How You Say It: Why You Talk the Way You Do—and What It Says About You
Katherine D. Kinzler - 2020
Race, class, and gender shape our social identities, and thus who we perceive as “like us” or “not like us”. But one overlooked factor can be even more powerful: the way we speak. As the pioneering psychologist Katherine Kinzler reveals in How You Say It, the way we talk is central to our social identity because our speech largely reflects the voices we heard as children. We can change how we speak to some extent, whether by “code-switching” between dialects or learning a new language; over time, your speech even changes to reflect your evolving social identity and aspirations. But for the most part, we are forever marked by our native tongue—and are hardwired to prejudge others by theirs, often with serious consequences. Your accent alone can determine the economic opportunity or discrimination you encounter in life, making speech one of the most urgent social-justice issues of our day. Our linguistic differences present challenges, Kinzler shows, but they also can be a force for good. Humans can benefit from being exposed to multiple languages —a paradox that should inspire us to master this ancient source of tribalism, and rethink the role that speech plays in our society.
Beautiful Failures
Lucy Clark - 2016
Every day of her high school life was a struggle. She woke up in the morning and the thought of going to school was like an enormous mountain to climb. 'Nothing will ever be as easy as your school years,' well-meaning adults told her, but I knew for my daughter, and for many kids who have struggled as square pegs trying to make themselves round, this was dead wrong. When Lucy Clark's daughter graduated from school a 'failure', she started asking questions about the way we measure success. Why is there so much pressure on kids today? Where does it come from? Most importantly, as we seem to be in the grip of an epidemic of anxiety, how can we reduce that pressure? Beautiful Failures explores, through personal experience and journalistic investigation, a broken education system that fails too many kids and puts terrible pressure on all kids, including those who 'succeed'. It challenges accepted wisdoms about schooling, calls on parents to examine their own expectations, and questions the purpose of education, and indeed the purpose of childhood.
The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu
Dan Jurafsky - 2014
Thirteen chapters evoke the joy and discovery of reading a menu dotted with the sharp-eyed annotations of a linguist.Jurafsky points out the subtle meanings hidden in filler words like "rich" and "crispy," zeroes in on the metaphors and storytelling tropes we rely on in restaurant reviews, and charts a microuniverse of marketing language on the back of a bag of potato chips.The fascinating journey through The Language of Food uncovers a global atlas of culinary influences. With Jurafsky's insight, words like ketchup, macaron, and even salad become living fossils that contain the patterns of early global exploration that predate our modern fusion-filled world.From ancient recipes preserved in Sumerian song lyrics to colonial shipping routes that first connected East and West, Jurafsky paints a vibrant portrait of how our foods developed. A surprising history of culinary exchange—a sharing of ideas and culture as much as ingredients and flavors—lies just beneath the surface of our daily snacks, soups, and suppers.
Civilization: The West and the Rest
Niall Ferguson - 2011
Yet now, Ferguson shows how the Rest have downloaded the killer apps the West once monopolized, while the West has literally lost faith in itself. Chronicling the rise and fall of empires alongside clashes (and fusions) of civilizations, Civilization: The West and the Rest recasts world history with force and wit. Boldly argued and teeming with memorable characters, this is Ferguson at his very best.
The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary
R.S. McGregor - 1993
This handy paperback dictionary is designed to meet the needs of the growing number of people now learning tospeak Hindi. It provides translations for over 36,000 headwords, using illustrative material to show words in use. Students of Hindi and South Asian studies of all kinds will find extensive coverage of historical Hindi, together with the most up-to-date colloquial and literary vocabulary. In addition, the Urdu vocabulary of Hindi is well represented. Providing contemporary, idiomatic Hindi and English, TheOxford Hindi-English Dictionary is the perfect reference guide for students, businesspeople, and travelers alike.
Language, Thought, and Reality: Selected Writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf
Benjamin Lee Whorf - 1956
His basic thesis is that our perception of the world and our ways of thinking about it are deeply influenced by the structure of the languages we speak. The writings collected in this volume include important papers on the Maya, Hopi, and Shawnee languages as well as more general reflections on language and meaning.
Read & Speak Korean for Beginners
Sunjeong Shin - 2008
An exceptionally accessible book+audio (CD) course for beginning-level learners of Korean, helping them gain practical communication skills.
The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World
David W. Anthony - 2007
But who were the early speakers of this ancient mother tongue, and how did they manage to spread it around the globe? Until now their identity has remained a tantalizing mystery to linguists, archaeologists, and even Nazis seeking the roots of the Aryan race. The Horse, the Wheel, and Language lifts the veil that has long shrouded these original Indo-European speakers, and reveals how their domestication of horses and use of the wheel spread language and transformed civilization.Linking prehistoric archaeological remains with the development of language, David Anthony identifies the prehistoric peoples of central Eurasia's steppe grasslands as the original speakers of Proto-Indo-European, and shows how their innovative use of the ox wagon, horseback riding, and the warrior's chariot turned the Eurasian steppes into a thriving transcontinental corridor of communication, commerce, and cultural exchange. He explains how they spread their traditions and gave rise to important advances in copper mining, warfare, and patron-client political institutions, thereby ushering in an era of vibrant social change. Anthony also describes his fascinating discovery of how the wear from bits on ancient horse teeth reveals the origins of horseback riding.The Horse, the Wheel, and Language solves a puzzle that has vexed scholars for two centuries--the source of the Indo-European languages and English--and recovers a magnificent and influential civilization from the past.
Spanish For Beginners: A practical guide to learn the basics of Spanish in 10 days! (FREE GIFT inside) (Learn Spanish, Spanish, Learn, Language, Communication Skills)
Manuel De Cortes - 2014
If You Don't Have Kindle You Can Still Read This Book On Your Web Browser using Amazon Free Cloud Reader This book contains proven steps and strategies on how to communicate using the basics of the Spanish language. Divided into 10 chapters (one chapter per day), this book is designed to provide a step by step learning guide on Spanish grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. Plus, it features a series of useful common everyday expressions. This book is written in a conversational style that’s easy to follow and understand. After reading this book, you’ll never have to say “No hablo Español” ever again! Here Is A Preview Of What You'll Learn After Downloading Spanish For Beginners
The Spanish Alphabet (El Alfabeto Español)
Saludos y Expresiones (Greetings & Expressions)
Basic Vocabulary
Spanish Plurals
Gender
Capitalization
Artículos (Articles)
Pronombres (Pronouns)
El Verbos (Verbs)
Adjetivos españoles (Spanish Adjectives)
Much, much more!
Take Action Right Away and START your journey with Spanish! Download your copy today for just $2.99!
All About Words: An Adult Approach to Vocabulary Building
Maxwell Nurnberg - 1968
Here's an exhilarating, easy way to learn a word...and never forget it! With games, puzzles, exercises, and whole battery of challenging tests.
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
Charles Mackay - 1841
This Harriman House edition includes Charles Mackay's account of the three infamous financial manias - John Law's Mississipi Scheme, the South Sea Bubble, and Tulipomania.Between the three of them, these historic episodes confirm that greed and fear have always been the driving forces of financial markets, and, furthermore, that being sensible and clever is no defence against the mesmeric allure of a popular craze with the wind behind it.In writing the history of the great financial manias, Charles Mackay proved himself a master chronicler of social as well as financial history. Blessed with a cast of characters that covered all the vices, gifted a passage of events which was inevitably heading for disaster, and with the benefit of hindsight, he produced a record that is at once a riveting thriller and absorbing historical document. A century and a half later, it is as vibrant and lurid as the day it was written.For modern-day investors, still reeling from the dotcom crash, the moral of the popular manias scarcely needs spelling out. When the next stock market bubble comes along, as it surely will, you are advised to recall the plight of some of the unfortunates on these pages, and avoid getting dragged under the wheels of the careering bandwagon yourself.
The Story of Language
Mario Andrew Pei - 1949
New features in this revised edition:-A new chapter on "SELF-DESIGNATION" discusses the names by which countries and people call themselves, as opposed to the names outsiders give them.-A new chapter on "LANGUAGE AND PSYCHOLOGY" covers one of the mysterious areas of language - the connection of words with the mental processes of both the individual and the social group.-Detailed discussion of such additional languages as Vietnamese and the African tongues.-New material on nonlinguistic systems of communication, such as gestural and symbolic language, and animal talk.-Most recent findings on the origin of language and how a child learns to speak.-Coverage of slang (American, British, foreign); underworld cant and professional jargons; government gobbledygook; the language of euphemism, politeness and insult brought up to date.
Don't Believe a Word: The Surprising Truth About Language
David Shariatmadari - 2019
Linguists can now explain how and why language changes, describe its structures, and map its activity in the brain. But despite these advances, much of what people believe about language is based on folklore, instinct, or hearsay. We imagine a word’s origin is it’s “true” meaning, that foreign languages are full of “untranslatable” words, or that grammatical mistakes undermine English. In Don’t Believe A Word, linguist David Shariatmadari takes us on a mind-boggling journey through the science of language, urging us to abandon our prejudices in a bid to uncover the (far more interesting) truth about what we do with words.Exploding nine widely held myths about language while introducing us to some of the fundamental insights of modern linguistics, Shariatmadari is an energetic guide to the beauty and quirkiness of humanity’s greatest achievement.
Do You Speak American?
Robert MacNeil - 2004
Do You Speak American?, the companion volume to a PBS special, is the tale of the surprising discoveries they made while interviewing a host of native speakers and observing everyday verbal interactions across the country. Examining the histories and controversies surrounding both written and spoken American English, MacNeil and Cran address highly emotional anxieties and assumptions about our language-and offer some unpredictable responses. With insight and wit, MacNeil and Cran bring us a compelling follow-up to The Story of English that is at once a celebration and a potent study of our singular language.
I is an Other: The Secret Life of Metaphor and How it Shapes the Way We See the World
James Geary - 2011
In this brilliant book about metaphor James Geary is no less astonishing, as he deciphers the subtle implications embedded in advertising slogans, familiar slang and government double-talk…. You'll scarf down every page of I Is an Other and then ask for more.” —Michael Dirda, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and author of Book by Book and Classics for PleasureFor lovers of language and fans of Blink and Freakonomics, New York Times bestselling author James Geary offers this fascinating look at metaphors and their influence in every aspect of our lives, from art to medicine, psychology to the stock market.