Customer Reviews

Speaking and Writing Well: Empowering Yourself With "Proper" English--Your Dynamite Guide to Conquering the World

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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.

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.