One of the most rewarding stages in language learning is when you begin to have your own STYLE or VOICE in the language you have been studying. As a proofreader of various texts, I must exercise caution when correcting a text so that I do not end up changing the writer’s style, but rather know […]
Lesson #123: Discovering a Writing Style or Voice That Reflects Personality (Part 1) Read More »
Perhaps the English grammar tense that learners (and even native speakers) struggle most with is the SUBJUNCTIVE. ✍️ It has various forms that can be used in different situations, as long as those expressions refer to either a demand, a wish, a suggestion or a hypothetical situation (a situation that could happen but hasn’t yet happened). ✍️
Lesson #122: Different Usages of the Subjunctive in George Eliot’s ‘Middlemarch’ Read More »
There are numerous factors that must be considered when writing well. Grammar. Vocabulary. Clear thoughts. But one of the most overlooked of all is PUNCTUATION. The right commas, semicolons and periods (along with the appropriate use of brackets, dashes, and hyphens) can ‘make or break’ a sentence. In many ways, I believe that if you
Lesson #121: The Smallest Element in Writing That is Often Overlooked Read More »
Mini-lesson Monday (Part 2): ✨This passage by Frances Hodgson Burnett is noteworthy for how simply yet effectively it describes ACTIVITY: (both physical movement and internal thoughts). It does this in two ways: ✒️ Firstly, by using SHORT SENTENCES that express some kind of tension and transformation. ✒️ Secondly, by including A SINGLE ADVERB in the whole
Mini-lesson Monday (Part 1): I still have some childhood favourites on my bookshelf – books that I read and dreamt about so often as a young girl. One of those was Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess (1905), which I am looking forward to sharing with you today (at least a small part of it)! Today I’d
As promised, here are some observations on the passage from Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford, as referenced in the previous post: 🖋️ Gaskell’s approach here is more conversational than the style of other classic novels. This is because the story is told by one of the characters in the book. 🖋️ Gaskell uses the word ‘very’ several times
Lesson #119: Teatime Literary Reflections (and the Power of Good Storytelling) (Part 2) Read More »
Teatime! A light dinner eaten in the late afternoon or evening that is still popular in Britain and Ireland. I’m at home alone this evening, so I decided to serve my tea and scone on my Grandmother’s china, an heirloom passed down through the years. However, teatime is traditionally a time for the family (and
Lesson #119: Teatime Literary Reflections (and the Power of Good Storytelling) (Part 1) Read More »
Subject pronouns and possessive adjectives – those were just some of the pronouns we began to consider in my last post! 📒 We also looked at a paragraph from Elizabeth Gaskell’s Wives and Daughters; in which she used them artfully to describe a tense moment in the novel. As promised, here are my tips on how
Lesson #118: Using Pronouns Correctly to Prevent Repetition in Your Writing (Part 2) Read More »
Do you find it difficult, particularly when writing, to determine when to use English pronouns or the identified subject they are referring to? (Perhaps you can more easily indicate WHO you are talking about through your voice, simply by your body language or an obvious context). As I have mentioned before, writing English is quite
Lesson #118: Using Pronouns Correctly to Prevent Repetition in Your Writing (Part 1) Read More »
As mentioned in the previous post, where I quoted from Thomas Hardy’s Under the Greenwood Tree (1872), here is a short list of vocabulary to help with understanding the same passage. 🍃A quick question: how did you find the text? Was it challenging in terms of vocabulary? Did you understand most of it? ✨Did you enjoy his
In my previous post, I offered a few pointers to help English students get started with classic literature. Can I recommend some good classics to start with? Of course! When I conducted a bookshelf search, I immediately came across Under the Greenwood Tree (1872), one of Thomas Hardy’s early works and a good choice for most
Lesson #117: Starting to Read English Classics? (Part 1) Read More »
After admiring these acer tree leaves today, I was reminded of a memorable conversation among the Dashwood sisters in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (1811): “Dear, dear Norland,” said Elinor, “probably looks much as it always does at this time of the year. The woods and walks [are] thickly covered with dead leaves.” “Oh,” cried Marianne, “with