English Vocabulary

Lesson #103: ‘An apple a day …’ An English Idiom and its Origin

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL I was going through some of my handwritten notes on the origin of the English proverb, ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away.’ ✍️ This is a common saying that stresses the importance of eating fruit regularly, especially apples. It seems that the saying originated from Pembrokeshire, a region known for its […]

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Lesson #102: Enjoying Autumn Fruits with George Eliot’s ‘Middlemarch’

ADVANCED LEVEL More autumnal fruits from the garden! I hope to make applesauce by peeling these apples, chopping them into small chunks, then placing them in a saucepan with a little water and allowing them to simmer for about 10 minutes while stirring them gently. It reminds me of how the British novelist George Eliot

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Lesson #101: Seasonal words from British poet John Keats

October is here! A beautiful, transformative season, as described by 19th-century poet John Keats: ‘Seasons of mist and mellow fruitfulness,Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;Conspiring with him how to load and blessWith fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core…’ –

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