Are you afraid of learning English Grammar? What if I told you that your favourite hero, aka Harry Potter, is here, waving his magic wand at you, doing “Reducto” to all your grammar worries, giving you the “Felix Felicis” of your academia? Yes, Learn English Grammar Through Harry Potter by Manikantan SU is a handbook for learning English grammar through the adoption of interesting snippets and lines from the Harry Potter books in a fun as well as enlightening way.
Grammar is to a writer what anatomy is to a sculptor or the scales are to a musician. You may loathe it, may bore you, but nothing will replace it, and once mastered, it will support you like a rock. Grammar is the analysis of language.
Indeed, how many of us ever truly enjoy indulging in grammar or learning the basics of writing in the correct form and syntax? Well, TBH, a few. That is because we often find ourselves daunted and sometimes even intimidated by the somewhat complex rules of this one since they tend to override the so-called “logical “mode of learning.
You know, as a child, I used to get scared sometimes about studying English grammar. It is not that I did not find the subject interesting, but there always seemed to be so many technicalities involved in it that I was always scared that I’d end up making a mistake. Often turning to the Wren and Martin, which back then was akin to a Holy Grail for all those pursuing the perfect grammar (hey also, Grammarly entered our lives pretty late, didn’t it?) I realized that since that time, there has always been a need for a much more simplified, fun version of the grammar, a more concise and clear, yet indulging, version of learning this technique,” as I like to call it, and yet there were very few books even at that time to address this.
And yet, as I sat today, reading through Manikantan’s “Learn English Grammar Through Harry Potter”, I was somehow not only transported to that fond era, where learning was fun, but I realized that this is the best possible communion I could possibly hope for, both as an ardent Harry Potter fan as well as a “grammar seeker”. Yes, this one here is a simple yet fun and highly educative book, teaching one and all English grammar and the main concepts of it in a way that will make you super stoked when I reveal it. Using lines from Harry Potter books, this attempts to teach us all important grammatical concepts, from nouns, pronouns, articles, and tenses to even active passive voice, direct-indirect speech, and punctuation.
Written by author Manikantan, who also happens to be a data analyst by profession, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that, in spite of being a TEFL-Certified English trainer, his approach is so simplistically accommodating. Indeed, his reshare of Einstein’s famous saying, “If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, then you can’t understand it yourself,” resonated with me big time.
Dividing the book into sections, he has broached all parts of a sentence, explaining in detail the meaning, importance, placement, and usage of all grammatical syntaxes. The first section mainly explains the sentence, its structure, and also phrases and clauses.
The second part mainly deals with all important concepts such as nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, articles, conjunctions, and interjections, while the third part brings up tenses in detail. Following their wake, the fourth one deals with understanding active-passive voice, direct-indirect speech, and punctuation. There is also a mixed-bag exercise at the end, which has been put together with an answer key so that you can learn the concepts thoroughly and also test yourself on it.
What I enjoyed most about the book was the fact that for all examples, both for explanation and teaching, sentences from Harry Potter have been used. It felt great to be re-visiting Hogwarts, in a manner of speaking, reminiscing about the characters and re-reading those fabulous lines and dialogues from the narratives. You know there is a certain sense of contentment, a sweet deja-vu’ of a manner, that I felt relating to learning these concepts while reading these fabulous lines, which are from one of my favourite narratives of all time. Coming across the mentions of my favourite characters was an altogether brilliant experience where teaching has been brilliantly coupled with some exquisite bookish factuality by Manikantan.
For me, this is a definite must-pick up, especially for those who want to learn grammar, and that too in a fun, engaging way. Well, what can be more engaging than Harry Potter? Go for this one, guys.
So, I hope you guys liked my review of Learn English Grammar Through Harry Potter by Manikantan SU: A Magical Handbook to Basics.
Adios Amigos!