Intro
Dear friends and followers of the Grammaticus blog,
I'm happy to share with you this month's selection of articles and learning resources, old and new. As always, there are my learn-English-through-poetry posts, grammar and vocabulary lessons, along with seasonal listening tips. I hope you'll find something useful and interesting here.
Until next month, enjoy the arrival of spring!
Books & Literature
“The Brook in February” by Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts
The short poem presented here was first published in Roberts’ collection “The Book of the Native” in 1896. Set in the cold and silent month of February, it captures the tension between winter’s stillness and the hidden vitality of the coming spring.
"The February Hush" by Thomas Wentworth Higginson
Reading this poem, you immediately find yourself in a wintery nature setting. What T. W. Higginson describes is just a fleeting moment: a wonderful snapshot captured in words. Vocabulary exercise included in the post!
Culture & Media
The key vocabulary of Lent and Easter
In this post we’ll get to learn a couple of key words connected with the major Christian holiday of Easter, as well as the days preceding it. Some of them have a really interesting origin, so we’ll also take a quick look at their etymology and cultural background.
The CSB Single-Column Wide-Margin Bible
One of the Bible translations I’ve been using a lot over the past year is the relatively new Christian Standard Bible (CSB) version. In this post I won’t go into the stylistic features or the translation philosophy behind the CSB, but will rather present one of several dozen available editions that I’ve been using.
Learning English
Confusing words: Part, a part, apart
Here’s another English-language vocabulary post! This time I’ll be doing a short explainer on the differences between these deceptively similar words: 'part', 'a part', and 'apart'.
Pagan origins of English weekday names
The names of the days of the week are among the first words English learners get to learn, but probably few ever wonder about their origins and actual meaning. In this post we’ll delve into the etymology of this segment of vocabulary, with a little help from cultural history and mythology.
Listening tips
Listening tips: Plant care and gardening
As the winter quickly comes to its end here in the northern hemisphere, it’s time to get some inspiration for new gardening projects. Even if you don’t have a garden, perhaps you have some indoor plants and would like to know how to take better care of them.
The Mindful Birding Podcast | The Power of Birdwatching
Listen to this podcast to learn how birds can teach us life-lessons and be a positive distraction in our daily lives.