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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think an English teacher should know the correct pronunciation of Glamis?

332 replies

susannahmoodie · 16/09/2015 06:15

As in Thane of......?

Or is it now ok to say "glam-mis"??

OP posts:
2ndSopranosRule · 16/09/2015 07:15

YANBU.

I'm Shock about the pronunciation of Belvoir, though. Never knew that!

ginmakesitallok · 16/09/2015 07:06

A coo at Glamis.

To think an English teacher should know the correct pronunciation of Glamis?
SetPhasersTaeMalkie · 16/09/2015 07:05

Yanbu.

Squeegle · 16/09/2015 07:04

I do understand that somebody can be a good and inspiring teacher without knowing how to pronounce every word in English.

But.... I would expect English teachers to pronounce very well-known characters correctly. Just as I would expect French teachers to pronounce French words (even lesser known ones) correctly.
It is just a matter of showing mastery and familiarity with a subject - authority and demonstrating knowledge, which gives us confidence when we learn. Just as I would expect someone knowledgable about wine to pronounce the name correctly. To not know something like that suggests a degree of unfamiliarity which is not reassuring to a learner.

damselinthisdress · 16/09/2015 06:48

Macbeth isn't on the GCSE syllabus randoms, you just have to study a Shakespeare.

I've only been teaching for 2 years but I've never actually taught Macbeth. We do Romeo and Juliet. (I do know how to pronounce "Glamis" though, by the way! I just can understand why someone might mispronounce it.) There are probably loads of things that I'm not pronouncing correctly, but I'm sure I'll learn as I go.

Lovelydiscusfish · 16/09/2015 06:46

Do you feel a English teachers should have studied every single text in the English language, before they are allowed to become teachers? I have to say, that's going to make recruitment even trickier than it already is.

My GCSE English teacher similarly mispronounced Glamis, and I still managed to get in to Oxford to read English. This really will have no impact on your child's chances of doing well, you know.

Rainuntilseptember15 · 16/09/2015 06:46

Not all English teachers are teaching the GCSE syllabus though, and I'd be surprised if it was the only choice of play. Do we each have a list of "ooh you can't be an English teacher if you haven't read..." books?
If it were me I would want to be (discreetly) told however rather than mocked on mumsnet

Waffles80 · 16/09/2015 06:45

I'm a senior member of staff in a challenging school, and very experienced English teacher, with great results every year (if I do say so myself). I didn't know the pronunciation. Unlike the OP, however, I believe in growth mindsets. We should all still be learning in both subject knowledge and pedagogy. So obviously, now I know.

I've only seen Macbeth twice, and never taught it. Yeah, if I was teaching it I might work the pronunciation out from the metre, I might watch some parts of an adaptation and hear it. But this pales into total insignificance with what I do know about how to teach children about Shakespeare, or any other aspect of English. Which is far, far more important for the children I serve than knowing the pronunciation of one word.

mynameisnotmichaelcaine · 16/09/2015 06:42

Yanbu

thequickbrownfox · 16/09/2015 06:41

YANBU - the teacher should know how it's pronounced.

Squeegle · 16/09/2015 06:41

Too right random, it's showing an ignorance that would concern me if he/she was teaching English to my children.

HaydeeofMonteCristo · 16/09/2015 06:40

I thought it was more glarms than glamz.

TheDowagerCuntess · 16/09/2015 06:40

To be honest, yes, I would've thought so.

Macbeth is a standard English-lesson Shakespeare play.

randomsabreuse · 16/09/2015 06:40

An English teacher not having seen the Scottish Play would be a big issue. It's been on the GCSE syllabus pretty well forever!

Belvoir or Cholmondley being pronounced wrong wouldn't bother me but Glamis is like a maths teacher mispronouncing Descartes or Pythagoras!

AuntieStella · 16/09/2015 06:39

Macbeth is one of the really well known plays. Yes, I'd expect a teacher to know how to pronounce the character names in such a well-known play.

(And I think that there being a thread about one who can't, shows how unusual it is to come across a teacher making public bloopers of this sort).

Lweji · 16/09/2015 06:39

I don't think it's a reasonable guess because there's only one m in it.

Cooroo · 16/09/2015 06:38

I didn't recall correctly! No idea where that came from. But still.

BikeRunSki · 16/09/2015 06:38

What Shadow just said.

ShadowLine · 16/09/2015 06:36

But I guess if I was an English teacher who taught Macbeth every year, i'd probably make an effort to see a TV adaptation or a performance at some point.

Cooroo · 16/09/2015 06:35

Surely English teacher should know about metre and wonder... 'Thane of Glamis, and Cawdor too' (IIRC) wouldn't go dum-di-dum-di-dum-di-dum with 2 syllables in Glamis. You have no idea how little my phone liked that!

ShadowLine · 16/09/2015 06:33

As damsel says, the English teacher may never have seen a performance of Macbeth or been to the place in Scotland.

Squeegle · 16/09/2015 06:33

Yes she should. Is she a secondary school teacher?

Fatfreefaff · 16/09/2015 06:31

If the teacher had never seen the play or studied it herself, I think it's a reasonable mistake to make.

IguanaTail · 16/09/2015 06:30

Many teachers feel that parents should know how to use the word 'No' occasionally.

damselinthisdress · 16/09/2015 06:30

I suppose if you've only ever read it and not seen it performed/heard it read by someone else, you wouldn't know how it's pronounced.