King Alfred's English

My true homeschooling inclination is to pursue delight-directed learning.  I applied this philosophy pretty consistently when Briana and Destry were younger, chasing rabbit trails and their curiosity in one unit study after another.  High school, however, seems so much more serious, and I keep having to remind myself that even though it's good for them to study biology and chemistry, geometry and algebra 2, we still must protect time for them to investigate their interests.

Briana has been fascinated with linguistics ever since our unit delving into The Lord of the Rings when she learned that English has descended from the Germanic branch of languages.  Her fascination continued through two years of studying the Spanish language and the occassional foray into Greek and Latin roots.  When I read reviews of the book, King Alfred's English:  A History of the Language We Speak and Why We Should Be Glad We Do, written by Laurie White, I bought it for her to read.  After receiving it and glancing through it, however, I decided it looked too fun to limit to Briana alone, so she, Destry and I chased this rabbit trail when we resumed school after the first of the new year.

It really was the perfect little unit to reawaken our curiosity and joy in learning.  The author has provided a free unit study guide on her website complete with suggested movies to watch, articles to read, primary sources, and videos demonstrating ideas in each chapter.  The book itself was engaging and easy to read.  We found it a particularly fun review of history we've learned over the last several years as she took us on a quick trip through Ancient Rome, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and Reformation, and finally to America while explaining the influences each of these time periods had on our native language.

In closing, I'll allow Briana to express her appreciation for this book in her own words (and I especially got a kick out of her little jab at the English spelling rules which have frustrated her for many years):

I enjoyed this book because it tells the story of the English language, from its beginning to the present. The author spends time describing and explaining each morph in English resulting from inward changes and outward influences such as the invasions of the Northmen and the French, as well as the changes brought about by the printing press. King Alfred's English introduces readers to one of the most complex, facinating and influential languages yet to be spoken. You will come away from this book with a new appriciation for the beauty and creativity of the English launguage and will discover a newfound affection for the language you speak. You will also understand why our language is so difficult to spell, and you will be able to trace hundreds of English words back to their origins. King Alfred's English opened my eyes to the richness of English, and I came to see that English, a language that compiles words and concepts from many different peoples, is the perfect representation of America.