My endless fascination with words started at a young age. Even when I was at nursery school, I was fascinated by the written word. Mum had to take me to the library twice a week because I finished the books so quickly. When I was older, I became intensely absorbed in a story, completely oblivious to what was happening around me. Siblings forgot I was in the house sometimes because I was so quiet and still, lost in another world. I still read like this today, and can often lose hours whilst I am engrossed in a great story!
Book or film?
Nine times out of ten, I prefer to read the book than watch the film adaptation. The way the mind interprets phrases, situations, a context, can often be quite different to the images the screenwriter portrays on screen. How many times have you seen a film and afterwards said that you preferred the book?
The difficulty of learning English
Language is ever-changing and exciting. Sometimes it can be puzzling. I often think that English must be a difficult language to learn. For example, we have many instances of words that are spelt in the same way, but pronounced completely differently. My favourite one is the ‘ough’ ending: through; rough, bough, thorough. How confusing this is to someone learning our language. There are many other examples too, even the English argue about how to pronounce scone!
Words are intriguing and I love working and reworking text, changing something around so it is more to the point. I have been called a ‘wordsmith’ many times throughout my career in marketing communications by colleagues, managers and magazine editors, and even been compared to ‘Wordsworth’ once or twice! Hyperbole, I am sure.
I am passionate about my job, using words to communicate with people. To convey a message in a specific way is intriguing. Engaging people with the subject matter is absorbing.
The plain and simple fact is: I love words.
Click here for my next blog about changing language.