Hi there, welcome to Slang Through the Ages, a language blog run my me, Roxanne! I'm a twentysomething doing a PhD in English Language and Linguistics in Sheffield, the UK.
Born as a second-generation Chinese in the Netherlands, a tiny tiny country in Europe, I grew up speaking two languages from an early age, which makes me a DBC (Dutch-born Chinese). According to Chinese tradition, my parents send me to a complementary school in the weekends to study Chinese, so that was the only lifetime when I could read and write Chinese, but unfortunately I lost these skills when I hit my teenage years. During secondary school, I learned English, French and German but my brain couldn't cope with that many languages, so I dropped German in my third year, and did my final exams in Dutch, English and French. You would think that such an overexposure would make me hate languages for life, but surprisingly it had the opposite effect. I would say that I'm fluent in Dutch and English, have a basic understanding of French and German, and am able to speak Cantonese with my relatives, but technically classified as an illiterate Chinese.
After my secondary education, I went on to study English Language and Culture at university level in the wonderful city of Leiden in my homecountry. During my degree, I discovered and developed an interest in philology (the study of language in written historical sources) and linguistics (the scientific study of language), and I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 2009. Language never looked the same to me after my degree.
2009 was also the year in which I decided to escape the Low Countries, so I crossed the North Sea and landed in Sheffield (ironically, one of the hilliest places in the UK) to study for a MA in Language, History and Society. As you can tell, I liked it so much that I stayed on to do a PhD in the same place. I'm currently researching the history of English slang words in eighteenth-century texts (check my 'Research' page for the details). But if you're a linguist, I would tell you that I'm conducting a historical pragmatic analysis on the contextual meanings and uses of the cant lexis in Late Modern English discourses. Same message, different wording. Language works in mysterious ways, doesn't it?
My academic mission is to put slang back onto the research agenda. My general mission is to share the wonders of language with people (you!) on my blog, and change some of the views you may have about language (but not in a bossy way!).
Outside my academic work, I enjoy listening to (cheesy) music, making stuff from scratch and comtemplating about (the meaning of) life.
If you have any questions or comments, you can drop me a message by email or in the comments' box. Alternatively, you can subscribe and 'like' my Facebook page. Thanks for your support!
Born as a second-generation Chinese in the Netherlands, a tiny tiny country in Europe, I grew up speaking two languages from an early age, which makes me a DBC (Dutch-born Chinese). According to Chinese tradition, my parents send me to a complementary school in the weekends to study Chinese, so that was the only lifetime when I could read and write Chinese, but unfortunately I lost these skills when I hit my teenage years. During secondary school, I learned English, French and German but my brain couldn't cope with that many languages, so I dropped German in my third year, and did my final exams in Dutch, English and French. You would think that such an overexposure would make me hate languages for life, but surprisingly it had the opposite effect. I would say that I'm fluent in Dutch and English, have a basic understanding of French and German, and am able to speak Cantonese with my relatives, but technically classified as an illiterate Chinese.
After my secondary education, I went on to study English Language and Culture at university level in the wonderful city of Leiden in my homecountry. During my degree, I discovered and developed an interest in philology (the study of language in written historical sources) and linguistics (the scientific study of language), and I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 2009. Language never looked the same to me after my degree.
2009 was also the year in which I decided to escape the Low Countries, so I crossed the North Sea and landed in Sheffield (ironically, one of the hilliest places in the UK) to study for a MA in Language, History and Society. As you can tell, I liked it so much that I stayed on to do a PhD in the same place. I'm currently researching the history of English slang words in eighteenth-century texts (check my 'Research' page for the details). But if you're a linguist, I would tell you that I'm conducting a historical pragmatic analysis on the contextual meanings and uses of the cant lexis in Late Modern English discourses. Same message, different wording. Language works in mysterious ways, doesn't it?
My academic mission is to put slang back onto the research agenda. My general mission is to share the wonders of language with people (you!) on my blog, and change some of the views you may have about language (but not in a bossy way!).
Outside my academic work, I enjoy listening to (cheesy) music, making stuff from scratch and comtemplating about (the meaning of) life.
If you have any questions or comments, you can drop me a message by email or in the comments' box. Alternatively, you can subscribe and 'like' my Facebook page. Thanks for your support!
