When was the last time you read a text in English----> outside of class?
Just a poem or a short e-mail? I have time and time again emphasized how important reading is as far as learning English is concerned-develop your reading skills, put to practice your comprehension skills. I challenge you!
- Can you understand individual sentences?
- Are you able to notice the grammar in a piece of writing?
- Did you know that there is a strong correlation between reading and vocabulary knowledge? ( Students with a strong vocabulary awareness are usually very good readers.)
- How do I expand my vocabulary? ( A most common question...) Well, read! Read extensively!
- Reading is not only a good way to acquire vocabulary- but also for academic achievement!
The Journey
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice --
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do --
determined to save
the only life you could save.
― Mary Oliver
