We talked and Mr C listened
Photo by Leah Kelley on Pexels.comXmas is one of the most oldest informal usages in the English language. In its old English form it appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles roughly 870 -1154. The X stands for the Greek letter chi which is shape like a X. The first letter of the Greek name for Christ is Khristos = Christ, the Anointed.
When writing the word, Christmas it is best to write it out in full, rather than the informal Xmas, according to my copy of The Right Word at the Right Time, by Reader’s Digest.
And why am I mentioning Christmas now. Well, in my series about Mr C it’s December 2006 and we are one lesson away from Christmas.
Day 11: We talked and Mr C listened.
Sorry, dear reader, I know I’m a bit late updating you on my classes.
Like you I have be busy getting my home ready for the celebration with Christmas just around the corner. We are all busy with things to do, and places to go, but I’m never too busy to miss out on my Brush up on English classes.
As I entered the classroom for our lesson, I thought I was going to have Mr C and the classroom assistant all to myself. Mr C said, that we would wait five minutes longer to see who would turn up.
“It’s always the same this time of year, the closer we get to Christmas, the less people come.”
Motorbike Dave arrived followed by the two Portuguese lads. So in total there were four of us. The classroom assistant worked with Motorbike Dave, while the two lads and I worked with Mr C and talked about ‘Discussion.’
Mr C asked us what we thought about ‘Big Brother’. This fell a bit flat as the three of us didn’t like the programme. We discussed the different way in which we talk to certain people i.e. Bank managers, Police, Loved ones etc. The language we use, did we swear? When and to whom.
When the smoke break came Mr C was the only person to leave. The rest of us continued the lesson. The two Portuguese lads and I got on with writing a letter of complaint to a TV company about a programme we disliked. We had to put our reasons over clearly, why we felt the programme should be taken off air.
The lesson was very interesting, and I enjoyed it.
The two lads had both been working on their stories, and asked for part 3. I said I needed part 4.
Mr C said he had only done two parts so far.
“I’m sorry, but I’m up to part 4 now. I could miss lesson so the rest of the class can catch up,” I joked.
“No, don’t do that!” The classroom assistant cried, “Please come along next week.”
So I wondered what will happen tomorrow in the last lesson of the year. Will Christmas prevail and I’ll be the only student?
Photo by Tirachard Kumtanom on Pexels.comHold on in there dear readers the end is coming. 
Yes, Paula, and so is Christmas I hear you say.
