I am an E-Learning Specialist by trade which means I write and develop online learning. By chance, 2 years ago I was the instructional designer for 3 modules of an E-Construction course charged with writing the modules on bricklaying, carpentry and tiling. There are some samples at this link if you're interested :)
http://www.elearning-shop.co.uk/
As the instructional designer, I get to write the words for the voiceover and on screen text as well as suggesting the images and animations to go with it. The real magic however, happens when the developers bring my Word document to life!
Little did I know how useful it would be. It's amazing how throwing a few choice phrases around can make you sound like you know what you're talking about so here are a few pointers......
Bricks are laid in courses, not layers or stripes, and the pattern they are laid in is known as the bond. The most common is stretcher bond where the perp (perpend) or vertical gap between two bricks sits in the centre of the brick above and below. You will probably see your builder laying the bricks out first, don't worry, he does know what he is doing, this is known as dry bonding to work things out. Take a look at your house and you will see that you didn't really get a choice where the windows and doors go, it was down to where the bond could fit them in. Be careful though, you will end up looking at every house you see!
Mortar is muck, stones are ballast and the wooden frames to hold openings are formwork. The dent in a brick is known as a frog and bricks can be laid frog up or frog down.
The most important phrase you can learn however is....
"How do you take your tea?"
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