Book picks similar to
Beginning Chinese by John DeFrancis
non-fiction
language
languages
chinese
How English Works: A Linguistic Introduction
Anne Curzan - 2005
This engaging introductory language/linguistics textbook provides more extensive coverage of issues of particular interest to English majors and future English instructors. It invites all students to connect academic linguistics to the everyday use of the English language around them. The book's approach taps students' natural curiosity about the English language. Through exercises and discussion questions about ongoing changes in English, How English Works asks students to become active participants in the construction of linguistic knowledge.
Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, And Language
Deborah Fallows - 2010
But nothing prepared her for the surprises of learning Mandarin, China's most common language, or the intensity of living in Shanghai and Beijing. Over time, she realized that her struggles and triumphs in studying the language of her adopted home provided small clues to deciphering the behavior and habits of its people,and its culture's conundrums. As her skill with Mandarin increased, bits of the language—a word, a phrase, an oddity of grammar—became windows into understanding romance, humor, protocol, relationships, and the overflowing humanity of modern China.
Fallows learned, for example, that the abrupt, blunt way of speaking that Chinese people sometimes use isn't rudeness, but is, in fact, a way to acknowledge and honor the closeness between two friends. She learned that English speakers' trouble with hearing or saying tones—the variations in inflection that can change a word's meaning—is matched by Chinese speakers' inability not to hear tones, or to even take a guess at understanding what might have been meant when foreigners misuse them.
In sharing what she discovered about Mandarin, and how those discoveries helped her understand a culture that had at first seemed impenetrable, Deborah Fallows's Dreaming in Chinese opens up China to Westerners more completely, perhaps, than it has ever been before.
Rick Steves' Italian Phrase Book & Dictionary
Rick Steves - 2010
Rick Steves, bestselling author of travel guides to Europe, offers well-tested phrases and key words to cover every situation a traveler is likely to encounter. This handy guide provides key phrases for use in everyday circumstances, complete with phonetic spelling, an English-Italian and Italian-English dictionary, the latest information on European currency and rail transportation, and even a tear-out cheat sheet for continued language practice as you wait in line at the Sistine Chapel. Informative, concise, and practical, Rick Steves' Italian Phrase Book and Dictionary is an essential item for any traveler's zainetto.
Breaking Into Japanese Literature: Seven Modern Classics in Parallel Text
Giles Murray - 2003
Breaking into Japanese Literature is specially designed to help you bypass all the frustration and actually enjoy classics of Japanese literature.Breaking into Japanese Literature features seven graded stories covering a variety of genres: whether it's the spellbinding surrealism of Natsume Soseki's Ten Nights of Dreams, the humor of Akutagawa Ryunosuke's fable of temple life (The Nose), or the excitement of his historic thrillers (In a Grove and Rashomon), you are sure to find a story that appeals to you in this collection.The unique layout-with the original Japanese story in large print, an easy-to-follow English translation and a custom dictionary-was created for maximum clarity and ease of use. There's no need to spend time consulting reference books when everything you need to know is right there in front of your nose.To make Japanese literature fun, Breaking into Japanese Literature also has some unique extra features: mini-biographies to tell you about the authors' lives and works, individual story prefaces to alert you to related works of literature or film, and original illustrations to fire your imagination. Best of all, MP3 sound files of all the stories have been made available for FREE on the Internet.Breaking into Japanese Literature provides all the backup you need to break through to a new and undiscovered world-the world of great Japanese fiction. All the hard work has been taken care of so you can enjoy the pleasures of the mind. Why not take advantage?Learn o 50% of all common-use kanji covered o Kanji entry numbers given for follow-up study o Japanese + English translation + custom dictionary on the same page o Every single kanji word explainedListen o Free download of sound files from the NetLook o 7 original atmospheric illustrationsLink o Original stories for Kurosawa's Rashomon and DreamsAll the stories in this book are available on the Internet as MP3 sound files read by professional Japanese actors.For students who want to consolidate their understanding of kanji, the entry numbers for any of the 2,230 characters in The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary have been provided when those characters feature in Breaking into Japanese Literature. This makes cross-referencing a matter of seconds.
Da Jesus Book: Hawaii Pidgin New Testament
Anonymous - 2000
Da Jesus Book, a translation of the New Testament into pidgin. The soft-cover book was published by Wycliffe Bible Translators, the world's largest organization involved in translating the Scriptures into languages of tribal people. Retired Cornell University linguistics professor Joseph Grimes enlisted 26 pidgin speakers in the 12-year translation effort, which had its first fruit in the 1997 publication of the Gospel of Matthew.tthew. The seed for the book was planted in 1986 while Grimes was here on a teaching sabbatical at the University of Hawaii. He and his wife, Barbara, also a linguist and editor of the "Ethnologue," an index of the world's 6,800-plus languages, had participated as consultants on Wycliffe projects in Asia, Africa and South America and had completed a Bible in the Huichol Indian language in Mexico. He retired after 23 years at Cornell, and they moved to Makaha 11 years ago to dedicate time to the pidgin product. The consultants translated, consulted with Grimes, reviewed and revised each others' work in hundreds of "talk story" sessions over the years." - Excerpted from "Read the Bible, li' dat" by Mary Adamski of "The Honolulu Star-Bulletin."
Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage
Bryan A. Garner - 1987
With great detail and care, Garner explains what legalese is, how it can be simplified, and how far legal writers can go in simplifying it. The topics are alphabetically arranged for ease of reference: simply look up any phrase or grammatical category you're interested in, and you're likely to find the final word on the subject. Shortly after the completion of this massively expanded second edition, the late Charles Alan Wright said: The first edition of this book has been praised around the world as both the most reliable guide to legal usage and the most fascinating to read. The second edition outdoes even its predecessor.
Easy French Reader
R. de Roussy de Sales - 1984
Suitable for raw beginners to intermediate-level language learners, this popular title features engaging readings of progressive difficulty that allow you to rapidly build your comprehension. Find out what unfamiliar words and phrases mean with the book's helpful glossary Discover the nuances of French language and culture as well as the country's history through engaging texts Get a feel for authentic French society with readings from contemporary literature
Syntax: A Generative Introduction
Andrew Carnie - 2002
Includes new and extended problem sets in every chapter, all of which have been annotated for level and skill type Features three new chapters on advanced topics including vP shells, object shells, control, gapping and ellipsis and an additional chapter on advanced topics in binding Offers a brief survey of both Lexical-Functional Grammar and Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar Succeeds in strengthening the reader's foundational knowledge, and prepares them for more advanced study Supported by an instructor's manual and online resources for students and instructors, available at www.blackwellpublishing.com/carnie
The Atoms Of Language: The Mind's Hidden Rules Of Grammar
Mark C. Baker - 2001
This problem has deep philosophical implications: If languages are all the same, it implies a fundamental commonality--and thus mutual intelligibility--of human thought.We are now on the verge of solving this problem. Using a twenty-year-old theory proposed by the world's greatest living linguist, Noam Chomsky, researchers have found that the similarities among languages are more profound than the differences. Languages whose grammars seem completely incompatible may in fact be structurally almost identical, except for a difference in one simple rule. The discovery of these rules and how they may vary promises to yield a linguistic equivalent of the Periodic Table of the Elements: a single framework by which we can understand the fundamental structure of all human language. This is a landmark breakthrough both within linguistics, which will herewith finally become a full-fledged science, and in our understanding of the human mind.
The Haskell School of Expression: Learning Functional Programming Through Multimedia
Paul Hudak - 2000
It has become popular in recent years because of its simplicity, conciseness, and clarity. This book teaches functional programming as a way of thinking and problem solving, using Haskell, the most popular purely functional language. Rather than using the conventional (boring) mathematical examples commonly found in other programming language textbooks, the author uses examples drawn from multimedia applications, including graphics, animation, and computer music, thus rewarding the reader with working programs for inherently more interesting applications. Aimed at both beginning and advanced programmers, this tutorial begins with a gentle introduction to functional programming and moves rapidly on to more advanced topics. Details about progamming in Haskell are presented in boxes throughout the text so they can be easily found and referred to.
English Grammar for Students of French: The Study Guide for Those Learning French
Jacqueline Morton - 1973
Relates French grammatical terms to corresponding terms in English, covering verb conjugation, objects, modifiers, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, and gender.
International Business: The Challenges of Globalization
John J. Wild - 1999
"International Business: The Challenges of Globalization" presents international business in a comprehensive yet concise framework with unrivaled clarity. Real-world examples and engaging features help bring the concepts to life and make international business accessible to all readers. The sixth edition captures and explains the influence of the global credit crisis and recent recession on international business, while also emphasizing its focus on the crucial role of emerging markets in today's global marketplace. Accompanied by myIBlab!myIBlab-myiblab.com-is a powerful online tool that combines assessment, reporting, and personalized study to help you succeed. It offers a personalized, interactive learning environment for international business with many customizable features, making it an ideal online learning platform that embodies convenience and simplicity.
Inorganic Chemistry
D.F. Shriver - 1990
The bestselling textbook inorganic chemistry text on the market covers both theoretical and descriptive aspects of the subject, and emphasizes experimental methods, industrial applications, and modern topics.
First Year Latin
Robert J. Henle - 1958
Time-tested and teacher endorsed, this comprehensive program is designed to lead the student systematcially through the fundamentals of the language itself and on to an appreciation of selected classic texts.
Manual of Ornithology: Avian Structure and Function
Noble S. Proctor - 1993
A concise atlas of anatomy, it contains more than 200 specially prepared accurate and clear drawings that include material never illustrated before. The text is as informative as the drawings; written at a level appropriate to undergraduate students and to bird lovers in general, it discusses why birds look and act the way they do.Designed to supplement a basic ornithology textbook, the Manual of Ornithology covers systematics and evolution, topography, feathers and flight, the skeleton and musculature, and the digestive, circulatory, respiratory, excretory, reproductive, sensory, and nervous systems of birds, as well as field techniques for watching and studying birds. Each chapter concludes with a list of key references for the topic covered, with a comprehensive bibliography at the end of the volume. The book will be a guide and reference for every level of bird study—a basic tool for investigation for anyone curious about the fascinating world of birds.