About Me.
A bit about me
My name is Mel Horrod and it feels like I've been correcting people's grammar and spelling since I was at school. I have the reputation as a bit of a gentle pedant if there is such a thing!
I have a degree in English literature and a background in childcare and teaching English as a foreign language.
I'm currently living with my family in Italy where I still teach English part-time and spend a lot of my free time hanging out with my partner and kids, practising yoga, reading whatever I can lay my hands on in the English language, walking in the mountains and knitting.
I have a degree in English literature and a background in childcare and teaching English as a foreign language.
I'm currently living with my family in Italy where I still teach English part-time and spend a lot of my free time hanging out with my partner and kids, practising yoga, reading whatever I can lay my hands on in the English language, walking in the mountains and knitting.
My Qualifications
I have a BA Hons Degree in Literature which I obtained over six years whilst my children were small. This is no mean feat I can tell you! Doing it this way means that not only did I need to get to grips with the subject matter but I also needed to learn how to balance my studies with my work and my personal life and feel that these skills are important to have when working for yourself.
I've always been an avid reader of both fiction and non-fiction -in fact, anything readable and I am a bit of a pedant when it comes to grammar and spelling. I've obviously written my fair share of essays and read many friend's and my mum's work when she was furthering her own education and have developed an eye for language and what's appropriate as well as having the ability to notice grammar mistakes too.
I have also proofread three novels by Indie-author and friend Sarah Barnard and am known by her as The Comma Queen. There are worse things to be known as I think -although others may disagree!
I have spent the last four years living with my family in a small town in Northern Italy where I have had the great privilege to be able to offer English lessons to a variety of people. This has meant that I have had to learn many of the rules of English and how it works in order to be able to offer the best possible service to my lovely students. This has, in turn, helped me to hone my grammar skills even further and I feel that it puts me in quite a unique position when it comes to looking at language and grammar from the 'outside'.
I have naturally also been learning Italian as my kids are both fluent and I need to be able to speak, read and write in order to live my life to the full. I think this has really helped me to understand how language is constructed and how mistakes can be made.
I've always been an avid reader of both fiction and non-fiction -in fact, anything readable and I am a bit of a pedant when it comes to grammar and spelling. I've obviously written my fair share of essays and read many friend's and my mum's work when she was furthering her own education and have developed an eye for language and what's appropriate as well as having the ability to notice grammar mistakes too.
I have also proofread three novels by Indie-author and friend Sarah Barnard and am known by her as The Comma Queen. There are worse things to be known as I think -although others may disagree!
I have spent the last four years living with my family in a small town in Northern Italy where I have had the great privilege to be able to offer English lessons to a variety of people. This has meant that I have had to learn many of the rules of English and how it works in order to be able to offer the best possible service to my lovely students. This has, in turn, helped me to hone my grammar skills even further and I feel that it puts me in quite a unique position when it comes to looking at language and grammar from the 'outside'.
I have naturally also been learning Italian as my kids are both fluent and I need to be able to speak, read and write in order to live my life to the full. I think this has really helped me to understand how language is constructed and how mistakes can be made.
© 2011 - Indie-Editing and Mel Horrod
