A supplemental reference provides an offbeat source of unusual, obscure, and very legitimate English language terms, clearly and whimsically defined for the benefit of those needing "just the right word."

    IELTS test scores are used as a measure of English language proficiency by educational institutions, government departments and agencies, and professional organizations. This revised and updated test preparation manual for ESL students covers all parts of the IELTS and all of its question types: multiple-choice, short answer, sentence completion, flowchart completion, graphs, tables, making notes, summarizing, labeling diagrams and maps, classification, matching, and selecting from a list. The manual also offers four practice tests that reflect the most recent actual tests. The book’s tests come with audio for all four tests, answers, and listening and reading modules with answer keys.

    She has also added a section to the book entitled "Vogue Words," which includes words that have acquired a new power and influence.

    Professor Lynne Murphy is on the linguistic front line. In The Prodigal Tongue she explores the fiction and reality of the special relationship between British and American English. By examining the causes and symptoms of American Verbal Inferiority Complex and its flipside, British Verbal Superiority Complex, Murphy unravels the prejudices, stereotypes and insecurities that shape our attitudes to our own language.With great humo(u)r and new insights, Lynne Murphy looks at the social, political and linguistic forces that have driven American and British English in different directions: how Americans got from centre to center, why British accents are growing away from American ones, and what different things we mean when we say estate, frown, or middle class. Is anyone winning this war of the words? Will Yanks and Brits ever really understand each other?

    In this expanded series, Killgallon presents the same proven methodology but offers all-new writing exercises for middle school, high school, and college students.Unlike traditional grammar books that emphasize sentence analysis, these worktexts asks students to imitate the sentence styles of professional writers, making the sentence composing process enjoyable and challenging. Killgallon teaches subliminally, nontechnically-the ways real writers compose their sentences, the ways students subsequently intuit within their own writing.Designed to produce sentence maturity and variety, the worktexts offer extensive practice in four sentence-manipulating techniques: sentence unscrambling, sentence imitating, sentence combining, and sentence expanding. It's demonstrably true that Sentence Composing can work anywhere--in any school, with any student.

    Stet is a must-read for the literarily curious, who will revel in Athill's portraits of such great literary figures as Jean Rhys, V. S. Naipaul, Norman Mailer, Philip Roth, Mordecai Richler, and others. Spiced with candid observations about the type of people who make brilliant writers and ingenious publishers (and the idiosyncrasies of both), Stet is an invaluable contribution to the literature of literature, and in the words of the Sunday Telegraph, "all would-be authors and editors should have a copy."

    This handy workbook is ideal for teachers, students in middle school through college, ESL students, homeschoolers, and professionals. Valuable for anyone who takes tests or writes reports, letters, Web pages, e-mails, or blogs, The Blue Book offers instant answers to everyday English usage questions.

    Paperback: 190 pagesPublisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; Revised edition (January 1, 1979)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0075536064ISBN-13: 978-0075536062Product Dimensions: 0.5 x 5.3 x 8.2 inchesShipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,615 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    At thirty years old, Gabriel Wyner speaks six languages fluently.  He didn’t learn them in school -- who does? -- rather, he learned them in the past few years, working on his own and practicing on the subway, using simple techniques and free online resources. In Fluent Forever Wyner reveals what he’s discovered.   The greatest challenge to learning a foreign language is the challenge of memory; there are just too many words and too many rules. For every new word we learn, we seem to forget two old ones, and as a result, fluency can seem out of reach. Fluent Forever tackles this challenge head-on. With empathy for the language-challenged and abundant humor, Wyner deconstructs the learning process, revealing how to build a foreign language in your mind from the ground up.  Starting with pronunciation, you’ll learn how to rewire your ears and turn foreign sounds into familiar sounds. You'll retrain your tongue to produce those sounds accurately, using tricks from opera singers and actors. Next, you'll begin to tackle words, and connect sounds and spellings to imagery, rather than translations, which will enable you to think in a foreign language.  And with the help of sophisticated spaced-repetition techniques, you'll be able to memorize hundreds of words a month in minutes every day. Soon, you'll gain the ability to learn grammar and more difficult abstract words--without the tedious drills and exercises of language classes and grammar books.  This is brain hacking at its most exciting, taking what we know about neuroscience and linguistics and using it to create the most efficient and enjoyable way to learn a foreign language in the spare minutes of your day.

    English Usage

    This classic reference work for writers, editors, and publishers was in print through 39 editions for nearly one hundred years. New Hart's Rules is a brand-new text that brings the principles of the old text into the 21st century, providing answers to questions of editorial style for a new generation of editorial professionals. Writers and editors of all kinds will find this handy guide an indispensable companion in their work. Twenty chapters give information on all aspects of writing and of preparing copy for publication, whether in print or electronically. New Hart's Rules covers a broad range of topics including publishing terms, layout and headings, how to present numbers and dates, how to treat illustrations, hyphenation, punctuation, UK and US usage, bibliographies and notes, and indexing. The chapters have been compiled by a team of experts and consultants, and the book draws on the unrivalled expertise of Oxford's Reference Department. It is also endorsed by the Society for Editors and Proofreaders. The text is designed and organized for maximum accessibility with clearly displayed examples throughout. Authoritative and comprehensive, New Hart's Rules is the essential desk guide for all writers and editors, and together with the New Oxford Spelling Dictionary and the New Oxford Dictionary forWriters and Editors forms the complete editorial reference set.

    A quick-reference guide for teachers and students to use during writing lessons and for independent work.

    No English dictionary before it had devoted so much space to everyday words, been so thorough in its definitions, or illustrated usage by quoting from Shakespeare and other great writers. Johnson's was the dictionary used by Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, Wordsworth and Coleridge, the Brontës and the Brownings, Thomas Hardy and Oscar Wilde. This new edition, edited by David Crystal, will contain a selection from the original, offering memorable passages on subjects ranging from books and critics to dreams and ethics.

    Now revised to include new words and updated essays, Keywords focuses on the sociology of language, demonstrating how the key words we use to understand our society take on new meanings and how these changes reflect the political bent and values of society.

    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.