https://youtu.be/oDsY3W2y9Rs https://youtu.be/RQoP9iLwoos?si=4FFmJCtecoyo1uoV “He who does not speak foreign languages — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Here’s a rough breakdown of the top languages on the web: English: 55.4% – Russian: 6.6% – Japanese: 5.4% – Spanish: 5.2% – Chinese: 4.6% One of the most contentious aspects of best practice discovery and promulgation in any domain, and no less so in educational settlements, is an agreed-upon vocabulary and shared understanding. As we explain elsewhere in this history, when a counter-party disagrees with you, he simply switches out the vocabulary — i.e. changes definitions or adds or subtracts from the traditional meanings of things. So we approach this topic several times a year to confirm our bearing on the meaning of things. We begin 2025 by breaking down this topic into four sections Language 100: Survey of vocabulary in the standards catalogs relevant to building and managing education settlement real assets; including legal terms. Language 200: Electrotechnology standard catalogs; including computer programming languages. Language 300: The English as the language of science and innovation; the birthplace of computing and programming, the internet’s native tongue, standardization & open source development; etc. Language 400: Reserved We observe National Poetry Month in the United States and Canada every year with an inquiry into changes in the (meaning of) definitions at the foundation of best practice literature; frequently the subject of sporty debate among experts writing codes and standards for the built environment of education communities. In the United Kingdom, National Poetry Month is celebrated in October, and it is known as “National Poetry Day” which has been observed since 1994. It is an initiative of the Forward Arts Foundation, which aims to encourage people to read, write and perform poetry. Other countries also have their own poetry celebrations, such as World Poetry Day, which is observed annually on March 21 by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to promote the reading, writing, and teaching of poetry worldwide. In past years we used a Tamil mnemonic because Tamil is the oldest surviving language and remains the spoken language of 80-odd million people of South Asia. Alas, use of Tamil confounds our Wordpress content management system so in 2024 we began coding this topic in American English https://standardsmichigan.com/%e0%ae%ae%e0%af%8a%e0%ae%b4%e0%ae%bf-2/ Latin Phrases You Should Know. pic.twitter.com/Erq61gVW29 — Learn Latin (@latinedisce) May 5, 2024 Once median household income is adjusted for cost of living, Utah emerges as the wealthiest state in the nation and Mississippi yet again ranks last. Source: https://t.co/AN3JZqtNnF pic.twitter.com/kv8U3LZlvh — Simon Kuestenmacher (@simongerman600) January 3, 2025 https://standardsmichigan.com/building-interior-substations/ High voltage switch at a power grid — Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) March 16, 2025 Innovation – Standardization – Commoditization run along a continuum. Today we unpack some of the ideas that hasten (and prohibit) leading practice discovery; how quickly goods and services become a “human right”; why all of this is relevant to education communities and why some believe that commoditization is a myth. From the Wikipedia In business literature, commoditization is defined as the process by which goods that have economic value and are distinguishable in terms of attributes (uniqueness or brand) end up becoming simple commodities in the eyes of the market or consumers. It is the movement of a market from differentiated to undifferentiated price competition and from monopolistic competition to perfect competition. Hence, the key effect of commoditization is that the pricing power of the manufacturer or brand owner is weakened: when products become more similar from a buyer’s point of view, they will tend to buy the cheapest. https://twitter.com/StandardsMich/status/1318508254658502657?s=20 Going Up: Uncovering the Art Deco Elevators of Landmarked Building Interiors Architectural Digest: Why The Chrysler Building is a New York City Icon Many education communities have 100’s of elevators and escalators. This is a difficult space for driving costs down (because of strong manufacturer and labor presence) but we will give the “old college try” https://youtu.be/Y2q8sbJDLEw Eric and Shari Schlesinger met in Hardwick’s elevator on move-in day in 1972, leading to a 42-year marriage.@TempleUnivhttps://t.co/3QTh51f4JB pic.twitter.com/Ek5vD9s5lF — Standards Michigan (@StandardsMich) January 17, 2023 Normalize bringing your baby with you.🤍 pic.twitter.com/qztfkDpCo7 — Clare Anne Ath (@clareanneath) December 11, 2024 https://youtu.be/M5R5uiXiLzA?si=KPTj0amgyi_8kD0g https://youtu.be/xQX56asR7lI?si=U4VrN2cOS23jhvsx https://youtu.be/iZlpduAZBAk?si=CXRTMX_gTR2GBmaB https://youtu.be/N8lzkGv1b3A?si=eY-5eTM2mzLhYqlW![]()
"Dives & Lazarus" Northwood High School Philharmonic
![]()
Language 300
knows nothing about his own.“ ![]()
Building Interior Substations
![]()
Intellectual Property
![]()
Elevators & Lifts
![]()
Poway High School "Nessun Dorma, from 'Turandot'"

Scales Mound School District | Jo Daviess County Illinois 815
Oxford students after exams, 1989. pic.twitter.com/HQbO4r6dUE
— M (@0detobeauty) May 27, 2026
The calendar of Anglosphere educational settlements subtly shapes life of the mind, generally; and family and community life, specifically. Its cadence has roots in the cathedral schools and monastic learning communities of medieval Europe. Universities were not originally organized around modern “semesters.” Instead, the year followed the Christian liturgical calendar, agricultural seasons, food paths, daylight availability, and travel conditions.
In America educational calendars were nudged along by agricultural cycles. In the United Kingdom university calendars evolved into three major terms: Michaelmas in autumn, associated with arrival and beginnings; Hilary or Lent in winter, associated with discipline and study; and Trinity or Easter in spring, associated with examinations, outdoor rituals, music, rowing, gardens, and celebration.
Modern commencement traditions across the Anglosphere are descendants of medieval spring degree ceremonies. Academic gowns, hoods, processions, Latin phrases, formal dining, chapel music, and public recognition all preserve traces of the university as a scholarly guild and religious-civic community.
Before railways, electric lighting, and central heating, universities had to adapt to muddy roads, short winter days, limited candles, cold buildings, and agricultural obligations. Spring therefore became the natural season of culmination, reunion, athletic competition, courtship, and ceremony.
The medieval university was not merely a school but an educational settlement — a self-governing town of scholars, libraries, chapels, kitchens, workshops, residences, and dining halls. That settlement pattern survives in residential colleges, quadrangles, tutorial systems, common rooms, chapel choirs, and formal meals.
Anglosphere campuses retain this ancient emotional rhythm: autumn seriousness, winter inwardness, and spring release. That continuity helps explain why colleges and universities still feel culturally distinct from ordinary commercial society. (Relata: Gulliver Visits the Great Academy of Lagado)

We’re “organized” but not too organized; like the bookseller who knows where every book can be found.
at a conference where you don’t have to present
— Peyman Milanfar (@docmilanfar) April 4, 2025
#AcademicChatter #AcademicTwitter
Academics be like 👇 pic.twitter.com/6cpVEw3PVS
— Reviewer 2 (@GrumpyReviewer2) April 2, 2024












