I don't think English is a waste of time really. Sadly we'll never know what job my late daughter would get. :(

 

I did upset my cousin once as she's an English teacher and I said I thought Shakespeare is very overrated. Well I do and can have my opinion.

Yes you hit the nail on the head. I am very bitter that I've had this depression all my adult life and had to scrape by on benefits and not realise my full potential. :(

 

You haven’t had to do any of that because you could always have worked. Given the chance, it might have helped your depression.

I don't think English is a waste of time really. Sadly we'll never know what job my late daughter would get. :(

 

I did upset my cousin once as she's an English teacher and I said I thought Shakespeare is very overrated. Well I do and can have my opinion.

That just reinforces what other people have been saying. Let's face it, most of us didn't particularly enjoy studying Shakespeare at school. I certainly didn't. However, I have allowed myself to rethink my opinion over the ensuing 40+ years.

 

First, recognise the fact that Shakespeare wrote his plays to be performed, not pored over in a classroom. Then, start looking at culture in general. Look at how many phrases still in use today were invented by him. Look at the number of book titles that are phrases from Shakespeare. He must have been doing something right if that is still happening 400 years after he died.

 

Look at the number of film adaptations (either direct or indirect) of his plays. Look at how many people want to adapt them for different settings. Again, doesn't that suggest he might have been quite good at what he did?

That just reinforces what other people have been saying. Let's face it, most of us didn't particularly enjoy studying Shakespeare at school. I certainly didn't. However, I have allowed myself to rethink my opinion over the ensuing 40+ years.

 

First, recognise the fact that Shakespeare wrote his plays to be performed, not pored over in a classroom. Then, start looking at culture in general. Look at how many phrases still in use today were invented by him. Look at the number of book titles that are phrases from Shakespeare. He must have been doing something right if that is still happening 400 years after he died.

 

Look at the number of film adaptations (either direct or indirect) of his plays. Look at how many people want to adapt them for different settings. Again, doesn't that suggest he might have been quite good at what he did?

 

This is so important. I couldn’t have cared less about Shakespeare when studying in English but it really clicked with me after I performed in two Shakespeare plays myself and since then I’ve loved to go and watch his plays performed.

Have you watched and read a good number? No? Have you looked at them in depth? Noo? Then your opinion is meaningless.

Have you watched and read a good number? No? Have you looked at them in depth? Noo? Then your opinion is meaningless.

 

 

Fine. I bow to the superior knowledge of others. :)

I firmly believe that all Further Education at University should be free (as it once was, and currently is in forward thinking countries like Germany) because ultimately it benefits the whole of society to have a highly skilled and educated workforce, with those who become students going on ultimately to deliver much more in benefits to the wider community than the cost to the state through subsidising their FE. Whilst the fees brought in by Labour in the late 1990s and increased by over 9 times since have not dissuaded large numbers of potential young students it has crippled the numbers of mature students and really hammered those in work who hoped to up-skill or just develop further in their current career- that is really damaging and may be what is driving the increasing skill shortages in the UK workforce. I believe that a good mix is paramount to a successful university and these universities also drive innovation through research advancing technology, ultimately benefiting wider the economy, as well as attracting global talent to the UK. I know that what we currently have in place is a defacto 'Graduate Tax' but debts are so huge now and interest rates extortionate that some graduates aren't paying anything back other than accrued interest and most of this massive escalating debt will be written off at some point, rendering the point of the fees NULL.

Fine. I bow to the superior knowledge of others. :)

 

A phrase I cannot imagine BBV ever saying. :teresa:

A phrase I cannot imagine BBV ever saying. :teresa:

 

 

No me neither now I come to think of it. :)

Fine. I bow to the superior knowledge of others. :)

 

Finally!

A phrase I cannot imagine BBV ever saying. :teresa:

 

I don't agree with bowing and social hierarchies, but I have deferred to more knowledgeable people many times.

I don't agree with bowing and social hierarchies, but I have deferred to more knowledgeable people many times.

 

Marx, Lenin, Stalin perhaps? :teresa:

Marx, Lenin, Stalin perhaps? :teresa:

 

 

....You forgot Corbyn Vid. :D

Good article here from Novaramedia: https://novaramedia.com/2020/09/29/covid-19...xploiting-them/

 

in parting with tens of thousands of pounds, students aren’t paying for an education, but a piece of paper. What’s more, the value of the skills, knowledge and wisdom imparted through higher education is secondary to the maintenance of the university as a debt factory, an institution primed more for consumption and rent extraction in the present than value creation in the future. After all, if I can learn about statistics, linear algebra, epistemology and Python at Udemy – and for a fraction of the price – why would I pay £9,250 for videos on a computer screen?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-54833331

 

Students are angry. RIGHTLY SO.