English

On more than one occasion I have had my students ask me why they need to learn English.  As someone who has adapted to the language well since I was young, I never understood what was so challenging about it, until I found the poem below:

We’ll begin with box; the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox is oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, and two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose is never called meese.

You may find a lone mouse or a house full of mice;
But the plural of house is houses, not hice.
The plural of man is always men,
But the plural of pan is never pen.

If I speak of a foot, and you show me two feet,
And I give you a book, would a pair be a beek?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn’t two booths be called beeth?

If the singular’s this and the plural is these,
Should the plural of kiss be ever called keese?

We speak of brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his, and him;
But imagine the feminine… she, shis, and shim!

English is a language packed with rules, but at the same time has an exception to almost all of them! However, the beauty of the language lies within its sub-context. English allows us to say something without saying it. Imagine if a gentleman still wished ‘to be a glove upon that hand; that [he] may touch that cheek…’ or thought that you ‘doth teach torches to burn bright…’

Although the grammatical rules of the English language is not everyone’s cup of tea, it is the Literature that makes it worth loving.

There are so many words and phrases we use daily which were invented by the great William Shakespeare, that we don’t even realise we are quoting him when we do:

English isn’t an easy language and I understand why some students find it challenging. However, hopefully they won’t feel like they ‘haven’t slept a wink’ if they ever find themselves ‘in a pickle.’

And for those who choose to ‘fight fire with fire’ in English, it is definitely not for the ‘faint hearted’. In their case, they would much prefer to say, ‘what’s done is done,’ to ‘send [English] packing’ and wish it ‘good riddance.’

They may feel that ‘the world is their oyster’ and that they can never have ‘too much of a good thing’.

But in the end, ‘the naked truth’ is that in their ‘heart of hearts’, they know it is ‘a brave new world’ after all, and they can uncover a new love for English once they ‘break the ice.’ Their confusion and frustration will ‘vanish into thin air’, they will escape ‘out of the jaws of death’ and they will come ‘full circle’ in their new appreciation and love for English.

Mia Tossel
IGCSE, AS and A Level English Teacher