I had to go to my French tutor. It was boring, but not nearly as boring as French lessons at school. I think it’s because of the way the teachers teach. Nowadays I love languages. They’re almost like a hobby for me: sometimes I do a few lessons on Duolingo, not necessarily with a viewContinue reading “Modern language teaching needs more passion”
Author Archives: CuriousWriter
The Horrors of Dressing Up
They say that children love dressing up. This is not true. It was not true of me, anyway. Personally I never saw the appeal in trying to look like someone else, even someone from a book. When I was at primary school, the phenomenon of World Book Day appeared to be coming into vogue, andContinue reading “The Horrors of Dressing Up”
My experience at a girls’ school…
I remember I once read an article written by someone who went to the same school as I did. It was essentially championing single-sex education, especially girls’ schools. I remember a lot of the things she described, like the constant “Was it full of lesbians?” question from outsiders. I have seen the inflatable man-doll thatContinue reading “My experience at a girls’ school…”
Volunteering
Today I decided to go back to volunteering at the bookshop in town – I volunteered in the same branch when I was sixteen, which was almost ten years ago now. It’s a small, friendly place, and I can picture myself rapidly losing money when I work here (I love the collectibles in particular, evenContinue reading “Volunteering”
The most exciting journal entries ever
I can’t remember what happened today like on Wednesday. I am writing this on the 24th. Though I can’t write about the real today because I won’t have anything to write about on Saturday. I’ll just have to leave Friday because I’ve tried to remember what we’ve been doing but I can’t. Entries like theseContinue reading “The most exciting journal entries ever”
The most important day of the year
Last year, in June, we had an enormous 13th birthday party that included canapes, a meal, presents and a three-tier birthday cake complete with candles and icing. We dressed up (my dad wore the Hawaiian shirt he sets aside for such occasions) and sat at the large table in the conservatory; the one reserved forContinue reading “The most important day of the year”
‘We went swimming today at school. It was hell.’ – aged 9
School swimming was indeed like being banished to an outer circle of Hell sometimes. Sometime before my generation, the adult world apparently decided that children are helpless morons who will happily and willingly drown if not forced to wear what was essentially a full body suit of inflatables to step into a couple of feetContinue reading “‘We went swimming today at school. It was hell.’ – aged 9”
100 likes
One evening when I was in my early teens, my sister created a completely random post on her Facebook page: 100 likes and Ill dye my hair purple A million scenarios may have rushed into your head upon reading that short and rather ungrammatical sentence, but allow me to reassure you. This is notContinue reading “100 likes”
ELEANORA; OR, A TALE REGRETTABLY TRUE
LETTER II The Rev. Joseph Harlowe to Mrs. Marjorie Waldgrave Dear Madam, Your letter sent me into convulsions of the greatest confusion when I receiv’d it this morning. The Duke has a daughter, a new young lady for the Palace! The Mother perish’d! That wicked woman shall, alas, be remembered fondly in death by allContinue reading “ELEANORA; OR, A TALE REGRETTABLY TRUE”
Thursday, 14th April 2022
In retrospect, I think I started to feel different from other people at nursery school. The adults were like characters out of Alice in Wonderland: uncompromising, and full of bizarre, enigmatic statements and demands. One of my abiding memories is of being constantly told not to ‘answer back to the teacher’. All I can rememberContinue reading “Thursday, 14th April 2022”