Wherever I go in my new French-speaking hometown, I get asked to speak English with people I meet, all chomping at the bit to parler. I don't try to avoid it because I'm lazy, in fact the effort is well worth the cute French accents in English, it's more because I know inevitably there will be a grammar question posed and I certainly don't have all the answers. Thing is, the way we learnt English at school was a lot more intuitive and oral, moving sadistically on to Shakespeare directly after Meg the Hen. But seriously, I don't know my mother tongue in formulas and rules and despite having done a TEFL course some years ago, it's always an awkward moment when a tricky question comes up. Enter the wonderful GrammarGirl , everyone's favourite online English grammar resource... the 'Quick and Dirty' way of learning all about our dear old language's intricacies. Most grateful! Don't be tardy now, just look it up! Now if only they'd create a similar site for The Meaning of Life.