One of the best things you can do outside of classes to advance your
knowledge of English vocabulary and grammar is reading lots of books in English.
You should choose books that interest you and that are easy enough for you to
read without having to use a dictionary. Reading complete books in English is a
very efficient way to improve your English grammar and vocabulary.
When you are reading on your own (without help from a
class and a teacher), you will get much
more language benefit from reading books that are easy for you than from books
that are difficult for you. Just because you can easily understand a
book written in English doesn't mean that you could use that same English
grammar and vocabulary correctly in your own writing. Also, there are usually a
few new words and phrases for you in any book, even if the book is generally easy
for you to read.
Choose books that are interesting to you. If you don't
enjoy reading a book, you probably won't spend very much time reading it. The
more you enjoy the books you read, the more time you will spend reading, and
the more you will improve your English vocabulary and grammar.
The
Milwaukee Public Library <www.mpl.org> is a great place to find many easy
and interesting books that you can borrow for free. The Central library
downtown (841 West Wisconsin Avenue) has the largest selection. In addition to
their regular fiction and mystery sections, the Central library downtown has a
special Adult Learning section with books that are easier to read. Here are some relatively easy books you might enjoy:
· Best Girl by Sylvia
Maultash Warsh (and other titles from Orca Book Publishers)
· The Lost Cause by John Wilson
(and other titles in Seven, the Series
from Orca)
· Wave by D.M. Ouellet
(and other titles from High Interest Publishing)
· Silent Honor (and other
titles) by Danielle Steel
· The Firm (and other
titles) by John Grisham
· Outback by Robin
Stevenson
· Dragons’ Eggs by J.M. Newsome
· In the Shadow of
the Mountain
by Helen Naylor
· Scarface by Paul Kropp
· Caught in the
Blizzard
by Paul Kropp
· Helen Keller by Margaret
Davidson
· I Have a Dream:
The Story of Martin Luther King by Margaret Davidson
· Hit the Street by Judith
Andrews Green
· Corpse in the
Basement
by Kathleen Anne Barrett
· Any title in the
Cambridge English Readers series
· Any title in the
Penguin Readers series, available through Longman ESL publishers
A
good grammar reference: Understanding & Using English Grammar: Chartbook
by Betty Azar
A
good writer’s handbook: Rules for Writers by Diana Hacker
A
good dictionary: Longman Advanced American Dictionary
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