Customer Reviews

A Light History of the English Language: Expanded Version

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This DVD was employed at the first seminar meeting of a course in the history of the English language. It is a video lecture delivered by an actual American academician: Professor Eliot Engel. The content is solid and Engel's delivery--although rapid--maintains one's attention. Humor punctuates many of the more serious points in the lecture. Ample examples are given by Professor Engel. This DVD was well worth the time to view. Most who were present at the classroom viewing of this DVD shared my opinion that it should have been longer and in more depth. It is rare when students crave more of such a heavy-duty subject! Overall grade: B+

As a new teacher, I found it quite a challenge teaching British Literature to lower-level high school seniors, mostly because it was difficult to interest them in the content itself. My mentor teacher gave me a copy of this video to use as a transition from the Anglo-Saxons to Chaucer. When I first turned it on, the students groaned as they saw the professor at a podium preparing to lecture. However, the next thing I knew they were laughing and listening intently. Professor Engel is engaging and interesting without the use of fancy graphics and sounds, and he left the students wanting to know more. I was so pleased with the lecture that I am now buying a copy of my own as well as his lecture on Shakespeare. I found that it works well to have a list of questions for the students to answer as they watch. His statistics about the number of words in the English language are off because of the time that has passed since the lecture was filmed, providing a good opportunity to talk about the changing language and research how many words have been added since the lecture.

I bought this for my British Civilization class. This presentation spends way too much time talking about the cavemen and oversimplifies the development of language. It's not what I hoped it would be. Will I still use it? Yes, as in introduction to the class, but not for key information.

When I first purchased A LIGHT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, I had in mind my Chinese students here at the university. I have shown it to three classes of juniors at Liaochang University so far and will air it in two more classes tomorrow. During the first hour, I projected the lecture onto the big screen. During the second hour, I repeated much that Elliot Engel had to say as a way of clarifying his points. My Chinese grad assistant loves the program and has watched it several times already.

I also added a few points about British versus American English, and certain letters with hard and soft sounds, such as C, G, etc. I point out that my own last name could be pronounced with a soft G, as my family pronounces it, making it sound more French, or a hard G, as I pronounce it here in China, making it sound Scottish.

I have to disagree, as does another American teaching here at this university, with his use of the word DISCOMBOBULATE. He says that it is a Latin word meaning the same as the Anglo-Saxon-German word ANGRY. My understanding of this word -- and the American Heritage Dictionary, the best English dictionary in existence, supports me on this -- is that it means to be confused, not angry.

He does state that the Anglo-Saxon ASK and the Latin INTERROGATE mean exactly the same thing. I am afraid I cannot agree with that. Maybe he is just trying too hard to over-simplify his case.

That said, this is a great program, and I only hope that my Chinese students are not too lazy to learn much from it. The smart ones -- those who sit near the front of the classroom (isn't that always the case?) -- will benefit from it. The others? Well. . . you can lead a horse to water. . . .

Are all those words in the last sentence Anglo-Saxon?