Showing titles in Words, Language & Grammar

A New York Times bestseller One of the preeminent linguists of our time examines the realms of language that are considered shocking and taboo in order to understand what imbues curse words with such power--and why we love them so much. Profanity has always been a deliciously vibrant part of...

Writing a novel will change your life. The process of getting to that point will light a spark in your creative soul and help you discover unexpected aspects of yourself. It will be one of the things you are most proud of in your life. This audiobook will help you get there. This book will help you write your first novel, or improve your creative process, so you can write more books and reach more readers. It covers mindset, ideas and research, aspects of craft, how to write a first draft, and work through an editing process to a finished book.

Drawing on evidence from many fields, including archaeology, anthropology, neurology and linguistics, Sverker Johansson weaves these disparate threads together to show how our human ancestors evolved into language users. The Dawn of Language provides a fascinating survey of how grammar came into being and the differences or similarities between languages spoken around the world, before exploring how language eventually emerged in the very remote human past.

The Easiest and Fastest Way to Learn German With Pimsleur you’ll become conversational in German — to understand and be understood — quickly and effectively. You’ll learn vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation together through conversation. And our scientifically proven program will help...

A collection of reflections on writing and the nature of the writer from one the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Throughout Hemingway’s career as a writer, he maintained that it was bad luck to talk about writing—that it takes off “whatever butterflies have on their wings...

Sir Trevor McDonald is an extraordinary man - and he has led an improbable life. Now in his 80th year, he is known and loved by people the world over for his humility, charm and natural ease. As a natural storyteller and communicator, he has few equals. In An Improbable Life, Sir Trevor recounts...

Practical, fun and effective. Welcome to Learn with Paul Noble – a unique, tried and tested language learning method that has been used by millions. You'll be speaking Italian fluently and confidently in no time at all. Take a simple, relaxed approach to learning a language that has been...

The thrill is that you're actually figuring it out on your own. You're engaging with another language, not just parroting it... It's an excellent way to start, and leaves the listener thinking, Hey, Ich kann do dis. - New Yorker, David Sedaris, humorist and author, on learning with the Michel...

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Have You Eaten Grandma? written and read by Gyles Brandreth. It can be much harder than it seems; commas, colons, semicolons and even apostrophes can drive us all mad at times, but it riles no one more than the longest-serving resident of Countdown's Dictionary Corner, grammar guru Gyles Brandreth. In this brilliantly funny tirade and guide, Gyles anatomises the linguistic horrors of our times, tells us where we've been going wrong (and why) and shows us how, in future, we can get it right every time. 

John C. Maxwell has been a public speaker and motivational teacher for more than fifty years. He is one of only eight people on the planet who have been awarded Toastmaster’s Golden Gavel and been inducted into the National Speakers' Association Hall of Fame. In The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message, he shares everything he’s learned from a lifetime of communication.

Having given up a high-powered job, Tessa Hainsworth had no idea how hard she would struggle when she fulfils her dream of moving to Cornwall. Within months, she is almost ready to return to London: the family is running out of money – fast. But a chance encounter in the local post office leads her to accept the unlikeliest of job offers – as a postwoman.

Practical, fun and effective. Welcome to Learn with Paul Noble – a unique, tried and tested language learning method that has been used by millions. You'll be speaking Spanish fluently and confidently in no time at all. Take a simple, relaxed approach to learning a language that has been...

'Michael Grynbaum chronicles the rise and fall of a media juggernaut, owner of glossy magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, the New Yorker and GQ, weaving tight reporting and outrageous gossip with a thoughtful cultural history.' FINANCIAL TIMES 'Glamour! Taste! Prestige! Monsters! I loved this...

Interweaving her vast knowledge of neurology, sociology, psychology, and philosophy with fascinating down-to-earth examples and lively personal anecdotes, developmental psychologist, neuroscientist, and dyslexia expert Wolf probes the question, "How do we learn to read and write?" This ambitious and provocative new book offers an impassioned look at reading, its effect on our lives, and explains why it matters so greatly in a digital era.

'The thrill is that you're actually figuring it out on your own. You're engaging with another language, not just parroting it... It's an excellent way to start, and leaves the listener thinking, Hey, Ich kann do dis.' - New Yorker, David Sedaris, humorist and author, on learning Swedish with the...

Famed across the known world, jealously guarded by private collectors, built up over centuries, destroyed in a single day, ornamented with gold leaf and frescoes or filled with bean bags and children's drawings - the history of the library is rich, varied and stuffed full of incident. In this, the first major history of its kind, Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen explore the contested and dramatic history of the library

We all love stories. But why do we tell them? And why do all stories function in an eerily similar way? John Yorke, creator of the BBC Writers' Academy, has brought a vast array of drama to British screens. Here he takes us on a journey to the heart of storytelling, revealing that there truly is a unifying shape to narrative forms - one that echoes the fairytale journey into the woods and, like any great art, comes from deep within. From ancient myths to big-budget blockbusters, he gets to the root of the stories that are all around us, every day.

With a language disappearing every two weeks and neologisms springing up almost daily, an understanding of the origins and currency of language has never seemed more relevant. In this charming volume, a narrative history written explicitly for a young audience, expert linguist David Crystal proves why the story of language deserves retelling. From the first words of an infant to the peculiar modern dialect of text messaging, A Little Book of Language ranges widely, revealing language's myriad intricacies and quirks.

This 2006 revision - edited by a longtime consultant to Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc., and the editor in charge of updating How to Win Friends and Influence People - is the definitive one for our era. While up to date in its language and points of reference, Public Speaking for Success preserves the full range of ideas and methods that appeared in the original, including Carnegie's complete speech and diction exercises, which follow each chapter, as the author originally designated them.

The Secrets of Story is a revolutionary and comprehensive writing guide for the 21st century, focused on clever ways to get an audience to fully identify with an all-too-human hero. Authors will learn to how to cut through pop culture noise and win over a jaded modern audience by rediscovering the heart of writing: shaping stories that ring true to our shared understanding of human nature.