As mentioned in our Mini-Lesson Monday this week, I would like to address some common mistakes that I sometimes see English language students making. One mistake I encountered in a few places was a tendency to mix up the verbs ‘lend’ and ‘borrow’. I met even advanced English speakers who tripped up on these two words. There are […]
If you read the last lesson post (part 1), you may be wondering when and how you should alter typical word order in your English writing to achieve emphasis. THE ‘WHEN’: ✏️ Firstly, you should only rearrange word order when you want to emphasise one point in the sentence over the rest (as shown with
Lesson #136 (Part 2): Using Word Order For Emphasis In Advanced English Read More »
Several years ago we went to a Russian dance performance and bought these very pretty Matryoshka dolls. We have them nicely lined up in order, from the largest to the smallest, in our sitting room. Today I had the thought, ‘What if I line them up in a different order?’ I took a photo of
Lesson #136 (Part 1): Using Word Order For Emphasis In Advanced English Read More »
As mentioned in the first part of this Mini-Lesson (see previous post), ‘must’ is a modal verb expression commonly observed in written English. We looked earlier at usages of ‘must’ in sentences where the action is taking place in the present or future tense – ‘must’ followed by an infinitive such as ‘must yield’ or
English language learners are susceptible to certain common mistakes, even when they have reached an advanced level. To be honest, native English speakers also occasionally make these same errors. I hope to address some of these common issues this week. Beginning today with our Mini-Lesson Monday, consisting of two lesson posts, we will explore the
The last day of October, Halloween, or ‘All Hallow’s Eve’ as it used to be called! I personally don’t like dark and spooky stories, so to end the month of October, I’m going to share with you something bright and cheerful: a picture of the sun shining on the birch trees at the bottom of
Lesson #131: All Hallow’s Eve Reflections On Autumn, With Scottish Poet James Thomson Read More »
I thought that today it would be nice to share from my current reading, Frances Burney’s Evelina, and use some texts from it to elaborate on what we looked at yesterday, namely, the value of COMMAS in your writing. We talked about the ‘Oxford comma’ (also known as the ‘serial comma) and how it can be
Lesson #130: Introducing ‘Evelina’ (And Appositive Phrases) Read More »
Do you ever wonder, when you are writing a series of items, whether or not you are using commas in the correct manner? In the past, I also used to be unsure about this serial comma, also known as the ‘Oxford comma’ because of its widespread use by the Oxford University Press. Today I will
Lesson #129: The Oxford Or Serial Comma (And When It Should Be Used) Read More »
As I sit at my desk, I can see how windy, even stormy, the weather is outside. Sometimes, the sun breaks through the clouds for a while, but it doesn’t last long! This changeable windy weather is very common here in Ireland during the autumn months, but it is one of the reasons that I
Lesson #125: How Reading Rhythmically Can Improve Your English Intonation Read More »
In the previous post, we began looking at a passage by Jane Austen (continued below) to consider how she created distinctive voices for different characters: 📙 ‘Marianne was astonished to find how much the imagination of her mother and herself had outstripped the truth. “And you really are not engaged to him!” said she. “Yet
Lesson #123: Discovering a Writing Style or Voice That Reflects Personality (Part 2) Read More »
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 »
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 »