Tuesday 5 September 2017

Day Courses in 2018

One of the outcomes of my August 2017 weekend on the English language was a request to have further days focusing on topics in greater depth. As most enquiries have been made in relation to the following topics, I will now host the following series for 2018. I haven't ruled out the possibility of repeating the general course, or covering other themes, but will wait for interest to be expressed before doing so.

Friday, 16 February (during half-term), 9.30--4.00
Grammar Day
Introduction to English grammar; grammar in child language acquisition; grammar in relation to reading and writing; grammar clinic (dealing with questions raised by participants).

Wednesday, 30 May (during half-term), 9.30--4.00
History of the Language Day
Introduction to the history of the English language; Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English; change in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary; change and variation today.

Saturday and Sunday, 28-29 July, 9.30--4.00 with an evening film or performance event
Shakespeare's Language Weekend
Introduction to Shakespeare's use of vocabulary, grammar, metre, orthography; his linguistic creativity; his influence on modern English; the second day will be an introduction to original pronunciation, followed by a workshop in which participants will be trained to use the accent for themselves (and receive a certificate affirming they have taken such a course).

Cost: per day £150; Early Bird £125 - includes morning and afternoon refreshment and buffet lunch

Certificates of attendance will be provided if required.

Booking

Because of the limited size and facilities of the venue, places are limited to 50, so early booking is advised. An Early Bird discount is available, up to two months before the event. People should book by mail to the Ucheldre Centre, Millbank, Holyhead LL65 1TE, or directly through boxoffice@ucheldre.org, or by phone 01407 763361. They will be sent a registration form (via email or post, as requested) to be returned to the Centre along with payment.

One- or two-day bespoke courses at mutually convenient times can be programmed upon request (cost: £5K per diem), with the content decided by the group (maximum 25 people). Six months notice is usually required.


All events are held in support of the Ucheldre Centre, a community arts venue in Holyhead, and a registered charity.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

That sounds great! We really had a great weekend in August and some of our colleagues were quite envious when we told them about it. So I printed out this programme for them. They seemed quite excited, so you might have some of them in the audience next year. I'm personally quite tempted by the Shakespeare weekend, actually. Not certain what my family would think if I went off to Wales two summers in a row, though.

Tanja from Stockholm

P.S.: If you are ever in Stockholm, let us know. My colleague Patrick and I would love to buy you dinner or something.

Anonymous said...

Very tempting, if I could plan that far ahead!

Some time ago, I picked up 'Stories of English' in a train station because I was bored. Because of that, on Friday I collected my First Class Honours degree in Humanities with English Language from the OU. Shame I work in IT and it's no use to me, really. ;)

DC said...

Ah, well you need to read one of the things that show how it can be made relevant to IT. I'd suggest my Internet Linguistics, in the first instance, as that has a couple of case studies showing how English Language studies proved to be essential in relation to such fields as online advertising and security.

cuttingthemustard said...

If honest, I struggled with the complexity of ‘Stories of English’ during my English Lang and Lit OU degree.


However, I was awe-struck by the information that it was trying to impart on my frazzled brain and knew that I must revisit it, once I graduated.


There, an early New Year’s resolution!

DC said...

Well, all I can say is: Good luck!