📙 The White House was on the edge of a hill, with a wood behind it— and the chalk-quarry on one side and the gravel-pit on the other. Down at the bottom of the hill was a level plain, with queer-shaped white buildings where people burnt lime, and a big red brewery and other houses; […]
If you missed the first part of this lesson where we described the main functions of ‘either/or’, ‘neither/nor’, and ‘both’, you can check it out here. This is part 2 of our lesson on these important word groups, where we consider how they relate to the preposition ‘of’, their word order and verb conjugation rules,
​📘 ‘​Lucy was never visible at these times, being either engaged in the school-room, or in taking an airing out of doors; but, knowing that she was now comfortable, and had given up the, to him, depressing idea of going off to the other side of the globe, he was quite content.​’​ – Thomas Hardy,
📜 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’
Lesson #157: An Oasis to Dream About: Yeats’ ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’ Read More »
‘I am sorry I have been so long, ma’am,’ said she, gently, as she finished her work. ‘I was afraid it might tear out again if I did not do it carefully.’ She rose. 🧵 ‘I don’t know how to thank you for all you are doing; but I do love you, and will pray
🪔 “Yesterday was a quiet day, spent in teaching, sewing, and writing in my little room, which is very cosy, with a light and fire …”– Louisa May Alcott, Good Wives (1869) Here we continue our lesson by reviewing seven sets of key verb tenses and time words that often go together. In Part 1 of this lesson, we reviewed
🪔 “I’m the man of the family now papa is away, and I shall provide the slippers, for he told me to take special care of mother while he was gone.” – Louisa May Alcott, Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy (1868) As yet another month comes to an end, I have been thinking about
‘And unrecorded left through many an Age, Worthy t’ have not remain’d so long unsung …’ – John Milton, ‘Paradise Regained’ (1671) These lines come from a poem – ‘Paradise Regained’ – which I first read as a teenager and whose opening section I copied into the notebook featured in the photograph above. … You may have seen in an English lesson
Lesson #146: Do We Ever Use Double Negatives In English? Read More »
Do you find it challenging to write in English, despite having invested many hours, days or even years in studying the language? This is a common challenge not only for English language learners, but also among native English speakers. Writing encompasses the combination of processes: thinking, organising, recalling the appropriate vocabulary and spelling, and considering
Lesson #134: Improve Your Writing In English With Three Daily Exercises Read More »
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 »
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 »
Over the last few days I have been listening to several podcasts and YouTube videos while doing housework. Almost all of these are hosted by English speakers from the U.S.A., and I noticed how many expressions are used in conversational American English that aren’t typically employed in the U.K. or Ireland. Many English language learners
Lesson #124: Some Ways British English Expressions Can Differ From American Expressions Read More »