Want a book? Head to a Rocket Ship in Boulder, Colorado, United States, a cottage (小屋) near Ghen, Belgium, or a tree in Coeurd’ Alene, Idaho, United States. These are just three of the more than 80,000 Little Free Libraries in more than 90 countries. Unlike traditional libraries, these small structures aren't buildings where people check out books from a librarian.

“A Little Free Library is a box full of books from which, when you find one, you can take a book home with you,” explains Margret Aldrich, Little Free Library spokes-woman. “Or if you have a book to share, you can leave it for someone else to read.”

Little Free Libraries are everywhere: outside homes or beside coffee shops.

The first was set on a post in front of Todd Bol’s home in Hudson, Wisconsin, United States, 10 years ago. The little schoolhouse Bol built held free books anyone could enjoy.

It became a local hit.

A year after setting up his library, Bol and Rick Brooks, a friend and business partner, launched Little Free Library as a nonprofit organization in 2012. Their goal was to make books more widely available while building connections within communities.

They inspired a book-sharing revolution.

Little Free Libraries began to spread all over the place-from Salvador, Brazil, to Grand Marais, Minnesota, United States.

Today, those who want to build one can get free instructions from the Little Free Library website.

“There weren't many public places like libraries where I live” says 10-year-old Umayr Ansari, who put a Little Free Library outside his home in Doha, Qatar. “I had a lot of extra books, and I wanted to share them so people who didn't have their own books could have a chance to read.”

“I liked to build the libraries and get the feeling of, ‘Wow I helped make that,’” says 11-year-old Ava Jelliek, “That gave me confidence.”

My friend, Monty Roberts owns a horse ranch (养马场). The last time I was there he introduced me a story like this: There was a young man who was the son of a horse trainer, who would go from stable (马厩) to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training horses. So the boy's school career was continually interrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up.

That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. He also drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch. He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, “See me after class.”

The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked why he received an F. The teacher said, "This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You have no money. You have no resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. There's no way you could ever do it... If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade.”

The boy went home and thought about it long and haul. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, "Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you.” Finally, after a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all. He stated, “You can keep the F and I'll keep my dream."

Monty then turned to me and said, "I tell you this story because you are sitting in my 4, 000-square-foot house in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the fireplace.” He added, "The best part of the story is that two years ago that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week. When the teacher was leaving, he said, “Look, Monty, when I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough ambition not to give up on yours.”

Porridge doesn't have a very tasty name, does it? It doesn't have a very tasty reputation, either. I'm here to try and convince you that porridge isn’t boring and tasteless, that it can be a delicious, convenient and very healthy way to start the day.

If you’ve never eaten it (although you probably have), porridge is a type of food served for breakfast. It is usually a type of grain, like rice or oat (燕麦), mixed with either milk or water, and often heated up. It is often thicker than liquid, but not solid and is very easy to digest, so it's a better option for people who are ill, and it provides long-lasting energy for the day.

Porridge preparation--the amount of ingredients (配料) and cooking time—depends on what you choose to use as your porridge base. If I'm cooking for myself, I put a very big handful of ‘rolled’ oats in a saucepan, add a little bit of water and about 200ml of milk, and let the mixture boil. I stir the porridge constantly, and it takes about five to ten minutes to cook.

Once it's cooked, the fun part is adding the flavors. Porridge alone doesn't have a very strong flavour. Although some people think this makes porridge boring, I think this is what makes porridge exciting! It is like a blank piece of paper—you can add almost anything you want to the porridge base. Greens, nuts and dried fruits are very healthy options to add and can give you energy for the day. But if you don't like these, or you're allergic, then honey and chocolate are also very tasty options. (Just don’t add to much!)

One of the best things about porridge? You can make it almost anywhere in the world. Either oats or rice or both are “staple foods (主食)” for many people across the world. You can usually buy big bags of either, then add local ingredients to make your porridge interesting—whatever is cheap and convenient to find, wherever you are. I am currently in Mexico, and I love to heat my oats up with milk, then mix in peanuts and pumpkin seeds and cacao nibs, and I put a layer of sugar over the top to make my porridge sweeter.

Porridge? Hopefully it sounds a lot tastier now!

When I was ten years old, I went to the USA to visit some family friends. We travelled around California—Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas. I noticed something funny about the way everyone spoke English. I remember thinking, "This is the way they speak in films!" The only times I had really heard an American accent before were when I watched films such as Mean Girls and Freaky Friday. Most of the films I watched when I was a child were American.

One moment I remember very clearly was at the beginning of the holiday, when my friend asked me if I wanted to order ‘French fries’. I couldn't imagine what French fries were. What was fried and French? Snails? Cheese? She was amazed that I had never tried them and she ordered a portion for us to share. When the waiter brought us some chips, I asked her where the French fries were. She pointed to the plate of chips! Later that week she said she was going to buy some ‘chips’ from the supermarket. She came out with a packet of crisps! I was very confused.

During that holiday we were also offered ‘biscuits and gravy’ with our lunch. This was a very strange idea to me, because in England biscuits are sweet. Gravy is a salty, meat-based sauce. I later realized that ‘biscuits’ in America are salty snacks. What we call ‘biscuits’, they call ‘cookies’.

I was also embarrassed when a stranger told me she liked my ‘pants’. I remember thinking, “How can she see my underwear?” My mum then told me that they call ‘pants’ what we call ‘trousers’, the outer clothing that you wear on your legs!

I was disgusted when I saw an ‘eggplant’ pizza on the menu in a restaurant. Eggs do not grow on plants, I thought. What on earth could an ‘egg plant’ be? Something eggy and leafy? My dad ordered this pizza and it was covered in aubergines. I asked him where the “egg plant” was. He laughed and pointed to the aubergines. “They call this ‘eggplant’ in America!” he told me.

Although the same ‘language’ may be spoken in different countries, there are likely to be many differences, not just in vocabulary but also in spelling, grammar and pronunciation! I think part of the excitement of learning a language is learning about the differences that exist in how it is spoken in different places.