Publish at April 07 2009 Updated April 15 2026
Mastery of the English language is measured by the learner's ability to construct long, complex sentences and go beyond the "subject-verb-complement" triptych.
This is the exercise that designer Joe Davis invites us to undertake on his Telescopic Text website. The site offers an example from which users can learn how to develop a simple sentence into a complex one, or even a narrative.
On the Telescopic Text site, you can see the sentence "I made tea" with shaded areas. By clicking on a shaded part, you expand that part. There are no specific recommendations on the order of clicks.
Click until there are no more shaded words on your screen. Magical, original, fun and instructive as an exercise in language, literary composition or creativity. It all works in your language, without limits.
Clicking on the little arrow after the author's name takes you to a presentation page and ultimately to the telescopic text creation tool, which can be used in any language.
Now it's your turn. Go to telescopictext.org/ and start writing. The menu bar is at the top of the page, very pale and uncluttered. To save your creations, you'll need to create a free account.
In two minutes you'll be up and running.
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