== === === === === English Study ==== == === ==== ===

As to your question about English grammar study, it has been some time since I used grammar books in preparation for JCE, CCE (Cambridge cert of Ed) or GRE. If it is the GRE you are preparing for, why not invest in a preparation book such as these (free):

http://www.impeloverseas.com/Standa...

Or even ones you would buy. I can't vouch for quality.

As far as strengthening English writing skills, I don't think anything is better than immersion in good examples.

One idea:

Get a copy of the tape of "Passage to India" by E.M. Forster, about $25 US from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Passage-India...

Then get a copy of this book from your city library (there should be one) or buy a cheap paperback copy.

From this paperback, use a copy machine and make copies of chapter 1 (or any good chapter) that your students can read while listening to the tape.

THEN: Have your students read aloud passages of the tape, making sure they understand the phrases, syntax, grammar, and all parts of what they are reading. They can copy the voice to get clear pronunciation and improve their spoken English at the same time.

The book Passage to India is only a suggestion: It quite possibly would be an interesting read, and is surely excellent descriptive writing....but you can do the same thing with many other books that are available on tape.

Listen.

Understand.

Read to imitate.

Write something similar yourself.

There are "study notes" that can help with understanding the book...for example from a site like this:

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/Literature

I like the writing of E.M. Forster and here are some quotes from Passage to India (an adventure story, if you don't know it):

"Life never gives us what we want at the moment that we consider appropriate."

"I believe in teaching people to be individuals, and to understand other individuals."

"I'd far rather leave a thought behind me than a child. Other people can have children."

"It was unbearable, and he thought again, 'How unhappy I am!' and became happier."

Quotes found here:

http://www.goodreads.com/work/quote...

quotes of Forster novel are awesome.

a couple of follow up questions/requests , if you please :

1) Forster is awesome . apart from Forster who are other authors that you like (keeping in mind my specific purpose)

2)is there some thumb of rule like this - 'if you want to learn good , modern english, book should not have been written before year ...... ' ?

:)

well, <ocf> and i always get along well - always treat each other with respect. when <ocf> disagrees with me and he feels he needs to voice his disagreement , he does so in a civil manner and i respect him for that.

we think very differently on most issues and it is ok with me.

the people that i listed have some traits which i crave - for example <johnlspouge> is a mathematician.

the people that i did not mention are also great people - just our interests don't converge that much at moment.

i understand you wrote in a light vein and i responded in a serious , dull manner.

however, they not urgent, can easily wait for a few weeks (or even more) , so take your time please if you busy.

hope every thing well at your end.

==Excellent Examples of English Writing==

How recent must books be for students of contemporary English?

Oh, Let's say since 1900.

==Excellent Books of High Interest==

My aim is to find you books that you can readily purchase both CD/audio tape and paperback or used copy hardbound.

V.S. Naipaul: Bend in the River
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/... --- You don't need to know anything about Africa to love this book, but if you do, you will be captivated.

John Steinbeck: The Pearl
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/... --- American English author of a short book set in Mexico. Popular in American High Schools. A morality fable.

Hermann Hesse (translated): Siddhartha
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/... -- I Read this in college and my eyes opened wide. Simple elegant, and beautiful story of self-seeking. As one reader commented in the link, everyone should read this one. You especially should like it.

C.S. Lewis: Out of the Silent Planet
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/... -- A thrilling story written by a brilliant man; Fantasy/Fable/Science Fiction if you like that, of an encounter of the fourth kind. Guaranteed to hold the attention of young readers. Quotes:

"It was all there in that little disc-London, Athens, Jerusalem, Shakespeare. There everyone had lived and everything had happened; and there, presumably, his pack was still lying in the porch of an empty house near Sterk."

“The love of knowledge is a kind of madness.”

“And I say also this. I do not think the forest would be so bright, nor the water so warm, nor love so sweet, if there were no danger in the lakes.”

"A pleasure is full grown only when it is remembered."

If you want to sharpen your skills at understated humor, you must go a long way to beat this one: Douglas Adams: Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/... -- Another science fiction book about someone being abducted from earth. I find it hilarious. The writing is medium good, some inside cultural jokes, but you can practice more recent British English.

Finally:
Ernest Hemingway: The old man and the sea.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/... --- A classic, often studied short novel from one of America's finest writers. Man versus nature. Deep thoughts in rather simple language.

...Shopping for stuff, driving around looking at stuff. Buying middle-east/Sri Lankan/Indian food. Having a Saudi explain the date business at the date market (the fruit type of dates). And so forth.

It is an interesting country but I would never suggest it as a vacation destination.

....a policy that will absolutely kill the purpose and goals of this organization.

<“While perspectives and opinions vary significantly, parents, adults in the scouting community, and teens alike tend to agree that youth should not be denied the benefits of scouting,” the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) said in a statement on Friday.

“For this reason, the executive committee, on behalf of the national executive board, wrote a resolution for consideration that would remove the restriction denying membership to youth on the basis of sexual orientation alone and would maintain the current membership policy for all adult leaders of the Boy Scouts of America.”>

Why the hell should anyone know this about kids in scouting anyway?

http://www.wbap.com/common/more.php...

American morality continuing to crumble. What ammunition for such as Islamists to destroy this culture.

But you can't be serious. Boy scouts is not about sexuality....and yet homosexuals have made it so. There was never any need to insist that homosexuality in a boy scout be recognized and accepted.

Announcing your homosexuality in the boy scouts is akin to trolling for mates.

You will see a flood of exits, and possibly a whole new organization.

However, I don't consider this general scenario as acceptable:-

"You're queer, we don't accept queers"

*knocks on wood*

My daughter just had her first son, and my oldest son gets married early next year.

My youngest son has a fiancee, but no date yet.