more v-neck tee’s, shag hairstyles, and ludicrous scene make-up abound in this video. they look like crabcore but sound like trivium. it’s not good. thank god there are only 3 idiots in this band instead of the industry standard 5 + 1 synthdouche.

Matt Heafy recently spoke with Metal Hammer about the bands forthcoming song which will be included in a free EP with God Of war 3:

“Right now we’re on the second leg of Into The Mouth Of Hell We Tour. The whole of the first leg I was writing and demoing every day so were Corey and Paolo, on this leg we haven’t been doing that as much because we’ve been working on the ‘God Of War III’ song – which is ‘Shattering The Skies Above’. That will come out exclusively on ‘God Of War III’, it will not be on the next Trivium record, but it is going to give people a really good representation of where we’re going with the next record. I’m pretty sure we’ll be playing it in the UK when we’re over, so people will be able to hear where we’re going. That’ll be the only new thing.”

Sounding good!

For more info about God Of War 3, check http://increationgames.com/

By Zach Shaw

While it isn’t exactly the mega historic tour featuring the big four (Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax) everyone was gossiping about, getting half of that lineup is still pretty unbelievable. Tickets officially went on sale last week for the American Carnage Tour featuring Slayer, Megadeth and Testament. The landmark tour will be taking place this coming January and February. Slayer and Megadeth already did the unthinkable by performing together (despite their slew of heated words for one another) on mini tours in Canada and Australia/New Zealand. So we can thank god that they are giving U.S. fans the chance to see both thrash titans share the stage once again. I myself have already purchased my ticket for their stop in Lowell, MA on February 14 (best part: I only spent a little above $10 for good seats!!! Haha).

Seeing Megadeth and Slayer on their own (let alone together) is enough to make fans storm to a venue. Combine the two with Testament … well HELLZ YEAH! As amazing as this lineup is though, I personally would have liked to have seen one more act added. Not that this line up needs another act to make it any better (umm, did I tell you that Megadeth, Slayer and Testament are playing together?!). However, it would be cool to see the elder gods of metal pass the torch to an up and coming metal band, as a way to put the spotlight on the future of metal.

So who should be the fourth addition who represents the new generation amongst a line up of legends? Well here are a few suggestions of likely candidates and bands I simply would love to see added:

-Machine Head: These guys would probably be everyone’s first choice for multiple reasons. 1. Machine Head already took part in Slayer and Megadeth’s previous tours. 2. Both Slayer and Megadeth have praised them not stop for their greatness. 3. fans simply cannot get enough of them (rightfully so) And 4. to simply put it: THEY ARE AWSOME!!! The only reason why they probably wouldn’t take part in this tour is because they have been touring non-stop for the past 3 years (you name the band, they probably were on tour with them recently). As much as I love The Blackening, I’d recommend that the band takes a tiny rest and record another great album. The more music from Machine Head the better!

-Shadows Fall: These guys would probably be one of my first choices. Hot off of their latest release Retribution, the boys from Mass have proven that they are ready to be the next big metal icons. Being part of such a major tour would be great exposure to a band who put on a top-notch show and have grown as musicians and song writers. Hopefully the band will get on Mayhem Fest next year (maybe we could also start a campaign to get them on this tour? I’d be down to push!).

-Suicide Silence: These guys would be a likely choice because they also served as openers (along with Machine Head) on Slayer and Megadeth’s previous tours this past year. They are an up and coming band who has received both critical and fan praise for their music and live show.

-God Forbid: Call me biased, but I would love to see my fellow NJ thrashers on such a line up. Not only do they put on an energy packed show, but they have continue to grow musically (I dare you to listen to their latest release Earthsblood and tell me it isn’t spectacular). God Forbid is a band that should be amongst the top of their generation (always just shy of getting the rightful exposure), and being a part of this tour would help get them there faster.

-Devildriver: Mixing melody with hardcore death metal, Devildriver has always stood out amongst the crowd. Always releasing incredible albums (listen to their recent release Pray For Villains asap!), they have always been just shy of getting the exposure they deserve. With their intense live shows, Devildriver would have made a great addition to an already amazing tour. Sadly, these guys will definitely not be apart of this tour for they just announced a tour with Suffocation that will occur during the same time. A shame, but hell: a Devildriver and Suffocation tour is pretty awesome as well!!!

-High On Fire: These guys are also likely candidates for being a late addition since they were rumored to be on the lineup before the American Carnage tour was confirmed (only to not be included in the official press release). While they wouldn’t be my first choice, High On Fire are a great band and know how to put on a hell of a show. Plus, with their sludge metal sound, the band would stand out in a lineup filled with thrash metal.

-Trivium: Admit it, once you saw the name in front of this you screamed out loud “Oh Hell Yeah!”. Trivium’s mix of screaming and melodic thrash would be a perfect addition to this tour (maybe too perfect if that’s possible). Add in their powerful performance (see my review of their show in Worcester, MA) and you’d get even the pickiest old metal fans believing they saw the second coming. As perfect as this may seem, this addition may be unlikely for Trivium announced the most recent leg of Into The Mouth Of Hell We Tour as their last tour in support of the album Shogun. Then again, I would probably change around my schedule if I got offered to open for Slayer AND Megadeth.

-The Black Dahlia Murder: After seeing them on Mayhem Fest this past summer, I have been hooked. Black Dahlia Murder’s music and performance would simply make them a great addition to such a lineup. ENOUGH SAID!

-Chimaira: The boys from Cleveland, Ohio would tear the stage apart night after night (see my review of their opening slot at Trivium’s show for more on their awsome live performance). With its mix of sludge and hardcore, Chimaira would stand out amongst the lineup of legends. Additionally, Slayer guitarist Kerry King has praised them many times over the past few years (thus making their chances a lot stronger).

So these are who I would suggest to be the new addition to an already amazing bill. To repeat, I am not saying that the American Carnage Tour needs to acquire an additional band (the three thrash gods are wwaayy more than enough). I am just saying it would be cool to see a newer band get the chance to be exposed to a wider audience.

Is there a band I left off that you feel deserves to be considered? Which up and coming band would you want to see go on tour with Megadeth, Slayer and Testament? Leave a comment and let your choice be heard!

Unirse como usuario básico (normal)

Como miembro básico, te harás parte de la Red de Artistas de Roadrunner Records, la cual te permitirá tener un perfil de usuario, publicar comentarios, hacer amigos, mandar mensajes y más (en todos los sitios web de artistas de Roadrunner). Pero no tendrás acceso premium ni al contenido exclusivo para el club de fans oficial.

Precio: Gratis.

Unirse como usuario premium

Como miembro premium del club de fans, tendrás los mismos beneficios que el miembro básico, pero también podrás ver contenido exclusivo para los que pertenezcan a éste (noticias exclusivas, videos, musica, pre-ventas, meet & greets y mucho más).

Por ahora, el método de pago es a través de tarjeta de crédito (Visa o MasterCard). Pregunté en el sitio oficial de la banda acerca del pago por PayPal, pero por ahora no cuentan con ello. En caso de que usen tarjeta de crédito debe ser alguien mayor de edad. Yo he sido miembro desde el 2007 y no he tenido problema con ello, así que no tengan miedo.

Precio: $29.99 dólares (cerca de $300 pesos mexicanos)

Los beneficios de permanecer en la versión premium del club los pueden leer aquí

¿Te interesa formar parte de la red de fans de Trivium? Entonces, ¿qué esperas?

isn’t anyone else tired of hearing every band on earth struggle through this fucking song as an homage to dimebag? it’s becoming a cruel joke. at least pick a different pantera tune to ruin every once in a while. oh, and matt heafy’s stage banter makes me cringe. almost as much as his singing.

In general, three approaches have dominated education from the beginning of time and I’m not sure there can be any more that are not combinations, parts, or permutations of these three.

The sophist does not believe in a knowable universe, so he focuses on adapting to change. The modern version of this approach is progressivism.

The traditionalist believes that knowledge is embodied in a tradition, so he focuses on absorbing and perpetuating that tradition. Many variations of this approach are followed in contemporary schools, but the best of the traditional theorists is probably ED Hirsch with his Core Knowledge approach.

The classicist believes in a knowable world in which knowledge is perception and relationship.

Individual Christians hold to any of these views, though Christianity is obviously a tradition in that its truths reside, not in the discoveries of the student, but in the wisdom of the fathers.

I find that Christian teachers trained in conventional colleges are strongly influenced by Progressive approaches, which discourage, by their nature, philosophical reflection on what you are doing.

For the most part, accepting these Progressive approaches without reflection undercuts the work and claims of the Christian school.

I don’t believe any of these approaches aligns with the teachings of scripture at a high level except for the classical approach.

At the root of the classical approach is a commitment to the belief that things have a nature and that we can know them according to their natures and treat them in ways fitting to their natures.

In addition, things have a purpose, and love enables its object to fulfill both its purpose and its nature.

In the classical tradition, the object of a science is to know the nature of a thing. The object of an art is to refine one’s ability to know the nature of things.

The sophist or Progressive educator does not believe we can know anything.

The traditionalist believes that we can know only through the tradition.

The classicist believes that we can perceive the nature of things and relate to them according to their natures.

What does your teaching lead your students to? That will tell you which of these theories you hold.

The

De izquierda a derecha: Paolo, Nick, Matt & Corey.

[ Descargar aquí ]

12. Poison, The Knife Or The Noose

Don’t let this ruin all that I thought that I could be
A life amidst entropy is a fate I refuse to see

As the flames lick our feet
Coaxing us to make the leap
Cerberus drools at the knell
Come join the wicked inside Hell

Fall fast down from grace, the world tries to make me evil
Punished in this corrupt place, life’s so fucking medieval

As the flames lick our feet
Coaxing us to make the leap
Cerberus drools at the knell
Come join the wicked inside Hell

They will try to pull us down
But we won’t cave in
We have something that they can’t take
We know the truth inside
‘Cause I will fight this by all means
With poison, the knife or the noose at me

Our world
Is a minefield
With explosives ready to eviscerate the living
Sabotage
The devious blindfold
You’re helping cut a hole from here to here below your mouth
A battlefield
This fucking battle’s right here
With man killing man we’re only fueling our own extinction

[solo: MKH]
[solo: CKB]

Our world
Is a minefield
With explosives ready to eviscerate the living
A battlefield
This fucking battle’s right here
With man killing man we’re only fueling our own extinction

Die if in apathy your submissiveness their weapon
Turn inertia into rage and ram it through like a spear

As the flames lick our feet
Coaxing us to make the leap
Cerberus drools at the knell
Come join the wicked inside Hell

They will try to pull us down
But we won’t cave in
We have something they can’t take
We know the truth inside
‘Cause I will fight this by all means
With poison, the knife or the noose at me

Traducción:

“Veneno, el cuchillo o la soga”

No dejes que esto arruine todo lo que pensé que podría ser
Una vida entre la entropía es una suerte que me niego a ver

Mientras las llamas nos lamen los pies
Persuadiéndonos para dar el salto
Babea Cerbero tocando a los muertos
Ven y únete al malvado infierno interno

He dejado de ser inocente, el mundo trata de hacerme malvado
Castigados en este lugar corrupto, la vida es tan jodidamente medieval

Mientras las llamas nos lamen los pies
Persuadiéndonos para dar el salto
Babea Cerbero tocando a los muertos
Ven y únete al malvado infierno interno

Ellos tratarán de derrumbarnos
Pero no cederemos
Tenemos algo que ellos no pueden tomar
Ya sabemos la verdad en el interior
Porque voy a luchar contra esto por todos los medios
Con veneno, el cuchillo o la soga a mí

Nuestro mundo
Es un campo minado
Con los explosivos listos para destripar a los vivos
Sabotaje
Tú, el que tiene vendados los ojos
Estás ayudando a cortar un agujero de aquí hacia aquí debajo de tu boca
Un campo de batalla
Esta pinche batalla es justo aquí
Con el hombre matando a otros hombres sólo estamos alimentando nuestra propia extinción

[solo: MKH]
[solo: CKB]

Nuestro mundo
Es un campo minado
Con los explosivos listos para destripar a los vivos
Sabotaje
Tú, el que tiene vendados los ojos
Estás ayudando a cortar un agujero de aquí hacia aquí debajo de tu boca
Un campo de batalla
Esta pinche batalla es justo aquí
Con el hombre matando a otros hombres sólo estamos alimentando nuestra propia extinción

Morir si en la apatía de su sumisión a sus armas
Transforme la inercia en rabia y la azote como una lanza

Mientras las llamas nos lamen los pies
Persuadiéndonos para dar el salto
Babea Cerbero tocando a los muertos
Ven y únete al malvado infierno interno

Ellos tratarán de derrumbarnos
Pero no cederemos
Tenemos algo que ellos no pueden tomar
Ya sabemos la verdad en el interior
Porque voy a luchar contra esto por todos los medios
Con veneno, el cuchillo o la soga a mí

13. Upon The Shores

Wandering endlessly upon the shores
For something that I will never attain
Banished here for a life of nothingness
My only comfort is the sand I bleed on

Hope is gone, it will never be the same
All I feel are the repeated stings of pain
Pungent stench of the sins of the worthless ones
Faithless cries of the sins of the godless ones

Marching on in deathly silence
Upon the shores we go
Crashing tides applaud the violence
Upon the shores we go

I’m dying endlessly upon the shores
For something that I will never attain
Tortured here for a life of nothingness
My only comfort is the sand I die on

Hope is gone, it will never be the same
All I feel are the repeated stings of pain
Pungent stench of the sins of the worthless ones
Faithless cries of the sins of the godless ones

Marching on in deathly silence
Upon the shores we go
Crashing tides applaud the violence
Upon the shores we go

Charon, is this the fate for me
Is the Obolus all I pay
Cursed to wander the shores of Acheron
My eyes must have been missing silver coins

[solo: MKH]

Maggots drinking the blood of me
Insects licking the tears I weep
Hornets piercing, while wasps are breaking
Every single fucking inch of skin on me

[solo: CKB]

Hope is gone, it will never be the same
All I feel are the repeated stings of pain
Pungent stench of the sins of the worthless ones
Faithless cries of the sins of the godless ones

Marching on in deathly silence
Upon the shores we go
Crashing tides applaud the violence
Upon the shores we go

Traducción:

“En las costas”

Vagando sin cesar en las costas
Por algo que nunca voy a alcanzar
Desterrado aquí para una vida de la nada
Mi único consuelo es la arena sobre la cual sangro

La esperanza se ha ido, nunca será lo mismo
Todo lo que siento son las picaduras repetidas de dolor,
El hedor acre de los pecados de los seres sin valor,
Los gritos desleales de los pecados de los impíos

Marchando en silencio sepulcral
En las costas vamos
Mareas aplastantes aplauden la violencia
En las costas vamos

Me estoy muriendo sin cesar en las costas
Por algo que nunca voy a alcanzar
Torturado aquí para una vida de la nada
Mi único consuelo es la arena sobre la cual muero

La esperanza se ha ido, nunca será lo mismo
Todo lo que siento son las picaduras repetidas de dolor,
El hedor acre de los pecados de los seres sin valor,
Los gritos desleales de los pecados de los impíos

Marchando en silencio sepulcral
En las costas vamos
Mareas aplastantes aplauden la violencia
En las costas vamos

Caronte [Charon], es este el destino para mí
Es el óbolo todo lo que pago
Condenado a vagar por las orillas del Aqueronte
Mis ojos deben haber perdido las monedas de plata

[solo: MKH]

Los gusanos beben mi sangre
Los insectos lamen las lágrimas que lloro
Los avispones me perforan, mientras que las avispas me rompen
Cada pinche centímetro de mi piel

[solo: CKB]

La esperanza se ha ido, nunca será lo mismo
Todo lo que siento son las picaduras repetidas de dolor,
El hedor acre de los pecados de los seres sin valor,
Los gritos desleales de los pecados de los impíos

Marchando en silencio sepulcral
En las costas vamos
Mareas aplastantes aplauden la violencia
En las costas vamos

14. Iron Maiden

[Paul Di'Anno]

Won’t you come into my room, I wanna show you all my wares.
I just want to see your blood, I just want to stand and stare.
See the blood begin to flow as it falls upon the floor.
Iron Maiden can’t be fought, Iron Maiden can’t be sought.

[Chorus]
Oh Well, wherever, wherever you are,
Iron Maiden’s gonna get you, no matter how far.
See the blood flow watching it shed up above my head.
Iron Maiden wants you for dead.

Won’t you come into my room, I wanna show you all my wares.
I just want to see your blood, I just want to stand and stare.
See the blood begin to flow as it falls upon the floor.
Iron Maiden can’t be fought, Iron Maiden can’t be sought.

Traducción:

“Iron Maiden”

¿Quieres venir a mi habitación? Quiero mostrarte toda mi mercancía.
Sólo quiero ver tu sangre, solo quiero estar parado y mirar fijamente.
Ver la sangre comenzar a fluir a medida que cae en el suelo.
Iron Maiden no se puede luchar, Iron Maiden no se puede buscar.

[Coro]
Oh bueno, dondequiera, dondequiera que estés,
Iron Maiden te va a atrapar, no importa lo lejos.
Ver la sangre fluir, mirarla vertir por encima de mi cabeza.
Iron Maiden te quiere por muerto.

¿Quieres venir a mi habitación? Quiero mostrarte toda mi mercancía.
Sólo quiero ver tu sangre, solo quiero estar parado y mirar fijamente.
Ver la sangre comenzar a fluir a medida que cae en el suelo.
Iron Maiden no se puede luchar, Iron Maiden no se puede buscar.

Vamos a organizar las cosas. Si realmente queremos que Trivium vaya a México tenemos que demostrarles quiénes somos y de qué estamos hechos.

Por lo tanto, estoy “convocando” a que los que quieran formar parte del mini-club* de Trivium México nos manden al email del club (trivium.mexico [at] gmail.com) la siguiente información:

- Nombre completo:
- Fecha de nacimiento:
- Dirección (calle, colonia, ciudad, país, código postal):
- Dirección de Email:
- URL de tu MySpace, Facebook, Twitter o cualquier otra red social que uses:
- Cuándo te empezó a gustar Trivium:
- 3 canciones que te gusten de Trivium:
- Álbum favorito de Trivium:
- Otras bandas que te gusten (no importa el género):

Asimismo, si puedes, manda una foto tuya.

Y no te preocupes, todos sus datos son confidenciales. Odiamos el spam tanto como ustedes, así que no pasará nada malo con lo que nos proporciones No obstante, si hay algún dato que no quisieras proporcionar, con gusto respetamos tu decisión.

Conforme nos vayan mandando sus datos, los publicaremos en una nueva sección dedicada a los fans… algo similar a la antigua sección de “fan del mes” (estamos trabajando en eso)

La cuestión es juntar la mayor cantidad de gente posible y movernos para que el sueño de ver a Trivium sea toda una realidad. Pero como ya lo he mencionado antes: no se va a poder lograr si no demostramos que hay fans suficientes.

* El mini-club no es “oficial”, ya que el único que tiene ese título es el de TriviumWorld, pero sí podemos hacer uno que sea el que represente a los fans mexicanos.

Recuerden seguir las actualizaciones de Trivium México a través de Twitter y MySpace

¡Y sigan pendientes porque se vienen nuevas cosas! Así que informen a sus amig@s sobre esto

One of the best things about seeing a concert at the Palladium (in Worcester, MA) is that no matter where you stand in the small theatre, you’ll feel as if you are right in front of the band. So when Trivium brought the last leg of their fall tour, Into The Mouth Of Hell We Tour, to the Palladium this past weekend (November 6, 2009), you can bet that heads were blown straight off. With openers Chimaira, White Chapel and Dirge Within, fans were treated to a spectacular evening of metal up close and personal. Trivium’s performance was proof that they were ready to be our generation’s next metal icons.

Things got off to a good start even before Trivium hit the stage. While I can’t say I was extremely impressed by White Chapel and Dirge Within’s musical capabilities, the two openers’ energy onstage was impressive enough. However, it was Chimaira who by far stood out amongst the openers. With their mix of metal-core and groove/nu metal, the boys from Cleveland, Ohio crushed the stage with force. Singer Mark Hunter pounced the staged with strength as he tore through scream after scream with keyboardist/sampler Ben Schigel on backing vocals . Guitarists Matt DeVries and Rob Arnold pounded riff after riff as bassist Rob Lesniak and drummer Jason Genaro kept the sound tight. As intense as the music was, it was the sense of joy within each band member that made their slot exciting to watch. You could see that the band was having as much fun onstage as the audience in pit was.

While the openers got the frenzied crowd warmed up, headliners Trivium stole the night. Even though the Palladium is a 2000 capacity venue, Trivium performed as if they were in front of a packed arena. With its mix of hardcore and melodic thrash, the band delivered an adrenaline filled performance that kept fans headbanging and moshing during their entire hour and a half set. As they played songs from all four of their albums, you could see genuine thrill in their eyes as they lead their fans into non-stop movement. Each band member displayed confidence, something many bands in today’s metal scene lack live. Throughout the entire night, singer/guitarist Matt Heafy had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand. Heafy possessed a blend of charisma and strength as he traded vocals and guitar solos with the ferocious Corey Beaulieu (guitarist). Bassist Paolo Gregoletto let his presence be known has he leaped all across the stage and lead fans into chants, all while playing bass and singing back up vocals. Even former drum tech Nick Augusto, who is filling in for drummer Travis Smith on this leg of the tour, appeared as if he had been playing the set his entire life.

Seeing Trivium take command of the entire audience was awe inspiring. To see a band display strength and passion up close in such a small venue is truly a unique experience. It was as if you were watching the beginning of future metal gods. Ironically, watching the band’s strong presence onstage made you think of another metal god: Metallica (who many criticize Trivium’s album The Crusade for sounding too similar to). However, the comparison between the two bands’ performances should be taken as a high compliment, for it shows how Trivium has evolved from an up-in-coming band into a metal force to be reckoned with.

-Zach Shaw

Click here to see my Thank You to Metalinsider.net (who made it possible for me to attend this show).

Despite the chaos on the floor momentarily halting my enjoyment, each band brought their top game to the table.  With the exception of Whitechapel, I thoroughly enjoyed each band.  Dirge Within opened the night and killed it!  I ended up bumping into Jerms, their lead singer, during Whitechapel’s set, and he was very down-to-earth.  One of Dirge’s guitarists, Shaun Glass, actually gave my friend who also plays guitar a pick.

Whitechapel were just horrendous in my opinion.  Personally, I like some melody in my metal and Whitechapel did not fulfill that priority.  They were the definition of noise.

While we were talking to the Dirge Within guys, Chimaira took the stage.  They threw a great show and proved why they belonged in the direct support slot for this tour.

It was finally time for Trivium at about 10:30 PM.  They definitely brought their top game.  Although Travis was not behind the drumset, the fill-in definitely showed his potential and hit every beat exactly how it was supposed to be done.  Matt and Corey really connected with the fans.  Paolo didn’t seem to be having as much fun as his fellow bandmates.  Matt actually walked off-stage and right by me during one of the songs, still shredding on his guitar.  There were no sound problems or anything with Trivium.  I would give them a solid 10 on a scale of 1-10 due to the quality of their performance, their ability to really connect with the fans, and their overall respect for their fans.  Matt and Corey actually kept looking my way.  I smirked at Matt and as everyone knows, if someone smiles at you, you cannot help but return a smile.  That is exactly what he did.  Corey actually looked our way and stuck his tongue out when we cheered for him.

This concert was a phenomenal experience and as previously mentioned, all of the bands, except for Whitechapel, put on amazing shows.  Dirge Within – 8.5/10; Whitechapel – 2/10 (2 because they seemed to fulfill the expectations of their fans); Chimaira – 8/10; Trivium – 10/10.

The following photos were taken by my friend:

Dirge Within

Chimaira

Trivium

So last night (November 6, 2009) I was fortunate enough to see Trivium live at the Palladium in Worcester, MA. Also on the bill were Chimaira, White Chapel and Dirge Within. Needless to say it was a great show! I will be posting a review (as well as a few pictures) of the show soon.

However, I wanted to take this time to send a big thanks to Dan at Metalinsider.net for providing me with access to the show. I’ll be thanking him non-stop this coming week, but I really wanted to give him a shout out for this. As some of you may know, I have been helping the site by contributing news for the News Ticker. It has truly been an amazing honor working for Dan and Metalinsider.net. To Dan and Metalinsider, thank you!

So make sure to check out Metalinsider.net for music news and analysis. If you love metal and need your constant news fix like me, then you will love this site!

“Hemos hecho un montón de apoyo a otras bandas, por lo que es ‘cool’ salir y, finalmente, tocar en nuestro propio tour, y tocar más tiempo”, dice el guitarrista de Trivium Corey Beaulieu, durante una reciente entrevista telefónica.

“No muchos fans han tenido la oportunidad de escucharnos tocar un set completo, ellos solamente nos han visto en las giras de soporte donde tocamos quizá 30 minutos”.

Los ‘thrash’ metaleros de Orlando, Florida se preparan para un show en Portland, Oregon, durante la primera etapa de su gira como ‘headliners’, el primero de la banda desde el 2006, y Beaulieu no podría estar más contento con cómo van las cosas.

“Todos los aficionados parecen estar muy animados durante los shows y nos ha estado yendo bien, y lo estamos disfrutando nosotros mismos”, dice.

Lamentablemente, el baterista Travis Smith no podrá unirse al resto de la banda en la parte de la gira que rueda a través de Calgary, Alta. hasta el 22 de noviembre, debido a razones personales. Smith será suplido por Nick Augusto, un ex-técnico de baterías de Trivium y miembro de la banda Maruta.

No obstante, “Into The Mouth Of Hell” (“en la boca del infierno”) ellos continúan la gira, y Beaulieu revela que el espacio que tiene Trivium para ser ‘headliner’ les permite desencadenar entre 1:15 y 1:20 horas de puro, y no adulterado heavy metal hacia quienes van a sus shows.

“Eso varía, dependiendo de cuánta palabrería hay entre canción y canción, o si hay algo que necesita ser arreglado y todo eso. Y dependiendo de lo rápido que terminamos tocando”, se ríe.

“Esta primera parte de la gira, la mayoría de las canciones son del nuevo disco (Shogun [Roadrunner, 2008] y de Ascendancy [Roadrunner, 2005], y eso es más o menos la mayor parte del set, luego tocamos dos canciones de nuestro primer disco (Ember to Inferno [Lifeforce, 2003]). Tocamos las canciones que son los antiguos estándares que la gente siempre quiere oír, las grandes canciones, y luego, porque somos ‘headliners’ y tenemos la oportunidad de tocar muchas canciones más, desempolvamos algunas canciones que no hemos tocado durante algunos años. Es divertido para nosotros, y lo mantiene interesante.”

Cada persona que compre boletos para esta gira se lleva una grabación del set al que asistió. ¿Cómo funciona eso?

Poco después que se realiza el show, una vez que hemos tenido la posibilidad de revisar el material y hacerlo subido a un servidor, ellos pueden descargar la grabación del espectáculo. No hay ninguna edición ni nada que se le haga, así que si algo sucede durante el show, se rompe algo o alguien mete la pata, ¡todo está ahí!

Suena bastante chido. ¿Cómo van las grabaciones?

Es sólo una grabación normal, una mezcla casera de lo que todos escuchan en el show. Es el mismo chico el que se encarga del sonido, y traemos nuestros propios tableros y equipos para grabar, pero todavía varía de show a show, en función del lugar y la acústica. Definitivamente no es como un disco en vivo o algo así, es más o menos como un ‘bootleg’. He escuchado las grabaciones y algunas de ellas son bastante buenas. Suenan decente y es una forma para que la gente que lo escuchó en vivo lo conserve, así que agrega recuerdos del show.”

¿Cómo se preparan normalmente para un concierto?

Muchos de nosotros haremos algo de ejercicio sólo para aflojar o hacer que la energía fluya. Y, a veces durante el día, sólo pasamos el rato, checamos el sonido, tal vez algunas entrevistas, tal vez pasear por la ciudad y ver donde estamos. Depende del horario, pero normalmente cuando se abre la puerta o toca la primera banda es cuando todo el mundo empieza a prepararse para el espectáculo, estirándose o haciendo calentamiento en las guitarras o voces.

Y estando en la guitarra, ¿tienes algunas técnicas de calentamiento que haces?

Sé que Matt (Heafy, guitarra/voz) tiene un régimen estricto de cómo calienta, y él hace lo mismo todos los días. Pero para mí, eso depende de cómo me sienta. Si mis manos están muy rígidas, o yo no me siento tan ’suelto’, puede ser que las caliente mucho más tiempo. Algunos días, podría tocar mucho durante el día, así que no tengo que calentar mucho. Pero es más como tratando de ‘bombear’ la energía en mí mismo para que pueda salir y actuar, porque no es tanto por el hecho de tocar la guitarra que tengo que ‘bombearme’, sino para estar física y mentalmente apto para poder correr y todo eso.

¿No tienen agregados más de 800 shows a su crédito o algo así…?

Es probablemente más que eso. Superamos eso hace un rato.

Con toda esa experiencia, ¿qué les ha enseñado el camino tanto como banda, o a ti mismo?

Si viajas alrededor del mundo, llegas a ver un montón de perspectivas diferentes y llegas a abarcar todo y disfrutar de ello. Hemos sido capaces de ver y hacer un montón de cosas que no habríamos sido capaces de hacer si no estuviéramos haciendo esto. Sé que a Matt le gusta – adondequiera que vamos tiene que ir a comer la comida típica de la región y todo ese tipo de cosas. Siempre está queriendo probar el tipo extraño tabú de los alimentos. Pero cuando se le ocurre eso, yo no salgo a comer con él.

¿Alguna vez se llegan a cansar de las giras?

Creo que todos tenemos esos momentos, no importa cuánto nos guste estar de gira. Es bastante exigente. Uno duerme en un autobús todos los días, aunque eso es mucho mejor que algunas de las situaciones de otros tours en los que hemos estado, pero después de habernos ido, todo el mundo sólo quiere estar en casa, estar en un lugar familiar; además, algunos de los chicos están casados o tienen novias, por lo que siempre quieren, en algún punto, simplemente ir a casa y pasar tiempo con su familia y la gente que les importa. Y sólo un descanso para su cuerpo, porque actuar y ‘headbangear’ todas las noches tiene sus consecuencias, así que es bueno tener la oportunidad de ir a casa y recargar las pilas. Pero se necesita un largo recorrido para que lleguemos a ese punto en donde estamos como, “a la chingada, vamos a casa!”

Recientemente publicaron un blog en su MySpace acerca de lo más reciente de Atreyu, lo cual es chido. ¿Qué tan importante crees que es para las bandas apoyarse unas a otras, incluso si es algo tan simple como un anuncio?

Todos estamos en esto por las mismas razones, y nos volvemos amigos de un montón de bandas con las que vamos juntos de gira, así que es como ayudar a nuestros compañeros. Uno está tratando de vender discos, pero no es competir unos contra otros. Cada quien está haciendo lo suyo. Es como ir de gira con otras bandas y tocando frente a su gente. Y creo que con la forma en que la industria musical vende cada vez menos y menos debido a que la gente ya no compra discos como solía hacerlo, cualquier cosa que uno puede hacer para ayudar a los demás y hacer que la música llegue a todos es realmente importante.

¿Y ustedes – alguien que les haya dado un “empujón”?

Afortunadamente, un montón de bandas fueron lo suficientemente buenas para ponernos como banda de apoyo, nos dejan tocar para su público y sólo nos dan una oportunidad para mostrar a la gente lo que somos capaces. Por lo general, las bandas que son ‘headliners’ dan su aprobación para las bandas de apoyo, así que es agradable que las bandas que nos sacaron nos dieron el visto bueno.

Lee la entrevista en inglés aquí

Trivium se enorgullece en presentar el Paquete de Bienvenida a TriviumWorld correspondiente al 2010.

Cualquiera que se una al club y obtenga la membresía para un año, recibirá este paquete de bienvenida lleno de ítemes relacionados a Trivium, descuentos exclusivos y mucho más. Este paquete no está limitado solamente a los nuevos miembros del club, sino que cualquiera que ya pertenezca y renueve su membresía para el 2010 obtendrá uno también.

Dicho paquete incluye lo siguiente:

* Un picture disc de 10 pulgadas, que contiene “Shogun” y los lados b “Poison, The Knife Or The Noose” y “Upon The Shores.”

* Un laminado oficial de TriviumWorld.

* Una foto brillante de 8×10, personalizada y autografiada por la banda.

* Un pick de guitarra de Trivium.

* Acceso exclusivo a nueva música, fotos y arte.

* Acceso a videos y música, incluyendo grabaciones en vivo y actualizaciones mensuales de la banda.

* 10% de descuento en la tienda oficial.

* Acceso al foro exclusivo de TriviumWorld, concursos (gana guitarras y otros objetos raros y únicos de la banda)

* Acceso temprano a noticias de Trivium, fechas del tour, además de acceso a pre-venta de boletos y paquetes VIP antes que al público en general.

* Acceso a meet & greets con la banda en los shows (donde estén disponibles) y mucho más.

ENTRA AQUÍ si deseas unirte al unico club oficial de Trivium a nivel mundial

In homeschool last week we began the long-term project of making a Book of Hours.  We are studying the Middle Ages all this year, mostly using Susan Wise Bauer’s “The Story of the World, Volume II:  From the fall of Rome to the Rise of the Renaissance.” You can imagine how thrilled my boys are to think about knights and castles all year.  A wise friend of mine who also homeschools had the brilliant idea of highlighting some of the contributions the Church made during this time, to shift the focus occasionally away from medieval weaponry.  She suggested we make a Book of Hours, or a collection of illuminated prayers and scripture passages.  Perfect!

We began our preparation by reading a few wonderful picture books.  The most ideal for inspiring our project was “Marguerite Makes a Book.” It tells the story of a little girl who helps her father to complete a Book of Hours he is struggling to complete for a wealthy patron because he falls ill.  She bravely sets out to buy the parchment and paints she needs, which teaches the children so much about the process and the materials used.  It’s a lovely story.  We had planned to read it over three sessions, but they loved it so much they insisted we read it in one sitting.

Another excellent story we read was “The Sailor Who Captured the Sea: a story of the Book of Kells.”  This one is out of print, but you can find it in the library or used on Amazon.  It’s about three brothers who become illuminators of manuscript in an abby, and their search to find their own style, even as they face the task of protecting the books from invaders.  A very nice read that the boys enjoyed.

It also seemed important to look at some real examples of illuminated manuscripts, and we did find two helpful books at the library.  One was an old book that had many colored plates from the Book of Kells, and another was a full reproduction of the Book of Hours that belonged to Catherine of Cleves.  Both are lovely books, though it seems there are even more wonderful books available on Amazon.  I think these two are out of print.  Nonetheless, these real examples of illumination served as good inspiration for the boys designs.

So, here are a few examples of the boys work.  You’ll notice there is a dragon theme.  Of course.  But the combination of coversheet parchment paper, (at Staples) brush tip markers in a few basic colors based on what Marguerite had (purchased for a dollar apiece at our local art store), and a gold leafing pen makes for a very satisfying final product.  Using an “old english” style font, I type all but the first letter of whatever prayer or verse the boys have chosen, and provide an empty box next to the text.  Then they design an illuminated first letter and border for the text.  Sometimes they use a repeating pattern for the border, or find outlets for their armor “interest.”

Another part of this project that I love is that really, each boy is making a devotional book they can actually use throughout the rest of the year.  So far, each of them has illuminated a page of the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary, a Taize song that we sometimes use as a grace at meals, a passage of the beatitudes that they selected, the passage in Ephesians about putting on the full armor of God, and the “Bless us oh Lord for these thy gifts” grace that we say at meals.  We’re planning to continue with a parable that they choose, a miracle, and the text of some hymns that they like.  As they’re illuminating the text, they have a chance to meditate on the words, and hopefully the text sinks in.

This has been a cathartic process for the boys.  I’ve been shocked at how long they want to sit and do it, and how when one is finished, they often look up and ask for the next.  I will continue to post as we make progress on their books, and begin the binding process.  Maybe I’ll include a little history on how these books were used next time.  Enjoy this gallery of shots!

Maybe I’ve already addressed this but I know it’s a big question and one that needs to be thought about as completely as possible.

Why teach formal grammar? Why not just teach it as it comes up, as the need arises?

I want to be sure to not create a disagreement where none exists. I think you should teach grammar when the need arises. I even think it is extremely effective to do so and very possibly more effective than at other times.

So I do agree with anybody who says that we should teach grammar informally in response to needs.

If there is a disagreement I would have to hold fast over, it would be with anybody who went to the extreme of suggesting that we should only teach grammar informally, perhaps even only according to “felt need.”

We aren’t trying to sell it to the students, we are trying to teach them.

I am simply contending that grammar needs to be taught formally, not that it shouldn’t be taught informally.

So why teach it formally?

From what I can tell, people seem to hold to two general motivations: we should teach formal grammar because it is practical and/or we should teach formal grammar because it is sound.

On the practical side, there seem to be three advantages to learning formal grammar:

1. It gives a person more control over his language, and thus enables him to communicate better (more intelligently, more effectively, and more consistently or logically). This applies to writing and speaking as well as reading and listening.
2. It enables a person to learn a foreign language more easily. For the most part, the differences between languages are in the words and their patterns. But at the root of every language are the parts of speech and how we use them. So by learning what languages have in common, we can more easily learn where they are different.
3. It enables a person to do well on a test, such as the SAT or the Civil Service Exams.

Each of these is a fine reason to use grammar under most circumstances, though none are a necessary good in itself. They show us that grammar offers many advantages, but they don’t tell us about her own unique excellences.

If you enjoy her for her own sake, she’ll give you these benefits. If you demand the benefits but dishonor her, you’ll eventually lose the benefits.

Grammar, in my view, should be taught for her own sake.

Because it isn’t, the benefits she offers are rarely gained.

When they are, she gives them humbly, so the recipient often can’t trace them back to her. Consequently, Grammar has many more beneficiaries than votaries.

When you teach grammar for her own sake, you keep the benefits and also gain her blessings, many of which are simply unpredictable.

When a child learns formal grammar, he becomes her intimate acquaintance and they flourish in a symbiotic relationship like a cherished governess or mother.

She forms his mind to its own nature. She empowers the child to think.

Form itself becomes a mental habit – if the soil is ready. You come to realize that things have structures. You start looking for the structures of things like language, poetry, literature, natural objects (e.g. trees, bodies, the cosmos), and knowledge itself.

By recognizing structure and order you come to perceive the relationships between things and you realize that the life of the thing is embodied in its structure.

You come to love order.

But you don’t make it the end of your observations. It is always a foundation, a skeleton, and never the spirit.

I can imagine some readers hearing the words form, structure, and order and deriving a very different connotation than the one I hear.

Perhaps you hear constraint and limitation. And you think that limitation binds and enslaves us.

And indeed, that would be true if we were infinite beings who could exist without form. However, anything that is not infinite can be what it is only within the constraints that make it what it is. These define (set limits to) its nature.

You can only be a free human being if you accept what a human being is. To chafe at the limits of our human nature is, practically speaking, to hate human beings.

A word also has a definition. That definition limits what the word means. If the word means everything, then it means nothing.

A sentence uses form and words to express a limited meaning.

As Wendell Berry put it so perfectly, “The sentence is both the opportunity and the limitation of thought.”

Thought cannot think about everything. To try to do so is irresponsible.

A word cannot mean everything.

A sentence cannot think everything.

A government cannot rule everything.

And when a young child learns the form of grammar, he develops two habits of mind that are essential to self-governance and freedom:

• He learns to limit what he is saying to what he is trying to say – he learns to think with limits and therefore to think about something
• And he learns to insist that others mean something when they speak and limit themselves when they rule

So learn grammar for all the practical reasons you want to learn it. But love her for herself too. She’ll give you rewards you couldn’t have imagined before you fell in love.

For two thousand years, no one in the western tradition challenged the notion that education should be based on the liberal arts, starting with grammar… It was not until the beginning of the twentieth century in America that a full-fledged revolt against the liberal arts occurred.

David Mulroy
The War Against Grammar

The goal in teaching grammar is to attain “second nature” competence. For some reason, in modern teaching theories this second nature element of language seems to go largely unrecognized (in the classical tradition it was a big deal. Aristotle used and, I think, coined the term), at least when it comes to language study.

For example, virtually every foreign language program these days markets itself as informal and immediately useful. They boast about the speed with which the student will be able to speak and even think in the foreign language.

Of course, what they mean is that the student will be able to ask for food or a cigarette as soon as they disembark.

The assumption seems to be that if you learn a language conversationally then you can say you know that language. So they talk about how you will learn a second language the same way you learned your own language and they think that is a virtue.

But have you ever stopped to think how hard you had to work to learn your own language? I have five children and I watched them do it. It took years, with an astounding number of models and corrections and suggestions and experiments.

The way you learn your first language is a great way to learn your first language, since it is the only way you can learn a first language and since the human mind is created to excel at that sort of learning between about 15 months and about five years.

But its a horrible way to have to learn a foreign language, especially if the speaker of the foreign language isn’t utterly fluent in that language.

But we seem to have an oven-burner aversion to formal instruction. It may be nothing more than intellectual laziness, but only an individual can look at himself to know that.

What I mean is that, formal instruction rests on the assertion of the will.

When you are learning “naturally,” as they sometimes call it, you don’t really have to assert your will. You pay attention and let the lesson carry you, like a TV show would, but you don’t have to demand much of yourself.

I will only note here, without indulging the temptation to fall down a rabbit hole, that the training of the will stands outside the consideration of most modern pedagogy for the simple reason that much post-Darwinian thought does not believe in a will the way the classical and Christian thinkers did.

What I’m saying about the point at hand is that contemporary educators and text book developers tend to avoid formal instruction, and this is certainly true of foreign language instruction, because of an aversion to formality. They think you can learn grammar and a foreign language on the fly.

And there’s an element of truth to what they do that would be neglected to our loss. Anytime you learn any skill, you need the informal element. Like anything, you can see this best in the physical realm. If you want to learn how to play basketball, you’ll want to play a lot of pick up ball. If you want to learn how to skate, you’ll want to tie those skates on and head to the park.

But in neither case can you attain mastery without formal instruction. I am proof of that with baseball, basketball, soccer, and football. I played all four of those games constantly as a boy. My best game was baseball, which I tried to play 24/7/365. But I was never systematically coached at it because every summer I went to camp for a week or two and it never entered my mind that I’d be allowed to miss that time.

So I became a decent baseball player who could field a ground ball off the gravel, but I never learned the fine points that would have made me a good baseball player.

So it is for so many of us when it comes to language.

We take it a step further and resent the notion that there is a right way to speak or write. “Who are you to impose your grammar and vocabulary on a subgroup?” we ask, thereby excluding members of these subgroups from political or social involvement that requires refined language, and setting them up as victims of petty demagogues.

But language does have a form and that form is rooted in the nature of the world and of the human mind. Thus, in a way that might seem ironic to some, the best shortcut you can take to learning a foreign language is to study it formally.

For example, I still want to learn Latin, even though I know that apart from a miracle of providential grace I’ll never be able to do so properly. So I try to pick up the Latin Grammar for a few minutes every day. I’ll review endings or read up on prepositions or remind myself how adjectives work. By doing so, I learn the form of Latin.

Vocabulary is the least challenging part of a foreign language. In fact, if I were teaching people who had an internal motivation to learn a foreign language so they didn’t need any short term cheaper satisfactions, I would hardly teach vocabulary at all for the first few lessons. I’d teach them three or four verbs and then show them a bunch of things you can do with them. In other words, I’d teach them the forms of the verb in that language.

Then I’d teach them how to form nouns, using three or four nouns.

It would lead to conceptually boring sentences, but so would any other option. You can’t write many interesting sentences for the first bit of a language program.

So why bother trying? Teach them how verbs and nouns behave while they don’t need to be distracted by also trying to figure out what the words mean. Then add a few more words as they get more and more effective at forming them.

Approaching it this way has less practical value, in the sense that you couldn’t go to Italy and ask for a coffee in good crisp Italian. But if that’s my goal, then I should just go to Italy for two weeks and send the kids on walking tours by themselves. Necessity, Plato taught us, is the mother of invention.

But it has much more practical value if the goal is to learn the language very well over the long term, to learn how to think, to learn how language works, to learn their own language better, and to learn grammar.

Ironically, the biggest problem I encounter when I study the forms of Latin is when I don’t know the meaning of terms like participle, modifier, voice, mood, clause, reflexive, and others, which I would never have any trouble with if, in my middle school years, I had learned English grammar.

Blogs are hard to keep disciplined, so I hope I haven’t wandered around so much as to be incomprehensible. My point in this post is to say that we should teach grammar formally, not just “naturally” so called and not just “practically.”

Knowledge is a good thing, good for its own sake. It doesn’t need a practical justification. People like knowing things. Children like knowing grammar. So teach them.

To make that point, I have reflected a bit on my encounters with foreign langauge study. My argument is that almost every contemporary foreign language program errs by being too practical and too informal. As a result, children might well learn the foreign language they are studying, but that’s pretty much all they’ll learn.

They could have also learned about the structure of their souls, the order of reality, the form of thought, and how things fit together - though they would not have learned much of that directly and not all of them ever would have learned it.

So to the immediate, practical questions of when and how to teach grammar, I’ll add this:

• Informal language study is best in the preschool years. I wish every preschool child could be bilingual, at least. I could not care less what foreign language they learn at that age.
• Formal English grammar should be taught very simply, systematically, and gradually beginning in second grade.
• In K and 1 children should be taught about verbs and nouns and some basic modifiers, but not so much with technical language. The crucial point for this age is that the teachers MUST speak with excellent grammar and diction and they must know the technical side of grammar well enough to know how and when to correct children (and yes, K and 1 students should be corrected for incorrect grammar!)
• In the middle school years, every student should study grammar and composition intensively. Fail to teach formal grammar in these years and the golden age of grammar instruction has been lost. You can and must still learn formal grammar if you want to be educated, but it will be more difficult the older you get. There is just something about these “logic” stage years that makes kids pick up formal grammar (which is really a logical study) quite readily.
• In high school, students should be writing constantly and, assuming they have learned what they should have learned by this stage, they should be required to use sound grammar in all of their writing for every class. In addition, they should go on to learn the finer points of grammar during these years. Until their senior year they should not be allowed to break the rules of grammar for rhetorical purposes unless they can explicitly and formally defend their actions.
• The instruction I am referring to in this bullet point list refers to formal training in one’s own language. But their is no better way to drive home grammar lessons than learning to translate into and out of your own language. Therefore, in third grade, I recommend commencing the formal study of Latin Grammar – slowly, systematically, gradually.
• I also recommend the memorization of Latin and Greek passages from great literature as early as possible. Age doesn’t matter here. If you want, you can also translate.

You probably can see that I think language is important. Is anything in school more important?

Indeed, everything else depends on it. Give her back her place.

And here’s the thing: close attention to formal grammar accelerates the process by which grammar becomes second nature. Just as, for most students, formal instruction in phonetics accelerates the pace by which decoding becomes second nature and the child can get on with reading, and formal instruction in the math tables accelerates the pace by which adding and subtracting become second nature and students can get on with fractions, geometry, algebra and the hidden mysteries of math, and formal instruction in dance accelerates (yea, makes possible) the pace by which a ballerina can dance en pointe, and formal instruction in painting accelerates the pace by which a painter can express the hidden mysteries of the universe in a smile.

Systematic formal instruction, in other words, saves the child from having to learn a foreign language the way he had to learn his own. That requires that he learn the form of his own language.

Since grammar is so important, the question becomes, “when and how should I teach it?”

Happily, the first question is pretty easy, so I’ll deal with it first.

“When should I teach grammar?”

Always.

Or let me be a little more specific: any time you do anything that involves language or thinking.

I’ll remind my readers that the thinking part is just as important, because grammar is not ultimately rooted in language, which is a structured collection of symbols, but in thought itself, which uses those symbols to perform its task.

And I’ll push it a step further and say that grammar is not ultimately rooted even in thinking, but in reality itself. Nothing can exist without something “predicable” of it – i.e. something that you can say or think about it.

Thus grammar goes beyond language to thinking and thinking goes beyond words to reality – to things that exist.

But I can push a step further still and argue that grammar is ultimately rooted in God Himself. I might develop this thought further in a later post, but when Moses asked God whom he should tell the Egyptians and Israelites has sent him, God answered, “I am.”

That’s a pretty profound statement when we come to thinking about the world around us, the soul within, the people among us, and the God above us.

Which may explain why Nietzsche, that famous atheist, famously stated, “We will not be rid of God until we are rid of grammar.”

Indeed.

So that maybe answers the question why a Christian would want to study grammar – so we don’t get “rid of God.”

But it also lays a foundation for the answer to the question “When should I teach grammar?”

We must not think about grammar as an academic study. Life is not for school; school is for life. We should always teach grammar for the simple reason that we always do teach grammar.

If you are speaking to another person, you are helping form the pattern of that person’s thinking. You are contributing to his vocabulary (maybe that’s more obvious), and you are also contributing to the structure of his thought.

If you constantly speak to your two or three year old child in one and two word sentences, that is how your child will tend to think. And that’s more or less OK with a one year old, less so with a two year old, and horrible with a three year old.

Maybe it would help to draw a distinction between formal and informal instruction. But the two overlap a great deal, so don’t let the lines between the two grow too thick.

You are always teaching grammar informally, because you are always setting patterns for imitation for those around you.

To reverse the movement: If you listen to sermons with sloppy grammar, you will make a space in your soul for that pattern. If you like the person giving the sermon, you might even come up with (irrelevant) defenses for that sloppy grammar.

If you are a pastor or preacher, may I entreat on behalf of the God who gave us His written word and is the Living Word, please attend to your grammar.

If you listen to friends use sloppy grammar, you will find it much more difficult to resist the inclination to pattern your minds on the way they are speaking. Friends can literally make each other dumber or smarter.

As a mother, you should do everything in your power to form words correctly and to form sentences even more correctly. If you are not confident in your own grammar, read to your children, but only from books with sound grammar.

And don’t be discouraged. I’ve indicated my need to refine my grammar, which is one reason I keep writing about it when I ought to be working on other things. But this is that important; income or no. Part of rebuilding our civilization is rebuilding our grammar, so we can think and communicate and know better.

So when should I teach grammar? Always.

But a caution: don’t be burdened and don’t make it a burden. As adults trying to learn what we didn’t learn as children, it can be a terrible nuisance because we’ve formed habits. So many of mine arise from late 70’s adolescent cool tones.

I remember as a teenager, about 15 or 16, having a spiritual experience. One strange thing that came out of it was a recognition that the way I spoke was ungodly. I didn’t swear and all that, not very much, but I said “man” all the time.

That really bothered me, so I tried to cut back on it. When I mentioned it to Christian friends, they thought I had a hang-up. That unsettled me a bit, but not anymore. It wasn’t a hang-up; it was a spiritually perceived realization that language matters and that I was using it in self-indulgent, ego-driven ways.

There’s more subtlety to James’s words about the tongue than might be evident on the surface!

We all have habits that we need to break. It’s hard to do so as an adult.

That’s why we should start teaching grammar to our children as early as we possibly can.

But the question arises as to when we should begin to teach it formally.

This also is a more complicated question than we might wish. If you know grammar very well, you might never have to teach it formally. You might be so attuned to it that every time you speak you express it well and every time you hear someone else speak you can guide them to grammatical glory.

But the people who could do that left us when the east coast elite women left the classroom for the boardroom. Thanks a lot…

What about the rest of us? When should we start teaching grammar?

Here we can be intimidated by the ocean of complexity and detail that overwhelms us. It is because of this detail and complexity, combined with our formal ignorance, that text books are needed.

So now we have to add to our questions, “When should I start?” and “How should I teach it?” a third question, “What text book should I use?”

Let’s catch our breath. So far, I’ve tried to convince you that grammar is a wonderful and powerful thing so your students/children will benefit enormously from learning it and God will be glorified.

I’ve also argued that children are learning grammar constantly from the environment in which they live, the pond in which they swim.

Furthermore, I’ve recognized the extraordinary challenge we all face because very few of us were taught grammar rigorously when we were children – even those of us who can look back to the 60’s and earlier.

But my basic point in all of this remains and I’ll argue for it with passion: we absolutely need to teach our children correct, formal grammar until it becomes second nature for them.

Now, I’ve dropped a few hints and comments about how we need to start teaching grammar informally as early as when the child is in the womb for the simple reason that we do start teaching it that soon. What I mean is this: since we do it anyway, let’s do it consciously.

Or even this: since we do it anyway, we are morally bound to do it consciously and correctly.

The discussion about the informal teaching of grammar could last forever because you teach this way in response to circumstances and events. It’s an on-the-fly mode of teaching.

You can only teach what you know that way.

I was fortunate in this area, because my mother grew up in Potsdam (as I have only recently learned) in Germany. She left at the end of WWII when she was in her late teens.

German, therefore, was her first language, and that, from what I can tell, a rather formal version of German.

When she came to the states and tried to raise four barbarian sons, she was not at all hesitant about correcting our speech. I don’t know if we consciously listened to her corrections and made an effort to implement them, but we lived under her voice and with her corrections as part of the water we swam in.

She spoke with a pretty thick Prussian accent, but she used good structure and I have no doubt that my ears were attuned to the rhythms of her speech.

As I recall, she spoke clearly. She used to make up stories for us when we would drive hither and yon (I kept getting drowned in them for some reason!) and in my memory the sentences were crisp and clear.

And an important point: the fact that she corrected our grammar breathed into our souls the idea that grammar mattered, even if only to mom. I could have taken the rebellious path and determined that I would deny her values, but my desire to know what the Bible meant sort of pinned me in.

My mother could teach grammar on the fly – but not technically, as far as I can recall. I don’t remember her ever naming the parts and forms we were supposed to use. I just remember that she told us we were supposed to use them.

So we went to school – the Milwaukee Public Schools for the most part, though we spent a year and a half at a Lutheran school. I learned enough there by third grade to get me comfortably into fifth in the public school.

In fact, I received more than just content there, and I don’t think I’ve ever thought about this since then because my bottom reminds me what an unpleasant time I had there. But the instruction at least included a formal element that not only gives the mind things to think about but sets patterns for the mind to move in when it thinks.

And that leads to the question of how to teach grammar formally.

However, nobody can stand any more of this in a single blog post, so I’ll stop for now and pick that up in a later post.

This much I’ll say: formal grammatical instruction is one of the five foundations of all learning and you literally CANNOT be educated without it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Pour en savoir plus : Trivium

Chimaira
White Chapel
Dirge Within