The newly introduced testing of school pupils throughout England in a bid to determine their understanding of grammar, spelling and punctuation has sparked widespread debate about grammar in general. How much do we know about our language? How can we learn it? And does it even matter?

David Crystal has been unprecedented. Arguably the greatest linguistic shepherd, Crystal has a penchant for presenting language issues in a reader and listener friendly manner that will never leave you dry as you close one of his books or walk out of the hall where he has been lecturing.

How do we learn a foreign language? First and foremost, adults learn languages in a radically different way from children: neurologically speaking, the information acquired is 'stored' in different places in the brain.

This Sunday, voting in the first round of the French Presidential elections takes place, yet I find Student interest in the battle for the Élysée Palace across the Channel still heavily shadowed by the race for the White House across the pond. Is this because of language, culture or the varied mix of political parties in France? Or has euro-scepticism among British students increased?

Newspapers have been reporting that Sheffield Springs Academy has decided to ban slang in an attempt to improve their students' employability. By all means teach them how to speak appropriately, but isn't that like telling children not to put peas up their nose?