WARM
WEATHER: The British media is going bonkers about "Probably the
warmest winter since records began under Alfred the Great". Nonsense. I
clearly recall an Xmas day of the same 15/60 temperature only 20 years
ago. Ironically, when I was going to the shed to get some coal for
the – rather unnecessary - fires in the sitting and dining rooms.
Which reminds me . . .
AGW:
Here's the inimitable Clive James on the recent jamboree in Paris.
ENGLISH:
One of the differences between Brits and Americans is that the
former only use the word 'backside' as a polite word for 'arse'('ass'). But
the Americans says things like 'At the backside of the storm',
meaning behind. Which is another polite Brit term for 'arse'. There
are probably 20 more.
SPANGLISH:
In an unsympathetic article on President Rajoy, a
Spanish commentator wrote that he'd suffered from bulling when he was
a kid here in Pontevedra. I suspect this was a typo for 'bullying'.
Which now appears to be a Spanish word. Along with un lifting, un
footing, un spinning, un jumping, un parking, un bullfighting, un
dreaming, un writing, un jogging, etc. I may have made up one or two
of these.
SHAKESPEARE'S
ENGLISH: A nice leading article (un leader?) from The Times:
Shakespeare is universally recognised as the greatest writer
in English. No one, however, regards him as the most readily
comprehensible. Teachers introducing his work to fresh
generations have now happened on a consistent and illuminating
observation. Children who speak English as a second language tend to
have more confidence in dealing with Shakespeare.
The grammar and
vocabulary of modern English differ radically from Shakespeare’s.
No one now uses constructions like “What sayst thou?” or “I know not where to hide my head”. Yet even Shakespeare’s contemporaries complained
about his impenetrability. Ben Jonson railed against “some bombast
speeches of Macbeth, which are not to be understood”. Educators
like Jacqui O’Hanlon of the Royal Shakespeare Company maintain
that, because Shakespeare feels like a foreign language for everyone,
children who have English as an additional tongue are unfazed by him
and often have a swifter grasp of his work.
What to conclude?
First, Shakespeare really is for everyone. The Oregon Shakespeare
Festival in the United States recently courted controversy by
commissioning playwrights to translate the Bard into modern English.
It is a well-intentioned but misguided venture. Shakespeare’s
language is hard because his ideas are complex and his nuance is
constantly debatable. Yet with good educators and actors, and a grasp
of language, even children can relish and appreciate the work.
Second, the ability to speak more than one language is precious and
enriches Britain. When politicians misguidedly fear that English is
not spoken widely enough, they should be reminded that it’s a
language every immigrant wants to know. English is a tongue, with a
literature, with the brightest of futures among its non-native
speakers.
FINALLY .
. . RANDOMNESS: One has to get used to this in Spanish life. For
example, when you go shopping and find that they're either out of
stock or out of business. Here's 2 more of the latter from the very
centre of Pontevedra.
This has been a few things but the last one was an expensive looking centre of laser treatment for one thing and another. |
Walking past this shop for divers the other day, I wondered how long it would remain in business. I suspect the beggar is one of our many Romanain residents. |
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