David Crystal - THE professor of Linguistics talks about the myth of texting damaging our language

Pronunciation Change

There is a great little piece and video on the BBC website about Changing Language and the pronunciation of words. For example, do you say aitch or Haitch for the letter H? Why does it get some people in a tangle?
Click on the link below.
The BBC News Magazine

Note Taking Skills

Note Taking

THE ADVENTURE of ENGLISH

Your exam on Language Change focuses on Late Modern English and you will have texts to analyse from 1700s onwards. I urge you to watch and make notes on all The Adventure of English programmes as you need to understand the historical forces affecting our language.

Go to the link on the left which has all the programmes. Today we are going to focus on the Age of Reason 18th Century - 19th Century.

Taking Notes:
Good note taking, takes practice. You will need this skill in all your A Level subjects and indeed if you go on to further study. You can write notes in sequential form or in mind map form. When taking notes from a lecture or a TV programme, it is better to use the sequential method.

Techniques to use when taking sequential notes:  

When taking these notes remember to:

• use headings, subheadings and key words.
• number these to differentiate between points.
• emphasise material by, for example:
  • underlining.
  • using different colours of highlight pen.
  • using capital letters.
• use abbreviations or symbols, but be careful that you are consistent and can remember what the abbreviations mean.  e.g

+, & for and, plus
= for equals
- for minus
 ----> for leads to, produces, results in
<---- for comes from

• do not write the notes in a cramped or congested way. Get used to leaving about a third of your page blank. Draw a wide marging in advance. You can then read back through and add bits.
• Also use one side of the paper so that additional sheets of related material can be inserted at a later date

A bit of Fry and Laurie

Eddie Izzard Part 2

Eddie Izzard on the English Language

The Adventure of English Part 1

The Adventure of English Part 2

The Adventure of English Part 3

The Adventure of English Part 4

The Adventure of English Part 5