Reading

How to Study Linguistics: A Guide to Understanding Language / Geoffrey Finch
Chapter 1: Beginning Linguistics

New Words
-deviant adj. : different from what most people consider to be normal and acceptable
-blur v. : to become difficult to distinguish clearly
-encapsulate v. : to express the most important parts of sth in a few words
-descriptive adj. : saying how language is actually used
-prescriptive adj. : telling people how a language should be used
-immutable adj. : that cannot be changed; that will never change
-obstruction adj. : the fact of trying to prevent sth/sb from making progress
-glossary n. : a list of technical or special words
-none the less : despite this fact
-lexeme n. : a word or several words that have a meaning that is not expressed by any of its separate parts
-metalanguage n. : the words and phrases that people use to decribe language

Summary
The author's first advice to start studying linguistics is 'neware of all books on linguistics.' Language has both a linguistics and social sort of rules. Although the former is not likely to change, the latter is changing all the time. For example, the double negative will be attempted to prove that it is ungrammatical. However, it was a regular feature of English until the end of the Middle Ages. Language is human-made and the process of making up never stops.

The second advice is 'learn to think linguistically'. It means investigation of the differences between social and linguistic judgements about language use. The best starting point is to consider your own speech habits. You will find the problem of categorising in the terms 'correct/incorrect', 'well-formed/ill-formed' and 'acceptable/unacceptable'. You need to develop the right mental attitude towards linguistics because the rules which are actually used are not immutable.