Barkerese

[Subedai]

I had a grammar school education but fortunately there were no 'classics' to be seen -or read for that matter. I have never read or even wanted to read anything by Dickens, the Brontes or any other of their ilk and the TV adaptations just bore the a**se off me.

Shakespeare is wasted on the young unless you can see a film that goes with it to put the language in some perspective...or...you have a half decent English teacher who is passionate about his or her subject. Our reading material for 'O' Level (remember them back in the day when a Pass meant something), was Julius Caesar for the 'mocks' (can't remember the others -I've been to sleep since then), but for the actual exam we read Macbeth, Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner and Brighton Rock. Macbeth had not long been made into a film by Polanski -excellent- so that was okay; Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner; I don't do poetry but suffered it during lessons and Brighton Rock...I have never read, never even been interested in reading and neither have I seen the film with Attenborough.

I still managed to Pass Eng. Lit., Eng. Lang., and Eng. Oral.

Now that I am older, I can appreciate the words of Shakepeare but when you are teaching hormonal children one language and then try and teach them several others -because Shakepeare uses what children would classify as an old language therefore not interesting- at the same time you really are on a hiding to nothing. One version of English is bad enough.

I even quite enjoy watching some of Shakepeare's stuff; still can't read it though.

[FierceKitty]

Ilk needs to get together with plaid and bring some kind of lawsuit.

[FierceKitty]

Haarlem. Verskoon my!