Saturday, 28 December 2013

How to Speak and Write Correctl

This anthology is a thorough introduction to classic literature for those who have not yet experienced these literary masterworks. For those who have known and loved these works in the past, this is an invitation to reunite with old friends in a fresh new format. From Shakespeare’s finesse to Oscar Wilde’s wit, this unique collection brings together works as diverse and influential as The Pilgrim’s Progress and Othello. As an anthology that invites readers to immerse themselves in the masterpieces of the literary giants, it is must-have addition to any library.

Friday, 17 May 2013

Word-formation in English by Ingo Plag


What this book is about and how it can be used
The existence of words is usually taken for granted by the speakers of a language. To speak and understand a language means - among many other things - knowing the words of that language. The average speaker knows thousands of words, and new words enter our minds and our language on a daily basis.

This book is about words. More specifically, it deals with the internal structure of complex words, i.e. words
that are composed of more than one meaningful element. Take, for example, the very word meaningful, which could be argued to consist of two elements, meaning and -ful, or even three, mean, -ing, and -ful. We will address the question of how such words are related to other words and how the language allows speakers to create new words. For example, meaningful seems to be clearly related to colorful, but perhaps
less so to awful or plentiful. And, given that meaningful may be paraphrased as ‘having (a definite) meaning’, and colorful as ‘having (bright or many different) colors’, we could ask whether it is also possible to create the word coffeeful, meaning ‘having coffee’. Under the assumption that language is a rule-governed system, it should be possible to find meaningful answers to such questions.

This area of study is traditionally referred to as word-formation and the present book is mainly concerned with word-formation in one particular language, English. As a textbook for an undergraduate readership it presupposes very little or no prior knowledge of linguistics and introduces and explains linguistic
terminology and theoretical apparatus as we go along.

The purpose of the book is to enable the students to engage in (and enjoy!) their own analyses of English (or other languages’) complex words. After having worked with the book, the reader should be familiar with the necessary and most recent methodological tools to obtain relevant data (introspection, electronic text
collections, various types of dictionaries, basic psycholinguistic experiments, internet resources), should be able to systematically analyze their data and to relate their findings to theoretical problems and debates.

Word-formation in English can be used as a textbook for a course on wordformation
(or the word-formation parts of morphology courses), as a source-book for teachers, for student research projects, as a book for self-study by more advanced students (e.g. for their exam preparation), and as an up-to-date reference concerning selected word-formation processes in English for a more general readership.

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Webster Essential Vocabulary


How’s your vocabulary? Is it okay, pretty good, or exceptional? Whatever your answer to these questions, this is the book for you. For those whose vocabulary ranges from okay to pretty good, here is the opportunity to improve it. The main content is grouped into sets of words that have been taken from the SAT and GRE examinations over the past 10 years. These approximately 1,500 words are expected
by the examiners to be familiar in one form or another to college and graduate school applicants. They need to become familiar to you, too.

If your vocabulary is exceptional, this is the opportunity to see whether you really understand what the words you think you know mean and whether you can correctly use them in a sentence.

Each word comes complete with a label indicating its part of speech, at least one definition (often more), and usually at least two sentences using the word. Most entries also include synonyms and other forms of the word, such as past tense and gerund forms (for verbs) and adverbial and noun forms (for adjectives). Following each group of vocabulary words is a matching test so that you can check what
you’ve just studied.

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The A to Z of Correct English by ANGELA BURT



The A–Z of Correct English is a reference book which has been written for the student and the general reader. It aims to tackle the basic questions about spelling, punctuation, grammar and word usage
that the student and the general reader are likely to ask.
Throughout the book there are clear explanations, and exemplar sentences where they are needed. When it’s helpful to draw attention to spelling rules and patterns, these are given so that the reader is further empowered to deal with hundreds of related words.
The aim always has been to make the reader more confident and increasingly self-reliant.
This is a fast-track reference book. It is not a dictionary although, like a dictionary, it is arranged alphabetically. It concentrates on problem areas; it anticipates difficulties; it invites cross-references. By
exploring punctuation, for example, and paragraphing, it goes far beyond a dictionary’s terms of reference. It is not intended to replace a dictionary; it rather supplements it.
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Speak English like an American by Amy Gillett

Learn the secrets to speak English like native speaker
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NTC’S American IDIOMS Dictionary by Richard A. Spears, Ph.D.


The Most Practical Reference for the Everyday Expressions of Contemporary American English
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New Grammar Practice for Intermediate Students by Elaine Walker and Steve Elsworth