About twenty years ago native speakers were employed mainly as Assistantes – teaching assistants to qualified teaching linguists. Rather like scientists whose nationality is immaterial, these linguists developed a passion for the subject: French phonetics, German expressionist poetry, Italian dialect translation... It used to be just wonderfully normal for an Englishman to become passionate for the Russian language and start a course at university, fired by Dr Zhivago. No more. With the advent of the native speaker, the depth of linguistics, literature and cultural studies of all languages taught in Britain has shrunk.

This year we're celebrating Easter twice. The Easter of the West has just finished. The Easter of the East is coming up next Sunday. For some it's lucky to celebrate twice. More laughter, more traditions to enjoy and understand. More myths linked to the festival. There are families who celebrate two Christmases. There are families … Continue reading Easter →