Teacher, chef or chorus? Why we should encourage a curiosity about language

I learnt a new word recently: apricity. Look it up. It is perfect for crisp Autumn days when the light is still golden, with the hint of warmth lingering in the air.   

Last week, as I was reading ‘Who Sank The Boat?’ with a group of Nursery students, one of them proudly pointed and told me, ‘That’s a jetty!’ My heart soared with pride, as it often does when I watch Junior school class assemblies or debating competitions, at the confidence with language our students demonstrate from a remarkably young age.   

Language is everywhere. Helping our students develop a love of language, encouraging (through modelling) a curiosity about words, their meaning and their origin are vital if we want to support their communication - as well as their problem-solving  - capacities. 

Because, let’s face it, words can be tricky, especially when you have to write them. There, their, they’re. Silent letters. The many ways to say ‘-ough’. Short vowel, double consonant. Spelling ‘rules’ for which there are more exceptions than necessary. Writing in English is a minefield. 

Exploring word etymology and morphology are both really important tools to unlock the mysteries of our language’s spelling ‘patterns’. The digraph ‘ch’ can be teacher or chorus, but in French derived words we hear the softer version of chef and chalet. Latin and Greek derivations make up 65% of our vocabulary. Learning the spelling of basic root words (appear) can help you when you then have to add prefix or suffixes (disappear, not dissapear or dissappear). What if you can’t recall whether the ending of a certain word is -cian, -tion, -ssion, or -sion (because they all sound the same)? Well, look back at the root word for help:  optic becomes optician, magic becomes magician.  

The world is actually quite a small place and words have, since the beginning of spoken time, travelled. From my own Asian heritage, whenever I see kedgeree on a Great British menu, I think of its precursor, the simple lentil and rice dish kicheri. There is, of course, a wider discussion here about whether the borrowing of words has always been ‘friendly’ or the outcomes of empire and colonisation, but that’s for another blog. 

What a privilege, then, for our Blackheath girls, from Nursery upwards, to have the opportunity to learn other languages - classic or modern - from those both fluent and passionate about them. To explore those links and connections, to notice the development of language through time and space; to learn to read, write, speak, dream in another language, with all the unpicking of grammar that exercises the brain and strengthens cognitive skill, as well as developing cultural understanding. With 900 days of Spanish Duolingo under my belt, I would give my eye-teeth to go back and study it at A-level, to give me a better footing in the wider world than just being able to order a coffee  - badly - and to further distance me from narrow-minded Anglocentrism.  

And so, this festive season, if I could, I would gift every student two books and encourage them to marvel at their genius. One is an atlas and the other is a dictionary. When we struggle to articulate the meaning of a word, the dictionary consistently and succinctly steps in to rescue us.  It keeps up to speed with modern parlance (useful for those of us of a certain age who are stabbing in the dark to define Brat Summer…) and supports with understanding etymology and word classes.    

So, if you ask one question this holiday let it be this: I wonder where that word came from? 

Written by Mrs Patel, Deputy Head (Academic), Junior School