Birthday Snow

I’d better admit it now: I love grammar. I’m known to family and some of my friends as a grammar fiend. I actually enjoy the poetry of a paradigm; I find it fascinating to study the structure of a language and see how it fits together and makes things work. I spent three years of university studying, amongst other things, Old English, Old Irish, Medieval Welsh, Breton, Cornish, Gothic, Old Saxon… not that I can speak them all now, mind! One of the most fun things is watching how a language has (or may have) changed over the years, and how it is changing still, constantly growing and moving in the minds and mouths of its speakers.

Anyway. I know that learning to teach modern English to real speakers of other languages is going to be somewhat different from my previous linguistic experience. TESOL will be much more practical, learning to teach bits of language ready for instant, spoken application rather than starting from the other end with an analysis of grammar, syntax, etc. But I think it’s going to be fun to learn to see my own language in a different way, and to think about how English does things in a way which, to speakers of other languages, might seem odd or amusing.

So! Back to my pre-course study pack. Just as soon as I’ve tidied my desk…