly.  You will also get a free copy of my book, Via!