Here is the captivating story of humankind’s enduring quest to build a better language—and overcome the curse of Babel. Just about everyone has heard of Esperanto, which was nothing less than one man’s attempt to bring about world peace by means of linguistic solidarity. And every Star Trek fan knows about Klingon. But few people have heard of Babm, Blissymbolics, Loglan (not to be confused with Lojban), and the nearly nine hundred other invented languages that represent the hard work, high hopes, and full-blown delusions of so many misguided souls over the centuries. With intelligence and humor, Arika Okrent has written a truly original and enlightening book for all word freaks, grammar geeks, and plain old language lovers.

Language is the most human invention. Spontaneous, unruly, passionate, and erratic it resists every attempt to discipline or regularize it--a history celebrated here in all its irreverent glory. Language is a wild thing. It is vague and anarchic. Style, meaning, and usage are continually on the move. Throughout history, for every mutation, idiosyncrasy, and ubiquitous mistake, there have been countervailing rules, pronouncements and systems making some attempt to bring language to heel. From the utopian language-builder to the stereotypical grammatical stickler to the programmer trying to teach a computer to translate, Lane Greene takes the reader through a multi-disciplinary survey of the many different ways in which we attempt to control language, exploring the philosophies, motivations, and complications of each. The result is a highly readable caper that covers history, linguistics, politics, and grammar with the ease and humor of a dinner party anecdote. Talk on the Wild Side is both a guide to the great debates and controversies of usage, and a love letter to language itself. Holding it together is Greene's infectious enthusiasm for his subject. While you can walk away with the finer points of who says "whom" and the strange history of "buxom" schoolboys, most of all, it inspires awe in language itself: for its elegance, resourcefulness, and power.

Do you want to develop a solid understanding of Esperanto and communicate confidently with others? Through authentic conversations, vocabulary building, grammar explanations, and extensive practice and review, Complete Esperanto will equip you with the practical skills you need to use modern Esperanto in a variety of realistic settings and situations, developing your cultural awareness along the way. What will I achieve by the end of the course? By the end of Complete Esperanto you will have a solid intermediate-level grounding in the four key skills - reading, writing, speaking, and listening - and be able to communicate with confidence and accuracy. Is this course for me? If you want to move confidently from beginner to intermediate level, this is the course for you. It's perfect for the self-study learner, with a one-on-one tutor, or for the beginner classroom. It can also be used as a refresher course. What do I get? -18 learning units plus verbs reference and word glossary and revision section -Discovery Method - figure out rules and patterns to make the language stick -Teaches the key skills - reading, writing, listening, and speaking -Learn to learn - tips and skills on how to be a better language learner -Culture notes - learn about modern Esperanto culture -Outcome-based learning - focus your studies with clear aims -Authentic listening activities - everyday conversations give you a flavor of real spoken Esperanto -Test Yourself - see and track your own progress *Complete Esperanto maps from Novice Low to Advanced Low level proficiency of ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) and from A1 Beginner to B1/B2 Upper Intermediate level of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) guidelines. Please note not all devices support the audio/video component of enhanced ebooks. We recommend you download a sample to check compatibility with your device. Alternatively, you can find the audio for this course for free on our website https://library.teachyourself.com. You will be able to stream it online or download it to the Teach Yourself Library app. Rely on Teach Yourself, trusted by language learners for over 85 years.

Compelling tips and tricks to improve your mental skills Don't you wish you were just a little smarter? Ron and Marty Hale-Evans can help with a vast array of witty, practical techniques that tune your brain to peak performance. Founded in current research, Mindhacker features 60 tips, tricks, and games to develop your mental potential. This accessible compilation helps improve memory, accelerate learning, manage time, spark creativity, hone math and logic skills, communicate better, think more clearly, and keep your mind strong and flexible.

This reference grammar provides, for the first time, a description of the grammar of Mandarin Chinese, the official spoken language of China and Taiwan, in functional terms, focusing on the role and meanings of word-level and sentence-level structures in actual conversations.