Roy Peter Clark, author of Writing Tools, aims to put the glamour back in grammar with this fun, engaging alternative to stuffy instructionals. In this practical guide, readers will learn everything from the different parts of speech to why effective writers prefer concrete nouns and active verbs. The Glamour of Grammar gives readers all the tools they need to"live inside the language" -- to take advantage of grammar to perfect their use of English, to instill meaning, and to charm through their writing. With this indispensable book, readers will come to see just how glamorous grammar can be.

    Anyone can read, write, and speak Spanish in only a few short weeks with this unique and proven method, which completely eliminates rote memorization and boring drills.Original B & W illustrations.

    This book makes it easy From how to install and run Java to understanding classes and objects and juggling values with arrays and collections, you will get up to speed on the new features of Java 6 in no time.Discover how toUse object-oriented programmingWork with the changes in Java 6 and JDK 6Save time by reusing codeMix Java and Javascript with the new scripting toolsTroubleshoot code problems and fix bugsAll on the bonus CD-ROMCustom build of JCreator and all the code files used in the bookBonus chapters not included in the bookTrial version of Jindent, WinOne, and NetCaptor freewareSystem Requirements: For details and complete system requirements, see the CD-ROM appendix.Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

    Void of all nonessentials and refreshingly easy to understand, German Made Simple includes:• Basics of German grammar• Modern German vocabulary• German pronunciation guide• German reading exercises• German economic information• Common German expressions• Review exercises• Complete answer key• German-English dictionary

    This edition contains four new cultural collages which trace four topics, such as "The City", up to the present day. An accompanying audiotape for instructors is also available.

    The author covers the most important points of Portuguese grammar in the clearest possible way, concentrating upon the expressions that you would be most likely to use. All grammatical rules are illustrated with phrases and sentences that you can incorporate directly into your working vocabulary, and hints are generously sprinkled throughout, showing you how to replace difficult constructions with simpler ones.Constantly drawing comparisons with English construction, it presents in logical order all the major aspects of Portuguese grammar: word order, forming questions, nouns and articles, adjectives and adverbs, possessives, demonstrative adjectives and pronouns, how to form negatives, personal pronouns, conjunctions and prepositions, how to conjugate verbs in the major tenses, prepositions and infinitives, and so on.This grammar does not assume prior knowledge of either Portuguese grammar or of grammatical terms: one section is devoted to the definition of all grammatical terms used in the book.This is not a simplified study, but rather a selected grammar for adult use that points out many time-saving short cuts. It can be used alone either as a beginner or as a refresher course in Portuguese grammar or it can be an ideal supplement to a phrase book or record course for home study or class use. Contains four appendices covering regular conjugations, orthographic-changing verbs, and irregular verbs. Glossary of grammatical terms. Index.

    Working on the principles that a person learns more quickly by example than by rule, the author has put together a book that abounds in immediately usable German sentences and phrases on a wide variety of subjects.The student will find pleasure in the amusing sketches and drawings used to imbed new vocabulary firmly in the student's mind, in the many excellent photographs of cities and landmarks in German-speaking countries, and in the glimpses of German culture and custom subtly interwoven into the conventional material.The book, though eminently useful for self-study, is especially amenable to classroom use or study with a private tutor. The variety of teaching aids that this book places at the teacher's disposal is remarkable. The lessons contain dialogues, grammar and idiom studies (replete with examples), and extensive practice exercises. In addition there are 28 full-page and double-page sketches of specific scenes (a harbor, a zoo, a theatre, etc.) with pertinent items numbered and identified in German and English; sketches and photographs, which the student is asked to describe in German; German proverbs, jokes, and more.The dialogues and reading material encompass an exceptionally wide range of real-life situations, and are extended to include most of the basic vocabulary one would need in each situation. The analysis of German pronunciation is very comprehensive (and the simple phonetic system used in the early stages is readable by sight). The practice exercises are carefully designed to allow the student to use what he learned. The closing sections contain a summary of grammar, a guide to letter writing (with sample German letters), and a valuable study guide to German literature by Dr. Richard Friedenthal.The book differs from others of its type in that it gives more attention to the elementary stages of learning, and the rate of progress is less rapid than usual. This means that any intelligent person, even if he is an absolute beginner, can with sufficient application arrive at the end of the course confident of having acquired a solid foundation for further study.

    You’ll discover how to: Interpret nutrition labels Prepare delicious, healthy meals Keep nutrients in food, even after cooking Eat smart when eating out Evaluate dietary supplements Nutrition for Dummies, Fourth Edition, is a one-size-fits-all guide to nutrition for anyone who may have fallen asleep in health class, wants to brush up on what they already know, or is looking to keep up-to-speed on all the latest guidelines and research. It shows you how to manage your diet so you can get the most bang (nutrients) for your buck (calories) and gives you the skinny on how to put together a healthy shopping list, how to prepare foods that are good for the body and the soul, and ten easy ways you can cut calories.An apple a day may not necessarily keep the doctor away, but with the simple guidance of Nutrition for Dummies, you can live happily—and healthily—ever after.

    Stephen King, Hemingway, Vonnegut, and Orwell detest it. Herman Melville, Henry James, and Rebecca Solnit love it. But why? When is it effective? Have we been misusing it? Should we even care?In Semicolon, Cecelia Watson charts the rise and fall of this infamous punctuation mark, which for years was the trendiest one in the world of letters. But in the nineteenth century, as grammar books became all the rage, the rules of how we use language became both stricter and more confusing, with the semicolon a prime victim. Taking us on a breezy journey through a range of examples—from Milton’s manuscripts to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letters from Birmingham Jail” to Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep—Watson reveals how traditional grammar rules make us less successful at communicating with each other than we’d think. Even the most die-hard grammar fanatics would be better served by tossing the rule books and learning a better way to engage with language.Through her rollicking biography of the semicolon, Watson writes a guide to grammar that explains why we don’t need guides at all, and refocuses our attention on the deepest, most primary value of language: true communication.

    A translator and one of the first simultaneous interpreters in the world, Lomb worked in 16 languages for state and business concerns in her native Hungary. She achieved further fame by writing books on languages, interpreting, and polyglots.Polyglot: How I Learn Languages, first published in 1970, is a collection of anecdotes and reflections on language learning. Because Dr. Lomb learned her languages as an adult, after getting a PhD in chemistry, the methods she used will thus be of particular interest to adult learners who want to master a foreign language.

    GET D!RTYNext time you’re traveling or just chattin’ in Spanish with your friends, drop the textbook formality and bust out with expressions they never teach you in school, including:•Cool slang•Funny insults•Explicit sex terms•Raw swear wordsDirty Spanish teaches the casual expressions heard every day on the streets of Spain and Latin America:•What's up?¿Qué tal?•I'm wastedEstoy fumigado.•Your mom's a ten.Tu vieja es un cuero.•I gotta take a piss.Necesito mear.•I wanna nail that ass.Quiero clavar ese culo.•What a sunnuvabitch!¡Qué 'jueputa!•Goooooaaalll!¡Gooooooolllll!

    Using translation as his lens, David Bellos shows how much we can learn about ourselves by exploring the ways we use translation, from the historical roots of written language to the stylistic choices of Ingmar Bergman, from the United Nations General Assembly to the significance of James Cameron's Avatar.Is That a Fish in Your Ear? ranges across human experience to describe why translation sits deep within us all, and why we need it in so many situations, from the spread of religion to our appreciation of literature; indeed, Bellos claims that all writers are by definition translators. Written with joie de vivre, reveling both in misunderstanding and communication, littered with wonderful asides, it promises any reader new eyes through which to understand the world. In the words of Bellos: "The practice of translation rests on two presuppositions. The first is that we are all different: we speak different tongues, and see the world in ways that are deeply influenced by the particular features of the tongue that we speak. The second is that we are all the same—that we can share the same broad and narrow kinds of feelings, information, understandings, and so forth. Without both of these suppositions, translation could not exist. Nor could anything we would like to call social life. Translation is another name for the human condition."

    This is not one of those books. On the contrary, this is a collection of terrible, awkward, and laughably unreadable excerpts that will teach you what to avoid—at all costs—if you ever want your novel published.In How Not to Write a Novel, authors Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman distill their 30 years combined experience in teaching, editing, writing, and reviewing fiction to bring you real advice from the other side of the query letter. Rather than telling you how or what to write, they identify the 200 most common mistakes unconsciously made by writers and teach you to recognize, avoid, and amend them. With hilarious "mis-examples" to demonstrate each manuscript-mangling error, they'll help you troubleshoot your beginnings and endings, bad guys, love interests, style, jokes, perspective, voice, and more. As funny as it is useful, this essential how-NOT-to guide will help you get your manuscript out of the slush pile and into the bookstore.

    Language is humanity's most spectacular open-source project, and the internet is making our language change faster and in more interesting ways than ever before. Internet conversations are structured by the shape of our apps and platforms, from the grammar of status updates to the protocols of comments and @replies. Linguistically inventive online communities spread new slang and jargon with dizzying speed. What's more, social media is a vast laboratory of unedited, unfiltered words where we can watch language evolve in real time.Even the most absurd-looking slang has genuine patterns behind it. Internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch explores the deep forces that shape human language and influence the way we communicate with one another. She explains how your first social internet experience influences whether you prefer "LOL" or "lol," why ~sparkly tildes~ succeeded where centuries of proposals for irony punctuation had failed, what emoji have in common with physical gestures, and how the artfully disarrayed language of animal memes like lolcats and doggo made them more likely to spread.Because Internet is essential reading for anyone who's ever puzzled over how to punctuate a text message or wondered where memes come from. It's the perfect book for understanding how the internet is changing the English language, why that's a good thing, and what our online interactions reveal about who we are.

    These self-teaching methods help you remember and write by harnessing the power of the imagination.