English reading club

billzhao · 发表于 2016-4-27 10:00

本帖最后由 billzhao 于 2016-4-28 11:56 编辑

Although most of us do not have difficulty in reading English, we do not have a habit of reading English for pleasure. We read English when we have to. On the contrary, we would read Chinese novels for pleasure, sometimes for hours.

Now that we are among people who read and speak English all the time, it is very necessary for us, speakers of English as a second language, to try doing the same thing. I guess it is just a habit, although a habit is difficult to change or create.

We can make it if we are determined. The thing is that we need encouragement, and we need some feeling of belonging. Thus I am wondering if we could have a reading club, a group of people sharing the same interest and the same goals. Here our goal is to form a habit of reading English for pleasure.

It would be nice if we meet once a week, talking about what have been reading. The conversation will be in English. But since all of us are so busy with our work or life, it might be not easy for some to attend the meetings. Thus I am thinking, perhaps we can start from writing about what read, and sending the note to the members of the club. Or if you think writing takes too much time, you could record what you say and send the audio file to the members. Or just tell other people how you are doing, and what help you need or offer.

Let me know what you think.

If you are interested, you can reply to this post, or write to me at billzhao88@gmail.com. We will encourage each other and get our goals reached.

billzhao · 发表于 2016-4-27 10:23

本帖最后由 billzhao 于 2016-4-27 11:01 编辑

Old man and the sea by Ernest Hemingway.

Here is the pdf book. It is only 36 pages and I hope it is great fun for you to start.

Hemmingway_The Old Man and the Sea_1952.pdf (231.46 KB, 下载次数: 70)

Hemmingway_The_Old_Man_and_the_Sea_1952.epub (51.21 KB, 下载次数: 44)

If you read on your computer or ipad, pdf is ok, but if you read on your iphone or android phones, it is much better to download the .epub file. You can adjust the font size with this format.
If you do not know how to convert pdf files to epub file, here is the link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G74n_wGI1Q

billzhao · 发表于 2016-4-27 12:50

About "the old man and the sea"

The Old Man and the Sea is a short novel written by the American author Ernest Hemingway in 1951 in Bimini, Bahamas, and published in 1952. It was the last major work of fiction by Hemingway that was published during his lifetime. One of his most famous works, it tells the story of Santiago, an aging Cuban fisherman who struggles with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Florida.

In 1953, The Old Man and the Sea was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and it was cited by the Nobel Committee as contributing to their awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature to Hemingway in 1954.

The plot summary:

The Old Man and the Sea tells the story of a battle between an aging, experienced fisherman, Santiago, and a large marlin. The story opens with Santiago having gone 84 days without catching a fish, and now being seen as "salao", the worst form of unluckiness. He is so unlucky that his young apprentice, Manolin, has been forbidden by his parents to sail with him and has been told instead to fish with successful fishermen. The boy visits Santiago's shack each night, hauling his fishing gear, preparing food, talking about American baseball and his favorite player, Joe DiMaggio. Santiago tells Manolin that on the next day, he will venture far out into the Gulf Stream, north of Cuba in the Straits of Florida to fish, confident that his unlucky streak is near its end.

On the eighty-fifth day of his unlucky streak, Santiago takes his skiff into the Gulf Stream, sets his lines and, by noon, has his bait taken by a big fish that he is sure is a marlin. Unable to haul in the great marlin, Santiago is instead pulled by the marlin, and two days and nights pass with Santiago holding onto the line. Though wounded by the struggle and in pain, Santiago expresses a compassionate appreciation for his adversary, often referring to him as a brother. He also determines that, because of the fish's great dignity, no one shall deserve to eat the marlin.

On the third day, the fish begins to circle the skiff. Santiago, worn out and almost delirious, uses all his remaining strength to pull the fish onto its side and stab the marlin with a harpoon. Santiago straps the marlin to the side of his skiff and heads home, thinking about the high price the fish will bring him at the market and how many people he will feed.

On his way in to shore, sharks are attracted to the marlin's blood. Santiago kills a great mako shark with his harpoon, but he loses the weapon. He makes a new harpoon by strapping his knife to the end of an oar to help ward off the next line of sharks; five sharks are slain and many others are driven away. But the sharks keep coming, and by nightfall the sharks have almost devoured the marlin's entire carcass, leaving a skeleton consisting mostly of its backbone, its tail and its head. Santiago knows that he is entirely unlucky now, and defeated, tells the sharks of how they have killed his dreams. Upon reaching the shore before dawn on the next day, Santiago struggles to his shack, carrying the heavy mast on his shoulder, leaving the fish head and the bones on the shore. Once home, he slumps onto his bed and falls into a deep sleep.

A group of fishermen gather the next day around the boat where the fish's skeleton is still attached. One of the fishermen measures it to be 18 feet (5.5 m) from nose to tail. Pedrico is given the head of the fish, and the other fishermen tell Manolin to tell the old man how sorry they are. Tourists at the nearby café mistakenly take it for shark. The boy, worried about the old man, cries upon finding him safe asleep and at his injured hands. Manolin brings him newspapers and coffee. When the old man wakes, they promise to fish together once again. Upon his return to sleep, Santiago dreams of his youth—of lions on an African beach.

oooooooo · 发表于 2016-4-27 13:19

If someone has enough time as I do, I prefer going to a library and reading together for a few hours a day. I am not good at reading along at home and need a company to encourage me. I study much better at libraries than at home. If someone has the same interested, please go with me together.

billzhao · 发表于 2016-4-28 11:59

oooooooo 发表于 2016-4-27 13:19% q3 Y5 h5 a* \3 q3 G( j' X/ H
If someone has enough time as I do, I prefer going to a library and reading together for a few hours ...

It is so nice that you have that much free time. I used to have a lot, but now almost none. Having a study buddy is great, although it is not that easy to find one. Are you interested in reading something for pleasure and share the content?

reneeqq · 发表于 2016-5-1 08:13

I like the idea of going to a public place, a library or a park

rose22 · 发表于 2016-5-2 11:35

有没有学英语的微信可以加？

Atom · 发表于 2016-5-2 21:51

Count me in, I like the idea, and I would prefer that we try to meet sometimes, maybe every other week, talk about what we have read from books, or newspaper, keep me posted and I am totally in-)))))

你靓990 · 发表于 2016-5-6 22:14

It is a great idea, count me ,you can contact me by email 254324378@qq.com.

lenayan · 发表于 2016-5-8 21:55

I am interested in joining the book club, I attended one before and I like it very much. I am living near White Mud Crossing Library, if we can meet in the library once a week to read together or share our ideas together that would be great.

钚花少 · 发表于 2016-5-10 09:33

本帖最后由钚花少于 2016-5-10 10:10 编辑

I would like to join in the club, i'm free every sunday , Monday and every evening. how should we start? wechat: laser-888, email:zhaoyujie280428427@gmail.com. thanks

happycindy · 发表于 2016-5-12 12:51

Great idea. Please let me when and where.

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