Pop quiz: how old would you say the writer of the following lines was?
In submitting to the public eye the following collection, I have not only to combat the difficulties that writers of verse generally encounter, but may incur the charge of presumption for obtruding myself on the world, when, without doubt, I might be, at my age, more usefully employed.
40? 50? OK, people don’t write like that any more. Still, when they DID write like that, how old would the writer be? No? Read on:
These productions are the fruits of the lighter hours of a young man who has lately completed his nineteenth year.
Preface to the first edition of “Hours of Idleness” by Lord Byron, first published in 1807.
What kind of education did he receive, to write like this at 19? With such confidence over multiple subordinate clauses? With such easy grace and self-deprecation which does not jar but rather charms? An education that included not only a great deal of reading (his preface is headed by three quotations from Horace (in the original Latin), from Homer (in the original Greek) and from Dryden), but also learning graceful good manners.
I admit I know nothing about Byron, other than that he was a poet, a ladies’ man, an adventurer who spent some time gallivanting around southern Europe and the Near (possibly also Middle) East, who died young and swam the Bosphorus. Possibly not in that order. Read the rest of this entry »
Why English Is Tough in Japan | A New Japan
May 14
Posted by sheffner in culture and communication, teaching + learning | Comments off
An interesting article on English education in Japan over at The Diplomat. Referring to the Japanese government’s making English classes compulsory in 5th and 6th grade (that’s the last two years of primary school for you non-U.S. readers) onwards, law-school graduate Hiroki Ogawa writes,
I’m going to comment on a few points of this article, as it’s well worth reading and makes an important point, but needs amplifying. Ogawa’s point is that Japanese don’t learn to discuss or argue in English class, and that this severely cramps their English communicative ability, and that (inevitably these days) the government should do something about it!
I think he’s right. Partly. But the situation is more difficult than he implies, and I don’t think the solutioncan be implemented by governmental regulation or initiatives. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: cultural commentary, debate, Japan