I've been interested in the history of English and its closest relatives since I was a child learning Pennsylvania Dutch in rural Pennsylvania. I learned German in school and spent 2 years in Germany in high school and college, while majoring in German at Penn State. I also had the opportunity to live in the Netherlands for 2 years to enhance my knowledge of Dutch. I earned my Masters degree in Germanic linguistics from the University of California, Berkeley. The history of English has been of special interest to me ever since I read the first words of the epic Beowulf in Old English and realized how much our language had changed in 1000 years. Since graduate school, I've written a half dozen books on topics in linguistics, including on the history of English, and have been an Amazon featured author. I've taught courses at Penn State, Berkeley, and in private industry for over 20 years. I am excited to be teaching with Udemy and I look forward to accompanying you on your journey in linguistics!