1. I have always found the English language to be unnecessarily complex. If I didn't already love literature, reading in general, and writing in any manner, I probably wouldn't be an English major. However, I do, and I am. In High School and again in college I studied the French language, and two summers ago I began to teach myself a small amount of Haitian Creole as a result of the mission trips I take there. Both of those foreign language were easier for me to learn and comprehend than my own native tongue. That is insane to me. Still, I have always assumed that the English language was actually quite simple and logical and that I just needed to apply myself more to learning it. After 20 years, there is still so much I do not know, and I have just about applied myself to death. It is comforting to me to know that Bill Bryson agrees with my outlook on English grammar and rules. I agree with Bryson, though, that "there must be some conventions of usage". If not, we would have a hard time communicating.
2. I find it fascinating that Americans are so obsessed with the use of English. We expect, with our entitlement attitude, that all other people should speak English...even in their own countries! I wonder how many American citizens know that English is not an original language. I suspect that the majority of Americans are not aware that English has its roots in Latin, Norse, French, Greek, and other languages. To me, the sense of superiority that Americans feel is unwarranted. Our own language is diversified, borrowed; yet, we claim it as our own. America is very self-absorbed when it comes to language. In fact, we are quite uneducated compared to other countries. In Haiti, for example, students begin learning foreign languages in elementary school. Before they graduate they are required to reach a certain fluency in English, French, Spanish, and of course their own language, Haitian Creole. Other countries expect their students to be schooled in Latin. America is content with English and perhaps 2 or 3 classes of French or Spanish. We feel no need to learn another people's language when our own is so great.
3. I have always found the timeline of language in Modern times to be interesting. My step-father is 64, and he uses phrases such as: "Get your cotton-picking hands off of that!", "You turkey!", etc. I used to think that was so funny; now I use it as a learning experience. I've found that the older generations in my family, especially my grandmother, utilize phrases that I have never heard or that sound silly to me. In fact, when they were my age, those words and phrases were the "common tongue". Just as today teenagers use the word "like" in multiple contexts and use phrases such as: "That's sick.", "That move was epic!", etc. Those phrases don't sound silly to me, because I've grown up in the era that they have developed. Even so, regardless of the year, it is spectacular that language is always changing. Humans should realize the agency they have in those changes. We create language all of the time. Language does not create us.
4. "It's Like, EXTREME, But Not GROSS" touches on the issue of the decline in student's reading/writing skills. I wouldn't disagree. The proof is out there. Facebook, though not the only source of that declination, is home to many horribly spelled statuses, captions, and posts. Spelling is becoming a large issue for grade school students, and perhaps even more apparent, students seem to be struggling with reading as well as interpreting and understanding texts. Again, I would agree that there are some major issues out there surrounding the English language. However, I would be willing to guess that much of that lack of skill and decline in reading has to do with a lack of interest. Think about it....Sure reading is fun, but much of the reading that public schools require is not so interesting to the readers. Students would rather read something that they enjoy or can relate to. "To Kill a Mockingbird" seems extremely important to those of us that are passionate and educated about English, but to the average student it is quite boring. Beyond reading, students hate grammar! I mean, we don't really like it either so why would they. Grammar is complex, difficult, confusing, and seemingly endless. No matter how much you learn...there is always more. With that said, English is not the most attractive subject out there. I find this to be sad and unfortunate, because, as an English major, I know how interesting, enthralling, and relatable English can be. I guess this is where the importance of teaching comes in.
5. When I think about history I consider the fact that currently, right now..I cannot imagine what the world will be like 500 years from now. The future is such a mysterious phenomena to us. I am so impressed by the actions taken by people who lived in Medieval times to preserve their culture and language. Granted, there is much we do not know of the time before 600AD, but we know a great deal about the growth of English and the politics of the world from about 700AD forward. Writers such as Bede were intelligent enough to know that writing down facts about what was happening in that time was important. Could he have known that one day historians and anthropologists would be yearning for knowledge about the history of the world? Could he have known that the language of English would eventually owe much of its ancestry to his time? I find it fascinating that all we know of our past comes from written documents, diaries, literature, etc.
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