James Duncan’s Web Page

I (to my shame) only speak English, and have done so from birth. My language development was quite unusual in terms of most children, with initial language development from around the age of one, recognising a British Rail sign and saying the word “train, train” at around 15 months, reading child level texts (eg Meg and Mog) at 24 months, and frequently read to other children at playgroup. By the age of four, I had acquired the ability to read adult level technical texts about trains, the Arthur Ransome Swallows and Amazons series, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by the time I started school. This had obvious benefits in terms of ability to reason and my vocabulary, but set me up for a certain level of conflict in normal education.

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