Book Review - English Bites by Manish Gupta

Title: English Bites

Author: Manish Gupta

Published by: Penguin Books India 2012

Price: Rs. 250

Pages: 334

Rate: 4/5

English Bites should be devoured not gulped - that is the first thing I would like to tell about the book. Secondly if you pick up the book to enjoy in your pass time as a fiction, this book is absolutely not for that. When I first received the review copy I read few pages in a wink but again I started reading it from the beginning in a slow pace. I didn't understand then that English Bites is not a common story book that gives us immense pleasure in our leisurely hours. Rather it is a story book which entirely written to teach the English language and expand ones vocabulary that is amply dispersed with anecdotes and learning techniques.

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I must say Manish Gupta has made a different history in the world of English Literature and Language by showing a marvelous path of learning English and getting rid of the fear of English. English Bites, the apt title will surely wipe out the biting fear of English if you read the book with full concentration. Repeating once again - this is a book to go very slow, understand it and to learn English. This is a kind of book while reading it you don't have to waste time in battling with the unknown meaning and consulting the dictionary losing the momentum of the reading pace -as the USP of the book is the footnotes explaining the meaning of the words and their origin. This is a kind of book that will surely teach and improve your English in one leap if you dig deep the book with full engrossment.

The significant trumps of the book are its hilarious illustrations and the anecdotes. Right from the first chapter to the last chapter it introduced thousands of words with its meaning. I never felt bored for a while as I kept on reading the book with a mindset that I was learning something. I was learning nothing very trivial but enriching and developing a vast area of my vocabulary. Manish has almost covered most of the commonly used words with its meaning and etymological explanations. Whether you are aspiring for GRE/GMAT/CAT/XAT, or just a mere student or a commoner this book will definitely help you to improve your English. If you have a good collection of vocabularies then it definitely helps a language to be spoken fluently. And that is what Manish tried hard in his book. He covered all the fields from medical to sports and introduced so many words related to it. He even shared the longer words in English language that made me so much impressed (P.77) .

Learning any foreign language is always a daunting task. Mainly when you have to follow the boring grammar and other referenced text to learn it. I bet if we have one such interesting book like English Bites, the learning process would become easier for each one of us. It will not make you bore but will aspire you to learn more. This is one such a book which will be not kept after reading it once in the book shelf rather it will be proudly glitter on the study table as a English learning reference book and for reading again and again. I would highly recommend the book if you want to learn English then go and get it. A book which says learn English through stories.