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featuresSee Your Vocabulary in Color as You Read
Turn on word-status highlighting and the Reader tints each word by what you know: new words, words you're learning, and the ones you can already skip.
featuresTest Your English Reading Level in 60 Seconds
A free 60-second check of the gap between the English words you recognize and the ones you can actually recall. Read a short passage and see your level.
vocabularyOne Word, Many Voices: How 'Death' Changes Across Twenty-Five Centuries
Follow the word 'death' from Aesop and Boethius to Austen, Dickens and beyond: one plain word remade by twenty-five centuries of writers.
vocabularyDish and Desk: The Secret Twins Hiding in Everyday English
Costume and custom, loyal and legal, dish and desk — three pairs of everyday words that each split from its own Latin ancestor.
vocabularyOccur, Current, Course: The Hidden 'Run' in Cur- Words
Occur, current, course and cursor come from one Latin verb meaning 'to run.' Secure looks like one of them but comes from a different root — care.
vocabularyDisaster Literally Means 'Bad Star': The Astrology Hidden in Everyday English
Disaster once meant 'a bad star,' a lunatic is moonstruck, and influence flowed from the heavens: everyday English still carries the old astrology.
vocabularyGlamour Is Literally the Word 'Grammar': From a Spell to Dazzling Charm
Glamour and grammar are the same word. It began as a Scots term for magic, a spell that deceives the eye, long before it ever meant dazzling charm.
vocabularyOne Word, Many Voices: How 'Time' Changes Across Fourteen Centuries
Follow the word 'time' from Boethius in the sixth century to Jane Austen and beyond: one plain, everyday word remade by every age of English writing.
vocabularyContain, Retain, Detain: The Hidden 'Hold' in English's -tain Words
Contain, retain, detain and maintain come from one Latin verb meaning 'to hold.' Attain looks like one of them, but belongs to a different family.
vocabularyIs Pride and Prejudice Hard to Read? It's the Sentences, Not the Words
Pride and Prejudice isn't hard because of its words — you'll recognise about 97 in every 100. The difficulty is Austen's long sentences and her irony.
vocabularyOne Root, Ten Words: How Greek and Latin Roots Build English Vocabulary
Learn one Latin root like spect ('to look') and you can decode inspect, perspective, conspicuous, and a dozen more — how word roots grow your English.
guidesHow to Practise Reading Comprehension with the Classics
Knowing every word isn't the same as understanding the page. How to practise reading comprehension with the classics — and check you actually followed it.
guidesOne Text, Every Level: Teaching a Mixed-Ability Reading Class
A mixed-ability class doesn't need different books — it needs different tasks. How to differentiate one shared reading by support and challenge.