In high school my history teacher used to tell us that English isn’t even a language. She thought that German was a proper language with proper rules and everything. English on the other hand seemed to have more exceptions than rules and that was way too disorderly for her taste.

Disregarding my history teacher’s views, I still quite like English. It never ceases to surprise me with its quirks and there’s always something new to learn.

I’m not hankering after a German grammar but for a Finn the pronunciation of English stays a mystery even after several years in the UK. Why aren’t all the letters in all the words pronounced? And don’t get me started about things such as definite and indefinite articles, prepositions and gender-specific pronouns. Finnish doesn’t have any of those. There are no articles or prepositions – we use postpositions tagged in the end of the word – and the pronoun ‘hän’ does the job of she and he both.

Don’t be surprised if I refer indiscriminately to everyone as she. Or he.

I’m also happy to join this year’s European Day of Languages to celebrate linguistic diversity on the 26th of September and throw a wee party for the English language.

English is after all one of the most spoken languages in the world. It’s the second or third depending on definitions on what actually is a language and what is a dialect or who is a native speaker.

Learning English is obviously important for anyone coming from outside the UK. Speaking, listening, reading and writing English are skills we all need to manage our daily lives at work, study and as part of the society.

Trade unions have made a great contribution towards supporting ESOL learning (English for Speakers of Other Languages) in the workplace. Unions know first-hand how vital good communication skills are. UNISON has a great example of a successful ESOL course with Middlesex University cleaners. It’s well worth watching and listening to the UNISON learning story on YouTube.

The UNISON story highlights that the key to supporting language learning in the workplace is good co-operation between the unions, learning providers and employers.

To help kick off ESOL learning in your workplace, look at the abundance of ideas in TU Education’s Language Support for Workers eNote.

And if like me you are interested in English language appreciation, it’s good to know that the longest English language word is 45 letters: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis. I understand it is a technical word for a lung disease created by silica dust inhalation.

Not that I’d know how to pronounce it......