Have you ever struggled to communicate with a limited-English speaker? Have you been frustrated by unsuccessful interactions with non-native English speakers? Did you know there is a simple solution to improve cross-cultural communication in English? What most of us native speakers overlook in these situations is that the problem here may not be the limited English of the other person; it could be our English. And while we certainly can't do anything about the former, we can do a great deal about the latter. In just 160 pages, this book gives 50 practical tools to help you become aware of and adapt your own language to completely transform exchanges with limited-English speakers and greatly increase the chances of a satisfying outcome for native speakers and for the limited-English speakers they're trying to serve. And the good news is: it is not that difficult and it is entirely in the hands of the native speaker. Craig Storti is a nationally known figure with over 30 years of experience in the field of intercultural communications and cross-cultural adaptation, and the author of several standard works, including Culture Matters, a cross-cultural workbook used by the U. S. government in over 90 countries. He has successfully led workshops on cultural diversity for Fortune 500 companies, hotels such as Marriott, diplomats, civil servants, and foreign aid workers. But it was his 90-minute segments on common mistakes native speakers make when talking to limited-English speakers and how participants could improve interactions that became the most popular and useful aspect of his training. This much-needed book is ideal for anyone working in a public facing job from government to hospitality, international organizations, human resources, cross-cultural and diversity training, English teaching, foreign aid, or those with a love of language, culture and communication.

The ultimate test of grammar rules - the grammar book serialised in the Times feature 'Grammar for Grown-ups'.

'In every sense, a good word guide' Times Educational Supplement 'This intelligent guide is an essential addition to the bookshelves of all readers and writers' Good Book Guide Our language is changing faster than ever before. Modern communications are breaking down distinctions between formal and informal English, raising ever more questions as to how to speak and write correctly. This fully updated edition of the bestselling Good Word Guide offers information and advice on spelling, grammar, punctuation, pronunciation, confusables and the latest buzzwords and provides clear, straightforward answers to everyday language problems. This edition contains a new feature: 'Your Turn' sections - new interactive quizzes for the reader to test their own knowledge of grammar, plain English, punctuation, spelling and usage - a perfect resource for language courses. Endorsed by the Plain Language Commission.

For anyone who fears the thought of writing and giving a speech--be it to business associates, or at a wedding--help is at hand. Acclaimed presidential speechwriter Peggy Noonan shares her secrets to becoming a confidence, persuasive speaker demystifying topics including:

• Finding you own authentic voice

• Developing a text that interest you

• Acing the all-important first paragraph

• Using logic to move your audience

• Creating, developing, and reinventing the "core speech" for diverse audiences

• Strengthening your speech with a vital element: humor

• Winnowing your thought down to the essentials

• Handling professional jargon, clichés, and the sound bite syndrome

• Presenting your speech in the best way

• Collecting intellectual income--conversing your speech treasures

• Breaking all the rules and still succeeding

• Reading for inspiration--how to use the excellence of others

Complete with lessons, tips and memorable examples, On Speaking Well shows us how to create forceful, persuasive, relevant speeches that will resonate with our audiences. Engaging, informative, and always entertaining, this is undoubtedly the authoritative how-to guide for anyone writing or giving a speech

The home of trusted French dictionaries for everyday language learning. A unique guide to communicating in French. It will help learners discover expressions and idioms to make their French more natural and fluent, while developing an awareness of French culture. Designed for learners of French of all ages, whether you are learning at school, in evening classes, for business or to go on holiday. The text consists of 250 quirky and interesting French idioms which are arranged into different themes, and are given with simple example phrases to show them in context. Clear and concise language notes provide information on the meaning and background of some idioms, while handy culture notes help explain any cultural differences. Combined with a text which has a selection of illustrations, the Collins Easy Learning French Idioms takes you beyond beginners level and expands your knowledge of frequently-used, natural French expressions. Get it right: key idioms and example phrases help improve your knowledge of real French. Get there fast: clear themes help guide you to the type of idiom you're looking for. Have confidence: a fun, useful guide to common French idioms helps you increase your knowledge of natural French and French culture.

Linguists have standardly assumed that grammar is about identifying all and only the 'good' sentences of a language, which implies that there must be other, 'bad' sentences- but in practice most linguists know that it is hard to pin those down. The standard assumption is no more than an assumption. A century ago, grammarians did not think about their subject that way, and our book shows that the older idea was right: linguists can and should dispense with the concept 'starred sentence'. We draw on corpus data in order to support a different model of grammar, in which individuals refine positive grammatical habits to greater or lesser extents in diverse and unpredictable directions, but nothing is ever ruled out. Languages are not merely alternative methods of verbalizing universal logical forms. We use empirical evidence to shed light on the routes by which school-age children gradually expand their battery of grammatical resources, which turn out to be sometimes counter-intuitive. Our rejection of the 'starred sentence' concept has attracted considerable discussion, and we summarize the reactions and respond to our critics. The contrasting models of grammar described in this book entail contrasting pictures of human nature; our closing chapter shows that grammatical theory is not value-neutral but has an ethical dimension.

Linguists have standardly assumed that grammar is about identifying all and only the 'good' sentences of a language, which implies that there must be other, 'bad' sentences - but in practice most linguists know that it is hard to pin those down. The standard assumption is no more than an assumption. A century ago, grammarians did not think about their subject that way, and our book shows that the older idea was right: linguists can and should dispense with the concept 'starred sentence'. We draw on corpus data in order to support a different model of grammar, in which individuals refine positive grammatical habits to greater or lesser extents in diverse and unpredictable directions, but nothing is ever ruled out. Languages are not merely alternative methods of verbalizing universal logical forms. We use empirical evidence to shed light on the routes by which school-age children gradually expand their battery of grammatical resources, which turn out to be sometimes counter-intuitive. Our rejection of the 'starred sentence' concept has attracted considerable discussion, and we summarize the reactions and respond to our critics. The contrasting models of grammar described in this book entail contrasting pictures of human nature; our closing chapter shows that grammatical theory is not value-neutral but has an ethical dimension.

This volume contains papers presented at a workshop held at the 18th annual meeting of Deutsche Gesellschaft fA1/4r Sprachwissenschaft in 1996. The articles contained in this volume focus on the lexical vs. functional categoryhood of prepositional elements, their syntactic and semantic properties (also with respect to grammaticalization), aspects of automatic language processing and the meanings of prepositional elements in cognitive linguistics.

Angesichts der neuen Herausforderungen, denen die Geisteswissenschaften und insbesondere die Germanistik ausgesetzt sind, versteht sich dieser Kongressband als ein UEberblick uber die aktuellen und kunftigen Forschungsperspektiven in den Bereichen der germanistischen Literatur-, Kultur- und Sprachwissenschaft, jedoch unter starker Berucksichtigung der Beziehung zur Vergangenheit. Die Aufsatze gehen auf die 13. Germanistenwoche zuruck, die im Januar 2011 in Madrid stattfand. In dieser Hinsicht widmet sich ein grosser Teil der Beitrage dem Thema des NS-Exils und der Exilforschung. Sie bilden eine erste Sektion, wahrend die zweite Sektion sprachwissenschaftliche Arbeiten beinhaltet und die dritte literatur- und kulturwissenschaftliche Aufsatze anbietet. A la luz de los nuevos desafios que encaran las Humanidades, y muy especialmente la Germanistica, este volumen brinda una panoramica de las perspectivas de investigacion actuales y futuras en los estudios literarios, culturales y linguisticos, dando ademas cumplida cuenta de hitos pasados. El libro recoge los resultados de la XIII Semana de Estudios Germanicos celebrada en Madrid en enero de 2011. Una serie de contribuciones se centran en el tema del exilio y su investigacion. Estos articulos conforman una primera seccion, en tanto que la segunda comprende trabajos de indole linguistica y la tercera, ensayos sobre estudios literarios o culturales.

Recent developments in generative grammar have been very stimulating. The current theory defines a small set of principles that apply to all human languages. Efforts have been made to demonstrate the adequacy of this theory for a wide range of languages. We thus see an interesting interface of theory and empirical data: the study of natural languages contributes to defining the properties of Universal Grammar and the predictions of the theory help in uncovering generalizations regarding natural languages. This book aims to add to this exciting development by showing how the analysis of Mandarin Chinese constituent structures helps to define Case Theory and how interesting generalizations concerning Chinese grammar are uncovered through verification of the theoretical predictions. Starting from the inadequacy of work by Koopman, Li, and Travis on the effect of Case directionality on word order, the book shows that a detailed study of Chinese constituent structures allows us to reduce the phrase structure component to a minimal statement concerning the position of the head in a given phrase. It argues that in a given language the constituent structures can be adequately captured by the interaction of Case Theory, Theta Theory, Government Theory, and X Theory. Long standing controversies concerning Chinese basic word order are resolved by showing that underlying word order generalizations can differ from surface word order generalizations."

Over the past few decades, the book series Linguistische Arbeiten [Linguistic Studies], comprising over 500 volumes, has made a significant contribution to the development of linguistic theory both in Germany and internationally. The series will continue to deliver new impulses for research and maintain the central insight of linguistics that progress can only be made in acquiring new knowledge about human languages both synchronically and diachronically by closely combining empirical and theoretical analyses. To this end, we invite submission of high-quality linguistic studies from all the central areas of general linguistics and the linguistics of individual languages which address topical questions, discuss new data and advance the development of linguistic theory.

The compendium offers an up-to-date picture of international research on language didactics. The aim is to re-examine the importance of grammar in the university training of future teachers by confronting established assumptions about working with grammar and language instruction in primary schools with newer concepts emerging from linguistic research.

The Broadview Pocket Guide to Writing presents essential material from the full Broadview Guide to Writing. Included are key grammatical points, a glossary of usage, advice on various forms of academic writing, coverage of punctuation and writing mechanics, and helpful advice on how to research academic papers. MLA, APA, and Chicago styles of citation and documentation are covered, and each has been revised to include the latest updates. A companion website provides a wealth of interactive exercises, information on the CSE style of citation and documentation, and much more.

The volume contains a selection of papers given at a workshop organized in 1994 on major lexical categories. The seven articles in this volume take a variety of viewpoints concerning problems of distinguishing major categories in general, as well as problems in connection with specific categories, namely nouns, verbs, prepositions, and conjunctions.

This book explores nominal dislocations in simultaneous bilingual French and German language acquisition in early childhood. The study shows that this process involves a grammatical area that is not vulnerable to language influence. In addition, empirical analyses provide evidence that postverbal, non-resumptive subjects are dissociated elements in French as spoken by children.

Do your sentences run longer than a page? Or do they hang in the air, waiting for a subject, an object or some punctuation to finish them off?
This easy-to-use guide to sentence writing not only teaches you how to overcome run-ons and sentence fragments, but also all of the sentence construction obstacles encountered by anyone who needs to master (or re-master) the English language-all without making you do a single dreaded diagram You'll learn a sentence-combining approach to writing that goes beyond helping you avoid errors by teaching you how to create sound sentences with variety and style.
You'll also find:
Clear discussions of rules and strategies for good writing.
Easy-to-understand explanations and plenty of exercises, from fill-in-the-blanks to transforming short sentences into longer and more graceful combinations.
An answer key at the back of the book to encourage you to work at your own pace and check your answers as you go.
Even if you can't spare 30 minutes a day to learn how to write brilliant sentences, "Better Sentence Writing in 30 Minutes a Day" allows you to customize your learning to take as little as five minutes a day.
Just like its companion guides in the Better English Series, this book is just what the teacher ordered

The only guide you'll need to help you make that speech a success. The very thought of standing up in front of and then addressing an audience is sufficient to fill most people with blind terror, whether it's to be a wedding speech, a work presentation or simply proposing a toast. Yet speaking effectively in public is a skill that can be learned like any other, and this guide will teach you the techniques and tips to overcome your nerves and become an effective speaker, whatever the situation. Covers all the practical techniques needed to plan, write and present any speech successfully Packed with advice and hints on speeches for a wide variety of occasions, from family gatherings to formal social or business events Contains a useful selection of quotations organised by subject and lists the different forms of address and references to where to find inspiration on the World Wide Web Checklists and practice examples help build confidence quickly If you only ever buy one book to help you make that speech, this should be it!

Este volumen se centra en el tema de la fraseologia y consta de dos apartados. En el primero se exponen cuestiones de morfosintaxis y un balance sobre el estudio de las colocaciones, principalmente del espanol. La inclusion o exclusion de las colocaciones del ambito de la fraseologia, su potencial sintagmatico combinatorio, su uso y frecuencia en el lenguaje juridico, medico y coloquial, asi como su tratamiento lexicografico, son otros de los aspectos tratados. En el segundo apartado del libro se abordan temas de fraseografia desde una perspectiva teorica y practica, especialmente en cuanto a las tecnicas especificas para la elaboracion de diccionarios idiomaticos monolingues y bilingues. Asimismo se muestran los avances en la macro y microestructura de estos diccionarios gracias a la linguistica de corpus.

The Thesaurus linguae Latinae is not only the largest Latin dictionary in the world, but also the first to cover all the Latin texts from the classical period up to about 600 A.D. 27 academise from different countries, and scholarly societies from three continents support the work of the Bayerische Akademie (Thesaurus-Buro Munchen). Two thirds of the dictionary have now been completed.

In diesem Sammelband finden sich Beitrage, die aus unterschiedlichen Perspektiven einen funktionalen Sprachbeschreibungs- und -vermittlungsansatz diskutieren. So werden im ersten Teil an Beispielen der deutschen und russischen Sprache theoretische Fragen des feldergrammatischen Konzepts behandelt. Ausgewahlte grammatische Themen, Einzelfelder und Textsorten stehen im Mittelpunkt des zweiten Teils, wobei die Blickrichtung komplementar ist. Es werden grammatische Einzelerscheinungen strukturell-formal und semantisch-pragmatisch beschrieben, zugleich wird ihrem Vorkommen in Textsorten und ihren textuellen Leistungen nachgespurt. Textsorten bilden aber auch den Untersuchungsausgangspunkt, um charakteristische Textfunktionen wie Sprachhandlungen und entsprechende Verbalisierungsmuster deutlich zu machen. Den Moeglichkeiten des feldergrammatischen Ansatzes als Konzeptbaustein fur einen handlungs- und lernerorientierten Fremdsprachenunterricht widmen sich die Beitrage des dritten Teils.

The home of trusted Spanish dictionaries for everyday language learning. A unique guide to communicating in Spanish. It will help learners discover expressions and idioms to make their Spanish more natural and fluent, while developing an awareness of Spanish culture. Designed for learners of Spanish of all ages, whether you are learning at school, in evening classes, for business or to go on holiday. The text consists of 250 quirky and interesting Spanish idioms which are arranged into different themes, and are given with simple example phrases to show them in context. Clear and concise language notes provide information on the meaning and background of some idioms, while handy culture notes help explain any cultural differences. Combined with a text which has a selection of illustrations, the Collins Easy Learning Spanish Idioms takes you beyond beginners level and expands your knowledge of frequently used, natural Spanish expressions. Get it right: key idioms and example phrases help improve your knowledge of real Spanish. Get there fast: specially designed for Kindle, with clear and resizable text throughout. Themes help guide you to the type of idiom you're looking for. Have confidence: a fun, useful guide to common Spanish idioms helps you increase your knowledge of natural Spanish and Spanish culture.

Focusing on communication needs in real-world clinical situations, Dr. Pilar Ortega's updated edition of this practical text helps you address today's growing demand for Spanish-speaking physicians and healthcare workers. This pocket-sized resource provides basic Spanish skills, sample interview questions, relevant cultural information, and more, in addition to online videos of physician-patient interactions, interactive self-assessment tools, and clinical vignettes. You'll find exactly what you need to develop better physician-patient communication skills, increase your cultural competence, and make better clinical decisions in your practice. Understand the nuts and bolts of better communication through Spanish grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, sample interview questions, and helpful interview techniques. Pocket size allows for quick reference in an easily accessible format. Improve your skills with new and expanded content including more practice exercises for self-assessment, information on cultural issues, grammar tips and practice, complex clinical scenarios, and how to best use interpreters in your practice. Stay up to date with new chapters on pediatric health; common procedures and informed consent; the physician's impression and plan; diabetes medication; travel history and special exposures; adult immunization history; exercise and adult health safety screening; and specialized physical examination. Gauge and hone your doctor-patient communication skills with interactive self-assessment tools and practice exercises. Watch video of real-time physician-patient exchanges (with English and Spanish subtitles), complete interactive practice exercises, and learn from clinical vignettes-all online at Student Consult. eBook version included! Access the entire book online or offline across all devices with the Student Consult eBook.