Episode 133 Choosing The Right Book To Help Improve Your English

In this episode we're discussing what to look for when you're choosing a book to help you practise your English. Books can be great places to help you improve your English. You can read good quality language and depending on the kind of book you choose you can find vocabulary relevant to work, common dialogue spoken by native speakers and you can improve your grammar. Reading is a great use of time, even in your own language. Don't be scared of reading in English though. Of course its scary at first and it will seem very difficult at first, but you'll be surprised by how quickly you improve. In this episode I used books to give you examples of things to look for or things to avoid. I do not advocate you reading all of these books, some of them were very hard! But if you're interested I have included the list below. Book List Bernadine Evaristo - Girl Woman Other Melissa Benn - Life Lessons, The Case For a National Education System Audre Lorde - The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle The Master's House Audre Lorde - Sister Outsider Simon Sinek - Start With Why Elizabeth Gilbert - Big Magic Kirsty Greenwood - Yours Truely Elif Shafak - The Island of Missing Trees Paulo Coelho - The Alchemist Penguin's Abridged Sets Include: Penguin Modern Little Black Classics Alternative Book Sites Include: https://www.wob.com/ https://www.abebooks.co.uk/ Additional Vocabulary A bunch of tips - a selection of something Secondhand/Firsthand - 'secondhand' is commonly used to describe something that has been owned before. If it's the first time something has been owned we usually just say it's 'new'. In general, we use 'firsthand' to describe something that we have seen or read ourselves (I used it incorrectly in the podcast, because I was going too fast😖!). Throw away the rule book - idiom - to do something in a new, unconventional way, or to completely reinvent something. Advocate - to defend or suggest Abridged - a shortened version of something Chick-lit - now generally considered to be a derogatory term (but stil widely used) that describes books that are written with women in mind. This term is derogatory because it suggests that books written about or for women do not have literary value. I devour it in a short space of time. - 'I devour it' meaning I read it quickly. 'A short space of time' - idiom - often used to express something that happens quickly. On a similar note - a common phrase used to add further information that is related but not the same. Exquisite - extra special, expensive or beautiful, often meaning created with excellent craft skills A bit picky - a little choosy about what we like Don't be put off by that. - to be put off - phrasal verb - you no longer want to do something or you might give up doing something You can't work out something - work something out - phrasal verb - to work by yourself to find the right answer Get the gist - Pronunciation 'jist' - to get the basic meaning Skip over it - phrasal verb, 'skip over' - to just avoid it Hero's Journey - The Hero's Journey is an idea first identified by Writer, Joseph Campbell. He identified a specific story arc and stereotypical characters that we see occur again and again over time. Star Wars, is one of his most famous examples.