Growing Up with English Literature (Those Good Old Days)

Paradise Lost (John Milton), The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald), Moll Flanders (Daniel Defoe), Kim (Rudyard Kipling), Ivanhoe (Sir Walter Scott), North and South (Elizabeth Gaskell), Tom Jones (Henry Fielding) & The Woman in White (Wilkie Collins).

In my previous article entitled HOW TO LEARN ENGLISH EFFECTIVELY ON YOUR OWN, I wrote about how I learnt English on my own with the help of my parents. As an independent learner, what I needed was a strong learning foundation to get started. Once my parents have built a solid learning foundation for me, I could thrive on my own and the rest is history. Dear parents, do you know that you can do the same for your children because you are the best teachers in the world? In this article, I would like to share how I continued to deepen my English mastery after I have succeeded in learning the language and introduce some of the best literary works that have ever been created.

My family wasn't rich but I had the advantage of growing up surrounded by books because my dad was an avid reader and had an almost complete collection of the timeless English literature classics in his personal library. When I was a little girl, I used to go to his personal library  and stared at the books on the shelves. When I saw my dad reading, I wanted to join him but he said that I was too young to read those books and that he would let me read them when I have grown up. But it did not take me very long because I did not have to grow up to read those books. At the age of thirteen, I have already begun to read those books and since then English Literature has become an essential part of my life. How did it begin? 

Louisa May Alcott's Little Women & Good Wives

When I was in Form One (13 years old), my mom bought me the simplified versions of Louisa M. Alcott's Little Women and R.D. Blackmore's Lorna Doone. These books were very familiar to me because I have seen them for years on my dad's bookshelves. Since I liked the stories, I started reading the complete and unabridged versions of these novels belonging to my dad and was very proud of myself because I had no problems reading the original texts. It was after reading these original texts that my interest in English Literature actually began. Since I liked Little Women very much, I also read Good Wives, Little Men, and Jo's Boys, the sequels to this novel. Little Women and Good Wives will always have a special place in my heart because they were so compelling that I couldn't help going back to my favorite passages in this books.  I have read these books again and again until I could memorize certain passages in them because I loved everything about the stories. Why did I read these books so many times? Why did I memorize passages from these books? Lincoln did the same but, of course, at that time I did not know that he educated himself this way. I only knew that this method of learning helped me to absorb the vocabulary and style of the writers so that I could improve my language skills. Since my ambition was to become an actress back then, I even wrote my own movie script of Little Women and Good Wives (two novels in one movie) and imagined myself acting in the Chinese version of this movie with my favorite actor, Chin Han (who acted in Taiwanese dramas such as 煙雨濛濛, 庭院深深 and 幾度夕陽紅). I also liked to fantasize in class about being an actress whenever I found the lessons boring. I could still remember that the best time to dream in class was during History and Civics lessons. The History teacher had the habit of making the whole class read the whole chapter aloud together while she wasn't in the class. My classmates dared not stop reading (even though not everyone of us would read) because she would sometimes chat with the teacher in the class next door and would punish us if she did not hear us reading. As for the civics teacher, we nicknamed her Sleeping Beauty because she loved to sleep in class and asked us to do our own work, probably because civics wasn't a very important subject during those days. Those were the good old days and I will always cherish every moment of it. School life was great and my classmates and I really had a lot of fun in class. From the moment I stepped into school, I knew that it was going to be another amusing day.

The Complete Works of Jane Austen & The 70 Best Tales of Edgar Allan Poe. 

The following year, when I was in Form 2, was another wonderful year for me. I started the year reading the simplified version of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. After reading the simplified version of this novel, I went to look for the complete and unabridged version in my dad's library because I remembered seeing it there. As though Pride and Prejudice wasn't enough for me, I went on to read the complete and unabridged versions of Emma, Sense and Sensibility, and Mansfield Park which I found in my dad's library. As usual, I wrote my own movie scripts based on these novels and imagined myself acting in these movies. When I had the money, I bought the Complete Novels of Jane Austen and it has become one of my most prized possessions. The next book that caught my attention was Pearl S. Buck's Portrait of a Marriage - the novel which brought the works of Pearl S. Buck into my life. This was followed by Voices in the House, The Hidden Flower, Pavilion of Women, Imperial Woman, The Angry Wife, Come, My Beloved, Letter from Peking, Bright Procession, Satan never Sleeps, Fighting Angel, and God's Men. I have written several movie scripts based on her works and my favorite was The Hidden Flower and I believed that I would get the chance to act in this movie one day playing the role of Josui Sakai. The works of Jane Austen and Pearl S. Buck will always bring back beautiful memories of my Form 2 days. The books may be a bit old now but every page of them is a reminder of those good old days when I used to have a lot of fun in school. Those days were filled with laughter and happiness as my classmates were always doing something worth laughing at. That was the time when I had no worries, no problems, and no fears - only beautiful dreams.

My dad was a great fan of Pearl S. Buck. Here are some of Pearl S. Buck's novels in his collection - Pavilion of Women, The Angry Wife, Satan Never Sleeps, Come, My Beloved, Letter from Peking, Voices in the House, Bright Procession & God's Men.

When I was in Form 3, I seldom read novels because I had to study for my Form 3 examination. After my Form 3 examination, I went around begging for old maths and science textbooks in English and spent my holidays reading these books to improve my maths and science vocabulary because I have been learning these subjects in Malay. Throughout that year, I have only read one novel - Emilie Loring's I Take This Man. I did not write movie scripts anymore that year because I was no longer interested to become an actress. I wanted to become a surgeon and that was why I wanted to improve my maths and science vocabulary.

Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights & Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Agnes Grey  by Anne Bronte

I started reading the Bronte sisters' works when I was in Form 4 (16 years old). I have read Jane Eyre, Villette, Shirley, Wuthering Heights, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and Agnes Grey so many times that I can still memorize some passages from these novels. That year, I have also read the novels of Daphne du Maurier - My Cousin Rachel, The Parasites, Kiss Me Again Stranger, The Scapegoat, Mary Anne, and The Progress of Julius. And of course I will always remember John  Mantley's Woman Obsessed and Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities because I read these novels so many times when I was in Form 4. Although I did not write movie scripts anymore, I couldn't help feeling that these novels would make very good movies. Form 4 was my honeymoon year as I did not have to sit for any public exams. While my classmates were busy reading Mills & Boons (romance fiction) in class, I was busy enjoying the beauty of English Literature.

Daphne du Maurier and Her Sisters by Jane Dunn & The works of Daphne du Maurier (The Progress of Julius, Jamaica Inn, My Cousin Rachel, The Scapegoat, Mary Anne, The Parasites & Kiss Me Again, Stranger). 

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and Woman Obsessed by John Mantley

I did not read any novels when I was in Form 5 because I had to sit for my SPM (Form 5 examination) but after my Singapore trip, one month after the examination, I started reading all over again. While waiting for my SPM results, I read Daphne du Maurier's Jamaica Inn several times before I went on to read the novels of Charles Dickens. Lower 6 was another honeymoon year for me and I really read a lot that year. These include the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allan Poe, Oscar Wilde, William Shakespeare.

Some of the works of Charles Dickens - Little Dorrit, Hard Times, The Christmas Books (A Christmas Carol, The Chimes & The Cricket on the Hearth, Great Expectations, Nicholas Nickleby, Oliver Twist, The Pickwick Papers and David Copperfield.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare & The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde & The Great Tales of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

After my STPM (Form 6 examination), I continued with my reading and it was then that I began to read the novels of W. Somerset Maugham, Alexandre Dumas and D.H. Lawrence. It seemed to me that they were my dad's favorite writers as I could find an almost complete collection of their works in his library. I admit that at first I wasn't really interested in their works - I read these novels because there were lots of them in my dad's library. However, after getting started with them, I couldn't stop reading until I have read everything I could find about these writers. My love for English Literature has continued through the years thanks to my dad's literature classics collection - these priceless novels have given me a good start in English literature at an early age. Literature is life and I have learnt a lot about life from the literary works.

Some of W. Somerset Maugham's novels in my dad's personal library - The Razor's Edge, South Sea Stories, The British Agent, Mrs. Craddock, The Summing Up, Up at the Villa, The Narrow Corner and Catalina.

Camille, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Regent's Daughter, The Lady of the Camelias, Marguerite de Valois, The Vicomte de Bragelonne, The Queen's Necklace & The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas.

Some of the works of D.H. Lawrence - Lady Chatterley's Lover, Aaron's Rod, The Rainbow, Love Among The Haystacks, The Ladybird, The Plumed Serpent, The Lost Girl and Kangaroo.

While doing my teaching practice in a small town in Perak, I brought along The Complete Novels of Jane Austen, The House of the Seven Gables and The Scarlet Letter with me. I enjoyed reading these books over and over again and they were my best companions in those days. Since teaching and learning with children's literature is an important tool for teaching English, I also brought along some children's literature books to be used as teaching aids. These include Stories by O'Henry, The Red Badge of Courage, Frankenstein, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Dracula, White Fang, King Solomon's Mines, and Robinson Crusoe, The Secret Garden, the novels of H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, Rudyard Kipling, Robert Louis Stevenson and Mark Twain. Giving children access to these stories can help them develop a love and passion for reading. 

The House of the Seven Gables and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Stories by O'Henry, The Red Badge of Courage (Stephen Crane), Frankenstein (Mary Shelley), The Scarlet Pimpernel (Baroness Orczy), Dracula (Bram Stoker), White Fang (Jack London), King Solomon's Mines (H. Rider Haggard), and Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe).

The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man & The Time Machine by H.G. Wells; Journey to the Center of the Earth, Around the World in Eighty Days & 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne; The Jungle Book 1 & Captain Courageous by Rudyard Kipling.

Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde & The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper & Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain; The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Because of my background in English Literature, I decided to pursue a Masters Degree in English Literature after having completed my Bachelor of Education in TESL. Well, the time I spent reading these novels was not wasted after all! The good news was - I did not have to read so much because I have already read most of the novels in the MA students' reading list. As a part time MA student and full time teacher, this really helped me to save a lot of time. Needless to say, growing up surrounded by books does have a great deal of educational advantage for me. What I loved about the MA Program was its reading list. The moment I got the reading list, I quickly went to the bookshops to get the books and what made me feel proud was I already have most of the books in the list.

My MA Thesis focused on the works of Thomas Hardy - Far from the Madding Crowd, The Woodlanders, A Pair of Blue Eyes, Jude the Obscure, The Trumpet-Major, The Mayor of Casterbridge & Tess of the d'Urbervilles

The Secret Agent, Nostromo, Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness, The Rover, Victory & Under Western Eyes by Joseph Conrad.

To the Lighthouse, Mrs Dalloway, Orlando by Virginia Woolf; The Mill on the Floss, Adam Bede & Middlemarch by George Eliot; A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man & Dubliners by James Joyce.

The Aspern Papers (Henry James); Joseph Andrews (Henry Fielding); Barchester Towers & Framley Parsonage (Anthony Trollope); The Red and the Black (Stendhal); The Rainbow, Women in Love & Sons and Lovers (D.H. Lawrence). 

Reading is fundamental to our lives because it brings joy to our hearts and helps to expand our imagination. Apart from improving our language and communication skills, it also improves our memory and concentration and sharpens our critical thinking and analytical skills. Studies have shown that reading can prevent Alzheimer's disease and dementia. It also reduces stress and gives us inner peace. Sad to say, many Malaysians just don't read. Even undergraduates who are doing their literature assignments would simply look for summaries of the literary texts online just to complete their assignments - they are not interested to read the original texts. 

Literary works are a reflection of humanity and the world we live in. They help us to understand ourselves as well as the people and events in various societies. They teach us about the way people live, their beliefs, cultures, and traditions at the time these works were written so that we can empathize with their feelings and thoughts. In a way, this also helps to broaden our horizons and make us more sensitive to the feelings of the people around us. The lessons we learn from the characters and the stories of their lives (irrespective of which era they belong) are still relevant in today's world because human hearts do not change. The classics have stood the test of time and readers can be assured that they are reading something of value

Parents should make reading an essential part of their children's daily routine. Introducing classics into the children's lives from a young age  will enhance their social and cognitive development, mental health, and wellbeing. As they experience the lives of the characters in the stories, they will have a greater understanding of how to make sense of their own lives as well as the lives of others. The best time to read is during school days when there isn't much to do or to worry about. Once this habit is inculcated in the children, they will become lifelong readers - smarter, more analytical, and better at life. However, if they never get the chance to get started with literature at all, it is most likely that they will never read a single literary text in their lives. What will happen if they don't read? They will grow up lacking in language and communication skills. Their cognitive growth will also be affected as their thought processes, problem solving and decision-making skills are very limited. 

You may also like to read HOW TO LEARN FRENCH EFFICIENTLY ON YOUR OWN and How Abraham Lincoln Inspired Me to Pursue My Ph.D.? To view the content page of this blog, please click here.

HOW TO LEARN ENGLISH EFFECTIVELY ON YOUR OWN

Today is the second day of Chinese New Year but instead of going out with friends and visiting relatives, I stay at home and  enjoy myself in my own way. Although the SOP for family reunion dinners for Chinese New Year now allowed up to 15 close family members, I don't even dare to sit at the same table with my brothers and would rather eat my meals alone. It doesn't matter how many people are there at the same table - if one of them is infected with the Covid-19 virus, the others will get it too. This is also the first time I celebrate Chinese New Year without buying any new clothes and new shoes but since I have bought so many clothes and shoes in the past, it does not matter to me. I certainly won't risk my life going to the shops to buy non-essential items. It seems that the Coronavirus Pandemic has changed the way I celebrate Chinese New Year but it is not a bad thing because I can relax at home in a peaceful and calm environment. Since change is inevitable, we have to find positive ways to deal with it. 

Covid-19 has not only changed the way we live but also the way we educate our future generations. In many countries, schools remain closed due to the pandemic and many children receive no education because they cannot access online learning. We do not know how long this situation will last but we certainly cannot allow our future generations to hang around each day doing and learning nothing. What if the pandemic could last seven more years (according to the Bloomberg Report)? Surely we cannot let the children waste seven years of their lives just like that! Although some parents are thankful that their children can help them at the stalls, this should not be the way they educate their children. In this article, I would like to share how one can be educated without going to school and without access to the internet with special reference to the teaching and learning of English as a second language.

I am sure many of us can still remember how Abraham Lincoln educated himself even though he had a turbulent childhood and grew up in abject poverty. Although he had only attended school less than twelve months throughout his entire life and his formal schooling ended when he was fifteen, that did not deter him from acquiring knowledge. He had walked to borrow every book within fifty miles of his home and read all the books he could lay his hands on. He worked on his father's farm in the day and read by the light of the fireplace in the night. He also carried a book with him and read whenever he had the time. According to Professor Emerton, "He was no longer at school, but was simply educating himself by the only pedagogical method which ever yet produced any results anywhere, namely, by the method of his own tireless energy in continuous study and practice" (Carnegie, p. 237). Lincoln had always considered his education to be defective as there was little inspiration that he could get from his mentors and daily environment. However, his remarkable struggle to overcome adversities and stunning work of self-education had brought him great success. The inspiring story of Abraham Lincoln, an entirely self-taught man, has thus proven that self-education is possible as long as one is ready to put his mind and heart to it. I have followed his example and found that it worked very well for me. But of course this would mean that we must learn and master the art of self-discipline and self-control. 

Children's Britannica Volume 11 & Volume 12

When did I begin learning English and how long did it take me to learn the language from scratch? Frankly speaking, I have never attended kindergarten and my formal schooling only started when I was seven. I lived with my grandmother in Ipoh and returned to Kuala Lumpur just before I entered primary school. At the age of seven, I couldn't speak a word of English or Malay and on the first day of school, I spoke to my Malay class teacher in Chinese. But one year later, I was able to converse very fluently with my teachers and friends in English and Malay. At the age of eight, I loved to read English picture books and had always looked forward to go to the bookshops to choose my favorite stories. When I was 9 years old, I received the first English letter from my 11-year-old cousin brother and since then we have been writing to each other. It seemed that writing just came naturally to me and I have never considered it to be a problem at all. I didn't read picture books anymore when I got my 16 Volume Set of The Young Children's Encyclopedia on my 10th birthday because these books really kept me busy. I have read and re-read this encyclopedia set several times. When I was eleven, I started reading Enid Blyton's works and the Hardy Boys novels - something which many of our present day graduates cannot afford to do. At thirteen, I was already reading the complete and unabridged works of Louisa M. Alcott (Little Women, Good Wives, Jo's Boys) and R.D. Blackmore (Lorna Doone). However, that was only the beginning of my interest in classic literature books. I went on to read the complete and unabridged novels of Jane Austen and Pearl S. Buck the following year. This was followed by the works of Emily Bronte, Charlotte Bronte, Daphne du Maurier, Charles Dickens, D.H. Lawrence, etc. By the time I completed secondary school, I have already read most of the classic books and my 20 Volume Set of Children's Britannica. I was also an avid letter writer (since I entered secondary school) and the letters I wrote to my friends could sometimes be as long as 7 or 8 pages. But how did I master the English language when I couldn't speak a word of English at the age of seven? Who were my mentors?

Mouse-deer and the Swordfish

During my early primary school days, my mom and dad used to teach me to read. Apart from the English Readers, they also bought lots of picture books for me. During those days, these picture books were my prized possessions. Among my favorite picture books were Mouse-deer and the Swordfish, The Ugly Duckling, Thumbelina, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, Aladdin and the Magic Lamp and The Emperor's New Clothes. My parents did not read to me but I had the habit of reading my favorite picture books over and over again to myself until the words, phrases, and sentences in them become a part of my speech and writing. 

The Young Children's Encyclopedia Volume 11 & Volume 12

As I became more and more familiar with the language, I began to read The Young Children's Encyclopedia. At that time, I somehow felt uneasy repeating the sentences after my parents and preferred to read on my own. I only sought their help when I didn't know how to pronounce certain words. I did not ask my parents to tell me the meanings of the words anymore as I preferred to refer to the dictionary. I am the kind of person who cannot go on reading whenever I come across a word that I do not understand and I can never feel at peace until I have written the new word and its meaning in my vocabulary book. I used to bring along my vocabulary book everywhere and checked whether I could still remember the words in it from time to time. 

Anytime Tales & Mr. Pink-Whistle Interferes

The Naughtiest Girl is the Monitor & Five Go Down to the Sea

Those Dreadful Children & The Secret Seven

When I was eleven, I already had sufficient vocabulary to become an independent reader and need not trouble my parents anymore. I suddenly craved for Enid Blyton's books and spent the next two years of my life reading her works. My first Enid Blyton books were Anytime Tales, Toyland Tales, Mr Pink Whistle Collection, and The Amelia Jane Collection. Some of my favorite Enid Blyton books include The Secret Island, Those Dreadful Children, The Circus of Adventure, The Adventurous Four Collection, The Naughtiest Girl Collection, The Famous Five Collection, The Secret Seven Collection and Malory Towers Collection. I was also a great fan of The Hardy Boys Series. It was at this stage of learning that I discovered I had finally mastered the English language. Although it was my mom who first taught me to read, my English language skills had already surpassed hers. To summarize my entire experience - my parents helped me to build my foundation in English and with this foundation, I taught myself to master the language. It was just as simple as that! But, of course, learning did not just stop there. Thanks to my father and his timeless literature classics, I fell in love with English literature at the tender age of thirteen. While my schoolmates were busy reading Mills & Boons (romantic fiction books), I was busy reading classic literature books. I also read the Children's Britannica and studied the New American Bible (You may also like to read Growing Up with English Literature, an article about learning English through literature).

The Hardy Boys: Hunting for Hidden Gold by Franklin W. Dixon

But what did I do at school? During those days, our teachers used to ask the whole class to read the entire chapter together followed by group and individual reading. Reading in groups does have its disadvantages - some of us read too slowly while others read too fast. I did not like reading in groups and had to pretend to read - moving my lips without making a sound (Since I had already read the whole book at home, I thought it did not matter). After reading, the teachers would discuss the comprehension questions with us and we had to write the questions and answers in our comprehension books. And I was always the first one to hand in my schoolwork. 

Wren & Martin's High School Grammar & Composition is one of the most renowned and widely used reference books on English Grammar. The language is simple and easy to understand. It is the Bible of English Grammar.

Since grammar is the foundation for language learning, I will now share how I "acquired" my English grammar. The word "acquired" is used here because I have never learnt English grammar during my school days. It just came to me naturally. At the age of twenty, I didn't know the meaning of definite & indefinite articles, subject-verb agreement, present continuous tense, past continuous tense, present perfect tense and past perfect tense even though I was able to construct my sentences correctly. How did I get to know about all these tenses? After my Form Six Examination (STPM), I started giving tuition and that was when I came across some grammar notes at the back of one of my dictionaries. It was like a new discovery for me and I was really excited about it. So, I decided to read more and find out more about English grammar - it was indeed an eye-opening experience. If only I had known about grammar earlier, that could have prevented the confusion that I went through in learning the language during my early primary school days. Looking back, I couldn't help feeling that my students are luckier than me because I always make sure that they know their grammar rules. I have the habit of going through their essays with  them and telling them where they have gone wrong. But, who taught me English grammar? Nobody. I had to discover it myself. My parents only taught me to read - they have never mentioned anything about grammar!

Fundamentals of English Grammar Workbook (by Betty Schrampfer Azar and Donald A. Azar), Longman & Grammar Builder Book 1, (by Farida J Ibrahim, Adibah Amin and Rosemary Eravelly), Cambridge Unversity Press

Grammar Builder Book 2 & Book 3, Cambridge University Press

Grammar Builder Book 4 & Book 5, Cambridge University Press

Conscious learning of grammar rules and error correction are a great way to learn a new language. As an English teacher, I have always emphasized on the importance of learning English grammar because I believe that those who do not know basic grammar rules will often  find it difficult to construct grammatically correct sentences. The natural approach to learning a second language does not apply to all as it may take years for the learners to decipher the correct usage of grammar rules. This will not only confuse them but also make learning more difficult for them. They may even end up not knowing any grammar rules at all despite years of learning English. That is why it is necessary for beginners to get some English grammar reference books (above) and improve their grammar skills by doing the exercises given in these books. Parents who feel that their children are not learning anything at home during the Movement Control Order (MCO) can always get some grammar reference books for them. If the children can complete the exercises in one of the books recommended above, they have made a quantum leap in learning English. Since answers are provided at the back of the books, they can easily check their answers themselves. 

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

So how are you going to learn English effectively on your own? Can everyone follow my style? If not, there are still many other ways to learn on your own. Those who have no knowledge of English at all can begin their language learning journey with an audio course and learn some essential words, phrases and conversations for every day life. These CDs can easily be found in the bookshops. After learning some basic English words, phrases, and sentences, you can consider expanding your vocabulary using a picture dictionary. Also get a copy of the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English as its pronunciation table can help you with the pronunciations. Read lots of picture books. Singing English songs helps so do get some CDs with lyrics and practise singing yourself. Buy movies with English subtitles because you will learn lots of new English words, sentences, and conversations from them. Try watching the same movie several times and you will soon get used to the way the language is spoken. When you come across any new words in the movies, do remember to look for the meanings of these words in the dictionary. To improve your English speaking skills, you can practice your speech in front of a mirror. I used to do that with Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and Winston Churchill's Great War Speeches.

Great War Speeches by Sir Winston Churchill

Once you have mastered English grammar and learnt enough words, phrases, sentences, and conversations for you to get along in your daily life, then it is time to start reading some children's books - I would recommend Enid Blyton's books because the stories are interesting and the language used is simple and easy to understand. When you come across any words that you don't understand in these books, do not skip these words but find their meanings in a dictionary. You can consider keeping a pocket vocabulary book where you can write these words and their meanings in it. If you feel that you have forgotten the meanings of some of these words, you can always refer to your pocket vocabulary book again. The good news is - when you find that you can read a few of Enid Blyton's books without any problems and you can understand the meanings of all the words in it, you have succeeded! But don't become complacent yet. You can always do better than others so let's continue reading and become lifelong readers. Remember, the moment you stop learning, you are going backward rather than forward.

This is how your vocabulary book should look like

Apart from Enid Blyton's books, there are many classic children's literature books that are worth reading. Reading carefully selected stories from the children's world of classics are beneficial for English learners as this is an excellent way to increase their language proficiency. Here are some of the must-read children's classic novels that I like to share with my students. 

Fairy Tales (Hans Christian Andersen), Heidi (Johanna Spyri), Black Beauty (Anna Sewell), Peter Pan (J.M. Barrie), The Water-Babies (Charles Kingsley), What Katy Did (Susan M. Coolidge), A Little Princess & The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett).

The Wind in the Willows (by Kenneth Grahame) & Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (by Lewis Carroll)

The Swiss Family Robinson (by Johann David Wyss) and The Coral Island (by R.M. Ballantyne)

If you wish to improve your essay writing skills, you can also buy some essay writing books as these are must have references if you want to write well. Reading these sample essays can give you some ideas in essay writing that will be helpful during an examination. Concerned parents should get some of these books for their children so that they can brush up on their writing skills during the MCO instead of idling away their time.

Essay Writing Books

Effective PT3 Writng & SPM Model Essays and Summaries (English 1119)

Once you have mastered the English language, you will need a better dictionary if you intend to become a lifelong reader. My favorite dictionary is The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language published by Houghton Mifflin Company. It has more than 350,000 entries and meanings illustrated by over 34,000 written examples and by nearly 4000 photographs and drawings. It is one of my most prized possessions and has been keeping me company for many years. 

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language

If you wish to expand your vocabulary and improve your writing, you can get a thesaurus. It is a great reference tool to locate synonyms and vary your choice of words. I would recommend The Everyman Roget's Thesaurus of English Words & Phrases, Webster's New World Dictionary and Thesaurus, and Webster's New Roget's A-Z Thesaurus.

The Everyman Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases & Webster's New World Dictionary and Thesaurus

Webster's New Roget's A-Z Thesaurus

Self-education gives us a lot freedom and flexibility as we can choose when, what, how, and where to learn. Most of all, it helps us become more resilient and independent and this a good thing because students who are overly dependent on their teachers cannot go very far. If I have been dependent on my teachers, my knowledge of the English language may just be limited to what is in the textbooks. How many teachers will actually tell you about the works of Louisa May Alcott, Pearl S. Buck, Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, Charlotte Bronte, Daphne du Maurier, Charles Dickens, D.H. Lawrence, Joseph Conrad, Thomas Hardy, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allan Poe, John Milton, and most of all, William Shakespeare? Many teachers don't like to read and they have never read anything by Pearl S. Buck, Jane Austen, or Thomas Hardy. They only read what they have to teach and, normally, one chapter ahead of their students. How can they talk about books they haven't read? The use of mother tongue in English language classrooms is also not uncommon. Since children should be exposed to the English language as much as possible during English lessons, too much mother tongue can hinder learning. To gain mastery over the English language, we have to go beyond textbook / classroom learning which can be achieved through self-education. This is particularly true during the coronavirus pandemic when many children are staying home from school. Let's not waste anymore time but adapt to change and master the art of self-education. 

Parents need not worry that they may not be good enough to teach their children English at home. They only need to help their children build a strong foundation in the language and the little ones will do the rest. My mom had limited English proficiency but she helped me to build a very strong foundation in English and the rest is history. Do you know who were Abraham Lincoln's mentors? Caleb Hazel and Zachariah Birney in the forests of Kentucky, Andrew Crawford and Azel Dorsey along Little Pigeon Creek in Indiana. They were scarcely educated teachers who eked out a meager existence traveling from one place to another, teaching those who could afford to pay in cash or in commodities. But, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is known to be the greatest speech in the world. Remember the parable of the silver pieces? As what Jesus says, 'Those who have will get more until they grow rich, while those who have not will lose even the little they have (Matthew 25:29). In other words, those who manage their lives well and know how to make the most of what has been given to them will be greatly rewarded. On the other hand, those who do nothing will lose everything. Stay safe and motivated!

You may also like to read HOW TO LEARN FRENCH EFFICIENTLY ON YOUR OWN; TEACHING & LEARNING FRENCH BY ASSOCIATION; and How Abraham Lincoln Inspired Me to Pursue My Ph.D.? To view the content page of this blog, please click here.

References:

1.  How to Develop Self-Confidence and Influence People by Public Speaking. Dale Carnegie.

2.. The New American Bible. Thomas Nelson Publishers.