In grade five, I began to taste the words in sentences. In geography we did a section on Canada, and I so loved the rhythm of my notes that I knew whole sentences by heart. I can still remember some of the phrases. We read a lot, but mainly Enid Blyton's adventure and mystery series. Later on, we went on to enjoy the Nancy Drew adventures and Enid Blyton's boarding school series- Mallory Towers and O'Sullivan Twins.
In grade six at Morning Star School, our teacher Miss Quao, loved songs and poetry. We learned many English songs and poems which we recited with great expression. In grade seven we went into active preparation for our Common Entrance exams for secondary school. Apart from "Lomond's English", and "Queen's English", the books we used for comprehension and grammar, we studied English phrases from two books, "First Aid in English" and "The Student's Companion." From the latter two, we learned sayings like: as cool as a cucumber, as deaf as a door post, as innocent as a dove, as proud as a peacock as well as synonyms, antonyms and homonyms.
Apart from quantitative and qualitative aptitude tests, the main thrust of our Common Entrance exams was 'Composition.' This accounted for creative writing. In this section we wrote under titles like, "How I spent my holidays,", "My family" etc.
I remember a class exercise in which I described a storm. I must have internalized some of Enid Blyton's prose, for while I have no recollection of the essay or its title, I remember writing a particular phrase, which so thrilled my teacher that she read my essay in class. "The thunder clapped and lightning seemed to tear the sky to pieces..."
Many years later as I learn and practice the craft of writing, what do I discover?
Forget the omniescient point of view. Adverbs are out of fashion and my editors pull them out like weeds. All those desriptive English sayings that I proudly committed to memory are now collectively termed, cliché and tossed out with the garbage.
English goes out of fashion. It's time to refresh and I'm thinking about attending the CANSCAIP workshops for writers and illustrators.
In grade six at Morning Star School, our teacher Miss Quao, loved songs and poetry. We learned many English songs and poems which we recited with great expression. In grade seven we went into active preparation for our Common Entrance exams for secondary school. Apart from "Lomond's English", and "Queen's English", the books we used for comprehension and grammar, we studied English phrases from two books, "First Aid in English" and "The Student's Companion." From the latter two, we learned sayings like: as cool as a cucumber, as deaf as a door post, as innocent as a dove, as proud as a peacock as well as synonyms, antonyms and homonyms.
Apart from quantitative and qualitative aptitude tests, the main thrust of our Common Entrance exams was 'Composition.' This accounted for creative writing. In this section we wrote under titles like, "How I spent my holidays,", "My family" etc.
I remember a class exercise in which I described a storm. I must have internalized some of Enid Blyton's prose, for while I have no recollection of the essay or its title, I remember writing a particular phrase, which so thrilled my teacher that she read my essay in class. "The thunder clapped and lightning seemed to tear the sky to pieces..."
Many years later as I learn and practice the craft of writing, what do I discover?
Forget the omniescient point of view. Adverbs are out of fashion and my editors pull them out like weeds. All those desriptive English sayings that I proudly committed to memory are now collectively termed, cliché and tossed out with the garbage.
English goes out of fashion. It's time to refresh and I'm thinking about attending the CANSCAIP workshops for writers and illustrators.
I wish I have kept my First Aid in English textbook!
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