Speed Reading et al.

First, from our discussion that brought up James Lowen's excellent book "Lies My Teacher Taught Me,"  here is a link to the book:
http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281?tag=donations09-20

and here is a series of excerpts posted by another fan of the work:
http://www.criticalthink.info/Phil1301/lieshist.htm


Next, moving on to language, here is the link to the spritz speed reading app I mentioned-
How to read 500 words per minute (or more):
http://www.spritzinc.com/

Furthermore, regarding language, here is an article about the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis that you should read for our class:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29language-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0


And finally, I mentioned Bill Bryson's work in class. I'm quite fond of his superbly researched and engaging book "A Short History of Nearly Everything"
http://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Nearly-Everything-ebook/dp/B004CFAWES/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396555595&sr=1-3&keywords=Bill+Bryson&tag=donations09-20

but regarding language, I would recommend his books "Mother Tongue" and "Made In America," about British English and American English respectively.  Our library has them, but you can also find his 6-part radio series "Journeys in English"  Which is well-worth putting on your ipod.
http://library.elgin.edu/search?/c420+B916j/c420+b916j/-3%2C-1%2C0%2CE/frameset&FF=c420+b916j&1%2C1%2C