British Library Trip
Our English Language A Level trip headed to the prestigious British Library in London with a group of 30 students, some already studying the subject in Year 12 and 13, others being given a preview of it in Year 11. Although the drive was long, it was worth it for the interesting lesson in the rich variety of dialects, local terminology and accents across the UK. We discovered, in particular, than Newbury is a traditional crossroads for different ways of pronouncing the “bath vowel”, though there evidently weren’t many old farmers in our party. After the library, the excursion continued to the former house and now museum of Dr Samuel Johnson, 18th century England’s “most distinguished man of letter”, for a special guided tour about his legacy in the study and standardisation of language through his famous dictionary. The museum was full of surprises, not least the vision of Mr Horn in the trappings of Georgian maid. He thought it suited him very well. Each to their own!