I know that the books are no longer new but there are still ways that Harry Potter can help your English study. You can learn new words and get familiar with different styles of English.
Tag: books
Video: Books
Today’s video is about books, and more specifically about how to choose English books that are right for you.
Related posts:
How to Talk About Movies and Books
Use Kindle and Kobo to Study English
How to Talk About Movies and Books
To talk about movies and books looks easy but is difficult for a lot of English learners. In this post, I will teach you how to talk about films and novels.
Normally, we talk about genre, characters, setting and plot (or story).
Genre
Some genres are the same for films and books: science fiction, sci-fi or SF (Star Wars, ; fantasy (Lord of the Rings); romance or love story (Brief Encounter); comedy (Dumb and Dumber); and horror (Dracula).
Some genres are used only for films: romantic comedy (Notting Hill) is not used for books, but one might say a comedy romance (Emma); drama (Babel) is not used for books, one would say it’s general fiction or literature (On The Road).
Characters
One normally talks about the character by talking about their gender or their job.
Harry Potter is a fantasy about a boy who becomes a wizard.
Die Hard is an action film about a policeman who fights against terrorists when he’s at the airport at Christmastime.
Setting
Setting means where and when the story happens. For example, Die Hard is set in an airport.
Back To The Future takes place in the Los Angeles suburbs in 1985 and 1955.
Plot
Plot is the main story of a film or book. Remember not to spoil the ending!
In Back To The Future, Marty McFly goes back in time and has to make his parents fall in love but it is more difficult than he thinks.
Be Kind Rewind is about a guy who is struck by lightning and wipes the tapes in a video store and has to remake all the films with his friend.
What are your favourite books and movies that you’ve studied with? Why not leave a short note in the comments?
Leave Your Comfort Zone to Learn More
Comfort Zone: a place or situation where everything is comfortable and familiar.
You can already read English well enough to understand this blog.
This blog is not reading practice; it is part of your reading practice. I know that ‘real’ English (as opposed to ESL textbook English) is difficult but life is difficult, too. If you want to get better, you have to leave your comfort zone.
- Try talking to someone in the street or online.
- Try commenting on a forum or a blog, even this one!
- Try reading a novel in English. For your first one you might try 20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth
by Xiaoluo Guo, Kitchen
by Banana Yoshimoto or The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
by Mark Haddon, but really, you can try anything you feel like reading.
- Try reading a magazine or newspaper in English.
- Try watching a film or DVD without subtitles.
Trying costs you nothing. You can’t fail, because trying means you win. If you have problems this time, remember that next time will be easier.
Try.
Let me know what you try in the comments.