Replies

I read somewhere once, that if a person from the present were to go back to the time of Shakespeare, that the English of the day would sound like a foreign language.

I believe it! Reading Shakespeare, even given the close similarity to modern English, is almost impossible for me. At least, I don't get very much out of it without help.

Fortunately, when we studied Shakespeare at the university, we used fantastic study guides which had footnotes that explained every word, phrase or sentence that might have given us a problem. That's the ONLY way to study Shakespeare! Check this out... Just found it ==> http://midenglishrecipes.blogspot.com/

Fortunately, when we studied Shakespeare at the university, we used fantastic study guides which had footnotes that explained every word, phrase or sentence that might have given us a problem.

I don't know what it is, but even when I was a kid, I had no problem following Shakespeare. Could have had something to do with the fact that my mom read to us all the time from adult fare, or the fact that Mom and Dad spoke straight adult English to us kids from the time we were little.

Dunno, but I always excelled in school at anything having to do with English. It was my easiest subject. Modern English came easy to me, and that ease extended into older forms of the language, and even some foreign tongues. I do know that I was reading rudimentary words before I started school.

When I was working in England, I used to translate the tougher Northern and Scottish accents for my American friends. My ear just seemed to tune in better than theirs.