Learning English

Learning is a lifelong effort. "Consider a language ... language serves to describe a combination of colored squares on a surface. The squares form a complex like a chessboard. There are red, green, white and black squares. The words of the language are 'red', 'green', 'white', 'black', and a sentence is a series of these words. They describe an arrangement of squares in an order." -- Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher (20th century)

US Declaration of Independence


This quotation the opening of The Declaration of Independence opens with the quotation written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776. Many of the ideas in the Declaration were borrowed from John Locke, the great English liberal political philosopher.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

The Declaration of Independence is the document that established the United States of America's independence from the colonial rule of Great Britain in 1776. This anniversary is celebrated as Independence Day every 4th July in the United States.

Before The Declaration of Independence, the US was made up of thirteen colonies under British rule, and relations were wearing thin. Using this political document, delegates and politicians from each 'colony' declared themselves independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain and explained their reasons for doing so. The handwritten copy with the signatures of all the delegates has been preserved and is on show in Washington DC.

Vocabularies:

quotation (noun) - something that a person says or writes that is repeated or used by someone else in another piece of writing or a speech


declaration (noun) - the act of making an official statement about something, a document that contains an official statement


independence (noun) - freedom from outside control or support


philosopher (noun) - a person who studies ideas about knowledge, truth, the nature and meaning of life, etc. : a person who studies philosophy


self-evident (adjective) - clearly true and requiring no proof or explanation


equal (adjective) - the same rights for each person


endow (verb) - to freely or naturally provide (someone or something) with something


unalienable (adjective) - impossible to take away or give up


pursuit (noun) - the act of pursuing someone or something: such as a : the act of following or chasing someone or something


colonial (adjective) - of or relating to a colony


colony (noun) - an area that is controlled by or belongs to a country and is usually far away from it


wearing thin (v phr.) - to be weakened or eroded gradually


preserve (verb) - to keep (something) in its original state or in good condition

Posted by TP

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