Reading Classic Literature

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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📗 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, Frances’ 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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📘 ‘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. – ​Charles ​and ​Mary Lamb​,​ Tales from Shakespeare ​(1807)​ 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 Comprehension 

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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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🖋️ 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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​Nearly everyone knows about – even if they have not read – 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). 📚 But most people, including native English speakers, are less familiar with Austen’s earlier (or unpublished) writings. Works like The

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Lesson #159: Wondering Wildly in ‘Wuthering Heights’: Expressions Using ‘If … Then …’

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​📗 ‘I cannot express it; but surely you and everybody have a notion that there is or should be an existence of yours beyond you. What were the use of my creation, if I were entirely contained here? My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff’s miseries, and I watched and felt each from

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Lesson #157: An Oasis to Dream About: Yeats’ ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’

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📜 I am sharing a poem today that I particularly like: ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’ by Irish poet William Butler Yeats (1865-1939).  Yeats’ poem rings a chord in these days when we cannot readily travel but can only dream of places of tranquil beauty. In English, we often speak of such places as ‘oases’

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Lesson #155: Tenses to Tell Stories With: The Past Progressive, Simple Past, and Past Perfect Continuous

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If you have ever read books set in Victorian Britain, you may have noticed that women were generally discouraged from reading any books that might cause them to become intellectual. While novels, magazines, and some plays were considered acceptable for them to read, they were discouraged from reading works of science, philosophy, theology, or the

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Lesson #154: ‘Courage to go forth into its expanse’: Finding The Purpose And Perseverance You Need To Keep Studying English

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A new year, and new beginnings! 🌼 This small snowdrop in our front garden reminds me of British novelist Charlotte Bronte, who was described by her neighbours as looking ‘just like a snowdrop’ on the day she got married. It brings to mind a passage in Jane Eyre (1847) – very suitable for the beginning of a

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Lesson #153: How Writing Is Made Memorable: Three Observations On A Poem

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As a short break from the grammatical lessons we have had of late, todays’ lesson will be short and sweet! I have been looking forward to an opportunity to share a favourite poem of mine by William Blake (1757-1827). It is called ‘The Tyger’ (an archaic or old-fashioned way of spelling ‘tiger’) and is often

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Lesson #150 (Part 2): When Should You Use ‘Shall’ Vs. ‘Will’?

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This lesson post completes the yesterday’s, so please make sure to read it before this one. The last principle or rule for distinguishing how to use ‘shall’ vs. ‘will’ in English: … 📝 #5 When describing a future action or decision in a non-interrogative context, should you use ‘shall’ or ‘will’? The best way to

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