Have you ever read any books in English?
If you have, maybe you’re looking for some new book recommendations. And if you’ve never read an English book, where’s the best place to begin?
In this episode, we’ll give you some book recommendations to help you get started and take your reading to the next level.
We are getting close to episode 500 of the podcast. What should we do to celebrate this milestone?
Voice message from Maxi from Argentina.
He XgrownX (grew up/was raised) in an English family.
I will (BE) listening to you in your next episode.
Who was Jorge Luis Borges?
(Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo) 1899-1986
Jorge Luis Borges was an Argentine poet, essayist, and short-story writer who is considered one of the founders of Magical Realism.
He didn’t actually write in English, his books were translated, but he spoke excellent English. In his early years, Borges was home-schooled by his mother and later attended a bilingual school. In 1914, he moved with his family to Switzerland where he studied at the Collège de Genève.
He was a polyglot who spoke several languages including Spanish, English, French, German, and Old Norse.
Some of his most famous works include “Ficciones” (1944), “The Aleph” (1949), “The Book of Imaginary Beings” (1957), and “Labyrinths” (1962).
Book recommendations for learners of English
We gave some recommendations in episode https://www.inglespodcast.com/177 including Harry Potter, Animal Farm. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Angela’s Ashes.
Another useful episode is https://www.inglespodcast.com/280 in which we give you some advice on how to improve your reading skills in English.
Ernest Hemingway: The Old Man and the Sea, The Sun Also Rises, For Whom The Bell Tolls
Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach (read with your kids) and his short stories.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Treasure Island & Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hide by Robert Louis Stevensen
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Aesop’s Fables, including The Hare and The Tortoise, The Town Mouse and The Country Mouse, The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, etc.
The Narnia Trilogy, including The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Anne Frank’s Diary
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
The poems of Robert Frost
Also, short-form content such as blogs, articles, comics, reviews etc.
…and now it’s your turn to practise your English.
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Send us an email with a comment or question to craig@inglespodcast.com or belfastreza@gmail.com
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In next week’s episode: Speak Like a Native: Expressions to help you pass your English speaking exam
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The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called ‘See You Later’
Hi Reza and Craig! I hope this message finds you very well. This is Maxi, again. I want to thank you for the time you dedicated to my message.
But the main reason why I’m writing to you is because I just finished to watch the movie Belfast. I´m not sure but I think you’ve talked about this movie in your podcast. I was looking for a movie to watch and there was this one called Belfast, so I thought about Reza and chose it.
The movie has touched my feelings, it´s a sweet story and I couldn’t avoid to think about Reza leaving the city where he grew up.
I´m from Río Luján, a small town too, and I left the town when I was young to work and study in Buenos Aires. Also it made me think about the riot and pillage in supermarkets and stores that we saw here in 2001. Now our political situation is getting worse and I´m afraid that those times come back again. A fascist, racist and machist man won the President election spliting the society in two polarized parts. Well, I´m sure you read the news.
Let´s go back to Belfast, the movie. I loved the movie, I’m really intrested in your history and I want to learn more about it.
A big hug to you both, specially for Reza.
Your friend, Maxi
Hi Maxi. Yes, I really enjoyed the film Belfast. I hope to go and visit the city one day. Hopefully, Reza will be able to show me around! I’ve also been thinking a lot about Argentina. I know a lot of people from there and none of them are happy with the result of the recent elections. The world seems to be becoming more and more polarized.