I once read somewhere that Sean Connery left school at the age of 13 and later went on to read Proust and Finnegans Wake and I keep expecting to meet an enthusiastic school leaver on the train, the type of person who only ever reads something because it is marvellous (and so hated school). Unfortunately the enthusiastic school leavers are all minding their own business.
Faced with officious advice feel almost overwhelming temptation to say:
You know, I’ve been in a terrible quandary over this, I’ve been racking my brains for weeks trying to decide whether I was doing the right thing, finally this morning I thought—I know, I’ll take the Tube, somebody on the Tube will be able to advise me, & sure enough you were able to tell me just what to do. Thank you so much, I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come along—
So far have been able to resist temptation 34 times out of 35. Pas mal.
When able to resist temptation I say (which is perfectly true) that I never meant this to happen.
TEMPLE EMBANKMENT WESTMINSTER ST. JAMES’S PARK
Etymology so helpful for spelling 2
How did you teach so young a child 1
VICTORIA SLOANE SQUARE SOUTH KENSINGTON
Etymology so helpful for spelling
GLOUCESTER ROAD HIGH STREET KENSINGTON NOTTING HILL GATE
Wonderful
Wonderful
Wonderful
Etymology so helpful
PADDINGTON EDGWARE ROAD BAKER STREET and around and around and around
A man got on the train at Great Portland Street & expressed surprise & approval.
He said his youngest was about that age but of course no genius—
I said I thought small children had an aptitude for languages
He said Was it very hard to teach him
& I said No not very
& he said Well hats off to you both it’s bound to be a big help to him think of all those words heavy weather for the average boy all in a day’s work for this little chap. Hydrophobia! Haemophilia!
The train stopped at Euston Square but no stopping Hats Off— Microscopic! Macrobiotic! Palaeontological ornithological anthropological archaeological!
[King’s Cross but no]
Hats: Photography! Telepathy! [OK] Psychopath! Polygraph! [OK OK] Democracy! Hypocrisy! Ecstasy! Epitome! [OK OK OK] Trilogy Tetralogy Pentalogy! [OH NO] Pentagon! Hexagon! [STOP] Octagon Octopus [STOP]
Enapus
What’ll He Think Of Next [chuckling]:That’s a new one on me
Dekapus
What’ll [still chuckling]: This is my stop. [Gets off at Farringdon—how like a man]
Hendekapus
[NO]
Dodekapus
[NO]
Treiskaidekapus
[Oh well]
Tessareskaidekapus
[You win some you lose some]
pentekaidekapus hekkaidekapus heptakaidekapus OKTOKAIDEKAPUS enneakaidekapus eikosapus
I never meant this to happen.
I meant to follow the example of Mr. Ma (father of the famous cellist), and I still don’t know where I went wrong. I did say though that if I knew for a fact that even 10 people would like to know how you teach a 4-year-old Greek I would explain it. 11 riders of the Circle Line have now said they would like to know this. I rather wish now that I had said 10 people not including people who think it is a marvellous idea because grammar & spelling not taught in schools, but it was an unconditional offer & if I say I will do a thing I try to do it.
It seems to me that the last time I approached this subject I had explained how I had taken a break from typing in an interview with John Denver & had been interrupted while reading Iliad 6 by L. The last thing I wanted was to be teaching a four-year-old Greek, and now the Alien spoke & its voice was mild as milk.
What is the Alien asks a reader.
The Alien is whatever you want to call the thing that finds specious reasons for cruelty and how do you expect me to finish with these constant interruptions.
And now the Alien spoke & its voice was mild as milk, and it said He’s just a baby.
And J. S. Mill said:
In the course of instruction which I have partially retraced, the point most superficially apparent is the great effort to give, during the years of childhood, an amount of knowledge in what are considered the higher branches of education, which is seldom acquired (if acquired at all) until the age of manhood.
And I said: NO NO NO NO NO
And Mr. Mill said:
The result of the experiment shows the ease with which this may be done,
And I said EASE
& he resumed implacably,
and places in a strong light the wretched waste of so many precious years as are spent in acquiring the modicum of Latin and Greek commonly taught to schoolboys; a waste which has led so many educational reformers to entertain the ill-judged proposal of discarding these languages altogether from general education. If I had been by nature extremely quick of apprehension, or had possessed a very accurate and retentive memory, or were of a remarkably active and energetic character, the trial would not be conclusive; but in all these natural gifts I am rather below than above par; what I could do, could assuredly be done by any boy or girl of average capacity and healthy physical constitution.
The Alien said it would be kinder to say no & I longed to believe it, for the ease with which a small child may be introduced to what are commonly considered the higher branches of education is nothing to the ease with which it may not. I thought: Well maybe he’ll just. I thought: Well.
So I gave L a little table for the alphabet & said there’s the alphabet & he looked perplexed. When I learned the language the first thing we were given was a list of words like φιλοσοφíα θεολογíα
There are a lot of Greek letters that are like English letters. See if you can read this, and I wrote on a piece of paper:
ατ
And he said at.
And I wrote down βατ and he said bat.
And I wrote down εατ and he said eat.
ατε. ate. ιτ. it. κιτ. kit. τοε. toe. βοατ. boat. βυτ. but. αβουτ. about.
And I said That’s good.
And I said There are some other letters that are different, and I wrote down γ = g, δ = d, λ = 1, μ = m, ν = n, π = p, ρ = r, & σ = s & I said see if you can read these.
I wrote down γατε and he said Gate!
And I wrote down δατε and he said Date!
And I wrote down λατε and he said Late!
ματε. Mate! ρατε. Rate! λετ Let μετ Met νετ Net πετ Pet σετ Set!!!!!!
The Alien said that that was enough for today.
Mr. Mill said his father had started him on cards with Greek vocables at the age of three and that what he had done could assuredly be done by any boy or girl of average capacity and healthy physical constitution.
Mr. Ma said that was far too much for one day & that too much material had been covered in a superficial manner without being thoroughly mastered.
I said I think that’s enough for one day
& he said NO! NO NO NO NO
So I wrote down ξ = x. ζ = z.
μιξ. Mix! λιξ. Lix—oh Licks! πιξ Picks! στιξ Sticks! ζιπ Zip!
I said Now you know the sound H makes, and he said Huh.
I said Right. I said Now in Greek they don’t use a letter for that sound, but a little hook over the first letter of the word, that looks like this: ‘. It’s called a rough breathing. If a word starts with a vowel & doesn’t have an H sound it gets a smooth breathing, which is a hook facing the other way: ’. So how would you say this: