Better Spelling in 30 Minutes a Day (Better English Series) [Paperback]

Harry H. Crosby (Author), Robert W. Emery (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1995 | Series: Better English Series

Do you use the dictionary more than you think you should? Are the business memos you write filled with embarrassing spelling mistakes? Have you received a lot of low grades on your papers because of poor spelling? This easy-to-use book not only teaches you how to avoid misspellings, but also sharpens your skills so you can recognize spelling errors right away. You'll write clean English, improve your grades, and increase your chances for finding a new or better job.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Career Press; Trade ed edition (August 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564142027
• ISBN-13: 978-1564142023
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,831 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Practiss What You Preech, January 31, 2007

By 

Tom Lawrence "tomtrumpet" (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Better Spelling in 30 Minutes a Day (Better English Series) (Paperback)

This is a handy self-help book for the person who either is a horrible speller or gets tripped up by the occasional (not ocaissonal) word. Each chapter gives a diagnostic test on a particular spelling problem: double letters, ei/ie, plurals, apostrophes, etc. If you are strong in a given area, you can skip the exercises and jump ahead to the next section. The book presents some spelling rules that I wish had been explained to me in school; the rule about doubling a final consonant when adding a suffix to a word is elegant. I now understand why "referral" has a double-r and "reference" does not.

I would have rated this book a lot (not alot) higher if there weren't so many typographical errors. Maybe that's one of the hidden bonuses of the course (not coarse) -- you know you have improved when you can spot the misspellings (not mispellings). Here are some examples:

- In one of the very first diagnostic tests you have to determine which of the words is spelled correctly: (a) absence (b) changable (c) enviroment (d) immediatly. They give the answer as *a, c, d,* which is absurd. Only (a) is correct.

- In an exercise to check the correct usage of double letters there is this sentence about a shepherd: "... he swung his star in a wide arc over his head in triumph." This is very poetic, but the imagery eludes me. What they meant to print was *staf* so that you could correct it to "staff."

- Just below that on the page you have to underline the correct spelling in a given pair of words: "2. disc, disk." Well, both are correct; it depends whether you are talking about a CD or a floppy. Further on there is "7. clef, cleft." Again, both are correct; one is a musical sign and the other is a dimpling of the chin. I think they meant to print *cleff* so that you could choose the first word.

- The book twice gives the plural of focus as *loci.* Close, but not quite. The correct spelling is "foci." The other word is the plural of locus.

- In an exercise on homophones there is this sentence: "This is the (site, sight) for the new dotre." Did someone sneak in a hip new internet term? If *dotre* is a word, I'm stumped.

- This example appears in an exercise on the use of apostrophes: "... it is the faculty's ponsibility to change the policies...." Maybe it is hard to proofread a book that is meant to contain deliberate errors, but I'm sure it is someone's responsibility.

I hold back another star for the binding. The spine is very stiff, and the pages don't stay open easily. If you can get the book to lie flat, the pages eventually fall out. Perhaps it was not intended that you keep this book as a reference; having mastered the art of spelling, you can definitely (not definately) throw it away.

82 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FABULOUS!!, April 21, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Better Spelling in 30 Minutes a Day (Better English Series) (Paperback)

Both my father and I used this book to work on our spelling. I was born in the US, and English is my first and only language. Ironically, I am actually an English major. While I could interpret the innerworkings of Shakespeare, I couldn't spell basic English words. I started using this book and my spelling improved incredibly! My father, an immigrant from India, didn't begin to learn English until he was 17 years old. However, by the time he had finished with this book, his spelling was nearly perfect!! This book is great for anyone and everyone!!

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is helping me right now......, October 14, 2011

By 

Researcher 3000 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Better Spelling in 30 Minutes a Day (Better English Series) (Paperback)

I believe that every parent should buy this book for their child. It's genius, I wish, that I had found it earlier in life, it would have save me from a lot of embarrassing moments. My spelling has improved.