I really struggle with grammar and punctuation. I still have to think hard to remember the difference between a verb and an adjective and I throw punctuation marks in seemingly at random; the semi-colon being my latest favourite, I don't really know what I'm doing with it. It has always been thus. I know this because I recall one of the comments from my GCSE English teacher Mr Evans (a man I have always had lots of time for) on one of my submitted coursework essays:
"An excellent essay punctuated in your own somewhat esoteric style"
I realised at the time that the point of this comment was to show any external examiners that he had recognised that my punctuation was poor but that the quality of what was written, however mangled by my ropey comma-use, earned the high mark he was awarding. I have carried that message with me for a long time- your esoteric punctuation, it comes naturally too you, you can't help it.
This morning I woke with the realisation that, while he may have lavished my essays with red ink, Mr Evans never once tried to show my why my punctuation was wrong and what I should be doing instead. Even if he thought it was too ingrained in me, there was no excuse for him not to try. All these years and- perhaps because I liked him so much- I never realised that.
Teacher isn't just a title, it should be a description.
