#context-based learning

[sweettntmag]

Learn with stories not flashcards: 15 secrets to master English faster

It is a scene that happens in homes and classrooms all over the world. You are sitting at a table with a stack of white cards. On each card is a word. You look at the word, you try to say it, and then you move to the next one. Maybe you use a colourful poster on the wall or a list of rules you have to memorise. But after an hour of hard work, you realise you have forgotten almost everything you…

Learn with stories not flashcards: 15 secrets to master English faster

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Review: Here and Now — Santa Montefiore

Review

The cover of this book, at least the version I have, features leaves falling from cherry blossoms trees, which many readers will recognise as a symbol of impermanence, something beautiful yet fleeting, something to be enjoyed in the moment or not at all, and I couldn’t think of anything better to symbolise the beautiful qualities of this book.

Here and Now is a relaxing read that takes you to the cozy little world of a traditional British woman in her sixties, and if you’ve just finished reading about angry men throwing each other across rooms, it’s a very refreshing read! This is a touching novel with sweet, fun, likeable characters. For the most part. But sometimes a character can be too likeable. The people in this book are either literally flawless or obnoxious to an extreme degree. The main protagonist genuinely has no flaws, which is a great quality in real-life, a terrible quality in a protagonist, because in real life no one is flawless.

One of her daughters, Suze, seems to be have been written just so the author could complain about the younger generation. She also does not speak like a real person. I’m going over this again in the “Language Level” section, but I’m so serious about this problem I have to put it here too, if you are still learning how to sound like a native English speaker, do not speak like Suze. No one speaks like Suze. The other daughter has her own story in this novel, involving a romance with a young man at the village, who in all honesty made me squirm more than Angry White Pyjamas did. If you’re a fan of the enemies-to-lovers trope, and also a fan of spoiled rich men with floppy hair, this book is for you (hey, no judgement, we all have our thing).

But Montefiore’s story serves as a relaxing break from a heartbreaking story about a kind, intelligent woman slowly losing more and more of herself to dementia. That being said, the novel doesn't really convey the horrors of the condition, and was really grasping at straws to give the story a happy ending. I’m sure if you have a loved one with dementia it’s comforting be given a silver lining, but wow did this woman stretch for that silver lining. And frankly, I have trouble believe the scene later in the book where the entire village gathers together to celebrate Marigold, it’s the kind of scene you would imagine in a kid’s movie, not in a book written for adults (I mean seriously, have you ever been to a small British village? I grew up in one. Trust me, not everyone is that nice).

Language Level

The English level in this novel is very basic, the prose is breezy, and the novel is only 389 pages long. It’s book I would recommend for light readers, and older readers especially. But please, I beg you, don’t try to repeat any of the dialogue in this book. The worst example is near the end when Suze uses the expression “Keep my light under a bushel”. I had to look that one up myself. It’s from the bible. No one, and I mean no one under the age of 60 uses this expression. I read it to my 50-year-old mother and even she laughed. I mean seriously, this woman is in her twenties. When I read that part of the book I felt like I was second-language English.

(If you’re curious, the expression means: “To hide your talent/success from people”. If you wanted to say something like that today, I would recommend saying: “I don’t like to brag about myself”, or “I don’t like to blow my own horn”.)

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Review: Angry White Pyjamas - Robert Twigger

Review

This non-fiction book reads very much like a novel, it skips over any tedious and gets straight down to the action, although it focuses more on the protagonist’s personal experience than the action itself. It honestly could pass for a novel, if Twigger had just changed his name I would have read it and thought: “Wow, what a well-written novel.”

But I will warn you, it is a brutal read. It’s not for the squeamish or the faint-of-heart. Twigger didn’t put as much detail into his own pain and suffering as he could have, mainly focusing on the horrors he saw the other students in his class going through. I personally feel like he could have spoken about his own motivations a bit more; I would love to know what goes through the mind of someone who puts themselves through that kind of hell, but we don’t get a lot more than: “I want to get tough and prove I can do it.” When I wanted to get tougher I joined my University’s rugby club. When Twigger wanted to get tougher he signed himself up to have the living daylights beaten out of him for a whole year and to be called a wuss a dozen times a day (actually now that I think about it that does sound a lot like the rugby club).

But Twigger does a great job of introducing the world of Aikido to the reader. It follows his journey from his very first class to his graduation, and even readers who don’t know their Ju-Jitsu from their Sumo wrestling will be able to enjoy this book if they’re not too put-off by bone-breaking. And I would definitely recommend it do anyone with an interest in martial arts. As a karateka myself, I found learning about Aikido fascinating!

Please don’t attempt this at home.

Language Level

The language level is basic. It feels like you’re just listening to a guy chat about his life, but written in the style of an easy-to-read novel. The dialogue is light and easy, it might be a bit confusing at times to non-natives, but if your English is good enough to get through this blog post, you won’t have any trouble with this book. Non-Japanese speakers should be careful, however, as there are a lot of Japanese words in this book, and unlike most books, foreign language words aren’t italicised. If you’ve suddenly come across a word you don’t understand, don’t just assume it’s English!

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Review: There’s No Such Thing As An Easy Job - Kikuko Tsumura

Review

Tsumura’s novel finds interesting stories in the mundane, although some people might simply find it mundane. Personally I am a fan of this kind of slow-paced, meandering novel, one where the protagonist’s emotions and thinking take centre stage, but it’s not hard to imagine fans of thrillers or fast-moving action novels being easily bored by this book. This is a book I would recommend to people who enjoy taking their time settling into the stories they read.

A review on the cover of this book describes it as “ominous”. Now, I’ll be honest, fans of the truly ominous won’t find what they’re looking for here. But there is just a little dash of creepy here and there, parts that make you wonder if this slice-of-life book is going to slowly turn into a horror story. But if you’re not a horror fan, don’t be put off! This isn’t a book that’s going to have you checking under your bed at night.

It may not be a comedy, exactly, but I did get a genuine laugh at one point, which for me is rare coming from a book. The character’s jobs always take a turn for the unexpected, and each new task she’s presented with is always so different from the rest the novel never ends up repeating itself.

The ending was vague. It didn’t really go into detail as to why the protagonist quit her original job in the first place, and considering how much detail we got into what was going on in her head, I was surprised at how little insight Tsumura gives at the very beginning and endow the novel. And I mean a lot of detail. We follow the protagonist through the mundane details of her day-to-day life, her lunch break, the commute to work, her experience job-hunting (which was certainly a lot more pleasant than mine, I’m not sure if she just got lucky or if the representatives are much friendlier in Japan, Japanese readers please let me know). Some readers might find these details a bit dull, but they serve to make protagonist a very relatable, down-to-earth, human character, which in my opinion makes even the smallest of conflicts and trials much more readable, as you care deeply for this woman who begins to feel very real.

Language Level

This was a popular book in Japan, so if you read the original in Japanese, I would definitely recommend giving it a go in English as well! Even if like me you can barely remember anything that happens in a book you finished as recently as two days ago, re-reading a familiar story is a great way to practice a language you aren’t familiar with.

The English is simple, and there is very little use of slang. However, most of it is written in formal English, and would only recommend to readers comfortable in business settings. Most people in English-speaking countries aren't this formal day-to-day (or this polite!). However, the Japanese cultural norms in this book are well translated into English, but non-Japanese readers should be aware book is a translation, and is not representative of any English-speaking culture.

Although there’s nothing in the book inappropriate for kids, I wouldn't recommend it for younger readers. They've never had a job, how are they going to relate to it?