Elena at Learn English Through Literature

Mini-Lesson Monday: Lesson #170 (Part 2): Virginia Woolf’s ‘Moments of Being’ – Modal Verbs to Express Regrets for the Past and Hopes for the Future

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In this second part of our lesson on modal verb forms ‘should/should have’, ‘could/could have’, and ‘would/would have’ to express past regrets or desires for the future, we will be focusing mainly on the differences between ‘could/could have’ and ‘would/would have’. šŸ‘‰ If you would like to review our analysis of ‘should/should have’, you can find […]

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Mini-Lesson Monday: Lesson #170 (Part 1): Virginia Woolf’s ‘Moments of Being’ – Modal Verbs to Express Regrets for the Past and Hopes for the Future

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šŸ“œ Here I come to one of the memoir writerā€™s difficultiesā€“ one of the reasons why, though I read so many, so many are failures. They leave out the person to whom things happened. The reason is that it is so difficult to describe any human being. So they say: ā€œThis is what happenedā€; but

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Lesson #169: ‘For Auld Lang Syne’: An Appreciation of Robert Burns’ Famous Song

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Another poet for another Saturday post! As we are drawing close to Robert Burns’ Day, a celebration of Scotland’s poet around January 25th, the time is right to take a look at some of his most famous lines. šŸ“󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁓ó æ And our family thimbles (small caps to protect the thumb from being pricked by a needle while

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Lesson #168: 3 Important Irregular Verb Forms in Dickens’ ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’

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Many English language students struggle with memorising the many different verb forms we have in our language. It can be difficult, especially when they are studied out of context.  So in today’s lesson, I hope to share 3 essential verb forms that are not only commonly used on a daily basis by native English speakers, but

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Lesson #167: Portrayals of Scotland in Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic ‘Kidnapped’ (Reading Comprehension Exercise)

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šŸ“— ‘O!’ says I, willing to give him a little lesson, ‘I have no fear of the justice of my country.’ ‘As if this was your country!’ said he. ‘Or as if ye would be tried here, in a country of Stewarts!’ ‘It’s all Scotland,’ said I. – Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped (1886) … We are approaching

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Lesson #166: Everyday English Idioms (From One of the Most Influential Books in English)

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If you have been watching the ceremonies to commemorate the inauguration of the U.S. president today, you will have overheard several references in their speeches and poems to one very influential book in the English language: the Bible. This is because for centuries, the English Bible – specifically the King James Version, first published in

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Lesson #165: Affirming Something Emphatically With ‘The’, ‘Do’, or ‘Did’

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šŸ“— The fire being lit, the hearth swept, and a small kettle of a very antique pattern, such as I thought I remembered to have seen in old farmhouses in England, placed over the now ruddy flame, Francesā€™ hands were washed, and her apron removed in an instant; then she opened a cupboard, and took

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Mini-Lesson Monday, Lesson #164 (Part 2): Lamb’s ‘Tales From Shakespeare’ – Expressing Reason and Result

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šŸ“˜ ‘The King of France … called the Duke of Burgundy in contempt a waterish duke, because his love for this young maid had in a moment run all away like water. – ā€‹Charles ā€‹and ā€‹Mary Lambā€‹,ā€‹ Tales from Shakespeare ā€‹(1807)ā€‹ If you have been reading and understanding these short lessons, chances are that you are

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Mini-Lesson Monday, Lesson #164 (Part 1): Lamb’s ‘Tales From Shakespeare’ (Part 1) – Reading ComprehensionĀ 

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Perhaps you have wondered what kinds of books native English-speaking children read and study at school. While today’s book is not currently a school textbook, it was originally intended for children when it was written over 200 years ago – Charles and Mary Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare (1807). It includes retellings of Shakespeare’s plays in

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Lesson #163: Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s ‘The Lady of Shallott’

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šŸ–‹ļø How much have I looked forward to sharing today’s poem with you – Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s ‘The Lady of Shallott’ (1842 version). As a teenager, I used to listen to a recording of it (if I remember well, narrated by Anton Lesser) and I loved its dramatic expression. I memorised it and recite it

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Lesson #162: All About Hyphens and Dashes (in UK and US English)

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ā€‹Nearly everyone knows about ā€“ even if they have not read ā€“ Jane Austen’s famous novels: Pride and Prejudice (1813), Sense and Sensibility (1811), Persuasion (1818), and Emma (1815), not to mention Mansfield Park (1814)and Northanger Abbey (1817). šŸ“š But most people, including native English speakers, are less familiar with Austenā€™s earlier (or unpublished) writings. Works like The

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Lesson #161: Intensive and Reflexive Pronouns Illustrated through Charles Dickens’ ‘Nicholas Nickleby’

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šŸ“™ Here was one of the advantages of having lived alone so long! The little bustling, active, cheerful creature existed entirely within herself, talked to herself, made a confidante of herself, was as sarcastic as she could be, on people who offended her, by herself; pleased herself, and did no harm. If she indulged in

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