Reading English Literature for English Language

Lesson #283: Digging for Treasure in Difficult Texts – Do English Classics Help You Learn English? (A Reflective Lesson)

📘 “We got together in a few days a company of the toughest old salts imaginable – not pretty to look at, but fellows, by their faces, of the most indomitable spirit.” ― Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island (1883) For a long time I have been intending to prepare a special Lesson on Robert Louis Stevenson’s most […]

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Lesson #186: Advanced Reading Comprehension from Scott’s ‘Ivanhoe’

Today’s Lesson draws on one of Sir Walter Scott’s most beloved works, the medieval romance Ivanhoe (1819). Sir Walter Scott was a Scottish novelist who both lived concurrently (at the same time) with Jane Austen, and also admired her writing (especially Pride and Prejudice, which we enjoyed yesterday). In his own right, Scott was one

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

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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