RJ5 莊艷兒

Book: How to be an Alien

Author: George Mikes

Re-write author: Karen Holmes

IIlustrator: Nicolas Bentley

Publishing Company: Addison Wesley Longman

Year if publishing: 1998

Word level: 1200 words

Number of pages: 39

This book is talking about the differences between English and Europeans and the strange things English do and say. The author categorized them into several subjects like The Language, The Weather, Tea and so on. The author is an alien in England. So he tried to offer some rules about being an alien in England. He wrote them in a funny, rude and sarcastic way. And because the English are so strang, they didn't get angry. Instead, they loved the book.

I've been to England before, so I was very interested in the book at first. And it didn't disappoint me. The author's point of view really surprised me and made me understand more about the English.

The following are something I learned from the book:

1. English do not have souls. They say less than what they mean. In England, if the boy loves the girl, he says, " You're all right, you know." If he really loves her, he says, " I really quite like you, in fact." If he wants to marry a girl, he says, " I say...would you...? " If he want to sleep with her, " I say...shall we...?"

---> How conservative the English are!

2. The easiest way to show that you have a good accent (or no foreign accent) is to hold a pipe or cigar in your mouth, to speak through your teeth and finish all your sentences with the question: " isn't it? "

----> I've already known that English emphasize the importance of accent. They can even identify your position, status and so on by listnening you accent. However, the way to have a good accent the author offered is really sarcastic and a little bit ridiculous.

3. The English drink tea in almost anytime.

4. The English love to talk about the weather anytime and anyplace.

5. The English love to queue. They even queue when there is only one person queuing.

6. The Englisg are hypocrites.

Though the author described English in a more dramatic way, something he wrote must be worth of believing.

Next time I go to England. I will observe English's behaviors carefully and find out which of them are true.

BBC 莊艷兒 49774240