Because one has only learnt to get the better of words For the thing one no longer has to say, or the way in which One is no longer disposed…
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What might have been and what has beenPoint to one end, which is always present. T.S.Eliot – Burnt Norton Ten years ago, for the whole of 2012, I made a…
Are you revising Macbeth for exams? Or would you just like to get to know the play better? One of my favourite suggestions is to listen to (and watch, if…
I home educated my son from the age of 13 until he went to college at 19. It’s a tough challenge, but sometimes you have to do what you know…
This is me, in my office. And this is the view that my students have during lessons. A little over two years ago, just before we were all told to…
This is Pilot Officer (Observer) 84729 Norman Frederick Dawson who served in 114 Squadron, part of the Royal Air Force’s Coastal Command and was killed when his Bristol Blenheim IV…
Have you heard of iambic pentameter? Students often tell me they know it’s important but they are not quite sure what it is. In this post, I aim to clear…
There are six adverbs we can learn quite easily that help to make Shakespeare’s language a lot simpler. They are all about direction. Why is this important? Well, the words…
Language can be precise, specific and to the point, or it can me imprecise, vague and even confusing. There are times when we want to be precise but there are…
In the past three Exploring English posts we have looked at modal verbs. Today we explore the final main category: Modal verbs of ability. Here, ability covers both the sense…
Have you heard the term ‘register‘ in relation to language? It’s an important aspect of how we use language but, if we are not careful, we may not pay…
When I was little, my mother used to recite these lines: Where the bee sucks, there suck I; In a cowslip’s bell I lie; There I couch when owls…