Read Japanese Today is a comprehensible and storylike approach to an often difficult language. Intended for people on the go, this book will teach you to recognize and read the 400 most commonly used Japanese kanji characters.Completely revised and expanded and featuring 25 percent more kanji than previous editions, Read Japanese Today is a fun way to demystify the beautiful language of Japan.

    "They aren't laws. They're an array of choices, things to try, once you've put a name to the particular problem you're facing now."That's what this book is about: identifying those choices (whose viewpoint? stop and explain now, or wait? how can this lead to that?), then learning what narrative problems they are apt to create and how to choose an effective strategy for solving them. The result? Strong, solid stories and novels that move.Inside you'll discover how to:test a story idea (using four simple questions) to see if it worksconvince your reader that not only is something happening, but that something's going to happen and it all matters intenselyhandle viewpoint shifts, flashbacks, and other radical jumps in your storyline weave plots with subplotsget ready for and write your Big Scenesbalance scene and summary narration to produce good pacinghandle the extremes of melodrama by "faking out" your readers--making them watch your right hand while your left hand is doing something sneakyform subtle patterns with mirror characters and echoing incidentschoose the best type of ending--linear or circular, happy or downbeat, or (with caution!) a trick endingWhether your fiction is short or long, subtle or direct, you'll learn to build strong plots that drive compelling, unforgettable stories your readers will love.

    The main theoretical and technical concepts of historical linguistics are also explained. Charles Barber uses familiar texts, including the English of King Alfred, Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Addison, to illustrate the state of the English language through time. This is a fascinating book for anyone with an interest in language.

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    From empty cliche to meaningless jargon, dangling participle to sentences without verbs, the English language is reeling. It is under attack from all sides. Politicians dupe us with deliberately evasive language. Bosses worry about impacting the bottom line while they think out of the box. Academics talk obscure mumbo jumbo. Journalists and broadcasters, who should know better, lazily collaborate. John Humphrys wittily and powerfully exposes the depths to which our beautiful language has sunk and offers many examples of the most common atrocities. He also dispenses some sensible guidance on how to use simple, clear and honest language. Above all, he shows us how to be on the alert for the widespread abuse - especially by politicians - and the power of the English language.

    This book covers topics from present tense regular verbs to double object pronouns. It covers various aspects of Spanish grammar that learners need to master. It focuses on the practical aspects of Spanish as it's really spoken.

    The reader is encouraged to toss off words such as ?disestablishmentarianism, ? ?descant, ? and ?autodidactic? ?words that will make the user sound learned, intellectual, and wise. For those who want to improve the quality and sophistication of their speech and writing, this is the book to keep on the nightstan

    Giving examples of real usage, this book provides the basic information about grammar and punctuation that people need on a day-to-day basis. Arranged A-Z, it contains entries for standard grammatical terms as well as dealing with related questions of usage. In addition to explaining basic terms such as 'split infinitive', 'participle', and 'adverb', entries also discuss whether to use 'may' or 'might', 'that' or 'which', and 'it's' or 'its'. The Oxford A-Z of Grammar and Punctuation gives the reader quick and easy access to the answers to these, and many other, questions of grammar. It offers clear and coherent explanations, and illustrations across a broad range of topics, and is the first port of call for any reader seeking clear, authoritative help with grammar and punctuation. Both easy to use and comprehensive, the Oxford A-Z of Grammar and Punctuation is an essential tool for writing at home, in the office, at school, and at college.

    A celebrated writing coach with a sense of humor and a gentle touch, she’s also a master writer herself with a long and distinguished career in both teaching and practicing the art of writing.The Book on Writing contains 25 chapters in three sections: A dozen essential but easy-to-apply guidelines to good writing, from the importance of clarity to the value of a conversational tone. Paula LaRocque believes learning is easier and more successful when we are not only told but also shown. So her Book on Writing is chockfull of actual writing examples that supplement and illustrate principles that apply as naturally to fiction as they do to nonfiction.How to tell a story—from building suspense, to effective description, to the uses of metaphor and literary devices. Paula LaRocque also deals with the narrative “engine” and the value of the archetype in plotting and characterization—as well as with pace and speed and leveling what she terms writing’s “speedbumps.” A clear and concise handbook that deals with common problems in grammar, usage, punctuation, and style—the kind of problems that often trouble even wordsmiths. The handbook also debunks pesky language “rules” that are actually myths. The Book on Writing is one-stop shopping for writers. Read it once, and you’ll be a better writer. Read it often, and you’ll be among the best.

    In this quirky new title designer and typographer Teresa Monachino rounds up and breaks down a variety of unruly words: words lacking in integrity, misleading words that do not mean what they say, words that mean more than they say, words with inconsistent pronunciation or spellings that are just plain cruel! Using striking and witty graphic design the author demands answers to such troublesome questions as, why is abbreviation such a long word, does monosyllabic really need five syllables and why is lisp so hard to say if you have one?

     Example sentences and brief explanatory comments provide a rich context to bring the words to life, and quizzes are provided to encourage reuse and recall of words and to reinforce memory of them. All of these features combine to make this a valuable tool for students preparing for standardized tests or simply seeking to expand their English vocabulary.

     Great writing begins with the sentence. Whether it’s two words (“Jesus wept.”) or William Faulkner’s 1,287-word sentence in Absalom! Absalom!, sentences have the power to captivate, entertain, motivate, educate, and, most importantly, delight. Yet, the sentence-oriented approach to writing is too often overlooked in favor of bland economy. Building Great Sentences teaches you to write better sentences by luxuriating in the pleasures of language. Award-winning Professor Brooks Landon draws on examples from masters of long, elegant sentences—including Don DeLillo, Virginia Woolf, Joan Didion, and Samuel Johnson—to reveal the mechanics of how language works on thoughts and emotions, providing the tools to write powerful, more effective sentences.

    Crafters dabble, collaborate, muse, and make, all in their own way and on their own timeline. For all crafts, there are established techniques to follow but wild, innumerable ways to experiment, using the basics to launch crafters to new heights. Crafter’s Devotional can aid that launch. Each day of the year is given its own focus, on which the reader will find a daily dose of craft content that inspires, instructs, and illuminates.

    Now streamlined and updated, the book that has literally put millions on the highway to greater accomplishment and success can show you how to have maximum impact as a speaker--every day, and in every situation that demands winning others over to your point of view.

    Don't be one of them. Using examples of misuse from leading newspapers, prominent public figures and famous writers, among others, language gurus Ross Petras and Kathryn Petras explain how to avoid these perilous pitfalls in the English language. Each entry also includes short histories of how and why these mistake have happened, some of the (often surprisingly nasty) debates about which uses are (and are not) mistakes, and finally, how to use these words correctly ... or why to not use them at all. By the end of this book, every literati will be able to confidently, casually, and correctly toss in an "a priori" or a "limns" without hesitation.