Straightforward English
Clay Lane is a website for people who want to feel comfortable reading and writing good English, and who truly care about the language and heritage of the English people. It is inspired by textbooks written by Yorkshire schoolmaster NL Clay, used in English schools and homes from the 1920s to the 1960s, so it is ideal for those who prefer traditional methods and content.
Clay believed in ‘straightforward English’, that is, in no-nonsense speaking and writing that is clear and correct, and is the result of serious reflection, not just a desire to build a following. Freedom and democracy, he warned, would be mere catchwords without it. See Straightforward English.
Read short passages of good, straightforward English, from Shakespeare and the Bible to Defoe, Austen, Dickens and Kipling.
Broaden your knowledge of history, ideas and literature as you read.
Solve brainteasers in oral and written composition, like those Clay gave to his Grammar School pupils.
Ask for help with your English if you feel you need it.
“The course should train pupils to observe, learn more of the world they live in, think clearly, use the imagination and to speak clearly.”
NL Clay, Think and Speak (1929)
Featured Music
Sir Arthur Sullivan: Overture to ‘Marmion’
Featured Post
From Hudson Bay
It was not until 1602 that the channel later known as Hudson Strait was discovered by George Weymouth, an English mariner. He apparently had no knowledge of the great inland sea to which the way was opened, having proceeded only about one hundred leagues up the strait. A few years later Weymouth’s log books fell into the hands of Henry Hudson, who had already won renown in the search for a North-East Passage to Asia.
Featured Exercise
Verb and Noun Find in Think and Speak
Many words can serve as noun or verb depending on context: see if you can prove this with the examples below. Nouns go well with words such as the/a, or his/her; verbs go well after I/you/he etc..
1 Rain. 2 Report. 3 Edge. 4 Ride. 5 Start. 6 Profit. 7 Play. 8 Golf. 9 Laugh.
Variations: 1.if possible, use your noun in the plural, e.g. cat → cats. 2.use your verb in a past form, e.g. go → went. 3.use your noun in a sentence with one of these words: any, enough, fewer, less, no, some.
