Title: English Bites
Written By: Manish Gupta
About Manish Gupta (Few lines from the book) –
Manish Gupta is a banking
professional. When not crunching numbers, he examines the vagaries and
idiosyncrasies of the English language. He also likes trivia, travelling,
adventure sports, delving into human psychology and giving professional
discourses to colleagues, family and friends – practically anyone who can give
him a patient hearing. An engineering graduate from Punjab Engineering College
(Chandigarh) and an MBA from XLRI School of Business and Human Resourses
(Jamshedpur), he lives in Mumbai with his wife Deepali, a medical professional,
and their daughters Tamanna and Prakriti.
Manish can be reached at mystruggleswithenglish@gmail.com
ISBN: 978-0143419006
Cover Price: Rs. 250.00
Rating: 4/5
Something about the book (from the book’s cover):
Is the English language your
biggest nightmare? It was Manish Gupta’s. Until he decided to cheat and beat
the system. Today he is a smooth-talking banker and has written a unique
English learning guide that is easy to read, super effective and hilarious. So
whether you’re a vernacular speaker, a GRE/GMAT/CAT/XAT aspirant or just a
language nut, English Bites! will expand
your vocabulary and improve your verbal ability. It may even help you love the
English language a little more!
Now for my View:
I never really knew until I was
packed away to an engineering college in Uttar Pradesh that mastering English,
even spoken English, was a struggle for many! I was brought up in Shillong where
English was the language mostly used. In school it was mandated that we
converse in English with our friends too, even if we spoke the same mother
tongue at home. Yes, we had to pay fines for speaking in any language other
than English; even if by mistake. I guess it served two purposes, first it
prevented us from becoming all chauvinistic and fanatical when it came to our
own mother tongues and secondly it helped us learn English, one of the most
widely used languages in the world.
English has always been my
favourite subject. I wouldn’t say I excel in it but I never really had any
inhibition concerning it and for that I thank my school and the environment where
I grew up in. I know many; let’s call them over zealous individuals, who would
argue that speaking English makes you forget your own culture. But I guess I don’t
believe in that regressive thought process.
Anyways, so English Bites! Well would you believe me if I said that it’s an entertaining
attempt to teach, yes you guessed it right, to teach English! The author Manish Gupta makes use of his life’s experiences
to teach or rather put forth delicately the intricacies of the English
language. What I liked most about the book was that he has used an interesting technique
of storytelling to acquaint his readers with English.
The book was engaging so before I knew
it I was completely engrossed in it. Let me put it this way the book weaves a
yarn. While you think you are just reading a tale, you are infact learning new English words or even enhancing your understanding
of already known words. It is actually a new age guide to the English language. It wouldn’t be an
exaggeration to state that the book is an experience, a unique and interesting one
at that.
Loved
the anecdotes
I usually do not read self-help books. I mean if it’s self
help you need, there’s no way you would be getting it from a book. So when Manish contacted me for its review I was
slightly wary but truth be told I am glad that I agreed to do it.
Thumps
Up for the Footnotes
If for nothing else, then atleast I
recommend the book for the effort made by Manish to make something like
learning and improving a language so fascinating. And yes, don’t miss the
footnotes they are very much a part of the book.
Accolades
for an out of the ordinary experience
It is not easy to articulate your experiences
in a manner that could actually teach something of value to someone else. But Manish
has been able to do that wonderfully through his book. Read it even if you
excel in English. Read it even if you are mediocre in it. Infact read it just
for the sake of enjoying an exciting new way of learning the nuances of a
language that is used ever so frequently!
My verdict is that you’d surely
miss out on something special if you don’t read the book! So what are you
waiting for?