10-K

I found the previous reviews interesting because they suggested that this book was for seasoned runners. As a seasoned runner, I didn't find it extremely useful. It discussed things that I have already heard of.

Overall, I would suggest it to someone who has been running for a year or two and is now interested in racing but isn't sure where to start. It offers training insights without the technical jargon that seasoned runners, such as myself, throw around without even thinking. For those very new to running, this may be a little too much to think about. For those who have been around the block quite a few times, you probably have heard this all before.

This book was written for runners with at least a year of running behind them. Filled with anecdotes, it serves to demistify principles and terminology unique to the running culture. The training methods described are tried and true, scientifically backed methods used by today's elite athletes. It is very thorough without having the quality of a "dry" technical manual. Like Galloway's Book On Running, I find myself going back to it to brush up on my training.

The only book I have found on how to train for the short distance races. The 10K race has now become the most popular road race in a America with the 5K quickly gaining in popularity. Whether you are a beginner road racer or shooting for a new personal best, this book does a great job of breaking down training schedules and drills to run smarter and prepare for race day. Hal also covers nutrition for runners and pre-race rituals that have helped him compete over the years.

I have been a student of Biblical Hebrew for over 3 years. But I've also investigated modern pronunciation. Interestingly, one will not find any consistency (I've found about half a dozen modern variations, both for consonants and for vowels, a total of about 12 pronunciation systems). A living language by definition means constant change and dialects existing side by side.

Adam Lance has put for that there are some transliterations problems with this text. That is possible; I mean, one cannot hardly find a published book today that wasn't rushed to the market so fast that it appears that some proofreading, or at least careful proofreading, was forgotten.

Modern Hebrew has two main pronunciation systems: Ashkenazi and Sephardi. Israel basically uses Sephardi, but which one?! That's right, there is significant variation. One reference states that, not including dipthongs, there are 5 vowel sounds, another says 6, and another 7, and even another 10. Then there are the consonants. Some say Cheyt and Kaf are pronounced the same, some say different. Some say Ayin is pronounced, others say it's silent like Aleph. Why all this variance?

I write this to justify the seeming descrepancies in this book. The Sephardi tradition is essentially Middle Eastern and North African. This system breaks down in variations among those born and raised in Israel vs. immigrants. There is Russian, Yemenite, Romanian, and Ethiopian dialects.

The older native population in Israel generally pronounce Cheyt and Kaf differently. And they pronounce Ayin. Also, they use at least 6 vowel sounds, pronouncing Tsere as ey. But their children do not pronounce Ayin, and sound Cheyt and Kaf the same. Also, they only use 5 vowel sounds.

There is one evidence of the transition. While many pronounce Tsere the same as Seghol (as in "bet"), when the tsere syllable is closed by Aleph or He, it is pronounced as a long 'a' (as in "they"). This may be what has occurred in this book, like another book I have. Seghol may also be pronounced 'ey' if the syllable is closed by He.

So it is likely that this book is correct for the dialect it represents. There is much flux at this time. It appears, though, that the 5-vowel system is winning out, Ayin is becoming unpronounced, and no distinction is being made between Cheyt and Kaf.

The bottom line is that once one has used a particular book like this, if they intend to progress, they will have to immerse into the language and culture. Living in America, the student will then likely swing to Ashkenazi pronunciation (which is spoken here conversationally), meaning that when they go to Israel, they will have difficulties. As with learning any language, adjustment is constant, even for the native speaker

If you want to learn Modern Hebrew, this text is fine. But, as with ANY book, be prepared to grow with the language, the local dialect, etc.

I bought this book to help a friend learn Hebrew. This is a nice book, but the English transliterations are flawed, and that's what I had the most trouble with.

First of all, the book tells you that the tsere is prounounced "ay", when actually, in the modern spoken Hebrew of Israel, it is pronounced like eh in red. Plus it goes on to transliterate the tsere inconsistantly (sometimes as "eh", sometimes as ay).

Shva is the same way. When it's not silent, it's transliterated as 'e'...but sometimes as "ay". (Shva is never pronounced "ay".)

Gives a basic understanding of conversational Hebrew. You'll be able to ask directions and more. If you are looking for a better understanding of Hebrew, look for something else like "Contemporary Hebrew by M. Mansoor".

The novel " A Midsummer Night`s Death " deals with relationship, first love, growing up and the death of a teacher. In our opinion it tells a very nice and interesting story, which contains some funny and ironic parts. A negative aspect is that the parts about the climbing are a bit long-winded and very detailed. We think too, that the author has a good way to show the thoughts and feelings of the main character, called Jonathon, by using first person narration. To sum it up we could say, that it is an exciting story, which is pleasant to read for younger people.
...

Review "A Midsummer Night's Death"

The novel "A Midsummer Night's Death" written by K. M. Peyton is
about the student Jonathan Meredith who has to realize how involved
he is in the death of his English teacher Mr. Robinson.
The structure of the book is very dramatic and the reader recognizes
a rising action. To me, it was quite exciting to read the book
although I do not prefer that kind of literature.
The more you read, the more you are interested in finding out what
the teacher's death is about.
So I can recommend "A Midsummer Night's Death" to those who like
reading novels full of excitement and tension.

The book "A Midsummer Night's Death" , written by K. M. Peyton is about the mysterious death of Mr. Robinson, a teacher of a boarding school. One student, Jonathan, was the last one who saw him talking to Mr. Hugo, another teacher.
But not the whole story is about that. Peyton mixed it with a love story. Not only one between a man and a woman, but a student and his teacher.
It's quite exciting, because at the beginning you don't know if Jonathan told the police what he had seen or if he kept it a secret. Therefore we couldn't stop reading the book. When we knew that, the love story between Jonathan and a girl, who had loved the dead Mr. Robinson got more and more interesting.
(Andrea Leitsch, Ellen Oswald)

The book makes every attempt to be fun and easy, but once you get past its kindergarten feel with multitudes of colorful pictures, large type, double spacing and clutter, you'll begin to notice its shortcomings.

Most of the book consists of predominantly English text with Italian words substituted for some of the English words. Aside from giving the false impression that speaking Italian is just a matter of plugging Italian words into an English sentence, this practice gets very old very fast. You are introduced to the word "Lei" (singular polite version of "you") early in the book, and from that point on every single instance of "you" (and there are lots of them) is replaced with "Lei". The fact that pronouns are typically omitted in Italian emphasizes the inappropriateness of this approach.

The book includes a pronunciation guide for Italian words. However, the pronunciation guide doesn't indicate the stressed syllable. Given that Italian is highly phonetic, and that stress is one of main unknowns in Italian pronunciation, this omission renders the pronunciation guide practically worthless.

Don't bother trying to find the book's index in Amazon's "Look Inside". The book doesn't have an index. It does however have a page at the end plugging the author's other publications. I suppose it's a matter of priorities.

For some reason the verb tables are missing the "tu" (singular informal "you") and "voi" (plural "you") conjugations. I am guessing an attempt at simplification is the reason, but as long as you are looking at a verb's root and five conjugations, would it kill you to look at a couple more?

The book attempts to compensate for its lack of substance with a couple of gimmicks. On the bottom of most pages you'll find the so called free words. These are Italian words that are similar to their English counterparts. Well, you still have to remember the fact that a particular word is similar to an English word and the details of how it differs from the English word, so while you may argue that these words are in the low cost category, they are definitely not free. Further, some of the supposedly free words bear little resemblance to English. Would you have guessed that "scala" means "staircase"? You definitely need to cough up a few bucks for that one.

Another gimmick consists of a few sets of stickers with Italian words on them with which you are meant to label common items. The idea is that as you encounter theses stickers every day, the words will be permanently imprinted in your memory. I wasn't sure where to put the "i jeans" sticker. The book suggests using your imagination. After using my imagination for a while, I imagined several better ways to build my vocabulary.

I have a few introductory Italian books, and most of them are pretty good. This one doesn't deserve to share shelf space with any of the others. You can find much better alternatives for the same investment of time and money. I don't know where the glowing Amazon reviews came from. Friends and family come to mind.

This is an excellent intro to Italian for the person who wants the basics for a vacation to Italy, or perhaps as a starting point for someone who wants to go on to study Italian more seriously. The idea that you are only to spend 10 minutes a day is reassuring for those of us with busy schedules...as someone else said, you actually end up spending more time with the book every day because it is fun...but knowing that my "commitment" is for ten minutes makes it easier for me to pick the book up at the end of a long day at work. The brevity of the exercises makes it perfect for those times when you have a few minutes to spare (e.g., waiting for a friend to show up). I also liked the sticky labels and the pocket guides.

In general, this book is very strong in teaching a lot of good vocabulary, but I found it a bit weak in teaching structure. (Keep in mind that I am only about half way through it, though!) I am discovering that I have learned a lot of great vocabulary, but except for some basic phrases (Where is the...? Here is the...), I am not able to produce a lot of complete sentences. Again, the phrases the book DOES teach are useful for travelers, but not necessarily helpful for someone wanting to make casual conversation with an Italian speaker. Also, though they do a great job teaching how to pronounce the different consonants and vowels, they don't talk much about where to place the stress in multisyllabic words. My Italian friends frequently corrected me because I've placed the stress on the wrong syllable (interference from Spanish, probably).

If you have little or no knowledge of the Italian language, this book is a great place to start. It will take you through all of the basics and prepare you for further studies. However, it will not teach you everything you need to know about Italian. It's only a nice introduction to the language.

This book of 110 pages is full of information, from a guide of the 26 episodes to chapters on character generation and character bios, items of power and mecha, and the world of Tenchi in Tokyo. It even covers the TV show 'Space Police Policeman' and tells us more about Ancient Jurai. The pictures are all black and white, and the book is kind of thin, but a must for any fan.
The cover has a nice color picture of Yugi!

Guardians of Order delivers its usual thorough job on Tenchi in Tokyo, the next installment of its Role Playing Guide based on the 3rd Tenchi series. This book includes complete summaries for all 26 episodes, with lots of pictures (unfortunately in black & white). Character listings expand on and contrast vs. previous writeups in GOO's most excellent Tenchi Muyo RPG and Resource Book. You do not have to be a Role Playing Gamer to appreciate this book.

i think it was really good. it help me understand animal cells better.

Adults and children will love this illustrated anthology of Kipling's best-loved versed. Many of us are well acquainted with Kipling's prose works that have given readers great joy throughout the years. In this particular work we encounter Kipling the poet whose verse was profound enough to attract the attention of both young and old.

Allow yourself to savor the wisdom from Sussex, 1902 and be inspired with his memorable poem If. Chant along with your children "The Law of the Jungle" and become enriched by its music. Kipling is a great balladeer of the the english language.

This anthology is illustrated with a selection of paintings that were inspired by his poetry. They provide a rich complement to this collection. I highly recommend this edition as gift to give to poetry lovers and to inspire others as they reflect upon their life's journey. It is certainly a "must have" in your poetry library.

This book is very interesting for whom works in the moisture mesurement field. The book scopes a lot of aspects of microwave aquametry like measurements both in the frequency domain and measurement in the time domain. There is interesting information about dielectric properties of wet materials. The book contains a very useful information about manufacturers of moisture meters and recent bibligraphy. In conclusion, I recomend reading the book.

Use of this book requires a basic knowledge of statistics and the tests you will be performing. Don't use a test if you don't know the theory behind it. What's great about the book is the no-nonsense explaination of default data analysis output tables. Every user of SPSS will eventually need to wade through these complete, but poorly organized tables.

I have taught beginning Latin from several texts--Ecce Romani, the Oxford Latin Course, the 1990 edition of Jenney's Latin featured here, as well as the older (1979 and earlier) editions of Jenney's Latin. I can say with all confidence and experience that the newer edition (1990) fails in many areas of instruction. In an attempt to modernize itself, the Jenney series lost much of what made earlier editions great, namely its clarity and focused, appropriately challenging readings.

In this 1990 edition, the readings have been changed and often lengthened--no doubt in an attempt to guise itself as a quasi-reading method text. Unfortunately, the new readings rarely adequately enforce the grammar taught in the unit, and offer instead syntactical oddities that only baffle and frustrate even the most earnest students. The book does a good job of including photos of real antiquities, but does so often without context and in excessive detail. As thrilling as it must be for for the average high school freshman to learn the difference between statumen, rudus, and pavimentum (p. 251), it might interest him/her more to spend more time on the cultural/historical context of Roman roads (i.e., their *application*). Such details about the roads' layers would be unknown to many non-specialist Ph.Ds. We wish to emphasize LEARNING, but we want also to emphasize the thematic application of knowledge--not merely the acquisition of facts without context.

Indeed, students might LEARN Latin better if presented with a concise, yet still challenging, version of the Aeneas story (as in earlier editions), gaining confidence as they reinforce their abilities to READ Latin and are introduced to cultural topics.

Again, I have used earlier editions (1979 and previous) of the Jenney text and found them to be much more enjoyable for both teacher and student. They are no less challenging, but leave off much of the junk that many who praise the 1990 edition frequently decry in other textbooks. I would wholeheartedly recommend looking at these versions if you are considering changing texts. Consider also Ecce Romani and Oxford Latin, which are not without fault, but whose approach is consistent with their philosophy.

As I hope to begin teaching high school Latin soon, I've been busy examining several textbooks. So far, Jenney--while not perfect--stands at the top of my list. The course consists of four volumes: most of the grammar is covered in the first two books, with the third and fourth serving up selections from the usual list of authors.

The pluses are several. The books are durable, hardbound school editions (hence, incidentally, the high price). The layout is attractive, making ample use of color and graphics. The chapter lessons on Roman culture are excellent and encourage students to make comparisons with their own. They also should make good springboards for further discussion for teachers who wish to spend more time on such matters; those who don't can at least rest assured that their students won't emerge with the "Wheelock syndrome:" lots of Latin grammar and little substantive knowledge about Roman life. Not that Jenney skimps on the grammar. There is no dawdling; in fact, it sometimes seems the lessons move too quickly, given the typical student's command of English grammar. The exercises are varied, and include translation into Latin and drills with English derivatives.

One rather large problem lies in how the reading passages are constructed. Several new words are introduced in each, without definitions being included on the same page. The pedagogy behind this practice is not totally misbegotten but is more likely to frustrate students than challenge them. Some of these words appear in later lessons, some do not, and so it is hard for the teacher to decide which should be memorized. In general, the readings are longer and more difficult than those of other courses; that's not a shortcoming, in my opinion, but it does mean teachers had better be exceptionally patient and encouraging or risk seeing all their students flee for Spanish or French in the second year.

An enterprising and industrious teacher should be able to do a lot with this series; students, meanwhile, should emerge with everything to be desired from a high school education in Latin.

Publishers know that the market for Latin texts comprises Latin teachers who see shrinking enrollments and are afraid of being "downsized." In desperation to keep students, Classics departments often struggle to candy-coat Latin, making it more fun and less daunting for students. Now, I like fun as much as the next classics geek, but many teachers forget that students should have fun WHILE learning, not INSTEAD of learning. Accordingly, many modern Latin texts are simplistic, cartoon-enhanced bait designed to keep enrollment up. They are education's junk food: perhaps enjoyable, but with few lasting benefits. Jenny's is different: it does not shy away from teaching Latin in thorough detail. The lessons, cumulative, give tons of practice. The back of the book has excellent resources for forms, grammar, vocabulary and even useful Latin dicta. In addition, Jenny's has informative, interesting readings on history and culture. Gorgeous color photographs of Roman art, architecture and everyday items adorn the pages and spur imaginative discussions. This enables students to learn not only the verbs and endings but the fascinating context that made the Roman Republic and Empire what they were. My students have always enjoyed learning from this book, despite the fact that (or because?) it challenges them. I've taught Latin for ten years, for seven of which I've used this book. I myself learned from an earlier version of it in 6th grade. Earlier versions (from over ten years ago) had a vocabulary and focus much more geared towards military readings than the present incarnation, which has a better-rounded vocabulary as useful for Horace's love poems as for Caesar's Gallic War. I recommend this book strongly for serious students and instructors.