It is possible to read Japanese knowing only a limited number of kanji, but it is not possible with only a limited number of katakana or hiragana-one must know all of them. Let's Learn Hiragana, and its companion volume Let's Learn Katakana, is a textbook that introduces the learner to the basics of one of these fundamental Japanese scripts. Being a workbook, it contains all the exercises that allow the student to master hiragana by the time the book has been finished. Let's Learn Hiragana is a classic in the field, and the huge number of students that have used it successfully is a sign of its preeminence as a self-study guide.

    Including stories by Calvino, Benni, Sciascia and Levi, this volume gives a fascinating insight into Italian culture and literature as well as providing an invaluable educational tool.1. The Long Crossing / Il lungo viaggio - Leonardo Sciascia2. Italy / Italia - Goffredo Parise3. The Girl with the Plait / La ragazza con la treccia - Dacia Marini4. The Last Channel / L'ultimo canale - Italo Calvino5. Lilith / Lilít - Primo Levi6. The Island of Komodo / L'isola di Komodo - Susanna Tamaro7. Women by the Pool / Donne in piscina - Sandra Petrignani8. A Naughty Schoolboy / Un cattivo scolaro - Stefano Benni9. Saturday Afternoons / I pomeriggi del sabato - Antonio Tabucchi

    Senator S. I. Hayakawa discusses the role of language in human life, the many functions of language, and how language—sometimes without our knowing—shapes our thinking in this engaging and highly respected book. Provocative and erudite, it examines the relationship between language and racial and religious prejudice; the nature and dangers of advertising from a linguistic point of view; and, in an additional chapter called “The Empty Eye,” the content, form, and hidden message of television, from situation comedies to news coverage to political advertising.

    Whether you're on a training course or have already started teaching, this book will help launch your career and give you the confidence and expertise you need to be a brilliant teacher.Make an educated decision - decide between the various courses, qualifications and job locations available to youStart from scratch - plan well-structured lessons and develop successful and effective teaching techniquesFocus on skills - from reading and writing, to listening and speaking, get your students sounding and feeling fluentGet your head around grammar - teach students to put sentences together, recognise tenses and use adjectives and adverbsAll shapes and sizes - tailor your lessons to younger learners, one-to-ones, exam classes and Business English learners Open the book and find: TEFL, TESOL, EFL - what all the acronyms mean The best course books and materials to supplement your teaching Advice on running your class and handling difficulties Lesson plans that you can use in the classroom Activities and exercises to keep your students on their toes Constructive ways to correct and assess your students' performance Ways to inject some fun into your classes Insider information on the best jobs around the world 'An invaluable manual for anyone thinking of embarking on a TEFL journey. Michelle Maxom's step-by-step guide provides practical tips to get you started and offers key advice to help unleash the creative English language teacher within.' - Claire Woollam, Director of Studies & a Teacher Trainer at Language Link London

    Prather subtitled the book, "My struggle to become a person." It was the deeply felt record of his journey to a state of heightened self-knowledge and spiritual flowering. It became a perennial best-seller, and continues to enlighten, comfort, and amuse to this day.Notes to Each Other bravely explores the heart of a relationship that has lasted for 35 years—the relationship between Hugh and Gayle Prather. With remarkable candor, one couple traces the emotional route traveled to reach the coveted place where genuine communication, cooperation, and compassion dwell. First published 10 years ago, the book has here been updated and enlarged by the greater wisdom that comes with the experience of raising children and growing older together.Although drawn from two hearts, the book speaks with one voice, asking the questions all couples ask, from "Did I choose the right person?" to "How can you stand me?" Let it speak to you.

    Writing with marvelous brio, Winchester first serves up a lightning history of the English language--"so vast, so sprawling, so wonderfully unwieldy"--and pays homage to the great dictionary makers, from "the irredeemably famous" Samuel Johnson to the "short, pale, smug and boastful" schoolmaster from New Hartford, Noah Webster. He then turns his unmatched talent for story-telling to the making of this most venerable of dictionaries. In this fast-paced narrative, the reader will discover lively portraits of such key figures as the brilliant but tubercular first editor Herbert Coleridge (grandson of the poet), the colorful, boisterous Frederick Furnivall (who left the project in a shambles), and James Augustus Henry Murray, who spent a half-century bringing the project to fruition. Winchester lovingly describes the nuts-and-bolts of dictionary making--how unexpectedly tricky the dictionary entry for marzipan was, or how fraternity turned out so much longer and monkey so much more ancient than anticipated--and how bondmaid was left out completely, its slips found lurking under a pile of books long after the B-volume had gone to press. We visit the ugly corrugated iron structure that Murray grandly dubbed the Scriptorium--the Scrippy or the Shed, as locals called it--and meet some of the legion of volunteers, from Fitzedward Hall, a bitter hermit obsessively devoted to the OED, to W.C. Minor, whose story is one of dangerous madness, ineluctable sadness, and ultimate redemption. The Meaning of Everything is a scintillating account of the creation of the greatest monument ever erected to a living language. Simon Winchester's supple, vigorous prose illuminates this dauntingly ambitious project--a seventy-year odyssey to create the grandfather of all word-books, the world's unrivalled uber-dictionary.

    Be the force that relentlessly drives the music. Rumble like the ominous thunder of an approaching storm. For you, it's not enough just to be heard; you need to be "felt," too. You need to play bass guitar.Imagine your favorite music without bass. It doesn't work, does it? The bass is the heartbeat of the music, the foundation of the groove, and the glue that holds together all the different instruments. You can feel the vibrations of the low notes - sometimes subtle and caressing, sometimes literally earthshaking - as they propel the song. The bass is the heart. So leave center stage to the other musicians - you have more important work to do. The limelight may be cool, but bassists ruleYou can find everything you need to dominate the bass in "Bass Guitar For Dummies" - whether you're a beginner picking up a bass for the first time or an experienced player looking for way to improve. And you won't drown in complicated music theory, either; this easy-to-understand reference gives you just enough music theory to get you on your way."Bass Guitar For Dummies" includes the following topics and more: Exploring the anatomy of a bass guitarGetting started: Holding your bass, positioning your hands, and striking notesReading bass notation and understanding chords, scales, and octavesCreating a groove and playing solos and fillsExamining different bass-playing styles, from rock and funk to blues and reggaeCaring for your bass: Cleaning, changing strings, and so onBuying your own bass and accessoriesTop Ten lists on bassists you should know about"Bass Guitar For Dummies" also comes with a CD that includes audio clips of all the examples in the book.So put away the air bass guitar and get yourself the real thing. With the help of "Bass Guitar For Dummies," you'll be groovin' in your own band in no timeNote: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

    Thank you! Want to speak Japanese but don't know where to start? This book is for you! Don't waste money buying ten different books when you can learn everything you need in this one book. Don't waste money taking classes at a school when you can teach yourself. With Speak Japanese in 90 Days, all of the prep work is done for you. Each daily lesson will teach you not only what, but how to study. Speak Japanese in 90 Days is a comprehensive self study guide, and teaches everything you need to know for the JLPT N5 (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) as well as most of the grammar needed for the JLPT N4. It can also be used by intermediate students to brush up on grammar and vocabulary. The content includes: How to Study - Tips and tricks on how to study and what to study to learn and retain the language quickly. Pronunciation - An easy and accurate guide for English speakers. Every sentence is written with English pronunciation, Japanese kana, and kanji. Grammar - All essential grammar tested in the JLPT N5 and most of the grammar tested in the JLPT N4. Vocabulary - Over 1000 of the most common Japanese words and phrases. Vocabulary nuances - Detailed explanations of how to use vocabulary correctly, that you can't find in a dictionary or other text books.

    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 book develops all language-related skills including reading, listening, speaking, writing, and cultural knowledge; immediately incorporates extensive use of authentic materials for reading, listening, and grammatical practice, relating abstract grammatical concepts to practical skills; presents narrative-based content through audio and video media rather than written text to develop meaning-focused language processing skills, utilizing two main characters and their extended family; develops readings skills through the use of composed texts derived from the main narrative and authentic texts from newspapers and journals; introduces grammar using the techniques of spiraling and inference, challenging learners to discover the grammar of the language by means of analogy, problem solving, and educated guessing; introduces Egyptian colloquial Arabic through scenes based on the main narrative to promote the use of shared vocabulary and structure of the two registers, increasing listening comprehension skills; and contains Arabic-English and English-Arabic glossaries and reference charts as well as a grammar index.

    This quirky handbook of Italian gestures, first published in 1958 by renowned Milanese artist and graphic designer Bruno Munari, will help the phalange-phobic decipher the unspoken language of gesturesa language not found in any dictionary. Charming black-and-white photos and wry captions evoke an Italy of days gone by. Speak Italian gives a little hand to anyone who has ever been at a loss for words.

    Variant dialectic forms are given, together with variant forms found in the same dialect. Purely poetic words and words not common in prose are indicated, and references are given to the passages in which they occur. First published in 1894, this is a reprint of the fourth edition (Cambridge University Press, 1960).

    Written by a native English speaker who learned Spanish the hard way--by trying to talk to Spanish-speaking people--it offers English speakers with a basic knowledge of Spanish hundreds of tips for using the language more fluently and colloquially, with fewer obvious "gringo" errors.Writing with humor, common sense, and a minimum of jargon, Joseph Keenan covers everything from pronunciation, verb usage, and common grammatical mistakes to the subtleties of addressing other people, "trickster" words that look alike in both languages, inadvertent obscenities, and intentional swearing. He guides readers through the set phrases and idiomatic expressions that pepper the native speaker's conversation and provides a valuable introduction to the most widely used Spanish slang.With this book, both students in school and adult learners who never want to see another classroom can rapidly improve their speaking ability. Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish will be an essential aid in passing the supreme language test-communicating fluently with native speakers.

    The examples use the language of real-life situations. This new edition also makes difficult topics, like the difference between mood and tense, even easier to understand. Numerous fill-in-the-blank and other exercises with delayed answers help cut down the time it takes readers to gain proficiency and confidence communicating in French.

     For those of you who can’t just slip away from life, travel to France and immerse yourself in the language in order to learn it, this is your solution! Reading and listening to native-spoken French stories is the next best thing. You have at your fingertips the written word AND an accompanying audio recording that allows you to: Gain a greater vocabulary that you can use immediately, every day. You will add 1,500+ French words and expressions to your repertoire through the encounter of descriptive sentences and casual conversations woven throughout the stories. Sharpen your comprehension of the spoken word by listening to a native French speaker. Learn how to pronounce French words properly by comparing the written word to the audio recording. Familiarize yourself with a wide range of grammar structures and put them to use today. Avoid the monotonous task of memorizing grammar rules. How awesome is that?! How this book will improve your French language skills: Each story is recorded in two different ways: A slow version helps beginners improve their pronunciation, and a normal, natural speed for intermediate and advanced learners trains your ears to understand what is being said. You receive 4 hours of MP3 audio recording! There is no need for a dictionary. Each story is broken down with a French and English glossary that introduces you to the words and phrases you might not understand. This comes in handy because there is no need for the irritating process of flipping pages, continually searching for definitions or translations. A vocabulary recap at the end of each chapter allows you to review what you have read and listened to so you don’t forget the essential words and expressions taught throughout the lesson. The book contains 15 stories with the following themes: Family, Months, Days, Numbers, Weather, Introduce yourself, House, Nature, Clothing, Shopping, Visiting/Tourism, Weekend Activities, Daily Routine, Describe yourself, Food, Cooking, Jobs and Occupation, At the Train Station. All stories are written using vocabulary that you could easily use in your day-to-day conversations. With this book and accompanying audio you can start improving your French today!