The fact that freedom is not allowed is evidence that a terrible dictatorship controls everything. Dictatorship doesn’t just fail to recognize the value of the people. It rejects an individual’s wisdom and creativity, turning him or her into a merely utilizable slave. That is the present tyranny of the North Korean regime. This collection focuses on the suppression of freedom, which is only one part of the many ways in which the North Korean regime ruthlessly represses and legislates to control the North Korean people. The stories selected for inclusion in this book are factual. North Korea is a human rights wasteland in which a single word not in accordance with regime maintenance can have you violently dragged in and, quite possibly, executed. That it is an inhumane hostile power which must be overthrown as quickly as possible it demonstrates all by itself. There is no other country in the world today that uses innocent humans as disposable byproducts in the maintenance of their regime as does the North Korean dictatorship. Sixteen members of the North Korean Writers in Exile Center of PEN International together with other defector North Korean writers have compiled the pieces found in this book to send a message to the people of South Korea and the world’s conscience that there should no longer be silence on the North Korean human rights situation. Please read this collection closely, and without anger. Publisher, Lee Ji-myung Chairman of the North Korean Writers in Exile PEN Center

Forget the 10,000 hour rule— what if it’s possible to learn the basics of any new skill in 20 hours or less? Take a moment to consider how many things you want to learn to do. What’s on your list? What’s holding you back from getting started? Are you worried about the time and effort it takes to acquire new skills—time you don’t have and effort you can’t spare? Research suggests it takes 10,000 hours to develop a new skill. In this nonstop world when will you ever find that much time and energy? To make matters worse, the early hours of prac­ticing something new are always the most frustrating. That’s why it’s difficult to learn how to speak a new language, play an instrument, hit a golf ball, or shoot great photos. It’s so much easier to watch TV or surf the web . . . In The First 20 Hours, Josh Kaufman offers a systematic approach to rapid skill acquisition— how to learn any new skill as quickly as possible. His method shows you how to deconstruct com­plex skills, maximize productive practice, and remove common learning barriers. By complet­ing just 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice you’ll go from knowing absolutely nothing to performing noticeably well. Kaufman personally field-tested the meth­ods in this book. You’ll have a front row seat as he develops a personal yoga practice, writes his own web-based computer programs, teaches himself to touch type on a nonstandard key­board, explores the oldest and most complex board game in history, picks up the ukulele, and learns how to windsurf. Here are a few of the sim­ple techniques he teaches: Define your target performance level: Fig­ure out what your desired level of skill looks like, what you’re trying to achieve, and what you’ll be able to do when you’re done. The more specific, the better. Deconstruct the skill: Most of the things we think of as skills are actually bundles of smaller subskills. If you break down the subcompo­nents, it’s easier to figure out which ones are most important and practice those first. Eliminate barriers to practice: Removing common distractions and unnecessary effort makes it much easier to sit down and focus on deliberate practice. Create fast feedback loops: Getting accu­rate, real-time information about how well you’re performing during practice makes it much easier to improve. Whether you want to paint a portrait, launch a start-up, fly an airplane, or juggle flaming chain­saws, The First 20 Hours will help you pick up the basics of any skill in record time . . . and have more fun along the way.

Now We Read, We See, We Speak compellingly captures eight women's progress toward empowerment through a Freirean-based literacy class in rural El Salvador and, in the process, provides telling lessons for literacy and adult educators around the world. This book fills a real gap in the educational literature on critical theory and literacy teaching and learning. For the first time, we have a multi-layered description and analysis of a literacy class based on Freirean precepts and principles, through the perspective of "traditional" literacy theory and as interpreted through a literacy development lens. This allows us to consider how the adult students learned to read and write within a classroom context that embodies such Freirean precepts as dialogic teacher/student relations; respect for and knowledge of the learners' lives, language and culture; and intentionality about social-political change. Thus, this book is directed toward literacy practitioners, teachers, and researchers who may have heard or read about critical theory but have a need for concrete examples of the methodological implications of such theory. Enlivening this account is the compelling description of the histories and lives of the students in the literacy class campesinos women who have survived a brutal and devastating civil war in El Salvador and who, nevertheless, stepped forward to work with a U.S.-trained literacy teacher, Robin Waterman, to learn to read and write for purposes of personal and sociocultural empowerment. The authors provide a highly readable presentation of the historical and cultural contexts for the women and the literacy class. They also raise issues of socioeconomic marginalization, unequal power relationships, and gender as they relate to literacy development. Basing their account on meticulously gathered and analyzed ethnographic data, Purcell-Gates and Waterman go beyond the presentation of the study to suggest implications and issues for adult literacy education in the United States, linking their findings to current topics in adult education, as well as literacy development in general.

Student Book: A speaking component in every activity develops confident and successful speakers Student Book: Integrated video brings language to life and illustrates useful everyday language Student Book: Activities explore ways to target language in real-life settings Online Practice: Allows you to assign extra activities as homework and track your students' progress Online Practice: Features over 120 activities including Listening, Grammar and video review activities, and a speak, record, and submit to teacher function for Pronunciation practice Online Practice: Provides instant access to Student Book video and audio, links to worksheets, audio scripts, tests, and answer keys Online Practice: Optional tools, including the Discussions feature, allow you to give students more opportunities to practice informal language Online Practice: Features custom tools so you can set up groups of students within a mixed ability class and assign different activities for a personalized learning program Online Practice: Makes reviewing students' progress easy with integrated and downloadable tests and a comprehensive online Gradebook

Clara Sverdlow has been stalked by her high-school lover for almost 20 years. A recently sober alcoholic in her mid-thirties, she has found happiness in a tenuous new marriage to Mark. Yet the past lurks over them like a great shadow, always encroaching on their happiness. With a miracle baby, they are trying to forget the past and learn to live normally in the world. But Clara's stalker secretly insinuates himself upon their life, with disastrous consequences. Clara and Mark's only hope is to address the past and confront the present before it's too late.

The author, a computer science professor diagnosed with terminal cancer, explores his life, the lessons that he has learned, how he has worked to achieve his childhood dreams, and the effect of his diagnosis on him and his family.

In this #1 New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo offers a revelatory examination of race in America Protests against racial injustice and white supremacy have galvanized millions around the world. The stakes for transformative conversations about race could not be higher. Still, the task ahead seems daunting, and it’s hard to know where to start. How do you tell your boss her jokes are racist? Why did your sister-in-law hang up on you when you had questions about police reform? How do you explain white privilege to your white, privileged friend? In So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from police brutality and cultural appropriation to the model minority myth in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race, and about how racism infects every aspect of American life. "Simply put: Ijeoma Oluo is a necessary voice and intellectual for these times, and any time, truth be told." ―Phoebe Robinson, New York Times bestselling author of You Can't Touch My Hair

In these letters to friends and colleagues spanning around twenty years, renowned radical theologian Thomas J. J. Altizer offers a series of meditative mini-essays on religious, theological, political, and philosophical matters that are central and vital to our contemporary era.

The bestselling, award-winning modern classic Speak is now a stunning graphic novel—adapted by Laurie Halse Anderson herself and brought to life visually by Eisner Award winner E.M. Carroll. "Speak up for yourself—we want to know what you have to say." From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless, an outcast, because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. As time passes, Melinda becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether. Only her art class offers any solace, and it is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party: she was raped by an upperclassman, a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her. Her healing process has just begun when she has another violent encounter with him. But this time Melinda fights back—and refuses to be silent. The groundbreaking National Book Award Finalist and Michael L. Printz Honor Book about consent, healing, and finding your voice comes alive for new audiences and fans of the original novel in Speak: The Graphic Novel.

AARP Digital Editions offer you practical tips, proven solutions, and expert guidance. Do you speak money? You should. It is the world’s most important language. It’s spoken everywhere. Speaking—or at least understanding—this language allows you to follow the real conversations in politics, business, and at work. Understanding money and speaking the language fluently is critical to preparing for a comfortable retirement, building a small business, planning for college and a career for your children. Everyone speaks it differently, with different dialects. Some are riskier than others. Some want to save their money; others want to see it grow. There is no one accent, but understanding the differences will make couples, business partners, and coworkers happier—and wealthier. Authors and CNN financial experts Ali Velshi and Christine Romans speak the global language of money and translate it every day for hundreds of thousands of viewers. And they are here to teach you, too. It’s easier to learn than you might think. Speaking money affects every area of your life. It’s more than simply your savings or the investments you may have. It involves the way you think about money, the way you teach your children about it, and the way you were taught about it yourself. It’s about the way you spend it, save it, invest it, use it, need it and want it. The book will: Shed light on the male and female spending and investing disparity Discuss emerging international economies Weigh the financial hurdle of student debt culminating in a successful job Explain how to budget wisely and build wealth Show how to plan appropriately for retirement How to Speak Money is an easy-to-read, practical book that helps readers become fluent in the world’s most universal language.