Michael Rosen’s praise of Miss Pope’s biology lessons (Miss Pope, my science teacher, would have approved of music and ice lollies in class. Exams aren’t the only way to learn, 23 August) reminded me of her offbeat teaching methods. To demonstrate respiration, Miss Pope brought into class some pigs’ lungs. She inflated them on a water bath to show that they went pink and floated. Holding the trachea up, she declared: “It looks like a swan!” Her lessons inspired me to take biology to A-level and go on to medical school.
Dr Tony Hirst
Darwen, Lancashire
• I, as a longtime teacher and teacher trainer, and the Confucian scholar Xunzi would agree with Michael Rosen. Xunzi’s words are often paraphrased as: “What I hear, I forget. What I see, I remember. What I do, I understand.”
Gill Reeve
London
• Oliver Major (Letters, 25 August) says your headline should have read “… with der deutsche Sprache”. Sorry to be pedantic, but it should have read: “... with der deutschen Sprache”. The dative case following mit (with) here is also required on the ending of the adjective deutsch. However, since the headline is half in English, the whole argument could be seen as irrelevant.
Dr Brigid Purcell
Norwich
• Even Guardian editorial writers believe we will be “going forward” in the future (The Guardian view on better EU-UK links, 22 August)? How can you be so sure?
Steve Shearsmith
Beverley, East Yorkshire
• We loved the new teaser in Saturday’s paper – find the quick crossword. We’ve still not solved it!
John Edwards
Winchester, Hampshire
• Do you have a photograph you’d like to share with Guardian readers? If so, please click here to upload it. A selection will be published in our Readers’ best photographs galleries and in the print edition on Saturdays.
