Joanna MW
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jbalaena.bsky.social
Joanna MW
@jbalaena.bsky.social
Independent specialist in SpLD (M.Ed, AMBDA); previously English teacher & Glos LA Lead English
Teacher. Dyslexia and dyscalculia specialist teacher. Wife, vicar’s wife, mama of 4, SEN parent carer. Neurodivergent. greatexpectationseducation.uk
A Belgian supermarket sign says ‘Huisdieren’ — ‘house animals’. Dutch ‘dieren’ shares its root with English ‘deer’ and German ‘Tier’. Same word, different paths. More at bit.ly/GEEwords
November 26, 2025 at 7:01 PM
‘You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.’
– C.S. Lewis

Not sure about the tea — but the longer the book, the better.

#CSLewis #BookQuote #ReadersOfX #LongReads #GreatExpectationsEducation #LiteraryQuotes
November 25, 2025 at 4:29 PM
‘Broth’ is one of English’s oldest cooking words. From PIE bhreue- ‘to brew’ to bouillon cubes, its story still bubbles today. More on my blog at: bit.ly/GEEwords
November 24, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Spotted in a Flemish supermarket: Beenhouwerij. It means butcher’s shop — but literally ‘bone-hacker’s place’. English ‘butcher’ comes from French for ‘goat-slayer’. 🐐🔪 #etymology #Flemish #butcher
November 24, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Cranberry’ comes from Low German Kraanbere - ‘crane-berry’. The same bird stalks through Europe in words like tranebær, Kranbeere, and canneberge.
greatexpectationseducation.uk/musings-word...
November 21, 2025 at 7:30 PM
From Greek ‘pepon’ to English ‘pumpkin’, a word ripened by the sun and carried across oceans. Read the full story: bit.ly/GEEwords
greatexpectationseducation.uk/musings-words-words-words/pumpkin
November 19, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Life with children who have additional needs is… loitering by a railway bridge on the way to the GP for a train photo. That’s after emails, meltdowns, diplomacy, and three hours of teaching before lunch. Still ahead: a school meeting, an OT visit, and a play-therapy intro.
November 19, 2025 at 1:51 PM
‘I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading… I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.’
– Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Snapped on a Brittany headland — but she’s right: the best homes have books.

#JaneAusten #PrideAndPrejudice #BookQuote #ReadersOfX #GreatExpectation
November 18, 2025 at 4:29 PM
By November the weather calls for jacket potatoes. The word has travelled as far as the crop itself — from Taíno ‘batata’ and Quechua ‘papa’ to Spanish ‘patata’. Across Europe, people called it an ‘earth apple’ or compared it to a truffle.
November 14, 2025 at 7:35 PM
‘Parsnip’ began as the Latin ‘pastinaca’—a word for both parsnip and carrot, and for the fork used to dig them up. Across Europe, the name still traces those Roman roots.
greatexpectationseducation.uk/musings-word...
November 12, 2025 at 7:30 PM
‘Poppy’ keeps its Latin root ‘papaver’ through centuries of language change. From Old English ‘popiġ’ to today’s word of remembrance. greatexpectationseducation.uk/musings-word...
November 11, 2025 at 7:35 PM
“Every man who knows how to read… multiplies the ways in which he exists.”
– Aldous Huxley

Spotted on the north coast of Germany: a flash of pink, a beetle, and a reminder that books don’t just inform — they expand.

#AldousHuxley #BookQuote #ReadersOfX #GreatExpectationsEducation #LiteraryQuotes
November 11, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Pear began as Latin pirum and may go back to an ancient root meaning ‘to crush’. A soft fruit with a long linguistic history. greatexpectationseducation.uk/musings-words-words-words/pear
November 7, 2025 at 7:35 PM
‘Bonfire’ once meant a fire of bones. Folk speech re-heard it through French ‘bon’ — a ‘good fire’. From ritual smoke to village blaze. Read the full story: greatexpectationseducation.uk/musings-words-words-words/bonfire
November 5, 2025 at 7:35 PM
“To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.”
– W. Somerset Maugham

A quiet headland in Brittany… and the kind of refuge you can carry anywhere: a book.

#SomersetMaugham #BookQuote #ReadersOfX #LiteraryRefuge #GreatExpectationsEducati
November 4, 2025 at 4:29 PM
The word ‘November’ once meant ‘ninth month’. The Romans counted from March, while the Anglo-Saxons called it ‘Blōtmōnaþ’ — the sacrifice month. Read the full word history: greatexpectationseducation.uk/musings-words-words-words/november
November 1, 2025 at 7:30 PM
‘Halloween’ began as ‘All Hallows’ Even’, the night before All Saints’ Day. The word holds centuries of English and European memory: saints, souls, and the turning of the year.
greatexpectationseducation.uk/musings-word...
October 31, 2025 at 7:35 PM
‘Twilight’ joins ‘two’ and ‘light’ to name the half-light between day and night. From Old English twi-lyht, it shares roots with ‘twin’ and ‘lucid’. Read more: greatexpectationseducation.uk/musings-word...
October 29, 2025 at 7:35 PM
‘The world was hers for the reading.’
– Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

A bright bloom, spotted in a corner of Brittany — and a reminder of everything that opens up with a book.

#BettySmith #LiteraryQuotes #ReadersOfX #BooksAndBlooms #GreatExpectationsEducation
October 28, 2025 at 4:29 PM
‘Frost’ is one of English’s oldest words — unchanged for a thousand winters. From Old English ‘forst’ to the same chill sound we use today. greatexpectationseducation.uk/musings-word...
October 27, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Across Europe, the smallest rain has many names — drizzle, bruine, llovizna, Niesel. All speak of drops that hover before they fall.
greatexpectationseducation.uk/musings-word...
October 24, 2025 at 6:35 PM
‘Ember’ comes from Old English ‘ǣmyrge’ and Old Norse ‘eimyrja’—a live coal. Its cousins across Europe still glow: ‘braise’, ‘brasa’, ‘glød’. The word has carried warmth for over a thousand years. greatexpectationseducation.uk/musings-word...
October 22, 2025 at 6:35 PM
“Book collecting is an obsession… not a hobby. Those who do it must do it.”
– Jeanette Winterson

This is my neatly shelved version. Sometimes the ‘to read’ pile reaches the ceiling and looks like it might topple in the night. Still worth it.

#BookCollector #ReadersOfX #BookQuote #JeanetteWinterson
October 21, 2025 at 3:29 PM
At Vile, on Denmark’s Limfjord, the word for dusk is 'tusmørke', ‘between dark’. English has kept its own word for over a thousand years. Read more: greatexpectationseducation.uk/musings-words-words-words/dusk
October 20, 2025 at 6:35 PM
The hearth once meant both fireplace and family. From Old English ‘heorð’ to Latin ‘focus’ and Greek ‘Hestia’. More at greatexpectationseducation.uk/musings-words-words-words/hearth #etymology #hearth
October 17, 2025 at 6:35 PM