Reading English Books Together

Suppose someone has harmed you, what will you do: start plotting revenge or forgive and forget? Jonathan Swift decided to have revenge on John Patridge by publicly announcing that the stars predict the latter's death on 29.03.1708. Everybody started waiting for it. How did it all end? Read our story to find it out and to learn the three proverbs about revenge and forgiveness. Jonathan Swift, the author of Gulliver's Travels, was ordained as a priest at the age of 27 and all his adult life safeguarded the interests of the Anglican Church and engaged in its daily duties.  Having learnt that John Partridge, an influential astrologer, treated the Church of England with disrespect in his astrological almanac, Jonathan Swift decided to discredit his name in revenge.  At the beginning of 1708 he published ‘Predictions for the Year 1708’ adopting the pseudonym of Isaac Bickerstaff. The front page of the book stated its purpose – to prevent people from being deceived by ‘vulgar...

How often have you asked yourself:  Which is correct: to look up a new word or to look a new word up?  Is it right to say 'It's a new story. I made up it.'? Read our post below to find the answers to your questions. 'Look up' and 'make up' are examples of phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs consist of a verb and one or two particles and are always used as alternatives to ordinary verbs. For example, a. to carry on = to continue b. to build up = to increase c. to work out = to solve d. to look for =to search The problem arises when you need to use them with an object: to build up confidence, to look for an explanation or to work out a problem. When can you put the object in the middle? It depends on whether the phrasal verb is separable or inseparable.  For example, you open your dictionary and read 'to work SOMETHING out', which means that 'work out' can be separated, it is separable. You can say: to work out a problem or to wo...

Read this post if you want to know... a) whether you should or you shouldn't use such adjectives as 'creative', 'responsible' and 'strategic' in your career profile or CV b) who was the first to use brainstorming sessions c) what arguments against brainstorming are commonly put forward d) what phrasal verbs collocate naturally with the word 'idea' LinkedIn, a business-oriented social networking service, annually publishes a list of words most overused by people in their career profiles and the adjective ‘creative’ is invariably on this list. In 2013 it was the third most overused word after ‘responsible’ and ‘strategic’ and in 2014 it was again in third place this time after ‘motivated’ and ‘passionate’.  It is small wonder that so many people searching for a better job are keen to describe themselves as creative. Creativity seems to be the number one skill for the 21st century, when things are changing at a breathtaking pace and ...

'Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body', said Joseph Addison, an  English essayist, poet, and dramatist. I do agree. Moreover, I am convinced that reading is a tremendously enjoyable way of boosting your vocabulary and honing your English skills. So as you will have understood by now this blog run by me and my friends is for learners of English who know enough to function confidently in most settings but still would like to maintain and even improve what they already know. The main goal of the blog is to promote reading as a rewarding activity, as a way for you not only to go further as a student of English but also to mature as an individual via getting valuable insights into what language is like, what sort of people famous writers like Jack London and Agatha Christie were, what messages art (painting, sculpture, architecture) gets over to us. I am a professional English teacher and I have successfully practised reading English books with my students an...