Naam: Vaughn Bayley
Functie: Schrijfbe'er (native English)
Bouwjaar: 1980
De blogbelevenissen van Vaughn

The awful truth

Horror. Everyone responded with a look of absolute horror. And when they regained the power of speech, anyone who hadn’t run away in fear or disgust would invariably ask the same question: "Why do you want to study linguistics?"

This might be the best time to interrupt my little tale. Because it’s important you understand that what comes next may frighten you. It may result in sleepless nights. It may even scar you for life. But if you think you can take it, please, read on with caution.

"It’s because I like language," I said to utterly perplexed looks. "Linguistics will help me to learn French. And Dutch. It’s going to be fun."

People would cough and splutter. Others would look at me like there was something wrong with me. A bus that was passing by once ran off the road when I explained this. Another time, my response was scientifically proven to have caused an electrical blackout.

And things may have been worse. The awful truth? My studies in linguistics were to be coupled with a study of English. For most people, it simply didn’t make sense for someone who was a native speaker of English to want to study it.

The reason it didn’t make sense to them? It’s simple. They were wise. They knew English skills were not very highly prized in a country where everyone spoke English.

All this happened a long time ago. A few people still haven’t overcome the trauma. But others have realised that my knowledge of linguistics and a deep knowledge of English can be beneficial. Especially for someone who decided to relocate to Belgium.

And for clients of Schrijf.be.

Favoriete Vaughn Bayley

Sitcom: M*A*S*H? Or perhaps The Simpsons.
Toneelstuk: ‘Julius Caesar’ by William Shakespeare
Film: La Cité des enfants perdus
Boek: Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
Kleur: blue
Zanger/groep: The Beatles in the morning. The Smashing Pumpkins and Muse during the day. Radiohead late at night. And why not some Pink Floyd as the sun comes up?
Historisch figuur: Edgar Allen Poe
Stad: Petra, Melbourne and Evora