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BOOKS and MOVIES

Introduction

One of the easiest ways to improve your English is to read books in English.

Once you have passed the ‘beginner’ stage you should be reading something in English from time to time each week

Of course we provide a lot of reading at ingles-gratis123.com, such as the

comprehension articles,

general articles

and ‘Pages in English’

and also in the 'Teachers' pages.

Cloze exercises (when you have completed them correctly) are also good for reading practice.

English – language newspapers and magazines aren’t bad for practice but in my opinion they’re not very satisfactory. I’ll tell you why in a later article.

I recommend good, popular books and I strongly suggest that you read any book in your own language, if possible, before reading it in English. Have a look on the internet for books in English that have been published in your own language – there are thousands available.

In our ‘Books’ pages I’ll try to suggest books that are written in clear modern English and have a movie or video version. It usually helps a lot if you can see the story first.

Reading books is an efficient way to learn your second language (it’s very good for learning your native language too, of course).

It can also be a relaxed and lazy way, and that’s not a bad thing. I mean, there isn’t much discipline about reading a book: it’s private.

So, if you’re reading a book of 300 pages and at page 40 you get a bit bored, who’s to stop you skipping to page 70 to see if it becomes any more interesting? There’s no law against it.

I really believe you will automatically learn more about syntax, usage and those awful prepositions by observing what professional writers do in books.

The main factors in the choices we offer in this section are that you will read – and hear excellent English in an enjoyable context.

To be fair, I must say that The Secret Garden, published in 1911, is not my favorite book for youngsters. It has some out-of-date English and a lot of dialect.

But it is a ‘classic’ and was made into a movie in 1993. The kids I know love this movie. I have seen some of it and it is a beautiful movie.

My own personal first choices are:

For youngsters: Heidi by Johanna Spyri (movie made in 1993 which I’m waiting to see) and for adults above intermediate level, Shogun, by James Clavell.

Generally I  am against the use of literature (especially the older sort) in learning or practising your second language.

There are hundreds of great works of literature, but that doesn’t mean they’re suitable for our purposes. Some of them will make you hate English.

Best – sellers are much more valuable for us. I have read the works of Stephen King and John Grisham in Spanish – at a time when I hadn’t studied or practiced Spanish for fifteen years.

With the help of a dictionary I enjoyed them because I had read them in English first. And they improved my Spanish a lot. So, this will work for your own language too.

I’ll tell you a secret about novels, vocabulary and the dictionary – in the first sixty pages the author will use nearly every word he or she is going to use. You won’t need your dictionary much after page sixty!

I’m not sure if listening to songs will improve  your English much. Of course pop songs give beginners a familiarity with common phrases and that’s useful.

But on the level of ‘listening tests’, I don’t think songs help very much. However, for adult students, many singer – songwriters of the seventies and eighties sing clearly enough and slowly enough to provide a listening lesson.

There are probably hundreds of examples, but I can only speak of what I know –

The Americans Dory Previn, Willie Nelson and David Gates; the Canadian Leonard Cohen.

Also, if you have good ears and a very quick wit, the sophisticated British duo Kit and the Widow will make you smile.

These are the poets of our age (well, maybe of my age) and they are well worth listening to, for many reasons.

I hope to add more suggestions soon. If you have a favorite book/movie combo, let us know about it.