King Alfred's English

 A History of the Language We Speak and Why We Should Be Glad We Do

 

Why study the history of English?

King Alfred's English is a 145-page, combination study of both English and history designed for the homeschool and Christian school student in grades 7-12. It is the only book that covers the history of our language for students below the college level. Here’s why these younger students would benefit from such a study:

• English political history, which can be dense and confusing, is made lean and understandable (and fun!) when presented through the lens of how English developed over the centuries. This study provides a useful mind-map of major events to which students can easily pushpin finer facts and details when they get to them in later high school or college. Personally, I never got English history until I took this course myself in college. That's why I wanted to create this study.
• The story of English incorporates the study of language itself, and, as such, becomes a springboard for understanding the curious functions of grammar and syntax in a way no other study can do
• The publishing of the English Bible had an unprecedented affect on the development of English. King Alfred’s English fleshes out this story along with the Reformation and the men such as Wycliffe and Tyndale who risked or gave their lives to get the Bible to the common English man and woman. Tyndale’s work, especially, is examined in some depth including the influence he had not only on the later King James Bible, but also on the popular phrases and vocabulary of all those who speak English.

Free supplemental material to expand each chapter is available on this website:

Besides the text itself, the teacher and student will have the following optional material available:

• Fill-in-the-blank worksheets for each chapter of the book (15 in all).
• Three Unit tests
• End of chapter activities with links to pertinent videos, historical images, literature excerpts, and primary source material.

You can view the supplemental material here. It is geared to be both fun and educational.

King Alfred's English can be a brief read-through in two or three weeks, or it can be extended to a full semester if all of the supplemental writing and research is assigned.

 

No Better Approach to English History

There is no better approach to English history than by studying it through the lens of what happened to it's language. The Middle Ages and the Renaissance/Reformation eras should be much more easily comprehended after having had this foundational course.

As English speaking people we take for granted the language we speak. Yet, English is unique in that it encompasses the largest number of foreign words and phrases of any language in all of history giving it unparalleled flexibility and richness. Whether you're reading Shakespeare or Poe, Chaucer or Twain, Faulkner or Flannery O'Conner, no language is quite like English! Alive and ever growing, English is still changing today. King Alfred's English explains how and why. 

A French dictionary contains around 100,000 words. German, the world's second largest language, has a dictionary with close to 185,000 entries. But the Oxford English Dictionary contains 615,000 word entries! Why is that? Find out in this book.

My hope is that this mini-course, aimed at seventh grade through high school, will be a broadening, faith building, and entertaining trek for any student or homeschooling family.  

Did you know--

• The English were NOT the British. In fact, they fought each other--a lot. And still today, if you call an English person British, he might very well correct you even though he knows you probably won't understand.
• You probably don't pronounce the word "when" like your parents. When you say "when" and "win," do these words sound the same? If you're under 40, they probably do. If you're older, you may still pronounce the sound of the "h" and the words sound slightly different. 
• The Brothers Grimm compiled German fairy tales, but they were also famous philologists (and what IS a philologist?)
• There’s a law for the way languages change that backs up Intelligent Design.
• For over 300 years the official language of the English court was...French! Seriously.
• There’s a reason we write “knight” but say “nite,” and you won’t believe how they used to pronounce it.
• It was once punishable by death to translate even portions of the Bible into English.
• Recent scholarship has shown that at least 80% of the King James Bible is the translation work of just one man. Who was he?

Table of Contents for King Alfred's English

King Alfred's English Student Page

King Alfred's English Teacher Page