Latin influence

HAVING worked in Higher Education for several years and observed all the grammar and spelling problems you describe in students’ written work, your feature and editorial comments were very welcome (26 November).

I agree that texting, e-mail and “trendy” educationalists who thought writing should be either creative or grammatical (when, of course, it should be both) have all added to the problem. But another point worth mentioning is the decline in the teaching of other languages, especially Latin. As a child I struggled with English grammar, but having to learn the rules of Latin, a very structured language, made English grammar a breeze by comparison.

Even learning another living language can help, as it seems to sensitise the brain to what grammatical forms are all about. If languages generally could be introduced at an early age, children are likely to become more fluent in speech and the written word. I understand some schools are reintroducing Latin and discovering that it helps children to reason and concentrate.

Meanwhile, I never travel without my “punctuation repair kit” free with Lynne Truss’ book Eats, Shoots and Leaves. It provides stick-on apostrophes, commas and the like to correct ungrammatical notices in shops and public places.

Dr MARY BROWN

Dalvenie Road

Banchory, Aberdeenshire