by Phil Williams | Oct 26, 2021 | General English, Reading Exercise, Writing skills
For today’s reading exercise, I’ve taken an extract from a creepy old horror story by M.R. James. James was an accomplished scholar who wrote ghost stories heavy with real mythological references. He wrote in a “visceral” way, creating strong feelings/reactions, but...
by Phil Williams | Oct 12, 2021 | Definitions, Exercises, Vocabulary
I’ve had a few requests recently for exercises relating to idioms and sayings. This is an interesting topic to get into because the language used for idioms, proverbs and other popular expressions in English is commonly used but the meanings can be difficult to...
by Phil Williams | Oct 5, 2021 | General English
A while ago, I set up a Patreon for ELB to try and gain some additional support to help me keep the site going. It was overcomplicated and did not get much interest (though I’m lucky to have had a couple of subscribers who stuck with me!). I’ve decided to...
by Phil Williams | Sep 7, 2021 | Exercises, Reading Exercise, Writing skills
As my last post going into detail analysing the opening to a novel proved popular, I’ve put together another reading exercise looking at a different style of novel. This one is modern and from my more recent writing, so let’s see if we can spot some interesting...
by Phil Williams | Aug 10, 2021 | Exercises, Reading Exercise, Writing skills
I’m trying something new today with a reading analysis exercise, taking an extract of writing and picking out particulars of language that might be interesting. I’ve provided questions below to help you think critically about the English involved. The answers follow....