<p>Learn all the grammar they should have taught you in school, without the stress or judgement. We'll explore the nuts and bolts of how the English language works.</p>


<ul>
<li>Do you have trouble learning other languages because their textbooks assume a background in English grammar you don't have?</li>
<li>Do you freeze up at the mention of a relative clause?</li>
<li>Do you wonder why people get upset at "split infinitives"?</li>
<li>Do you get writing back covered in red marks on sentences that look perfectly fine to you?</li>
<li>Were you born into one of those generations in English-speaking countries who were simply never taught grammar in school?</li>
</ul>
<p>If so, this is the course for you. Over four weeks, we will give a thorough, linguistically sophisticated tour of English grammar in a fun and low-stress environment. You'll learn the nuts and bolts of how English works and what makes it unique. We'll dive into controversial aspects of English grammar (<em>less</em> vs. <em>fewer</em>, the passive voice, singular <em>they</em>) and help you come to an informed opinion about them.</p>
<p><em>In the event that the class does not have sufficient enrolment by the start date, it will be refunded in full.</em></p>
<h2 id="syllabus">Syllabus</h2>
<h3 id="week-1-return-to-conjunction-junction">Week 1: Return to Conjunction Junction</h3>
<p>This week you'll learn to untangle the knots that most of the discussions about grammar tie themselves into. You'll learn to distinguish grammaticality from formality, and look to at "Standard English" as simply one variety among many different Englishes, albeit one that society will reward you for using. We'll also outline the high-level structure of English grammar, and you'll learn about our old friends, the parts of speech.</p>
<h3 id="week-2-i-think-im-a-verb">Week 2: I Think I'm a Verb</h3>
<p>This week we'll examine the mighty verb, the one part of speech that virtually no English clause can do without. You'll learn how to describe the changes in form verbs undergo to express various subtle changes in meaning. Among other things, you'll learn how the present tense doesn't always describe the present, the past tense doesn't always describe the past, and the future tense doesn't even exist.</p>
<h3 id="week-3-the-power-of-noun">Week 3: The Power of Noun</h3>
<p>This week we'll turn our attention to the noun and its friends (including articles, adjectives, and pronouns). You'll learn the different subtleties these words can express. For example, why does <em>He's the shit</em> mean something different from <em>He's a shit</em>? How about <em>He's shit</em>? You'll also learn what is so magical about pronouns and you'll even hear the story of so-called singular <em>they</em>.</p>
<h3 id="week-4-rebel-without-a-clause">Week 4: Rebel Without a Clause</h3>
<p>This week we zoom out to the level of the clause and the sentence: you'll learn how clauses combine to create longer, more complicated sentences. You will learn the various strategies English uses to manage new information in a sentence, including every automated grammar checker's worst enemy: the passive voice.</p>
<h2 id="who-should-sign-up">Who Should Sign Up</h2>
<ul>
<li>Native speakers of English who want to gain confidence talking, writing, and thinking about grammar, <em>or</em></li>
<li>Advanced non-native speakers of English who would like to understand some of the subtleties of English grammar</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="who-wouldnt-enjoy-this-course">Who wouldn't enjoy this course</h2>
<ul>
<li>Linguists (you'll be bored)</li>
<li>Beginner or intermediate-level speakers of English (we'll be going too fast)</li>
<li>People who want to complain about other people's grammar (you'll be disappointed)</li>
</ul>


<p>I offer supervision of students studying linguistics privately. My goal is to make available a high-quality education in linguistics to anyone who wants it.</p>
<h2 id="how-it-works">How it works</h2>
<p>Students pay a monthly "subscription" fee of <strong>$75</strong> (USD). This allows for a predictable expense. Subscriptions can be ended or paused at any time.</p>
<p>A subscription includes:</p>
<ul>
<li>An individualized curriculum designed to match your interests.</li>
<li>An study plan for the month consisting of a reading list, study questions, and/or problem sets.</li>
<li>A 1-hour meeting to discuss the past month's work, address any questions, and set the agenda for the next month.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="sample-curricula">Sample Curricula</h2>
<p>Each of these curricula is aimed to take you from the very basics up to the point where you can start reading contemporary research literature in a particular area over the course of a year. You can compare the content to what you would encounter in a first- or second-year course in graduate school. I am happy to customize any of them to suit your interests, schedule, or budget.</p>
<ul>
<li>Linguistic Theory: Syntax Focus (see more below)</li>
<li>Linguistic Theory: Phonology Focus (see more below)</li>
<li>Linguistics in the History of Ideas</li>
<li>Linguistic Diversity and Descriptive Linguistics</li>
<li>Formal Modelling of Language</li>
<li>Historical Linguistics</li>
<li>Structure and History of the English Language</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="linguistic-theory-syntax-focus">Linguistic Theory: Syntax Focus</h3>
<p>This curriculum introduces you to syntax, the study of sentence structure. Specifically, it introduces you to the generative (i.e. Chomskyan) tradition of syntax. A generative theory of syntax aims to explain the part of speakers' tacit knowledge of language that allows them to produce and comprehend sentences.</p>
<p>We will spend most of our time examining the facts that a theory of syntax aims to explain, and the various theoretical tools that have been introduced to explain them. Through a combination of readings and problem solving, you'll gain a familiarity with the notation that syntacticians have developed to represent syntactic hypotheses and the ability to evaluate these hypotheses. Towards the end, we will introduce some of the more important contemporary topics and ideas in syntax.</p>
<ul>
<li>Month 1: Linguistic Diversity and Uniformity</li>
<li>Month 2: Grammar and the Lexicon</li>
<li>Month 3: Theta Theory</li>
<li>Month 4: Structural Relations</li>
<li>Month 5: Binding Theory</li>
<li>Month 6: Case Theory</li>
<li>Month 7: Empty Categories</li>
<li>Month 8: <em>Wh</em>-Movement</li>
<li>Month 9: Logical Form</li>
<li>Month 10: Head Movement</li>
<li>Month 11: The Minimalist Program</li>
<li>Month 12: Biolinguistics</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="linguistic-theory-phonology-focus">Linguistic Theory: Phonology Focus</h3>
<p>This curriculum introduces you to the discipline of phonology, the study of sound patterns in language. You will learn in depth the generative theory of phonology, which seeks to characterize and explain the tacit knowledge of language that allows speakers of a language to produce words and utterances which conform to the sound system of their language.</p>
<p>You will be introduced to a broad range of the sound patterns that a theory of phonology must explain. You'll also learn the various, often competing, theoretical frameworks which have been developed to account for these patterns. By reading and solving phonological problems, you will become familiar with the debates and proposals that characterize contemporary phonological research.</p>
<ul>
<li>Month 1: Phonology as a Cognitive Science</li>
<li>Month 2: Phonological Rules and Representations</li>
<li>Month 3: Phonological Alternations</li>
<li>Month 4: Opacity and Rule Ordering</li>
<li>Month 5: Phonological Constraints</li>
<li>Month 5: Markedness</li>
<li>Month 6: Autosegmental Phonology</li>
<li>Month 7: Underspecification</li>
<li>Month 8: Tone</li>
<li>Month 9: Syllable Structure</li>
<li>Month 10: Metrical Phonology</li>
<li>Month 11: The Phonetics-Phonology Relationship</li>
<li>Month 12: Optimality Theory</li>
</ul>
<p>If you have any questions, or would like to work with me, send me a message!</p>


Bringing linguistics out of the ivory tower.

Colin Gorrie

English Grammar: The Missing Course

english

<p>In this seminar, we will learn some of the basic principles of etymology. Through a series of linguistic puzzles we will follow in the footsteps of etymologists and historical linguists to reconstruct the relationships between languages and long-forgotten roots of English words.</p>


<p>Where do words come from? How are languages related to one another? How do languages change over time? And how have linguists and etymologists pieced together the story of English and its roots?</p>
<p>In this four-session seminar, we will learn some of the basic principles of etymology. Through a series of linguistic puzzles we will follow in the footsteps of etymologists and historical linguists to reconstruct the relationships between languages and long-forgotten roots of English words.</p>
<p>This seminar is divided into four sessions:</p>
<ol>
<li>Sorting out the Family Tree</li>
<li>Fairy Tales &amp; Phonology</li>
<li>Something Borrowed</li>
<li>The Unbearable Instability of Meaning.</li>
</ol>
<p>In each, Mark will introduce a linguistic puzzle and guide the you through the process of discovering one of the underlying rules that governs the relationship between languages or the specific development of English. We will work through each puzzle together, and then Mark will explain the concept and its history. By the end of these sessions, you will better understand the historical discoveries that led to the concept of Proto-Indo-European, the methodology of historical linguistics, and the particular history of English language change.</p>
<p>Mark Sundaram is the host of the <a title="" href="/resources/alliterative" rel="noopener noreferrer">Alliterative</a> YouTube channel about etymology and history and co-host of <a title="" href="/resources/endless-knot-podcast" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Endless Knot Podcast</a>. He has a PhD in Medieval Studies from the University of Toronto and teaches at Laurentian University.</p>


The Origins of English

linguistics,english

<p>A YouTube channel dedicated to etymology, centred around the history of English language but exploring near and distant connections with other languages.</p>


Alliterative

<p>A podcast exploring the connections between language, history, and the cognitive sciences, hosted by a medievalist/philologist and a classicist and featuring lots of guests from diverse fields.</p>


English

Private Instruction

Colin Gorrie

Courses

English Grammar: The Missing Course

The Origins of English

Free Resources

Alliterative

The Endless Knot Podcast

Private Instruction

Colin Gorrie

Courses

English Grammar: The Missing Course

The Origins of English

Free Resources

Alliterative

The Endless Knot Podcast

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