A load of pony?

Surprisingly not an April Fool... A business man is developing cash machines which issue instructions in a variety of languages,dialects and accents including Cockney English and Gaelic (Scottish).

Just make sure you keep your Huckleberry Finn (pin) secret when getting out your sausage and mach (cash). Read the full article here.

April Fools

Shakespeare loved a fool. This article from the BBC News Magazine explores modern equivalents, inlcuding Homer Simpson and Frank Gallagher from Shameless. Read it here.

Enjoying reading stories? It's as easy as learning your (Plan) ABC...

The Guardian newspaper has an article about Plan B's recent speech about inspiring children to enjoy reading. Find the article here. Alternatively, watch/listen to Plan B here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhtAfIw4qJY&feature=player_embedded&noredirect=1

Three new 'Gatsby' productions coming your way!

Three new adaptations of The Great Gatsby are set to run this year in theatres across the country. According to BBC News,  the rising popularity of F.Scott Fitgerald's 1920s novel and interest in its storyline is "thanks in part to a new spin-off novel that traces the fortunes of the character Daisy Buchanan's daughter Pamela."

For further details, follow the link above.

One to watch

AS English Literature students who studied Graham Greene's Brighton Rock may be interested to know that BBC2 are showing Rowan Joffe's film adaptation on 4th February at 9pm.

A review of the film can be read here:
http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/89165/brighton-rock.html

Youth sociolect...'nuff said, innit?

From The Guardian's Radio & TV blog comes an interesting article about 'teen speak' and youth sociolect - from the perspective of the scriptwriters of E20 and Skins. Read it here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2012/jan/24/teens-tv-language

'Politics and the English Language': some "rules" to improve the accuracy of your writing

The Spring term marks the start of Unit 2 for AS courses, and Unit 4 for A2 courses - in other words: coursework time. English Literature courses will require you to write analytical academic essays and this can sometimes be daunting for A level students (the word count alone is scary for some of you at least!). A failsafe way of impressing the examiner - and your teacher - is to use appropriate language, and to make your writing clear and accurate.

In 1946, George Orwell wrote an essay entitled 'Politics and the English Language' in which he rallies against poor, inaccurate writing. AS/A2 English Literature students may wish to read this at it contains some helpful 'rules' when writing essays. AS English Language students may want to read it purely from the stance of the prescriptive v. descriptive debate surrounding language use.

You can read George Orwell's essay here. It makes for very interesting reading...