Introduction – Spring

What is the best definition for the word ‘spring’?  To make things a tad easier I have come up with three.  Which one do you think is the best option?

1. An action which requires a person or a thing to bounce gently, like a very calm kangaroo springing over the wide Australian desert plains.
2. A small metal object shaped like a ringlet or curl used in various objects to create movement.
3. A season during which all the trees, flowers and plants wake up and come to life again.

Which one did you choose, A, B or C?  Did you use a dictionary to choose?  You may have guessed or picked one you liked best.  It’s possible you even checked or as we say ‘googled it’ only to find out that in fact all the definitions are correct.  Have you questioned the point of this particular exercise yet?  I hope so.  I also hope that you have realised that although all the definitions are correct without context there is no real meaning to how a word is used.

In our own language we often look around to the other words for the meaning or we use the context to help us guess what a word could mean or how it is being used in that context before we check.  I think this is even more important when learning a second language.  How many times do you stop to check a word and then find you have lost the context of what you were reading?  Even worse, it has put you off reading something completely and thus stopped your reading enjoyment.  I’d like to encourage less stopping to check and more reading the same piece again while trying to guess the meaning.  When you have an idea then check to see if you are correct.  This is proved to help develop your vocabulary and language much more than checking in a dictionary, online or googling it immediately.

So, let me introduce you to my first little story.  I hope that you can enjoy reading my little story without checking too many words and just enjoy the context.  This is a short story about one Londoners love affair with a very British season.

A Very British Spring.

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold:  when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.   Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, Chapter LIV

London is a busy yet culturally mixed city which drags its feet though the long winter season gasping for the fresh air of spring to save it from the death of it’s own miserable weather plight.  A few simple bulbs on a tree bring hope and warmth to those of us who were born and grew up here.  The message is clear, that spring is here, or on it’s way.  With winter nearly over the following seasons mean less heavy clothing and more daylight, I only wish I could say sunshine, but as this is English weather I don’t think that would be the truth.  It’s the possibility of sunny days and blue skies, picnics, sunglasses and dare I say it, short sleeves. Yet, for me, the true excitement lies in the green green grass of our amazing Parklife.  I admit, I have caplialisied Parklife as it is not just parklife but a proper Noun, like a person’s name.

London is one of those amazing cities full of history, culture and never forget the power of business and money.  It is also my home, a place where I was born and schooled.  I have travelled and lived far and wide yet home is where the heart is, and for me that means family.  The problem is that as much as I love my city I miss the sea, mountains and lakes that others cities in the world have.  We have no beaches in London, unless of course you count a patch of sand on The River Thames as a beach, which I do not.   Our outside spaces live and breath in our Parks. Have you ever swum in a pond?  Some crazy Londoners go for a swim in a freezing pond on Hampstead Heath everyday, even in winter. Others go swimming in Hyde Park with the family for fun on hot summer days.   As Spring begins it brings with it the taste of friends and families gathering in the park, eating and drinking, having a dip if it gets too hot, playing a game of some sort and really bringing to life the idea of the Park and the Life.

My love affair with this season is like the warmth and colour that flows from nature into the world during this season.  It wakes us poor Londoners up after suffering the grey clouds and dark nights of winter.  We start to gaze around the city with a smile on our face and a spring in our step as the start of Spring reminds us of the fun that is to come.  I always suggest to people who visit Great Britain to take a walk though a British Park and see what we are really like.  In fact, why not pack a picnic, bring a blanket and a change of clothes and if you feel brave enough take a dip in one of our ponds.