Mark Stephens (BGS 1976-1983)
Mark is never lost for words

This article from The Boston Target is about a friend and contemporary of mine (Simon Meeds - Webmaster). I recently met Mark who was not very pleased with it. I don't exactly know what problems he has with it, but I think it is badly written and, in terms of a newspaper story, has a rather thin basis; however here it serves the purpose of letting us know what Mark is getting up to these days.

Out of the languages mentioned in the article, Mark studied French, Latin and German at school. The reference to his eldest brother concerns George, who knew Richard "Popeye" Anderson (current master of modern languages at BGS) while they were both at Bradford University.

(Article extracted from Boston Target, 16 February 2000)

It's not everyday you come across someone who can speak seven languages but the language game for one Boston man is simply just word play!

Mark Stephens (35) is literally a man of many words.

Not only can he get by in French, German, Latin, Russian, Norwegian, Spanish and Italian but the former Boston Grammar School pupil is also brushing up on his Dutch and Swedish as well.

And if that wasn't enough Mark, who is part of the table-topping Witham Tavern quiz team, even looks at all the Germanic languages trying to spot similarities or formulas to learn them quicker.

Mark even writes quiz questions and sends them to TV shows such as Channel 4's 15-to-1 as well as compiling crossword puzzles for newspapers and magazines.

Said Mark: "Languages are something which I've been interested in since I was about seven or eight years old."

"My eldest brother studied languages at University before going to Africa to work."

"There are similarities between some of the languages. Norwegian, Swedish and Danish are alike in parts but not necessarily all the time."

"I think that if you study three similar languages together it could be easier. I'm looking to write, perhaps, a book that compares four different languages. The crossword and quiz writing is something which I've had varying success at."

"I agree that my studies are a bit unusual but languages are something I would encourage more people to get involved in."

"Computers shape the way we live today and you can even shop without leaving your home. In fact you can do lots of things with computers and not actually speak to anybody."

"Computers can be useful but if overused it would be a shame if we lost the language side of things." he said.