I’m an English Education Major, You say…

“Oh, I better watch my grammar.”

“Ugh, I hated English. Why would you do that to yourself?"

“So, like, do you just read books and analyze them? That’s so boring.”

These are just a few of the reactions I have noticed people give me when I tell them my major. But I’m here to dispel some of these stereotypes/reactions that my major always seems to receive.

Photo of my "I am silently correcting your
grammar." sign that I have on my desk.

So while I may have a sign on my desk that says “I am silently correcting your grammar,” that is not always necessarily the case (pictured on the right).

Through my English and linguistic classes, I have learned over and over that grammar, to a certain extent, is rather subjective. While there are certain situations that call for standard grammar, and the prescriptive rules of grammar (those that a grammarian would stick to, and those found in traditional grammar textbooks), there are also situations that call for descriptive grammar.

But what is descriptive grammar? It’s simply the rules people tend to follow when they talk. For example, a descriptive rule of grammar is that some people have a tendency of ending their sentences with prepositions – which, rest assured, is something that I am often guilty of. (See what I just did there?)

The opposite of this descriptive rule is the prescriptive rule, which states that one should never end a sentence with a preposition.

As for the second reaction I listed above, well, I am sorry to anyone who had poor experiences in their English classes. While to a certain extent, I can understand, as I went through a short lived phase in high school where I didn’t necessarily love English, I didn’t necessarily hate it either.

But after that phase, my love for English returned and I couldn’t be happier with my decision to study English and teach English for the rest of my life. So when people say “Why would you do that to yourself?” I don’t necessarily see that I’m doing anything to myself other than sticking to what I love.

As for the last reaction I listed, there’s a lot more to English than just reading books and analyzing them. While sure, in certain literature classes I have taken, that is what we do, I often leave my English classes with so much more than just the theme of a book.

That is what I love about English. It’s not just about books and literature; it’s about the human experience.