Learning a language is not easy, let alone mastering it, especially a second language. This blog provides information and tools not only to learn but also to master the English language.
Tuesday, December 31, 2024
Misuse of the Semi-Colon
Monday, December 30, 2024
Learning Some Grammar Basics
Monday, December 16, 2024
You Correct the Incorrect
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Learning Some Grammar Basics
Friday, December 13, 2024
Misuse of the Semi-Colon
Thursday, December 12, 2024
You Speak Like an American
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
You Correct the Incorrect
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
The Subjunctive Mood
Monday, December 9, 2024
Better English For You
WHAT this book is all about:
This book is about every aspect of both written and spoken English.
It covers the basics as well as the essentials of good and effective written and spoken English.
It helps you avoid all the common errors made by both native and non-native speakers of English.
WHY you should read this book:
This book is for every one who speaks and writes English every day.
This book is especially for ESL learners who are not familiar with the use of the English language.
This book is also for native speakers of English, who need to write good English in their education, and throughout their careers.
CONTENTS
ONE: WHY BETTER ENGLISH
TWO: HOW TO HAVE BETTER ENGLISH
LEARING TO SPEAK BY SPEAKING AND TO WRITE BY WRITING
GETTING BASIC TOOLS FOR BETTER ENGLISH
An English Dictionary
A Thesaurus
THREE: BETTER WRITTEN ENGLISH FOR YOU
THE PURPOSE OF WRITING
THE ENGLISH GRAMMAR BASICS
Nouns
Pronouns
Adjectives
Verbs
Adverbs
Conjunctions
Prepositions
Interjections
THE ENGLISH SENTENCE
Sentence Patterns
Different Types of Sentences
Balanced Sentence Construction
THE TENSES
THE PUNCTUATION
The Comma
The Semi-Colon
The Colon
The Dashes
The Period (Full-Stop)
COMMON SENTENCE ERRORS
Avoid Double Negatives
Avoid Omission of Key Verbs
Avoid Omission of Words in Comparison
Avoid Dangling Participles
Avoid Misusing Dependent Clause
BEGINNING TO WRITE
Paragraph Development
Learn Commonly Used Difficult Vocabulary
Learn Commonly Used Difficult Vocabulary
Learn Idioms and Colloquial Expressions
Learn to Know the Difference
Learn to Avoid Wordiness
DEVELOPING THE TOPIC
Point of View
Tone
Planning the Writing
Writing the Introduction
Planning the Outline
Expanding the Writing
Writing the Draft
GOOD WRITING
Clichés
Figures of Speech
Italics
Simplicity in Writing
FOUR: BETTER SPOKE ENGLISH
Slang and Colloquial Expressions
Saturday, December 7, 2024
Use of Italics
Friday, December 6, 2024
Books on Human Wisdom
Human freedom of choice is often held hostage by its bondage to the flesh, where your corrupted body dwells and the origin of the desires and wants of your thinking mind that ultimately change the freedom of your choice.
No matter
how soft or strong your bondage may be, one bondage always leads to another.
The more bondages you have, the greater their control on the freedom of your
choices and decisions, and the more wrong things you will subsequently do.
An illustration of one bondage leading to another and yet another
On July 4, 2022, a 25-year-old Black man in Akron, Ohio, was shot 60 times by 8 policemen. The news was widely reported in the media because the victim was a Black man and the police had presumably used “excess force” to gun him down.
The victim, who had no criminal record,
was initially stopped at a routine traffic stop.
Maybe “racial injustice” and “excessive
use of force by police” told the victim’s mind that he had the “freedom” to get
away. So, he chose to get away. His “freedom” tied him to the “bondage”
of “getting away.”
Driving away his car and being chased by
the police put him in another mental situation that gave him the “freedom” to
choose to fire his gun to “stop the police chase.” His freedom of choice only
reinforced his bondage to “getting away.”
After stopping his car at some point, the
bondage of “getting away” told his thinking mind that he had the freedom to
“flee on foot” and so he did.
While running, his bondage told his
thinking mind that he had the freedom to turn around to do whatever he chose
and decided to do. But he was shot dead.
The above tragedy could have been avoided
if the victim had not taken his “freedom” to “get away” in the first
place, which led to his bondage that distorted his thinking mind with another
freedom of wrong decision leading to another and yet another bondage that
finally tied him to his own death.
The "freedom" of choice of actions and decisions is controlled and manipulated by the human mind which lives in the flesh. Probably, that's what happened in the victim's mind: "I'm a Black, and the police don't like me. The police always use excessive force. I've my freedom to get away as soon as possible."
FREEDOM with BONDAGE shows you how to free yourself from your bondage to the flesh that gives you the "freedom" to make the wrong choices and decisions in your everyday life.
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
Thursday, December 5, 2024
You Speak Like an American
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
You Correct the Incorrect
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
The Subjunctive Mood
Monday, December 2, 2024
Better English For You
WHAT this book is all about:
This book is about every aspect of both written and spoken English.
It covers the basics as well as the essentials of good and effective written and spoken English.
It helps you avoid all the common errors made by both native and non-native speakers of English.
WHY you should read this book:
This book is for every one who speaks and writes English every day.
This book is especially for ESL learners who are not familiar with the use of the English language.
This book is also for native speakers of English, who need to write good English in their education, and throughout their careers.
CONTENTS
ONE: WHY BETTER ENGLISH
TWO: HOW TO HAVE BETTER ENGLISH
LEARING TO SPEAK BY SPEAKING AND TO WRITE BY WRITING
GETTING BASIC TOOLS FOR BETTER ENGLISH
An English Dictionary
A Thesaurus
THREE: BETTER WRITTEN ENGLISH FOR YOU
THE PURPOSE OF WRITING
THE ENGLISH GRAMMAR BASICS
Nouns
Pronouns
Adjectives
Verbs
Adverbs
Conjunctions
Prepositions
Interjections
THE ENGLISH SENTENCE
Sentence Patterns
Different Types of Sentences
Balanced Sentence Construction
THE TENSES
THE PUNCTUATION
The Comma
The Semi-Colon
The Colon
The Dashes
The Period (Full-Stop)
COMMON SENTENCE ERRORS
Avoid Double Negatives
Avoid Omission of Key Verbs
Avoid Omission of Words in Comparison
Avoid Dangling Participles
Avoid Misusing Dependent Clause
BEGINNING TO WRITE
Paragraph Development
Learn Commonly Used Difficult Vocabulary
Learn Commonly Used Difficult Vocabulary
Learn Idioms and Colloquial Expressions
Learn to Know the Difference
Learn to Avoid Wordiness
DEVELOPING THE TOPIC
Point of View
Tone
Planning the Writing
Writing the Introduction
Planning the Outline
Expanding the Writing
Writing the Draft
GOOD WRITING
Clichés
Figures of Speech
Italics
Simplicity in Writing
FOUR: BETTER SPOKE ENGLISH
Slang and Colloquial Expressions