Recommendations corner. =)

This is where we recommend ENGLISH books, songs, movies and anything/everything to do with English to help for beginners, as well as giving readers a ''review'' of a kind. (My English is weird today..o_o..I think I''ve been trying to learn Japanese too much..;_; )

For beginners, I STRONGLY recommend reading novels. =) However, such famous novels written in Elizabethian time (like "Pride and Prejuidice", ect..those classics) are rather hard to read and not really helpful since they use a very old English language system. To improve your -feel- of the English language, it''s best to read a heart-wrenching and emotional novels. The length is important however, don''t go for anything TOO long..you''ll soon get frustrated and lose your degree of concentration.

The "Harry Potter" series could be a good start. =) Despite the length of the books, they are relatively easy to understand, with simple words that mostly just give away the plotline.

For moderate to frequent readers, I recomment lengthy and emotional novels. Such as "Jane Eyre" or "Wuthering Heights" by the Bronte sisters. "Gone with the wind" could be -too- long in my opinion, the length dilutes the intensity of the novel. Don''t try to go for something too long or too famous, I personally find most famous books are too overated. --;; And do NOT try to read Shakespear plays with the original English scripts. o_o I intensely dislike some of the verses..--;;...They are not only -cheap- (nowhere near ''deep'') in my opinion, even though I must admit that I tip my hat off for his ability to write plots and raising the dramatic climaxes.

Anyone at all, who would like some opinion on novels/books, do not hesitate to ask me.....most likely I have spent my useless/worthless time wrecking the library to no end. o_o Currently I am -obsessed- with this novel by Arthur Golden "Memoirs of a Geisha"!! MUST read. o_o For all Japanese-culture lovers. (That I suppose is just me..T_T). I will update the list of recommendations every week or so. =) (Write now my mind is rather blank..T_T can''t think of any good novels).

For music wise..o_o..I STRONGLY recomment it again for English learners. They''re always great helps. =) However..Don''t go for rap songs..o_o. Go for soft, SLOW (so you''re able to listen to and memorise), ballads (i.e: Mariah Carey) and the key is to find a song that you, personally can relate yourself to. And ALWAYS -try- to find out what it means, what they say, ect.. (My personal taste is rather weird..;_; because I choose to listen to Japanese-pop songs that I -KILL- my ears over trying to hear what they''re saying, spend days on the computer to find the meaning).

Movies? Perfect. Combination of reading/singing, anything and everything all bunched together. =) Again, try to watch less action movies since they kill your good English ( T_T with all the slangs) and hardly say anything gramatically correct. Try to watch comedies, I know it''s frustrating to not understand the jokes, but EVENTUALLY you wil. Trust me on this. And drama for dialogues (Script writers have beautiful dialogue writing abilities ^_^). Hmm..a current recommendation.."A Beatiful mind" or "two weeks notice" (for light hearted comedy).

^^

I''m rambling on too much. Will make sure to post a list of books/songs/movies soon. For now, lunch calls me!!!

JA NE!


Doi la bien kho..

rather helpful in a way, but very useless in another =P +_+ you didn''''t show us where to get sources for all your recommendations (i.e. books), then..... how are we supposed to even try one?
as for books, esp. for beginners, don''''t try harry potter as she just said! first book took me 1 bloody hell long week + a few "white" nights! try something shorter, and more common! something like fairy tales. recommendation: get a grip of robin hood hehe! firstly, you know the whole themes inside out in vietnamese version, helps you a lot when you try to understand english version!!! yo yo yo go to http://promo.net/pg/ and check it out!!! a lot of others fictions too, published before 1928 i guess.
for moderate readers, then try out things like harry potter, and lord of the rings, yo yo *in da landa mordor where the shadows lie!!!*. maybe some other fantasy fictions also, that could awake your sense of imagination, and thrill you to death if you don''''t hold on to the very last page of the book. this one, try to find some on kazaa if you know the title, otherwise..... no comments! or if you have time and the guts, try some "beautiful" old kinda language like those expressed in shakespeares'''' novels (hm` hm`, did i spell the name correctly +_+?)
as for muzik, yo yo, go get some rap here man! rap songs are the longest type i''''ve ever seen, with a whole bunch of ****s and craps in them! very meaningful sometimes, and they sound to me like stories about the singers'''' lives. recommend you guys try out "hailie''''s song"; "sing for the moment"; "stan" for sure!; "without me" and/or "lose yourself" maybe, from eminem. source: kazaa hehe! if you don''''t enjoy that kinda crap, then try out some clazzikas!!! clazzika songs are usually stories too, but short ones, however, good enough to teach you some language skill. recommend try out: "lemon tree" from peter, paul, and mary; "sometimes when we touch" by rod stewart; and others, that i can''''t remember all the names hehe.
movies <=== this one sucks man! i don''''t watch movies much, except for Lord of the rings (LoTR) yo yo ^_^v but, i agree with Sil, try not to watch action movie, or all you''''re gonna learn is just how people scold bad words in english hehe. there are movies i watched, that the through the whole length, i can hear only "****", "****", blah blah, and nothing much more! anyway, i heard this movie "phonebooth" is fantastic in the sense that the whole scene is just about a phonebooth where you put some coins to call someone, and it could last for as long as 3 hours! that means, the movie must be really really descriptive in language, man!
alright, that''''s about all for now *yawns* goodnight to yall, and i''''ll be coming back hehe!
itsa THL
PS: btw Sil, do you recommend any e-lib that could provide a full range of books, new or old, copyright...... or not =D? of coz'''' must be FOC (free of charge) or i won''''t touch it!!!
Được ilu86 sửa chữa / chuyển vào 23:29 ngày 13/10/2003

Agreed mostly with what you said, except for "Lords of the Ring" parts. Dont even try to touch that book if you have a hard time reading other kind of book.
Classics book that have been translated in to Vietnamese is good to read, and easy to recognize the pattern. I wouldnt recommend you to listen to rap though. It harder to listen to than "classic" music and using quite a large amount of slangs in there.
Together, Forever, Always

To only Sil (Anyone else, close your eyes or...../...):
Hey Sil,are you teasing me???
I STRONGLY recommend reading novels.
-->Thanks,you know I don''t like novel even it''s VN
The "Harry Potter" series could be a good start.
-->THanks!I only watched the movie....
However..Don''''t go for rap songs..o_o. Go for soft, SLOW (so you''''re able to listen to and memorise), ballads
-->You know I like rap,Hiphop and I hate SLOW,POP? grrrrrrr....
Again, try to watch less action movies since they kill your good English ( T_T with all the slangs) and hardly say anything gramatically correct. Try to watch comedies, I know it''''s frustrating to not understand the jokes, but EVENTUALLY you wil. Trust me on this. And drama for dialogues (Script writers have beautiful dialogue writing abilities ^_^)
-->And action,horror,thriller movie,those are my favorites!What is this for,Sil???Grrrrrrr..... And you know the fact that I hate drama.....Grrrrrr
And ... guess what?
Your "ehem" will have problem with me to day!Thanks alot!^.^
Hehehe!
Bye!
8051

LEARNING BY
MISTAKE

*bonks robot*
=P
These are to LEARN English!!!
And leave my dear ''ehem'' alone!! =P I should have smacked you for what you said to Gaffers yesterday!!!!
Have some nice (Leon) sausage/banana for lunch will you?

Doi la bien kho..

Uh huh, good one. U got my vote. Yeh yo ppl, jus try this at home. Anyone who havent tried John Grisham''s novels so betta chek it now. I strongly recommend yo dude n cuties reading his novel.
Musik: Rap is good but i dont think it is da bezt idea( am i rite, ilu?) Jus try wat u want to hear. No pushing here. Not really have mooch rules here. It depends on u, yeh, i meant urself.
And the lazt is: Ask Sil to be ur tutor. Uhmzzz, kinda impossible but jus give it a try. A biig one. Who knows eh?
Btw, ilu, Phonebooth is jus ok one. But too mooch slangs,lolz! All about da phone booth in Ny, it was a nice place. I know that.
Stay fun ya guys.
Im not 'bout lose my freedo' over no female

oh yeah, i forgot that Sil talked about drama too! watch out for "charmed", "F.R.I.E.N.D.S", "ally mcbeal" or, maybe even "sabrina" to laugh your ass off.... yourself for ever watching those series! i hate drama in all sense, including those on the stage of a ****ty stupid art performance centre. *no offense to all those who likes it though!*

thanks man! i''''d love to try his book too, but dunno where to download -_-. for me, there''''s no such kinda allowance for going around and buy fictions, so can just get stuff free!
as for musiz, rap is nice except for a bit too much slang as you voodool said! but the clazzika bits, i still strongly recommend any ones esp. beginners to listen to! last time i attended an english class that teach one how to sing some favourite and famous songs! that''''s darn fun and my english got much better off after that course.
and voodool, what do you mean by that bits said i should make Sil my tutor? don''''t quite get what you really mean, man!!! anyway, i know she wont dare tutoring me anything, right Sil? hehe ^+^
<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Arial" id=quote>Trích từ:Agreed mostly with what you said, except for "Lords of the Ring" parts. Dont even try to touch that book if you have a hard time reading other kind of book. [/QUOTE]
oops, that book i only recommend to moderate readers, not those beginners man! i luv that book, fr the beginning till.... till where Smeagol destroyed the Ring and himself. but the bits after that, quite long still, is damn boring, as for everything becomes a must to happen. i mean, if you can guess what''''s gonna happen, no fun reading already, right? anyway, hope the 1000+-pages book won''''t destroy your apettite for other fictions, hehe (did i spell apettite correctly, eh?)
and Sil, hehe, who''''s that "e he`m" of yours? anyway, i believe gaffer is not an asian name, right hehe ^_^?
oops oops, forgot to put my beloved "itsa THL" hehe. sounds like DHL sometimes, but THL is far better, and more powerful ~_^
itsa THL
Được ilu86 sửa chữa / chuyển vào 10:55 ngày 14/10/2003

So where are u up to? umhz, so buy them online( if ya have crea*** cards) I found out that all John Grisham''''s novels are great. Me reading his "Painted house", two thumbs up, man.
Hehehe, ''''bout Sil, jus take it as a recommendation. I think she has a lovely English!!! Uhmz, and her "ehem" must be proud of her eh? As she is the outstanding gal here.
Btw, are u rapmaniac? Me jus like it damn moochhh. It s nice to know u buddie that having things in common.
Vote me b4 too late
Được Dj_voodool sửa chữa / chuyển vào 13:40 ngày 14/10/2003

wow thank you guys for your perfectly constructive posts!
Let me add some of my own experience ok? One of my favourite methods to study English is to listen to the music. Well, espcially those who are music addicts, don''''t hesitate to try this! Your listening ability will improve moderately but be careful with your grammar, keep in mind that structures are often changed once they go into songs. Take "belong" as an example. WE all know õ?obelongõ? goes with "to" right, however, "with" is more frequently used. Remember "He loves you not" by Dreams & "He don''''t love you" by Human Nature? Gramatically wrong!!! So be aware I would highly recommend you to listen to American singers since I find it completely easy to understand. Ad***ionally, most singers sing with American Accent hence it''''s quite reasonable to listen to American singers, right? It depends on which kind of English as well as music you go in for, though. One more thing, please don''''t try rap. Listening to this kind of music might be extremely enjoyable but it won''''t be an effective way to study English.... too many of slangs and they speak/ sing so fast that it''''s almost impossible to catch the words, espcially those who haven''''t mastered the language. Ballads, like Sil suggested, would probably be the best choice. Iõ?Td be for Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Shania Twain and Faith Hillõ?Ư. If you think Pop sucks, then try slow Rock instead. Well, it''''s not so hard to understand you know. The first song comes up in my mind is When the children cry by White Lion, quite clear and slow.
I do watch movie and it''''s absolutely fun, yet to say the truth, it doesn''''t have great influence on me. I like watching movie but it''''s for entertainment only. They (I mean the actors and actresses, suddenly forget the word used for both) often speak in such a low tone that it''''s difficult to get what they mean at times. I feel they''''re more of whispering than talking or speaking Well, I don''''t mean watching motion picture is not effective, it just have little effects on me.
What about listening to news??? Well, definitely a good way huh! You can both increase your vocab and improve listening skill. What''''s more, you''''re capable of catching the lastest news, isn''''t it wonderful? If you''''re interested in American English, then choose CNN or VOA (a little bit slow but advisable for beginners) or if you''''re fascinated with the ***y British English, BBC is the best! You can also go to their websites and find if there''''s any kind of transcript.
Regarding reading skill, well.... I don''''t know if I''''d be patient enough to read entirely Harry Potter or Lord of the Ring a couple of years ago (when I just started to focus on English). They''''re just too long. Even Harry Potter is close to real life, I''''d rather read short stories like those posted in one of our "hung" topics [topic]47411[/topic]. They''''re just 2-page stories and heartily touching so you won''''t get bored as you go on. When your English is comparatively solid, try novels. Honestly, I prefer romantic to adventurous one. My English is not good enough to grasp every incident firmly, so I choose Vietnamese version to read this kind. At this level, you should only read what you want to read. But once you''''ve become profficient, try to read in every field, computer science, physics, psychology, astronomy, economics, whatever....
Finally, this is a super helpful topic for you to read, learners. Iõ?Tm sure you wonõ?Tt be sorry to click here. [topic]219270[/topic]
Ok, that''''s enough for me. Gotta go and finish my homework now or my mom will yell at me.
Được britneybritney sửa chữa / chuyển vào 16:45 ngày 14/10/2003

Cool, this one is Good ah but it should be not so long.
Yeah, well, as far as my knowledge can cover, uhm, uhm
I agree with Britney, Listening to the music, songs in English by famous singers or whoever have perfect pronunciation.
You may have some benefits from this, relax and study at the same time, Can you believe that? Yes, it is. You try to repeat everytime the singer start singing, then you know the words and try to pronounce even in the more difficult way, that is not read but sing.
Another way which is very important is that , trying to Perfect you presentation skill., Learn how to organize a presentation, structure, words to use, intonation, stress on certain points of the presentation. and guess, you can become the leader in the future with perfect presentation skill.
Well, it seems that I prefer relax rather than study, but watching films in English is another perfect way, besides listening to the music.
Ok, I have to go now, I am gonna come back later and share with you, Hope somehow It helps.
See ya