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April 8, 2019

Site Update - April, 8 2019

A few weeks ago, we reached 100,000 all time hits! I'm so happy to see that this site has been useful for so many people in providing a reference for linguistics in popular culture. Although I'm no longer able to churn out articles like I used to, I am still working on giving you all better long articles. I recently wrote about a Dialect Dissection about the Beatles and Regional Identity, which was one of the more challenging projects I've done due to technical problems. I've also got other, more free-form articles planned to come out in the following few months, in addition to more Dialect Dissections. It's getting good, y'all! I'm also excited to say that Ace Linguist was cited on Slate, in Carl Wilson's Billie Eilish review.

I'm excited about some of the future free-form articles I'm going to be publishing because they're more discussion-based. Most of the small articles on here don't get a lot of traction with regards to comments, but these are longer and therefore more well-reasoned out and less "well what are your thoughts y'all." The Dialect Dissections and other major articles will continue to be the lifeblood of the site, but you all also know I've been talking about diversifying the content for a long time. One area where I'm hoping to diversify a little is to spread out beyond just phonology. Most of my dialect dissections focus on sounds, but not so much on sentence structure. I'm hoping to correct that by having a future Dialect Dissection focus more on syntax.

I haven't really plugged the Patreon for this site a lot because I don't view it as a money-making venture and I hate the idea of having to "sell the site." You should not feel pressured to donate because, well, things aren't that bad right now. :) However, I'm trying to be more ambitious with the Dialect Dissections and other long-form articles, access more recent linguistics research, and maybe even get some professional help with certain aspects of the site. Ace Linguist will always be available to the public as it is first and foremost a site for educational purposes. But that being said, if you want to help the site, you can donate on Patreon and be charged only per Long Article that comes out. As a perk, you can read the articles 24 hours ahead of time. You can also read some stuff that was left on the cutting room floor - it may not have added anything to the narrative, but it's definitely of interest to linguistics nerds. (Perhaps in a year, they will be released to the public as well, since I hate the idea of withholding information. But for now, they can be Patron-only for a year.) If the idea of donating per Long Article isn't appealing, you can also make a one-time donation via Ko-Fi, although that one does not have support for reward structures. And if you choose to donate, through whichever medium, know that I appreciate you as a visitor and contributor to Ace Linguist. :)

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