MIDDLE ENGLISH LITERATURE: RELIGION, KNIGHTS AND LOVE!

What was English literature like in the Middle Ages?

The term Middle English literature refers to the literature written in the form of the English language known as Middle English, from the 12th century until the 1470s. During this time the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English became widespread and the printing press regularized the language. 

 In literary terms, the characteristics of the literary works written did not change radically until the effects of the Renaissance and Reformed Christianity became more apparent in the reign of King Henry VIII. 
There are three main categories of Middle English Literature: Religious, Courtly love, and Arthurian, though much of Geoffrey Chaucer's work, its most famous, stands outside these. From The Canterbury Tales, I've picked up The Wife of Bath, an extremely relevant tale from today's feminist perspective.
 Read the information in this article about Chaucer's Feminist Thought.
To enjoy lots of text from the period, click here!

EXPRESSING THE FUTURE IN ENGLISH

In Engish, like in other languages, the future can be expressed in different ways, but until you get a lot of practice it often remains a confusing topic.
Basically, you can use the following tenses, read the theory and do the practice:

The future simple (will/won't)       Exercise

The future with going to                Exercise

The present continuous                  Exercise

The present simple                         Exercise

BREAKING THE LANGUAGE BARRIER: LISTEN TO TIM DONER'S EXAMPLE!

In this video, Tim Doner, who speaks 24 languages, reminds us of Nelson Mandela's quote: "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart!." 
If you are an advanced student of English who has been studying English for a long time, and at this moment you feel you need some encouragment watch this extraordinary student's example, it may raise your spirits!

  

 

MANNERS MAKETH MAN: LANGUAGE, FACE AND POLITENESS

The quote by William Horman (1440-1535) Manners maketh man has reminded us of the importance of manners and politeness for centuries! In Pragmatics, these concepts were borrowed and a Politeness  Theory was formulated. It concerns the nature of politeness and how it functions in interaction and inlcudes politeness strategies. Here's an excellent summary

MEANING BEYOND SENTENCES: IMPLICATURES, ENTAILMENT AND PRESUPPOSITIONS

These  three concepts play a fundamental role in the negotiation of meaning: let's take a sentence  "Are you married?" the implied meaning would be totally different in different situations! Can you think of any? And the presuppositions would be totally different too; let alone the consequences!

Entail is defined as   "to cause or involve by necessity or as a consequence"

If you are interested in Linguistics and the secrets of meaning, I suggest you  watch this video by the Lingspace with lots of examples.