A wacky but authoritative self-help guide to improving your English language skills for speaking and writing. Funny, caring, and unbelievably easy to understand, Dr. Kathy Alba, the author, becomes a trusted friend as she shows you how to speak and write correctly for success in the world beyond "back home"--places in society where Standard (educated) English is expected or even required. The book's sole purpose is to make you, the reader, look good.
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Review
"An invaluable acquisition for family, school, and community library reference collections." It "is highly recommended for anyone seeking to improve." -- Bookwatch review (California, Dec. 2002)
"Dr. Kathy's hilarious attitude and innovative style make it a pleasure to learn from her." -- Richard Milsavor, former student
"Everyone who uses American English needs this book! Self-improvement has never been such an off-the-wall delight." -- Robert Glasgow, former President Pro Tempore of the Texas State Senate
"I began understanding aspects of English I’d been having trouble with since third grade, hard as that is to admit." -- Bradley Austen Hartmetz, former student
"I credit Kathy with helping to make me a happier person, a truly priceless feat." -- Jesse Schlinker, former student
"I love the folksy, casual way she writes about language. She takes a lot of the sting out of learning." -- Marilyn Ross, author of best-selling The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing, founder and director of SPAN (The Small Publishers Association of North America), and international guru of independent publishing
"Through this study I’m gaining self-confidence at work; that makes me feel good about myself as few things ever have." -- Cheryl Bainline, former student
It "isn't another basic guide to grammar: it's a humorous guide to improving grammar to help in job success." -- The Bookwatch (The Midwest Book Review), Nov. 2001
"Dr. Kathy's hilarious attitude and innovative style make it a pleasure to learn from her." -- Richard Milsavor, former student
"Everyone who uses American English needs this book! Self-improvement has never been such an off-the-wall delight." -- Robert Glasgow, former President Pro Tempore of the Texas State Senate
"I began understanding aspects of English I’d been having trouble with since third grade, hard as that is to admit." -- Bradley Austen Hartmetz, former student
"I credit Kathy with helping to make me a happier person, a truly priceless feat." -- Jesse Schlinker, former student
"I love the folksy, casual way she writes about language. She takes a lot of the sting out of learning." -- Marilyn Ross, author of best-selling The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing, founder and director of SPAN (The Small Publishers Association of North America), and international guru of independent publishing
"Through this study I’m gaining self-confidence at work; that makes me feel good about myself as few things ever have." -- Cheryl Bainline, former student
It "isn't another basic guide to grammar: it's a humorous guide to improving grammar to help in job success." -- The Bookwatch (The Midwest Book Review), Nov. 2001
From the Publisher
If you’re like most people, you may feel insecure when speaking or writing. Certainly you want to make a great impression, but you wonder "Am I making errors that I don’t know about but that other people notice? Is that why they wince (or privately laugh with disrespect) when they’re listening to me or reading anything I’ve written? Do I break so many language rules that I sound dumb?"
Dr. Kathy Alba’s remarkable new book makes educated-sounding English easy to learn and increases your speaking and writing skills without pain. The knowledge you gain builds your confidence and gives you the assurance that comes from knowing you’re correct in what you say or write. And best of all, Kathy’s zany sense of humor and offbeat photography make you laugh while learning concepts you’d normally expect to give you headaches or hives. Experiencing this delightful book can change your life.
Here are a few examples of ways you’ll learn to sizzle your English: —Is it correct to say "Yesterday I come home and stacked marbles in the freezer"? How about "Last September I seen water lilies sprouting on the football field"? Or "Every Tuesday for the past six months I have ran circles around the pop machine at the 7-11"? —Is it "Yesterday Angela laid in the sun" or "She lay in the sun"? —How about "That empty gum wrapper infers that your mouth is happy" or "It implies that it is"? —"The media is responsible for Harrison Ford’s dimples," or should it be "The media are responsible for them"? "The data is ancient" or "The data are ancient"? —Discover how to use "whom" like a college professor and whether "themself" (as in "Did the server at the Pizza Hut introduce themself?") is a word. —Get solid on whether a comma should appear before the word "and" in the sentence: "Bullfrogs sit on lily pads, and croak during the Superbowl." The question of whether to use or not use a comma in front of "and" (or "but") is the most misunderstood and frequently messed up concept in English today. —Find out which answer is correct in the phrase, "Those (1) gremlins (2) gremlin’s (3) gremlins’ bellies craved dog biscuits right after midnight." —When you answer the phone, should you say "This is her" or "This is she"? Is it correct to say "It is I" or "It’s me"? Find out why so many of the old grammar seem so weird to our modern ears.
Speaking and Writing Well can make each of these points and scads of others perfectly clear in your mind so that other people may start looking to you as the local language expert. A copy of the book on your desk at work can be an indispensable tool for making you, your boss, and your company shine with professional brilliance. And Dr. Kathy’s Grammar Emergency Hot Line—a month of free service that comes with purchase of the book—will help dig you out of those English problems you can’t seem to solve.
The bottom line is this: you deserve to be honored for your excellence. This fun book will show you how.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
For anyone seeking to improve their ability to speak & write,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Speaking and Writing Well: Empowering Yourself With "Proper" English--Your Dynamite Guide to Conquering the World (Paperback)
In Speaking And Writing <Good> Well: Empowering Yourself With "Proper" English -- Your Dynamite Guide To Conquering The World, Kathy Alba draws upon her many years of experience and expertise as an adjunct professor of English and published novelist to provide a single volume guide to the proper use of English both in speaking and in writing. With a text designed to be informatively conversational and enhanced with illustrations, readers are treated to practical and accessible examples of how to enrich and enliven the way they express themselves. An invaluable acquisition for family, school, and community library reference collections, Speaking And Writing <Good> Well is highly recommended for anyone seeking to improve their ability to speak and write, and would be ideal reading for anyone learning English as a second language.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A review by a doctoral student,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Speaking and Writing Well: Empowering Yourself With "Proper" English--Your Dynamite Guide to Conquering the World (Paperback)
If I could, I would give the book 2.5 stars. The author does a good job on trying to keep the reader entertained with the examples she uses, however, at times I feel she overdoes it. The book could be better organized. She jumps from one topic to next uncontrollably, at times, leaving the reader hanging. For a book on English, I'm surprised by her lengthy sentences and paragraph structure. Her paragraphs often focus on multiple topics. It's also hard to keep up with her train of thoughts. Sometimes I wonder if she was on a caffeine high when she was writing it. She just overdoes it. For example, it's cute the first couple times she says repeat "I saw him, I saw him, I saw him." After a couple chapters, these quirks get to be a little annoying. (My students' would have received a failing grade had their paragraphs and sections lacked this much focus.)
Her pictures of teddy bears on every page are just a complete waste of space. I can tell the author is a sweet, gentle and nice lady, but her book is written for a less educated audience. I was very disappointed after receiving the book. I thought it would be a book about learning to talk with power, confidence and prestige, but Kathy only uses examples that you should already have learned in elementary school. For example, I had eaten, I went versus I had gone. It's a waste to purchase it if you know basic English. She also brings up German grammar and compares it to English, which is completely irrelevant. She's demonstrating her knowledge of other languages, not helping you to improve your English.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
