Eight words that reveal the sexism at the heart of the English language - The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/27/eight-words-sexism-heart-english-language
Mistress
The female equivalent of "master"
Hussy
"A disreputable woman of improper behaviour"
Madam
The female equivalent of "sir"
Governess
Compared to "Governor" a lady who has particular power over someone
Spinster
A woman beyond usual age for marriage equivalent for bachelor
Courtesan
Female equivalent of "courtier"
Wench
An unmarried woman, a mistress
Tart
A female of immoral character


Thinking about the male equivalents of some of these words throws their sexism into sharp relief. Master for mistress; sir for madam; governor for governess; bachelor for spinster; courtier for courtesan – whereas the male list speaks of power and high status, the female list has a very different set of connotations. These are of either subordinate status or sexual service to men.

New exclamation mark rules – The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/education/shortcuts/2016/mar/07/new-exclamation-mark-rules-proof-the-government-wants-to-penalise-enthusiasm
New guidelines from the Department for Education suggest that primary school children should only use ‘!’ in sentences starting with ‘what’ or ‘how’.

Articles - The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/nov/28/step-away-from-your-phone-the-new-rules-of-conversation

• Step away from your phone: the new rules of conversation
• “phubbing”. According to Sherry Turkle, the American sociologist of digital life, this involves maintaining eye contact with one person while text-messaging another.
• Turkle’s thesis, in short, rings troublingly true: we’re more connected than ever, yet we talk – really talk – less and less

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/nov/28/how-to-talk-to-anyone-the-experts-guide

• How to talk to anyone: the experts' guide
• It can help to make your questions more specific
• Try to meet your child’s emotions, rather than telling them how to feel
• Teenagers often respond better if you’re doing something alongside a conversation, so they don’t have to give you a lot of eye contact
• Using a bit of humour can help to defuse the tension
• “The roof is an introduction”, which means that if you’re in the same place, you always have something in common.
• It’s becoming more common for children to feel in competition with their parents

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/ng-interactive/2015/nov/28/the-conversation-that-changed-my-life

• Eight writers on the conversation that changed their life

What language barrier? - The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/oct/01/gender.books

• The most successful exponents of this formula, such as Deborah Tannen, author of You Just Don't Understand, and John Gray, author of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, have topped the bestseller lists on both sides of the Atlantic.
• The idea that men and women "speak different languages" has itself become a dogma, treated not as a hypothesis to be investigated or as a claim to be adjudicated, but as an unquestioned article of faith

Dear Ms Morgan: in grammar there isn’t always one right answer - The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/nov/03/morgan-grammar-test-right-answer-spag-english-spelling-punctuation-grammar

English language too 'overpowering'? - The Guardian

http://opinion.inquirer.net/89303/english-language-too-overpowering

"English-speaking natives in Korea are highly respected that companies pay them higher salaries than non-English-speaking locals who have graduated from good universities."
"Learning English is healthy because it connects nations to many parts of the world, but it will not be good if it “overwhelms” the other languages"

:Femvertising - The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/oct/12/femvertising-branded-feminism

'8 pronunciation errors that made the English language what it is today' - The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/11/pronunciation-errors-english-language

'English language is changing faster than ever' - The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/may/01/icymi-english-language-is-changing-faster-than-ever-says-expert

'All raait! it's a new black-white lingo' article summary

Summary

The article identifies that people, irrelevant of their ethnic backgrounds are creating 'a new kind of English' that they all understand based around 'slang'. This language allows people from all over England to interact with each other and not feel like outsiders purely based on their background. An interesting point that the article picks up on is that the main reason this language becoming so popular is because teenagers see it as 'fashionable' and 'cool' possibly because it is being used by people they look up to such as Dizzie Rascal and is use in the media. Despite the fact that this new multi-ethnic-dialect has many positive feedback, some concerns have arisen over whether this language will affect their school grades particularly in essay and debate based subjects as it is not seen as acceptable in these circumstances.

'Why we swear' - Daily Mail

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2625581/Swearing-emotional-creative-language-say-researchers-claim-GOOD-you.html

'From the mouths of teens' - Independent

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/from-the-mouths-of-teens-422688.html

Summary

This news article is trying to comprehend what some inner city slang means and highlighting its increased use today. The use of Gus, a 13 year old boy who "wastes no time in decoding it" just emphasises how these words have become so commonly used in everyday English that is becoming normal to know what they mean. Similarly to the 'All raait! It's a new black-white lingo' article it picks up on the fact or reducing social divide by bringing people of different ethnic backgrounds and allowing them to communicate but also that there is a time and a place for this kind of language.

-"English is one of the most dynamically protean(versatile) of all languages."