Features kid- and parent-friendly tips and activities The fun and easy way to grasp the ABCs of reading Want to introduce your child to reading, or strengthen your child's reading skills? This fun and entertaining guide shows you how to use phonics as an easy and engaging path to reading. Phonics For Dummies contains tips on mastering letter sounds in reading, activities to engage your child's enthusiasm, and advice for making reading interesting and fun. Discover how to: Use phonics to learn to read Improve reading and spelling skills Master unusual sounds and spellings Build your child's vocabulary Play games that encourage progress All this on the audio CD: Dozens of letter sounds in friendly lessons Keywords to help your child with reading and spelling Easy examples and tips for your child to follow Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

The clear and easy way to get a handle on the science of speech The science of how people produce and perceive speech, phonetics has an array of real-world applications, from helping engineers create an authentic sounding Irish or Canadian accent for a GPS voice, to assisting forensics investigators identifying the person whose voice was caught on tape, to helping a film actor make the transition to the stage. Phonetics is a required course among students of speech pathology and linguistics, and it's a popular elective among students of telecommunications and forensics. The first popular guide to this fascinating discipline, Phonetics For Dummies is an excellent overview of the field for students enrolled in introductory phonetics courses and an ideal introduction for anyone with an interest in the field. Bonus instructional videos, video quizzes, and other content available online for download on the dummies.com product page for this book.

Learn to: Increase your reading speed and comprehension Use speed techniques for any type of reading material Improve your silent reading skills Recall more of what you read The fun and easy way® to become a more efficient, effective reader! Want to read faster — and recall more of what you read? This practical, hands-on guide gives you the techniques you need to increase your reading speed and retention, whether you're reading books, e-mails, magazines, or even technical journals! You'll find reading aids and plenty of exercises to help you read faster and better comprehend the text. Yes, you can speed read — discover the skills you need to read quickly and effectively, break your bad reading habits, and take in more text at a glance Focus on the fundamentals — widen your vision span and see how to increase your comprehension, retention, and recall Advance your speed-reading skills — read blocks of text, heighten your concentration, and follow an author's thought patterns Zero in on key points — skim, scan, and preread to quickly locate the information you want Expand your vocabulary — recognize the most common words and phrases to help you move through the text more quickly Open the book and find: Tried-and-true techniques from The Reader's Edge® program How to assess your current reading level Tools and exercises to improve your reading skills Speed-reading fundamentals you must know Helpful lists of prefixes, suffixes, roots, and prime words A speed-reading progress worksheet Exercises for eye health and expanded reading vision Tips for making your speed-reading skills permanent

Everyone loves a children's book. And many dream about writing one. But is it actually possible for an unpublished writer—armed with a good story idea and a love of kids—to write, sell, publish, and promote a book? Yes, it is! Veteran children's book publishing executive and author Lisa Rojany Buccieri and author Peter Economy show you how, in their incredibly useful 2005 first edition of Writing Children's Books For Dummies®. Buccieri and Economy begin by explaining the basics of the children's book business, from the nuts and bolts of the various formats and genres—with helpful illustrations to aid you—to the intricacies of the book publishing market, a list of recent award-winning books, and a first peek into the particular mind set that writing children's books requires. (Hint: Throw out the adult rules, and think like a kid!) Then the authors dive into the actual writing process itself, with tips on setting up a workspace, brainstorming great book ideas, researching the subject you decide on, even speaking with the sorts of kids you hope will eventually read the book. They show you how to create compelling characters and develop them in the manuscript; how to outline and write a plot "arc" of conflict, change, and resolution; how to master the difficult art of writing dialogue; and how to use active (rather than passive) language to keep your story moving along and interesting to young minds. Or, if you're planning to write a creative nonfiction children's book—on a topic such as science, nature, or a historical figure, for example—the authors include a chapter on this, too. Ready, set, go... it's time to sit down and write! Once you've finished your book, however, the process has only begun. Now you will refine, submit, and hopefully sell your manuscript. Here again, the authors of Writing Children's Books For Dummies come through for you. They deliver solid advice on hiring an illustrator—or not; participating in workshops and conferences to learn the business and hone a story; finding an agent; and, finally, submitting the manuscript to publishers and—if you are successful—signing a contract. Along the way, the authors also include tips on handling rejection; a quick primer on the various editors in publishing houses (and how they work to make your book its best); and making a plan to publicize the book, including hiring a publicist if necessary. Like all For Dummies® books, Writing Children's Books For Dummies highlights "The Part of Tens," which includes the Ten Best Ways to Promote Your Story and More Than Ten Great Sources for Storylines. And the ever-helpful Cheat Sheet includes Tips for Editing your Children's Book Manuscript, Children's Book No-No's, Twelve Commandments for Writing Younger Children's Books, and Tips on Promotion. From setting down that first word on paper to doing a successful publicity tour, Writing Children's Books For Dummies gives you the confidence and the insiders' know-how to write and sell the story you've always wanted to write.

The tools you need to master Spanish grammar Spanish Grammar For Dummies is a logical extension and complement to the successful language learning books, Spanish For Dummies and 500 Spanish Verb For Dummies. In plain English, it teaches you the grammatical rules of the Spanish language, including parts of speech, sentence construction, pronouns, adjectives, punctuation, stress and verb tenses, and moods. Throughout the book, you get plenty of practice opportunities to help you on your goal of mastering Spanish grammar. Grasp the grammatical rules of Spanish Benefit from plenty of practice opportunities throughout the book Use the Spanish language confidently and correctly Whether you're a student studying Spanish or a professional looking to get ahead of the pack by learning a second language, Spanish Grammar For Dummies is your hands-on guide to quickly and painlessly master the written aspect of this popular language.

The fascinating, fun, and friendly way to understand the science behind human language Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics students study how languages are constructed, how they function, how they affect society, and how humans learn language. From understanding other languages to teaching computers to communicate, linguistics plays a vital role in society. Linguistics For Dummies tracks to a typical college-level introductory linguistics course and arms you with the confidence, knowledge, and know-how to score your highest. Understand the science behind human language Grasp how language is constructed Score your highest in college-level linguistics If you're enrolled in an introductory linguistics course or simply have a love of human language, Linguistics For Dummies is your one-stop resource for unlocking the science of the spoken word.

You’re thinking of teaching a child to read. What a great idea! Now all you need is exactly the right blueprint. This easy-to-follow book is written with two people in mind; you, and the child you’re thinking of teaching. Mother and children’s reading specialist Tracey Wood gives you all the down-to-earth, honest information you need to give a child a happy, solid start with reading. Teaching Kids to Read For Dummies is for parents of young children who want to give their kids a head start by teaching them to read before they enter school or to supplement their children’s school instruction, as well as teachers and caregivers of young children. Filled with hands-on activities that progress a child from sounds to words to sentences to books, this friendly guide shows you how to: Prepare a child to read Sharpen his listening skills Correct her errors graciously Choose the right books Have kids read out loud Find help if you need it Whether the child you want to teach is two or twelve; fast paced or steady; an absolute beginner or someone who’s begun but could use a little help, this empathetic book shows you how to adapt the simple, fun activities to your child’s individual needs. You’ll see how to make activities age appropriate, how to add more challenge or support, and how to make gender allowances if that’s relevant. Plus, you’ll discover how to: Lay the foundation for good reading skills Tell the difference between a reading delay and a reading problem Help your child build words from letters and sounds, advance to short and long vowel words, and conquer syllables and silent letters Select entertaining workbooks, recycle them, and make up your own reading activities Get your child ready for sentences Keep your child reading — with others or on his own Complete with lists of word families, phonics rules, and reading resources, Teaching Kids to Read For Dummies will help you make learning fun for your child as he or she develops this critical skill!