When her family moves to New York from Hong Kong, Mei Mei finds it difficult to adjust to school and learn the alien sounds of English.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A sharp, funny grammar guide they’ll actually want to read, from Random House’s longtime copy chief and one of Twitter’s leading language gurus NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY O: The Oprah Magazine • Paste • Shelf Awareness “Essential (and delightful!)”—People We all write, all the time: books, blogs, emails. Lots and lots of emails. And we all want to write better. Benjamin Dreyer is here to help. As Random House’s copy chief, Dreyer has upheld the standards of the legendary publisher for more than two decades. He is beloved by authors and editors alike—not to mention his followers on social media—for deconstructing the English language with playful erudition. Now he distills everything he has learned from the myriad books he has copyedited and overseen into a useful guide not just for writers but for everyone who wants to put their best prose foot forward. As authoritative as it is amusing, Dreyer’s English offers lessons on punctuation, from the underloved semicolon to the enigmatic en dash; the rules and nonrules of grammar, including why it’s OK to begin a sentence with “And” or “But” and to confidently split an infinitive; and why it’s best to avoid the doldrums of the Wan Intensifiers and Throat Clearers, including “very,” “rather,” “of course,” and the dreaded “actually.” Dreyer will let you know whether “alright” is all right (sometimes) and even help you brush up on your spelling—though, as he notes, “The problem with mnemonic devices is that I can never remember them.” And yes: “Only godless savages eschew the series comma.” Chockful of advice, insider wisdom, and fun facts, this book will prove to be invaluable to everyone who wants to shore up their writing skills, mandatory for people who spend their time editing and shaping other people’s prose, and—perhaps best of all—an utter treat for anyone who simply revels in language. Praise for Dreyer’s English “Playful, smart, self-conscious, and personal . . . One encounters wisdom and good sense on nearly every page of Dreyer’s English.”—The Wall Street Journal “Destined to become a classic.”—The Millions “Dreyer can help you . . . with tips on punctuation and spelling. . . . Even better: He’ll entertain you while he’s at it.”—Newsday

A new series of bespoke, full-coverage resources developed for the 2015 A Level English qualifications. Endorsed for the AQA A/AS Level English Language specifications for first teaching from 2015, this print Student Book is suitable for all abilities, providing stretch opportunities for the more able and additional scaffolding for those who need it. Helping bridge the gap between GCSE and A Level, the unique three-part structure provides essential knowledge and allows students to develop their skills through a deeper study of key topics, whilst encouraging independent learning. An enhanced digital version and free Teacher's Resource are also available.

The Nano Pre-school Series is an innovative Kindergarten series comprising a set of 8 books for today’s young learner taking the first steps towards acquiring basic skills and concepts

"English is so illogical!" It is generally believed that English is a language of exceptions. For many, learning to spell and read is frustrating. For some, it is impossible... especially for the 29% of Americans who are functionally illiterate. But what if the problem is not the language itself, but the rules we were taught? What if we could see the complexity of English as a powerful tool rather than a hindrance? --Denise Eide Uncovering the Logic of English challenges the notion that English is illogical by systematically explaining English spelling and answering questions like "Why is there a silent final E in have, large, and house?" and "Why is discussion spelled with -sion rather than -tion?" With easy-to-read examples and anecdotes, this book describes: - the phonograms and spelling rules which explain 98% of English words - how English words are formed and how this knowledge can revolutionize vocabulary development - how understanding the reasons behind English spelling prevents students from needing to guess The author's inspiring commentary makes a compelling case that understanding the logic of English could transform literacy education and help solve America's literacy crisis. Thorough and filled with the latest linguistic and reading research, Uncovering the Logic of English demonstrates why this systematic approach should be as foundational to our education as 1+1=2.

REA’s English the American Way: A Fun ESL Guide to Language and Culture in the U.S. with Embedded Audio & Mp3 Download Helps English Language Learners Improve Their Skills A fun guide to everything American for the English language learner! Authored by seasoned ESL instructors, this handy guidebook is perfect for people who already have a good grasp of English, but want to improve how they speak the language as it is spoken in the United States. Written in a lighthearted and easy-to-follow style, this book is a great resource for people of all ages and all nationalities. Each unit introduces commonly used phrases, vocabulary, and verbs, and offers sample dialogs to illustrate everyday American life. Sentence completions, quizzes, tips, and illustrations make learning fun. Individual units cover topics essential to the mosaic of American life: making friends, basic skills, driving, dining out, dealing with money, home life, emergency situations, doctor visits, handling a job interview, and more. To improve your pronunciation, listen to the embedded audio that accompanies this e-book or download the Mp3. The audio contains all the dialogues and pronunciation pointers found in the book so you can listen along and practice your speaking skills as you read. The dialogues are read by native speakers and are a great way to work on accent reduction. If you’re looking for a fun and easy way to improve your English language skills, this is the book for you!

This book is a comprehensive introduction to text forming resources in English, along with practical procedures for analysing English texts and relating them to their contexts of use. It has been designed to complement functional grammars of English, building on the generation of discourse analysis inspired by Halliday and Hasan's Cohesion in English. The analyses presented were developed within three main theoretical and applied contexts: (i) educational linguistics (especially genre-based literacy programmes) (ii) critical linguistics (as manifested in the development of social semiotics) and (iii) computational linguistics (in dialogue with the various text generation projects based on systemic approaches to grammar and discourse). English Text's major contribution is to outline one way in which a rich semantically oriented functional grammar can be systematically related to a theory of discourse semantics, including deconstruction of contextual issues (i.e. register, genre and ideology). The chapters have been organized with the needs of undergraduate students in theoretical linguistics and postgraduate students in applied linguistics in mind.

Routledge English Language Introductions cover core areas of language study and are one-stop resources for students. Assuming no prior knowledge, books in the series offer an accessible overview of the subject, with activities, study questions, sample analyses, commentaries and key readings – all in the same volume. The innovative and flexible ‘two-dimensional’ structure is built around four sections – introduction, development, exploration and extension – which offer self-contained stages for study. Each topic can also be read across these sections, enabling the reader to build gradually on the knowledge gained. This revised second edition of History of English includes: ❑ a comprehensive introduction to the history of English covering the origins of English, the change from Old to Middle English, and the influence of other languages on English; ❑ increased coverage of key issues, such as the standardisation of English; ❑ a wider range of activities, plus answers to exercises; ❑ new readings of well-known authors such as Manfred Krug, Colette Moore, Merja Stenroos and David Crystal; ❑ a timeline of important external events in the history of English. Structured to reflect the chronological development of the English language, History of English describes and explains the changes in the language over a span of 1,500 years, covering all aspects from phonology and grammar, to register and discourse. In doing so, it incorporates examples from a wide variety of texts and provides an interactive and structured textbook that will be essential reading for all students of English language and linguistics.

A major grammar reference book of modern English, specially written for intermediate learners of English. English Grammar Today is an indispensable reference guide to contemporary English grammar and usage. With extensive corpus research at its core, it provides over 500 entries organised into an easy-to-use A-Z structure. Authentic examples of written and spoken English place the grammar in context and the clear explanations make it ideal for intermediate learners of English at CEF levels B1-B2, including those preparing for IELTS or Cambridge English exams such as Preliminary and First. The book comes with a free CD-ROM that provides the book content and nearly 200 additional entries, plus audio recordings of all the examples and dialogues.

Routledge English Language Introductions cover core areas of language study and are one-stop resources for students. Assuming no prior knowledge, books in the series offer an accessible overview of the subject, with activities, study questions, sample analyses, commentaries and key readings – all in the same volume. The innovative and flexible ‘two-dimensional’ structure is built around four sections – introduction, development, exploration and extension – which offer self-contained stages for study. Each topic can also be read across these sections, enabling the reader to build gradually on the knowledge gained. Introducing English Language: is the foundational book in the Routledge English Language Introductions series, providing an accessible introduction to the English language contains newly expanded coverage of morphology, updated and revised exercises, and an extended Further Reading section comprehensively covers key disciplines of linguistics such as historical linguistics, sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics, as well as core areas in language study including acquisition, standardisation and the globalisation of English uses a wide variety of real texts and images from around the world, including a Monty Python sketch, excerpts from novels such as Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, and news items from Metro and the BBC provides updated classic readings by the key names in the discipline, including Guy Cook, Andy Kirkpatrick and Zoltán Dörnyei is accompanied by a website with extra activities, project ideas for each unit, suggestions for further reading, links to essential English language resources, and course templates for lecturers. Written by two experienced teachers and authors, this accessible textbook is an essential resource for all students of the English language and linguistics.