Okay, I know that Shakespearean language and syntax can be kind of difficult. But I’m more than little leery of teaching him in translation to contemporary English.
On the one hand, yeah, the plot lines and characters are cool, cultural icons, important for kids to learn.
But there’s so much of the language, of contemporary phrases, that come from Shakespeare, even today, that losing that seems a crying shame.
I mean, “Beware of March 15” is perhaps clearer to understand, but as gripping prose, it seriously lacks something.
I’m glad, at least, that they are presenting it as parallel text (the original on one facing page, the updated on the other). My preference would be to focus on the former, using the latter as a back-up, but at least the original is there to be seen.
(via Mary)
“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.”
“Yo, Homies, lissen up. I ain’t got no props for that chump Caesar, I’m here to diss him.”
Let’s hope it never comes to this!
And yet, at least, there’s some vibrancy to that language. The little snippets in the article struck me more as “HAL Does Shakespeare.”