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