As You Like It

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Samuel Jones and Peter Bradwell from Demos. I always enjoy talking to people who are as switched on as these guys are, especially when it comes to the web, social networking, online communities and so on.

I thought I’d mention that they’ve just released a new pamphlet: “As You Like It: Catching up in an age of global English”. It’s definitely worth a read (free PDF available).

From the blurb:

Around the world, the way that English is used has come to reflect the changing powers of globalisation; it is spoken in different ways, by different people, for different purposes. The UK has developed an unsustainable complacency to its native tongue. Opportunity and influence remain tied to English, but As You Like It argues that native speakers are at risk of being left behind.

There’s no question that having English as a first language makes life much easier in many ways - but could this be lulling us into a false sense of security? Especially when our young people are dropping out of language lessons in droves. Interesting stuff.

They also have a project idea called the Democtionary which will aim to track changes in the English language over time. They’re looking for people to help out so if you’re interested, get in touch.