Learn a Language!

If you know somebody in high school, tell them to learn a language! If they ever need to learn a language later in life, even if it is a different one, that experience will be priceless. Even for learning English, learning another language is really important. We learn English orally and in context. Kids resent English class because they already "know" the language. Why apply a bunch of meaningless rules? Who cares what the different parts of a sentence are? Just say what you want to say.

However, when you need to correctly WRITE a language, be it English or something else, you need to know those rules. And it is helpful to first learn those rules for another language in which you don't have the crutch of knowing how to speak it. I learned some things about English in my high school German class that I had never understood in English class. Direct object? What direct object? It comes next. It's my dog. It's the lawnmower. I don't get it. But when I had to figure out how say stuff in German I quickly realized that "He took he to the store" doesn't quite sound right. Why? Aha! The pronoun changes when it is the direct object. And so it goes...

Other language tips... I already lectured on the value of knowing middle English. If you plan to learn French, read the original Pilgrim's Progress or Moby Dick or something like that. It will prepare you for French grammar.

For genders, I use colors; masculine is green and feminine is pink. "House" is feminine so I imagine one of those pink plastic play houses with pastel flowers painted on the side. "Week" is feminine so I imagine a pink hello kitty weekly planner. "Month" is masculine so I imagine a wall calendar with fishing reels and a painting by Terry Redlin. Fortunately, "tree" is masculine, but the French made "forest" feminine, so I have to imagine that pink moss and vines (which are feminine) grow all over the trees to make the forest pink.