The Blog Cabin

About

23 Jan 2017

Hello! Welcome to the Blog Cabin. I'm Bethan - that picture to the left is an approximate rendering of how I look.

I'll be writing mainly about language and linguistics here, though there are likely to be random detours into tech, sci-fi, poetry, and cute baby animals. Sorry, but I can't resist them.

So, who am I, and why am I writing this blog? Well, I've been "doing" linguistics in one way or another for quite a while now. I studied English Language and Literature at Somerville College, Oxford, followed by a Master's degree in Medieval English at St. John's College, and back to Somerville for a doctorate in Anglo-Saxon Literature. To help pay my ruinous book bill, I taught English historical linguistics, medieval English literature, and creative writing to undergraduates (mainly at Magdalen and Christ Church). After leaving academia, I was at the Oxford English Dictionary for six years, before working in publishing technology with children's dictionaries. Meanwhile, I wrote some articles for the OxfordWords blog, and got the taste for writing about language.

I'm currently studying for my Master's degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) at Swansea University, with a view to combining teaching with developing language-learning technologies once I've graduated.

I'm what they call a "Social Justice Warrior". If you think that's an insult, you may not like some of my writing. (But a good hate-read can be fun, right?)