Title: English Language For Beginners
Genre: Language
Year: 1998
Pages: 200
Origin: a tried and trusted library book
Nod Rating: 3 nods out of 5
‘Language is the dress of thought’, once wrote Samuel Johnson. He was true – but yet, it is much more than that. Language is power; language is beauty; language can be all things to all people. What better for those interested than a book on its origins, its uses, its abuses and its ability to change and yet remain the same.
The Worm has earlier experience of the ‘For Beginners’ series in the form of The Holocaust For Beginners book; reviewed back in November 2011 (read it here). It is an intriguing series, dealing with themes ranging from African history to marital arts, from Marilyn Monroe to Freud. They add a great deal of theory and research, couching them in accessible bite-sized chunks and illustration: a lesson with both humour and heart.
English Language For Beginners – put together by Michelle Lowe and Ben Graham – splits the book into four sections. There is ‘History’ that concentrates on the origins of language, the development of the English language and of the study of Linguistics; ‘Child Language Acquisition’, which concerns itself with the developmental stages (and the providing of the story of Genie); the sobering ‘Sex and Power’ with its emphasis on the bias in speech; before ending on ‘Variety and Change’ and how change itself does not necessarily spell the end of language.
The section on Sex and Power is of particular interest, with a balanced approach taken to the possible abuses of English language. There is no agenda, but rather an enlightened awareness. Take, as a brief example, the words used to describe ‘womanly’: weakness, feebleness, debility and impotence; whilst ‘manliness’ is listed as courage, moral fibre and heroism. Furthermore, the authors are keen to note the prejudice of those in the western world and those of white skin. It backs up the words of influential writer Angela Carter: ‘Language is power, life and the instrument of culture, the instrument of domination and liberation.’ Writers as a whole, from Johnson to Orwell to the present day are clear on its potency.
On a whole, the book provides fresh insight at best, and an interesting distraction at worst. Admittedly, the book serves only as an introduction to this area – but the topics raised and the possible routes forward make this book (and series as a whole) not merely one that briefly covers the key points, but rather a book that engages the reader fully. The Worm, for one, is happy that this series exists; a copy on the bookshelf is surely a healthy sign of a good person to have a coffee with.
Buy it here
* On Amazon, one of the authors (Ben Graham) commented that the book is currently out of print. If publishers are interested – and have any sense - in re-publishing the book, then to get in touch (bensspambox@hotmail.com).
