Welcome to Clay Lane
Clay Lane is inspired by textbooks written by NL Clay, used in English schools before the educational changes of the 1960s.
It is for people who appreciate our heritage of strong, plain-spoken English from Shakespeare and the King James Bible to Austen, Dickens and Kipling, and who enjoy playing with words, sentences and ideas.
“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)
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New and archive material, updated frequently. Passages for reading, brainteasers for solving, and music for listening.
Latest • December 21
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From The Siege of Saint-James
This new Constable, not a little joyful of his high office, thought to do some pleasure to the Dolphin his master; and to advance his name at the first entry into his authority, he imagined no enterprise to be to him more honourable, nor to his prince more acceptable, then to void and drive out of the town of Saint-James de Beuvron, all the English nation.
Statements, Questions and Commands Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in a sentence. Try to include at least one statement, one question and one command among your sentences. Note that some verbs make awkward or meaningless words of command, e.g. need, happen.
1 Serve. 2 Curve. 3 Host. 4 Seek. 5 Fight. 6 Weigh. 7 Lack. 8 Produce. 9 Manage.
Variations: 1. use a minimum of seven words for each sentence 2. include negatives, e.g. isn’t, don’t, never 3. use the words ‘must’ to make commands 4. compose a short dialogue containing all three kinds of sentence: one statement, one question and one command
