I LOVE Jane Austen's books.
I love language and it so nice to see real conversations instead of "Yep" "I don't know" "What?" "Huh?" and so on.
People have forgotten how to speak or write with any sort of style.
I taught my kids to be able to hold a conversation with anyone whether it be with a peer or with the President and be comfortable doing it. Knowledge is power.
I had a huge battle getting my oldest to cooperate for a while as none of her peers understood anything except for slang so she saw no need to learn anything else.
I told her that she may not have to use it often, but it would be good to at least have the basic skills under her belt.
There have been many times while she was in high school and now (post graduation) when her understanding of our language has come in handy. She has been chosen for many opportunities because of this. When a teacher was faced with a choice of sending a student to represent the school - who would he/she pick someone who answers questions with a shrug of the shoulders and a few slang words OR someone who can hold a relevant conversation and demonstrate that he/she has a grasp of the topics discussed ?
I have a video of one of her books that was made into a movie and while the story is wonderful - I enjoy just listening to the beautiful use of the language too and I long for a real conversation every once in a while.
I miss being in college and having debates with my teachers. I became friends with most of them. I miss having thought provoking discussions.
I do admit that sometimes THAT much language can be tiresome and of course there are times when those who lived back then may have wanted to say "Get to the point !". Overall though, I would much rather have flowery speech than have street slang or the much too common texting lingo of today.
I guess I was just born at the wrong time.
Posted at: 09:43 AM | Add Comment
