Comments on: Why the British/Arabic Obsession with Shakespeare?

By: snarla

snarla — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:31:40 +0000

Does the Arab fascination with Shakespeare stem from the rumor that he was a shipwrecked Arab named Shaykh Zubayr?
I’m shameless enough to link to the Shakyh Zubayr t-shirts I’m selling here: http://www.zazzle.com/snarlahusayn

By: Uly

Uly — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 08:34:41 +0000

As a matter of fact, Shakespeare in his own time was considered a bit less classy and worthwhile than his contemporaries, such as Marlowe.

With that said, I’m shocked – shocked! – that this friend of yours went from an obsolete dialect of English to an obsolete dialect of Arabic to learn Shakespeare. What does that accomplish, exactly?

By: elementaryteacher

elementaryteacher — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:29:07 +0000

Hi James,

It’s clear that the spelling you refer to is American English spelling. Perhaps you are not aware that British spelling is actually marked wrong in American schools.

James, furthermore, American writing styles are quite differerent from British writing. Aside from that I DO purposely simplify my writing style on my blogs. I’ve found blogs to be more like magazine writing than expository writing. If a person wants their blog to be READ, a magazine-style is more reader-friendly.

English writing styles are often marked off in America (long run-on sentences, and sentences without commas, in particular).

I’m not saying Shakespeare is dull to many people. I just don’t happen to be one of the people who apprec iates it. I know he was quite popular in his own time.

Thanks for reading and commenting, James.

Eileen

By: James

James — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 01:00:59 +0000

Perhaps, if you had spent a little more time studying Shakespeare your spelling and sentence construction might be a little better. More interesting? His work is hardly dull and lacking excitement, it also serves an important purpose in helping to understand language development. Why the poor standards of American education?

By: An alien Earthling

An alien Earthling — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:16:58 +0000

We had only a few works of Shakespeare in high school but they were in simplified English.

By: elementaryteacher

elementaryteacher — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:37:15 +0000

Well, at least it’s nice to know it’s the same problem in other countries! The feeling you describe shows me you understand my point exactly! Thanks for the understanding!!!

Eileen

By: 100swallows

100swallows — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:29:36 +0000

Here in the Spanish world it is the same or worse with Cervantes. They make the kids read parts of Don Quijote when they have barely ever read anything else. And forcing them to read the story in that Baroque language of his not only ensures that they will never look at it again but also that they will hate reading “great works” in general.