Une Classe 'Pop-Up'

Anyone wanna take a Pop-Up class on French?

Today's Compounding Pop-Up class was pretty cool, so I've been thinking about what to do next.

I'm not proposing to teach anyone how to speak French in a 90-minute or two-hour class. Au contraire! The class would be in English, of course. I would give a brief history of the French language, a basic overview of its present-day orthography, and a general understanding of the main syntactic differences between Germanic and Latinate languages. We will also observe some of the primary marks or features of French etymology in English – that's the stuff that will be most germane to the study of English spelling, of course.

My friend Douglas Harper of the Online Etymology Dictionary, or Mr. Metaphor, as I like to think of him, once observed aloud that "French and English are like cousins that grew up together," and that's the foundation I'd like to launch our discussion from.

You're welcome to indicate your interest in the comments here, but that will not secure you a spot in the actual Pop-Up class. While this is a free post, only paid subscribers can secure a spot, and only once the class has been scheduled. I don't take requests when I schedule these; I just offer a schedule and folks can either do it or not. Indicating your interest here (or emailing me if you'd prefer) will help me to gauge whether this is a worthwhile idea for a class. You can also let me know if you'd ever be interested in a weekday morning/early afternoon class (not weekday evenings – I am already booked).

You know, posting about the Compounding Pop-Up on July 29th was literally the only post I made in the whole month of July. My memory of that month is basically just reeling from the final push on my dissertation. But since then, I know I've been a bit of a firehose. August was a good month for this little blog, thank you. And I probably won't let up for a while. I'm a writer; I need to write. Hopefully it is useful, inspiring, and/or challenging to others. I expect to be posting about Poppy at least weekly, probably twice weekly, through the fall semester at least, probably through the spring. And there will be Pop-Ups probably roughly monthly. And more things I will just need to write about.

Please note: when I offer a scheduled Pop-Up, commenting to secure a spot is only the first step. You also have to confirm participation by responding to my email and requesting the Zoom Room and passcode from me a day or two before the class meets. If you don't confirm your attendance in time, I will give your spot away. C'est la vie! I always have a wait list, so please do not expect me to hold a spot in a free class right up until class time. That's not fair to others. Thank you for understanding.

Other Pop-Up ideas I have include Etymology for Emerging Literacy, Cranberry Morphemes, Should Dyslexics take Foreign Languages?, and – another thought that came up in today's class – Where Do the Claims about Etymological Percentages in English Come From? I'm putting together an ethics course for grad credit / certificate in 2023, but I'd be willing to do a short Professional Ethics Overview as a Pop-Up if there's interest.

So Répondez S'il Vous Plait, tout-de-suite!

Au revoir!