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Rebecca Hodge

BA (Hons) English Language

BA (Hons) English Language student Rebecca Hodge sat in a lecture theatre.

At A Level you have to tick certain boxes to achieve good marks, but here you’re encouraged to develop your own personal writing style.

I was that kid in school who wrote all the time. I got the school leaver’s award for literacy in Year 6 and went on to do English Language and Literature at GCSE and English Language at A Level, so that was always going to be my first choice when it came to a degree.

The English Language course touches on the real-world aspects of writing. It’s opened my eyes to different styles of writing, like journalism, that are more relevant to everyday life.

I find the linguistics side of the course fascinating. I’m the sort of person that gets excited about phonetics. I’ve really enjoyed learning about semantics and pragmatics and how language has developed, but I’ve started really annoying my family by analysing their language in the middle of conversations. I love seeing what I’m learning in real life, it’s just so interesting.

As well as studying the core modules, you can tailor your course by choosing elective modules to suit your interests. I chose a Literature module one year and a Creative Writing elective the next. I think it’s good that you can challenge yourself with subjects outside of your degree and experiment with things you enjoy.

Being at Edge Hill has given me some amazing opportunities. For my first-year placement, I worked for a review website called Writebase in Liverpool, so I got to watch a whole range of shows, from pantos to ballets to pop concerts, and write reviews which were published online.

Having to write to a very short timescale has really developed my real-world writing skills. I learned to write much quicker without overthinking – that will be so useful in the future.

I’ve changed as a person since I started at Edge Hill. I’m much more confident in my writing style. I’m able to let my own personality and flair shine through in my writing now.