as an english learner you've heard this
before
it should come as no surprise to you
reading is one of the best ways to
improve your english the question is
do you read enough in english to really
start noticing progress
in your language skills
i'm not saying that you need to be a
bookworm or anything like that but if
you commit to reading a book whether
it's a fictional narration
a biography a self-help your english is
sure to improve significantly
all you have to do is pick up a book
read the first few pages and then let
the story
capture your imagination if it's a good
story and if you can connect with it
that's when you're going to experience
the magic of reading
that is transporting yourself to a
different world
interacting with characters and almost
feeling as if you're living the events
and consequences
of the story as one psychologist puts it
to the human brain imagined experiences
are processed the same as real
experiences
through imagination we tap into
creativity
that is the foundation of innovation
self-discovery
and change and hey these things can be
game changers in your learning journey
but before we get into it and in case
you're new here
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in this video i'm going to introduce you
to five
novels that have been made into movies
the idea here is that you can use the
same story to engage with the language
in its different manifestations and if
you've read a novel first
that's going to aid your comprehension
of the movie
the same is true the other way around as
i'm introducing these novels and movie
adaptations to you
i'm also going to talk to you about five
benefits you'll get by
reading novels in english
this is a 2005 novel by the american
author cormac mccarthy
it's great for all learners regardless
of their comprehension ability
but if your english is lower
intermediate this novel is going to be
great for you because it was initially
written
as a screenplay which means it was
intended for a movie
for this reason the novel has a simple
writing style
regarding the story it occurs in the
vicinity of the mexico united states
border
in 1980 and concerns an illegal drug
deal gone awry
in the texas desert back country if you
decide to watch the movie
you won't regret it when i watched this
movie i was on the edge of my seat the
whole time
and javier bardem who by the way is a
non-native english speaker
plays a masterpiece of a role in this
movie
you need to read this novel and watch
the film
[Music]
a common misconception is that reading
is not going to expose you to the
english spoken by natives today
this is true if you're reading an
original novel or poem by shakespeare
but if you read a contemporary work like
no country for old men
you are going to learn a lot of current
relevant vocabulary
you'll even find examples of realistic
conversation between native
speakers
bird box is a 2014 post-apocalyptic
novel by american writer josh
malemann post-apocalyptic fiction
is a sub-genre of science fiction in
which the earth civilization is
collapsing
or has collapsed we actually made a
reading lesson with another
post-apocalyptic novel
the hunger games i'll link that in the
description below
bird box follows a woman who must find a
way to guide herself
and her children to safety despite the
potential threat from an unseen
enemy when you read this novel you're
going to have
eerie feelings imagine hearing that
people from all around the world are
going crazy
and then suicidal and seeing something
outside
actually it's not even known if they're
seeing this thing because it's believed
to be invisible
one last thing about this movie is that
you're going to find it a lot like
everything that's happened with covid
lately
i guess you'll have to read the novel or
watch the movie on netflix starring
sandra bullock to get what i mean
[Music]
now let me tell you why reading is one
of the best
learning strategies to grow your
vocabulary
it is simply a super effective way to
get introduced to new words in an
authentic way
and to confirm your understanding of
other words
reading books in english also helps you
to practice
using the context of a sentence to guess
the meaning of words
and expressions that you don't know
using context to guess meaning is
fundamental for both mastering english
and remembering new vocabulary
now if you'd like to learn vocabulary
that natives really use and learn it in
context whilst having a lot of fun
i highly recommend you check out our
fluent with friends course
you can try it right now for free by
signing up to our three part master
class
all you have to do is click up here or
down in the description box below
it's that simple and you won't regret it
life of pi is a 2001 fantasy adventure
novel by canadian author
jan martell this novel tells the story
of pie
a teenage boy from india who finds
himself trapped in a lifeboat in the
pacific ocean with a tiger
bookshelf.com describes this novel as a
transformative novel
an astonishing work of imagination that
will delight and stun
readers in equal measure it is a triumph
of storytelling and a tale that will as
one character puts
it make you believe in god the movie
adaptation
didn't fail to deliver either winning
awards for its visual effects its
protagonist performance
cinematography and music
now how can reading improve your
communication skills
a key skill of a good communicator is
accuracy
great authors like jan martel are
masters of the english language
and reading their work which is
characterized by writing
that's exceptionally good in style and
form is going to improve your
understanding of grammar
you're also going to become a much
better writer
if you read books regularly
the great gatsby is the oldest book on
this list
it was written in 1925 by the classic
american writer
f scott fitzgerald out of the books i'm
introducing to you
in this list this could be the most
difficult to read
so i'd say you should start with some of
the other ones
unless you're confident your reading
comprehension is advanced
however an option to still read this
novel even if your comprehension
is intermediate is the graded reader
version of this novel which is
a simplified version for english
learners
just search on google the name of this
novel plus graded reader
so this story is set in the jazz age on
long island
it depicts narrator nick carraway's
interactions with mysterious millionaire
jay gatsby
and gatsby's obsession to reunite with
his former lover daisy buchanan
the 2013 movie adaptation stars leonardo
dicaprio as jay gatsby
what i loved about this movie is that it
gives a fascinating visual
representation of the
infamous roaring twenties in the united
states
this was an era of economic prosperity
and energetic
social artistic and cultural activity
both the novel and the film paint a
picture of american life in the 20s
which i personally find very interesting
i love the 1920s so much that my wedding
actually had a 1920s theme
and they also explore the theme of the
american dream in a very
interesting way the great gatsby is a
literary masterwork and is seen as a
contender for the title of great
american novel
not only this but it has an outstanding
soundtrack
too if you're a fan of leonardo dicaprio
like me
then why not check out this lesson we
made with his hit
film inception next you can click up
here or down in the description box
below to watch it next
[Music]
reading in english and especially novels
gives you an opportunity to interact
with the language
but what do i mean by this well some of
the sentences and paragraphs that you'll
read
may have several layers of meaning and
they could be
understood in different ways when you
consider these possibilities it's
almost as if you're actively using the
language and you create a personal
relationship with the language
this is probably a great way to develop
the ability to think in english as well
[Music]
the invention of hugo cabre is a
historical fiction
book written and illustrated by brian
selznick
when you open this book you'll see that
it's vastly different
from the other ones on this list because
you'll see it has
tons of illustrations the author
describes the book as
not exactly a novel not quite a picture
book
not really a graphic novel or a flick
book
or a movie but a combination of all of
these things
this book is about a boy hugo who lives
in the walls of a busy paris train
station
his survival depends on things he does
when no one is looking
but when he crosses paths with an
eccentric bookish girl
and a bitter old man who runs a toy
booth in the station
hugo's undercover life and his most
precious secret
are put in jeopardy hugo is the name of
the 2011
martin school stacey film adaptation of
the book
this movie stars two young actors that
you may recognize from other movies or
tv series
this movie received lots of critical
acclaim it's a must-watch
we often say don't just learn it live it
this doesn't only mean that you should
speak english in every moment
every day it means that you should use
your english as a practical tool
like not reading a novel because it's a
school assignment
but doing it to enjoy a story in
relation to that
you might have heard us say now let's go
beyond the classroom and
live your english and a big plus is the
fact that
reading will give you a ton of practice
to make your english even better
[Music]
now before we finish the lesson i'd like
also to give a special mention to some
of my all-time favorite books
made into movies that you can also check
out
if you'd like to learn more about these
books and movies make sure you check out
our instagram
real life dot english where i'll be
talking about them and why they're so
great to learn english with
also let me know in the comments which
of these recommendations you'll try
reading
and watching but now it's time to go
beyond the classroom and
live your english ah yeah
all right so our next one is definitely
advanced and i was split
whether or not to actually include
something from this author but the
reason that i did is because
shakespeare had such a huge impact on
english as it's spoken today
in fact he invented over 1700 words
that are still used in modern english
now as i said this is very difficult to
read
even for natives but it's really for any
of you who love
literature and you really want to see
english at its highest expression of
use