Sunshine on a snowy day

The last time it snowed so hard we had a snow day off college was about 7 years ago, being down here on the balmy, toboggan-free slopes of the South Downs. So to all the students in my classes who struggled in against the elements today in case I killed you for not turning up, and then promptly got sent home again, why, thank you - it was fun, wasn't it?!...

But there is some sunshine today. In Birmingham. Well, "sunshine language" to be precise, and news that a new course is starting this evening in Jamaican patois. A course leading to a qualification. For a start that's cool in itself, as it acknowledges that Jamaican patois is a language variation in its own right, with a place in our cultural heritage, and an importance to society. This contrasts with some commonly held prescriptive views that varieties like Jamaican patois are somehow substandard, "debased" forms of English. What is ultra cool is that students who pass this course can progress on to a diploma course in Public Service Interpreting. So not only cool, then, but genuinely useful in a multicultural society too.

Check it out (especially if you're in Birmingham...).


The language of sunshine