It contains a wealth of appendices with information from chemical elements to first names, and the plays of Shakespeare to the Greek and Hebrew alphabets. This edition contains definitions of more than 500 new words.

    Following the success of his Running Press titles Danny Boy and Voices of Ireland, McCourt explores this beloved icon of Irish heritage through vivid anecdotes, charming folk tales, and recent documented incidents. Said to have been first crafted more than 400 years ago in a fishing village on Galway Bay, there is much more to the story of the Claddagh ring than simple popular history, and McCourt tracks it down and recounts it with his stellar storytelling finesse.

    Avoid Grammatical Minefields with this Entertaining GuideConfused about when to use "its" or "it's" or the correct spelling of "principal" and "principle"? My Grammar and I...or Should That Be me? is a refresher course for anyone who has ever been stumped by spelling confusion, dangling modifiers, split infinities, or for those who have no idea what these things even are.Clever, informative, and fun, this delightful little handbook offers practical and humorous guidance on how to avoid falling into language pitfalls.* Sentence Structure: Let's ponder the subject or object: Is it "I" or is it "me"?* Parts of Speech: "whose" or "who's"? "which" or "that"?* Punctuation: So where does that comma go, anyway?* Spelling and Confusables: There are times when the spelling "rules" confuse.* Elements of Style: You'll find there's lots more to know about grammar.* ...and for grammar know-it-alls, there are entertaining "Smart Aleck" tidbits throughout.

    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.

    This totally revised and expanded edition of Bantam's revolutionary Latin reference work, based on the foremost Classical authorities and organized to achieve the utmost clarity, precision, and convenience, now features more than 70,000 new entries that correspond to current English usage, in addition to a larger range of illustrative phrases.

    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

    Covering such turning points as the little-known Celtic and Welsh influences on English, the impact of the Viking raids and the Norman Conquest, and the Germanic invasions that started it all during the fifth century ad, John McWhorter narrates this colorful evolution with vigor. Drawing on revolutionary genetic and linguistic research as well as a cache of remarkable trivia about the origins of English words and syntax patterns, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue ultimately demonstrates the arbitrary, maddening nature of English--and its ironic simplicity due to its role as a streamlined lingua franca during the early formation of Britain. This is the book that language aficionados worldwide have been waiting for (and no, it's not a sin to end a sentence with a preposition).

    It is democratic, everchanging and ingenious in its assimilation of other cultures. English runs through the heart of the world of finance, medicine and the Internet, and it is understood by around two thousand million people across the world. It seems set to go on. Yet it was nearly wiped out in its early years.Embracing elements of Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Hindi and Gullah, this 1500-year story covers a huge range of countries and people. The Adventure of English is not only an enthralling story of power, religion and trade, but also the story of people, and how their day-to-day lives shaped and continue to change the extraordinary language that is English.

    About 600 English Protestant settlers had fled to the city to escape the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and had fortified themselves in King John's Castle in the centre of Limerick. The city was predominantly Catholic and appealed to the new Confederate Catholic government at Kilkenny to capture this Protestant citadel.

    Köstenberger, Benjamin L. Merkle, and Robert L. Plummer have produced an ideal resource enabling students to improve their skills so they may properly read, exegete, and apply the Greek New Testament. Designed for those with a basic knowledge of Greek, Going Deeper with New Testament Greek is a user-friendly textbook for intermediate Greek courses at the college or seminary level. In fifteen chapters, students learn Greek grammar and how to interpret the New Testament in a way that is accessible—and even fun. Also included are chapters on the Greek language and textual criticism, verbal aspect, sentence diagramming and discourse analysis, word studies, and continuing with Greek. Unique features include:Practical examples illustrating how knowing the content of a given chapter can guide proper interpretation of Scripture.Practice sentences and vocabulary lists, including all the words that occur fifteen times or more in the New Testament.Selected texts from every New Testament author for students to translate along with detailed reading notes to guide interpretation of each text.Summary charts to help students review material, serving as a handy study guide and quick reference tool.

    It also examines the many Celtic deities who were linked with animals and such natural phenomena as rivers and caves, or who later became associated with local Christian saints. And it explores in detail the rich variety of Celtic myths: from early legends of King Arthur to the stories of the Welsh Mabinogi, and from tales of heroes including Cúchulainn, Fionn mac Cumhaill and the warrior queen Medb to tales of shadowy otherworlds - the homes of spirits and fairies. What emerges is a wonderfully diverse and fertile tradition of myth making that has captured the imagination of countless generations, introduced and explained here with compelling insight.

    Lady Gregory tells about Ireland's gods and her fighting men from the old Irish sagas.

    They were helpless. It sounds like a familiar story, but these people were not African. They were Irish, and they were slaves before African slavery became widespread. This is their story.

    Now she's turning her attention to improving our vocabulary—one word at a time—with Grammar Girl's 101 Words Every High School Graduate Needs to Know.Not sure whether your post-high school vocabulary is up to snuff? This handy reference guide is a great starting point for ensuring you know the words that will help you impress your college professors, hold your own among your peers, write killer papers, and simply sound articulate—a skill that will benefit you for years to come.Full of clear, straightforward definitions and fun quotations from luminaries such as J.D. Salinger and Susan B. Anthony, to characters such as Marge and Homer Simpson, this highly-useable guidebook gives you the confidence to succeed and sets you up for a lifetime of success.

    It will help them speak standard American English with clarity, confidence, and accuracy. Specific exercises concentrate on vowel sounds, problematic consonants such as V, W, B, TH, and the American R, employ correct syllable stress, link words for smoother speech flow, use common word contractions such as won't instead of will not, and more. Additional topics that often confuse ESL students are also discussed and explained. They include distinguishing between casual and formal speech, homophones (for instance, they're and there), recognizing words with silent letters (comb, receipt, and others), and avoiding embarrassing pronunciation mistakes, such as mixing up party and potty. Students are familiarized with many irregular English spelling rules and exceptions, and are shown how such irregularities can contribute to pronunciation errors. A native language guide references problematic accent issues of 13 different language backgrounds. Correct lip and tongue positions for all sounds are discussed in detail. Enclosed with the book are four compact discs that use male and female voices to coach correct American-style pronunciation.