W e have started a series of lessons for the beginners (Level 1) and for advanced (Level 2) desiring to learn the English language, and we are sure you will enjoy as you learn to write and speak good English. We offer the services of experienced English teachers to friends and families. Do not hesitate to send us your writings by post or personally deliver them to our office in a closed envelope marked "Learn English Through Tehran Times".
Lesson 330: The How' of Writing: - Part II Dear friends, This is a continuation of yesterday's lesson.
Please go through this also carefully and follow the instructions given and you will notice yourself developing into a real good writer. Turning Points. One of O. Henry's stories tells of a man coming to a fork in the road, which give him the choice of three different routes. The author takes his character over all the three routes and shows that regardless of which he chose his fate would have been the same. What do you think? Do you recognize the turning points in your life so far? How do you imagine it would have changed things for you if you had taken some other course at the time? Or try it this way: Suppose you could use hindsight on just two junctures in your life.
Which would they be and what would you do differently? First First experiences are the keenest. Think of the firsts in your life and see if you can recapture the emotions, sensations or thoughts you experienced at the time. Highlights When you look back in retrospect certain moments stand forth as highlights of your life to date. What would you say were your happiest moments, saddest, most embarrassing, proudest, bravest, most shameful, greatest, most surprising, most beautiful, dullest, most interesting, most hopeful, most revealing, most terrifying, most bewildering? Memorable People I'll never forget him (or her).
You've probably said that about someone or more than one person.
Aside from your mother and father and the members of your immediate family who are the people you remember in a special way? And why? Have You Met Yourself? The hardest person in your life to get to know is yourself. Chances are that your own ideas of how you look to others are at variance with the actuality. Tests have shown that people often have difficulty recognizing themselves from candid camera shots, unposed sketches or detailed word pictures.
A common reaction when someone sees himself in a movie for the first time is to say, "Is that really me? or when hearing a recording of his voice to think, Do I sound like that?" For the fun of it write a description of yourself as you think you appear to those who know you well and to those who know you casually.
Don't identify yourself and give no obvious clues. Cover not only physical characteristics but also manner of speech, behavior, traits and so on. Are you curious enough about yourself to show these descriptions to others for their opinion? Family Lore Every family has its own stories and anecdotes.
Things that happened to Grandpa, the much-traveled uncle, the ever-optimistic cousin. Have you bothered to find out about these family recollections that are part of your heritage and can make interesting telling? Down Memory Lane Isn't it true that certain things - tunes, scenes, flowers, perfumes, words - have the power to evoke remembrances of experiences almost forgotten? Thinking about it now, can you make a list of these quickeners of the past? Follow these systematically and you will find that you have a book that is not only a retrospective record of your life or a friend's life, but also something which might propel you to fame and fortune in the near future.
All the very best. To strive, to seek, to find, and never to yield: let this be your motto.