SOCIETY EVENTS and NEWS


The Queen's English Society issued a press release following publication of the coalition government's white paper, which is a start on the work to improve standards of education in England. You can read the statement here.

A date for your diary

24th September 2011

That is the date for this year's QES annual summer lunch. Planning is under way and members of the Society will soon have an opportunity to book their place.

AGM and lunch on the same day

The AGM in 2010 was noticeable for the fact that members enjoyed the opportunity to mingle and discuss matters of interest over a cup of tea, at the conclusion of the formal proceedings. This year we intend to hold the AGM followed by a buffet lunch, to give members and their guests a better opportunity to meet one another. The meeting will start at 12:15 and it is hoped to conclude formalities by 1:00. A waitress service will be available to serve hot and cold finger buffet food with wine and juices. Desserts, tea and coffee will also be served.

The venue will be The London Medical Society's elegant and comfortable premises, where there is plenty of room and seating to enjoy good company. Combining the two annual events will assist in preserving our limited budget and may encourage more members to attend, by saving on travel costs.

Full details will be published in the forthcoming Newsletter, delivered to all members, along with a short application form.

Guest speaker see top right column.


QES Useful Guides to English

Thanks to the support of a few QES members, the list of Useful Guides to English is slowly growing in number. Topics include a complete guide to punctuation, formal business writing techniques and several pages devoted to basic written English.

Take a look at the available guides and if you can come up with additional suitable topics, please get in touch with the Project Co-ordinator.  It's ideas we need and you may not want to actually write the material, but we will arrange all of that, including the preparation for publication on our website. In the meantime, our thanks to those who have submitted items for this important project.


OUR GUEST SPEAKER

Gyles Brandreth, a patron of the Society, has accepted an invitation to speak at the annual lunch.

Image of Gyles Brandreth

Writer and TV presenter, Gyles Brandreth told me that he "will be delighted to speak at our annual lunch". It is quite an achievement to secure his appearance, as he is a man in great demand these days.

The former Tory MP, journalist, author, radio presenter and TV 'reporter' for BBC's The One Show, has been touring with his Edinburgh Fringe sell-out one-man show,The One to One Show'. I suspect he will have something to say about English, its use and misuse and we may well be entertained with his thoughts about Oscar Wilde and Arthur Conan Doyle. I look forward to seeing Gyles and you in September. In the meantime, spare a moment to
visit his website.



FORUM FLOPS

Some months ago, we took the first steps to establish a web forum for the use of QES members and visitors to our website. It was hoped that the project would be a means of communication between like-minded people, and to discuss matters of mutual interest. The level of interest by members was disappointingly low. This may have been caused by a large volume of 'outsiders' joining the forum, with less than (in many cases), decent intentions. For some reason the pages attracted interest in Eastern Europe. Large numbers of individuals applied to join, simply intent on advertising dubious products including fashion, 'medications' and pornography. Needless to say the forum has now been abandoned. Based as it was on an external website, it was proving impossible to police and remove unwanted contributors.

It is possible to create a meeting place (chat room) within this website, but before we embark on the scheme, we need to judge the level of support. Initially entry would be restricted to QES members with the use of a password. Many members are cut off from our local branches, and are isolated from involvement in Society activities. If you think you may be interested, please contact the Webmaster.