AS

I use this book with my adult ESL students. It is clearly written and extremely effective in reinforcing English grammar in an intelligent fashion. The content level is perfect for Non-English speaking older students. It addresses issues that a more mature student can relate to such as Geography or Current Events to cement a grammar concept rather than using balloons or puppies. It,also, employs different techniques and examples to do the same thing. I feel that my students are more interested in learning by using this book and that often the content encourages other English speaking activities.

I RATE THIS BOOK 5 STARS BECAUSE IT IS A GREAT BOOK FOR BOTH THE BEGINNER AND THE ADVANCED ESL LEARNER OR STUDENT. AS AN ENGLISH MAJOR, I LIKE READING AND SKIMMING THROUGH THE PAGES OF GRAMMAR BOOKS AND WHAT NOT THAT I COULD GET MY MIND TO ABSORB INFO, AND THIS BOOK DOES EXACTLY WHAT I WANT TO GET OUT OF A GREAT TEXT---LEARN AND LET IT STAY THERE IN THE PERSON'S BRAIN. THIS DEFINITELY IS A GREAT TEXT.

If you have some problem of English pronounciation,
You should use it.
Because it is really useful for them, and
it is really helpful.
So, you should use it if you have some problems.

Conventional wisdom in the ESL/EFL world holds that pronunciation should not be taught at the beginning level. It's just too technical, requiring complicated descriptions and explanations for which beginning students don't have the vocabulary.

But if there were a way to make the material accessible? Even beginners need to communicate clearly -- intelligible speech fosters successful academic, work, and social interactions, and that's got to be encouraging for the student! Judy Gilbert's well-planned approach makes clear pronunciation truly accessible to beginners. The book -- rightly so -- limits the pronunciation points to those that are most urgently needed for intelligibility. The principle areas covered are: (1) the alphabet: using letters to spell out loud for clarification, (2) decoding spelling/reading words: using simple spelling rules to predict the pronunciation of a word, (3) syllable number: developing awareness of the number of syllables in words and phrases, being sure not to add unnecessary syllables or to omit necessary ones, (4) syllable stress: lengthening stressed vowels and reducing unstressed ones, (5) word connections: linking words together (this improves both listening comprehension and the smoothness of the student's speech), (6) the music of English: the pitch contours and rhythm of the language, and (7) articulation: t/d, s/z, l/r/n, and th.

There are some very cool things in this book for pronunciation teachers and learners. For example, there are tongue shape drawings looking from the back of the tongue to the front and out the mouth. Can't picture it? You'll have to see it to believe it! Along with the traditional front and side views, this new perspective really helps you visualize what's going on inside your mouth to produce a specific sound. I only wish there were drawings for all the American English vowels and consonants!! (But then it wouldn't be a beginning textbook, would it?)

I also like the vowel pronunciation rules. Example: the letters 'ai' are pronounced like the first letter [a] in the combination. Think: straight, complaint. Then, in the appendix, a percentage is given for how often the rule works, in this case, 95% of the time. This will give the student the confidence to guess how a new word is pronounced, take 'restraint', for example, but not stress out when the rule doesn't work, as in 'plaid'.

There are many helpful graphics in the book. Two of my favorites are the extra-wide bolded letters for stressed vowels (I think you can visualize that) and the diminishing letters for continuant sounds (Thatsssokay. The storezzznearrrMain [the second and third s's, z's, and r's have decreasing font sizes]).

I've been looking for a book like this for a long time. Mostly, I do corporate accent and pronunciation training and executive speech coaching with foreign-born clients who have a high intermediate to advanced command of English. But occasionally, I am asked to train employees who have a lower level of English. This is definitely the book I'll choose for them! Trainees can apply the basic concepts they learn to company-specific vocabulary and technical terms.

I only wish all learners of North American English could start out with this book...

The book: Code Name: Copperhead is one of the best Special Forces books around. The reason for this is because it tells it like it was. It makes you feel like your there with the team, whether it's secretly training the Royal Laotian Army, or walking through the swamps of Vietnam.

I couldn't put this book down. Entertaining and--dare I say it--a page turner of a book. When I brought it on vacation, I liked it so much I read it twice. Don't miss it.

Robert Vivian has taken the personal essay to new heights, expanding poetic language into a deeply inspirational journey into the human experience. If ever you believed the essay genre to be dull and pedantic, Vivian will change your mind forever with his gorgeous language and important insights. The essay is boring no longer

buy this book. it's brilliant. brilliant. hear me? brilliant!

A great one

G. Leech and J. Svartvik wrote the first edition of this book, released in 1975. I used it as a University text in the late 1980s, and it sits prominent amongst my references in my office. Though the book is designed for advanced ESL students (at the University level), I am a native speaker of the language, and find the approach taken unique, but of greater value than many other style manuals. I refer to it before going to the Chicago Manual of Style or the MLA Style Manual.

The authors look at the USES of grammar rather than the STRUCTURE of grammar. This is very useful for writers (like myself), teachers of ESL, advanced students of ESL, or those who need to learn how to communicate better (Engineers).

This book changed my life. OK, that's a bit of an overstatement, but this book will help you.

amazing, i can hardly leave my house
this book has engulfed my mind, body and spirit
be cool
read this book

Thimm's bibliography is one of the unique fencing related volumes of the nineteenth century. Along with Castle's "Schools and Masters of Fence," it should be in every fencing library. As the author of "The Art and Science of Fencing," "The Inner Game of Fencing," and "The Encyclopedia of the Sword;" and the Editor-in-Chief of FENCERS QUARTERLY MAGAZINE, I recommend it.

Thimm offers the most complete listing of historical fencing manuals and was one of the most thorough of Victorian era sword scholars. Most importnatly his material lists texts which actually still exist today and are being studied once again. - John Clements, HACA Director

In this excellent treatise, Harvard Law professor Charles Fried argues that the law of contract is founded on a few simple moral principles governing the practice of promise-making and promise-keeping. Dealing by turns with the formation of contracts, the importance of "consideration," the appropriateness of damages in case of breach, the problems of e.g. duress and unconscionability (and the special difficulties they pose for his account), and a variety of other topics that will be familiar to legal scholars and law students alike, Fried briefly, economically, and effectively rationalizes contract law on this unabashedly moral foundation.

In this he is going against the tide and harking back to the "classical" understanding of contract law. But he is not uncritical of that tradition and is quite willing to lambaste it when necessary -- as with, for example, the traditional unwillingness to award damages for certain cases of fraud on the misguided argument that no contract had actually been formed in such cases. (On this point he holds -- in my view quite rightly -- that traditional thinkers were "supremely guilty" of a tremendous nonsequitur.)

On the contrary, he is keenly aware both that contract law is a bulwark of liberty in allowing us to order our own affairs, _and_ that contractual obligations are not the only obligations there are -- indeed that contractual obligation itself cannot get off the ground unless we have a prior, unchosen moral obligation to abide by our promises. In this respect he is a breath of fresh air compared with certain pseudo-libertarian writers and pop-culture icons who reduce all moral obligations to those voluntarily assumed by contract (and I am thinking here specifically of Ayn Rand, among others). Fried is both a true philosopher and a genuine liberal in the classical sense of the term.

I concur with the other reviewer's recommendation of this eminently readable little book to One-Ls. Fried is in general very powerful on the importance of philosophy to law, and here he is at his strongest in arguing for the importance of moral philosophy to contract law.

I also recommend it to the libertarian and classical-liberal readership as a fine example of real philosophy of law.

Professor Fried (former U.S. Solicitor General) is quite possibly the most erudite professor at Harvard Law School. His precision and exacting analysis shines through in his treatment of what some see as a dying academic field, the Law of Contracts (or a some now say, ConTorts). His perspective on the "classic" cases and extensive treatment of the major doctrinal elements is absolutely refreshing and surprisingly controversial. He has the audacity to state that the law actually does and should contain an overtly moral component!! In short, private contracts derive their legal force from essentially, what our parents taught us. That is, that it is morally wrong to break one's word and worse yet, to lie. This may sound absurdly obvious until you read the Legal Realist, Crit, deconstructionist, post-queer-chicano-marxist-feminist-theory, propaganda that currently DOMINATES legal teaching at America's the elite law schools (HLS being no exception, except of course, for professor Fried). If you are looking for a break from the relentless ideological indoctrination of law school, or are just curious about what a different perspective looks like, you cannot go wrong with Professor Fried.

Recommend for Law Students;* Mary Ann Glendon - Rights Talk * C.S. Lewis - The Abolition of Man * Peter Kreeft - The Unaborted Socrates (for a REAL example of the Socratic Method)

I use this book in a beginning level English class for Hispanics. I work all day at a computer-related job and volunteer teach ESL two nights a week. I really do not have enough time to think of new conversation starters all the time. I find that this book used in conjunction with other material is ideal for low level adults. It provides a non threatening, informative introduction into American life. It is a fun way to learn the basics.

i'm domenico from italy,i want to learn english and this book is very interesting for me. thank you

Every time I read the review from Library Journal I just cringe. There's more thorough information available (...), that may enable interested readers to make a more informed choice. Excellent for creative types or those who wish to follow the path of the artist or writer. The book still inspires me!

What an inspiration this book was! Tina Le Marque has inspired me to search my souls deepest crevices for the same spirit this book contains and to transfer it to my own drawing pad. I applaud the author's art and talent as a writer, she had me in tears as well as laughing. After reading this book, I immediately read Tina Le Marque's first book "Warrior Woman" and give it the same applause. I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who wants to ignite his or her own hidden creative spirit.

Suzanne Rios