This is not your typical guide to English! Stand back frightened administrators and shy teachers-Dirty Words will guide foreign language students through the dangerous territory of everyday English profanity. In Dirty Words you get all the English vocabulary that you can't learn from textbooks-the rude and the crude, the American language of anger and frustration. It's all explained here, clearly and with examples and humor. The book is divided into eight chapters covering such topics as anatomy, expletives, insults, and humor. The Accidental English chapter is devoted to words with multiple meanings; often these are common, otherwise harmless words that have additional layers of profane or obscene meaning. ESL students will benefit greatly from an understanding of these words. Another chapter defines various ethnic, racial, and homosexual slurs, as well as words associated with the bathroom. The glossary contains most of the terms discussed in the book. The final chapter contains exercises that test the comprehension of the dirty words and phrases explained in the text; the answers to these exercises can be found in an appendix. Dirty jokes are scattered throughout the text. Some readers may find them funny, some may not, but they provide a vehicle for instruction that is not only engaging for the student but contextually appropriate, as humor is one of the most frequent sources and uses of profanity. Many of these jokes depend on the comprehension of multiple meanings of a word. Each joke is accompanied by an explanation and a list of relevant vocabulary words.

Althen (former foreign student adviser, U. of Iowa) gives advice to foreign visitors to the U.S. that is intended to help them understand the motivations, attitudes, communication styles, and actions of Americans. Emphasizing the interpretation of observed behavior, he covers ways of reasoning and American ideas about politics, family life, education, religion, the media, social relationships, racial and ethnic diversity, male-female relationships, sports and recreation, driving, shopping, personal hygiene, and organizational and public behavior. Over-generalization is an understandable danger in such a work as this, but Althen does make an effort to emphasize that there are variations among Americans, while he concentrates on the similarities. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Learning a language can be a daunting process. Should you self-study? Take a course? Buy a software program? Hire a private tutor? What kinds of learning systems are available and which might be right for you? How about the myriad online resources available? And, very importantly, where should you begin? Oh, by the way, how long will all this effort take anyway? You will find the answers to these questions in this short but thorough guide to learning a foreign language. Author Jeff Blum has taught English and studied four languages (Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese and Thai), but he still struggles just as anyone must when learning a language. Jeff did extensive research on all aspects of language learning in an effort to improve his own efforts and he has carefully curated that research into this guide to help you with your efforts as well. In the book you will find: 1. A look at the systems and techniques advocated by various language learning experts and sites. 2. A consideration of personal factors in learning a language (motivation, personality, goals, etc.). 3. A discussion of the 8 language learning blocks with recommended resources for tackling each. 4. An overview of the most popular language learning products on the market (Duolingo, Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur, etc.). 5. A comprehensive set of resources to aid you with whatever approach to study you pursue. Whether you are young or old, beginner or advanced, studying your first foreign language or your fifth, there is something for you in this book. If you are a language teacher, this book might help you better understand what your students are up against while giving you ideas and extra resources to aid your teaching efforts.

Offers ESL students an overview of the fundamentals of the English language, with information on usage, grammar, verb tenses, sentence elements, and parts of speech.

This creative book focuses on teaching English as a foreign or second language. It is designed for use by self-motivated teachers of EFL/ESL who seek to maximize their own potential as teachers and, in doing so, maximize the learning of their students. The book includes information about exploration of teaching, classroom interaction and management, teaching materials and media, culture and the sojourning teacher, as well as how language instructors can teach students listening, conversation, reading, and writing skills. It can be used by EFL/ESL teachers nor formally trained in teaching English to students of other languages and by individuals who wish to increase their teaching skills through independent self-study. The book is appropriate for use in preservice teaching programs and inservice development programs. Teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language is unique in emphasizing self-development as central to being an EFL/ESL teacher. Each chapter presents a set of questions directly relevant to teaching and includes advice on teaching problems. An appendix provides addresses, phoned numbers, and information on professional journals and publishing houses.