Learning English through opera: Purcell’s ‘Dido and Aeneas’

Over the years Iโ€™ve given my students different pieces of advice on how they can improve their vocabulary and listening skills. Some of the more conventional ones Iโ€™ve already posted here on the blog, but in this post Iโ€™ll share another - somewhat unusual - idea on that subject: listen to opera! Before you roll your …

English words of the year 2023

If you recall, some of the words of the year 2022, chosen by the leading English languageย lexicographers, were โ€˜womanโ€™, โ€˜permacrisisโ€™, and โ€˜gaslightingโ€™. (And if you donโ€™t recall, you can refresh your memory).ย  Letโ€™s now do a quick roundup of the words of the year 2023! The Collins word of the previous year is โ€˜AIโ€™, defined …

“A Song for New Yearโ€™s Eve” by William Cullen Bryant

William Cullen Bryant was a 19th century American romanticist poet, abolitionist and civil right advocate. Originally a lawyer, he started publishing poems in the early 1820s. Later in the decade he became the editor of the New York Review and the New York Evening Post, solidifying his position as a prominent man of letters and …