English language Category

15/09/2019

The Great Vowel Shift

The Great Vowel Shift (GVS) is the reason we may find Old and Middle English difficult to…

13/08/2019

Enid Blyton

Enid Mary Blyton (1897-1968), born in London, was our most-loved and prolific author of children’s literature. Emerging…

04/08/2019

Bertrand Russell

For a man who excelled in, adored and taught mathematics, it was an amazing recognition of his…

11/07/2019

‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) wrote the poem ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner‘ as the first entry…

27/06/2019

Caxton’s printing press

Kent-born William Caxton (c.1422-91) was the first to bring the printing press to Britain and to publish…

04/06/2019

No Future Tense

Although there are several ways to construct a future meaning in English, there is no stand-alone future…

22/05/2019

The Huguenots

The Protestant religion emerged in the 16th century and its followers grew to be a sizeable minority…

11/05/2019

C.S. Lewis

Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963), or ‘Jack’ to friends and family, was born in Belfast. As a boy…

16/04/2019

Cockney Rhyming Slang

A Cockney used to be defined as someone ‘born within the sound of Bow Bells’ in the…

10/04/2019

The King James Bible

The King James Bible is also known as the ‘King James Version‘, as it is one of…

29/03/2019

Mr. Men and Little Misses

Father and son, Roger and Adam Hargreaves, created the Mr. Men and Little Miss series of children’s…

20/03/2019

Aldous Huxley

Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) was born in Surrey, attended Eton and Oxford and was a gifted, articulate student.…