To be fair, mum has a point, here.

English is the best subject.

I also think it’s one of the most important for helping youngsters learn to think, mature, and to learn about themselves and the adult world they’re about to join.

I can’t hide the joy it brings me: neither at our initial consultations, when students tell me about their set texts – or in this case, during sessions, when mum would wander in and out of the kitchen/diner her daughter was sitting in.

Students don’t simply deserve knowledgable teachers – they deserve unapologetically enthusiastic ones.