Author: Michael Campbell
Publisher: Glossika
ISBN: 9864387642
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 571
Book Description
Get the pronunciation of any Chinese character in any East Asian language with an introduction covering tones and historical sound changes. Classical Middle Chinese and Modern Mandarin | Cantonese | Taiwanese | Hakka | Shanghainese | Wenzhounese | Fuzhounese | Japanese | Korean | Vietnamese What's Inside 1. Over 5000 Characters 2. Radical and Stroke Lookup 3. Middle Chinese readings with Rime and Grade Index 4. Readings in IPA, Universal Pinyin, and native scripts 5. Both literary and colloquial readings included 6. Cross-reference tables of tones & consonant endings in each language 7. Separate index available for each language 8. Both Japanese Onyomi and Kunyomi readings with an index for both 9. Explanation of Middle Chinese evolution to the modern languages 10. Fast lookup: click on any character >> Sign up (https://bit.ly/2Qu21nK) now and start 7-day free trial! >> Learn Chinese (Beijing) with Glossika: https://bit.ly/2zNCvn9 >> Learn Chinese (Taiwan) with Glossika: https://bit.ly/2P6KRv2 >> Download all Glossika guides here: https://ai.glossika.com/free-download
Glossika 10-Language Dictionary of Chinese Characters
Author: Michael Campbell
Publisher: Glossika
ISBN: 9864387642
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 571
Book Description
Get the pronunciation of any Chinese character in any East Asian language with an introduction covering tones and historical sound changes. Classical Middle Chinese and Modern Mandarin | Cantonese | Taiwanese | Hakka | Shanghainese | Wenzhounese | Fuzhounese | Japanese | Korean | Vietnamese What's Inside 1. Over 5000 Characters 2. Radical and Stroke Lookup 3. Middle Chinese readings with Rime and Grade Index 4. Readings in IPA, Universal Pinyin, and native scripts 5. Both literary and colloquial readings included 6. Cross-reference tables of tones & consonant endings in each language 7. Separate index available for each language 8. Both Japanese Onyomi and Kunyomi readings with an index for both 9. Explanation of Middle Chinese evolution to the modern languages 10. Fast lookup: click on any character >> Sign up (https://bit.ly/2Qu21nK) now and start 7-day free trial! >> Learn Chinese (Beijing) with Glossika: https://bit.ly/2zNCvn9 >> Learn Chinese (Taiwan) with Glossika: https://bit.ly/2P6KRv2 >> Download all Glossika guides here: https://ai.glossika.com/free-download
Publisher: Glossika
ISBN: 9864387642
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 571
Book Description
Get the pronunciation of any Chinese character in any East Asian language with an introduction covering tones and historical sound changes. Classical Middle Chinese and Modern Mandarin | Cantonese | Taiwanese | Hakka | Shanghainese | Wenzhounese | Fuzhounese | Japanese | Korean | Vietnamese What's Inside 1. Over 5000 Characters 2. Radical and Stroke Lookup 3. Middle Chinese readings with Rime and Grade Index 4. Readings in IPA, Universal Pinyin, and native scripts 5. Both literary and colloquial readings included 6. Cross-reference tables of tones & consonant endings in each language 7. Separate index available for each language 8. Both Japanese Onyomi and Kunyomi readings with an index for both 9. Explanation of Middle Chinese evolution to the modern languages 10. Fast lookup: click on any character >> Sign up (https://bit.ly/2Qu21nK) now and start 7-day free trial! >> Learn Chinese (Beijing) with Glossika: https://bit.ly/2zNCvn9 >> Learn Chinese (Taiwan) with Glossika: https://bit.ly/2P6KRv2 >> Download all Glossika guides here: https://ai.glossika.com/free-download
Cracking Thai Fundamentals
Author: Stuart Jay Raj
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781514899465
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 648
Book Description
Stuart Jay Raj has developed a suite of hand and body signs, glyphs, colourful stories and exercises that will help learners of Thai lay down a new linguistic and cultural operating system for their mind and body. Rather than awkwardly superimpose a new language over the top of the pre-existing non-Thai sound and meaning system of your mother tongue, Cracking Thai Fundamentals will teach you to think about language, culture and meanings, produce meanings, speak, read and react in Thai in a way that much more resembles the way Thais think about and produce their language themselves.
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781514899465
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 648
Book Description
Stuart Jay Raj has developed a suite of hand and body signs, glyphs, colourful stories and exercises that will help learners of Thai lay down a new linguistic and cultural operating system for their mind and body. Rather than awkwardly superimpose a new language over the top of the pre-existing non-Thai sound and meaning system of your mother tongue, Cracking Thai Fundamentals will teach you to think about language, culture and meanings, produce meanings, speak, read and react in Thai in a way that much more resembles the way Thais think about and produce their language themselves.
Reading & Writing Chinese Traditional Character Edition
Author: William McNaughton
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 9780804847155
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
This is a complete and easy–to–use guide for reading and writing traditional Chinese characters. Reading and Writing Chinese has been the leading text for foreign students and teachers of the Chinese writing system since it was first published. This completely revised edition draws on the lessons learnt from the use of the book in classrooms so as to provide a more convenient and up–to–date introduction to written Chinese. Over 1,100 new combinations of characters have been added, increasing the total vocabulary significantly to about 4,500 items. There are also new notes on usage to give students insight into the contemporary state of the Chinese language. The student's ability to read Chinese and write Chinese are reinforced throughout. For each of the basic 1,062 characters, the pronunciation, definition and derivation are given, with examples of the use of most words and a chart showing how to write each character. Memorization tips and cautionary cross–reference to look–alike characters are also provided, as well as notes to help clarify those overlooked aspects of the Chinese writing system. Key features of this book: The Student's 1,020 List and the Official 2,000 List. Over 2,000 characters and 4,500 vocabulary items. Pronunciations given in standard Hanyu Pinyin Ronamized form Memorization hints and stroke–order diagrams. Hong Kong/Taiwan and China/Singapore forms. Traditional and modern radical systems. The best-selling student's guide
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 9780804847155
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
This is a complete and easy–to–use guide for reading and writing traditional Chinese characters. Reading and Writing Chinese has been the leading text for foreign students and teachers of the Chinese writing system since it was first published. This completely revised edition draws on the lessons learnt from the use of the book in classrooms so as to provide a more convenient and up–to–date introduction to written Chinese. Over 1,100 new combinations of characters have been added, increasing the total vocabulary significantly to about 4,500 items. There are also new notes on usage to give students insight into the contemporary state of the Chinese language. The student's ability to read Chinese and write Chinese are reinforced throughout. For each of the basic 1,062 characters, the pronunciation, definition and derivation are given, with examples of the use of most words and a chart showing how to write each character. Memorization tips and cautionary cross–reference to look–alike characters are also provided, as well as notes to help clarify those overlooked aspects of the Chinese writing system. Key features of this book: The Student's 1,020 List and the Official 2,000 List. Over 2,000 characters and 4,500 vocabulary items. Pronunciations given in standard Hanyu Pinyin Ronamized form Memorization hints and stroke–order diagrams. Hong Kong/Taiwan and China/Singapore forms. Traditional and modern radical systems. The best-selling student's guide
Taiwanese Grammar
Author: Philip T. Lin
Publisher: Greenhorn Media
ISBN: 099639821X
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 746
Book Description
Taiwanese Grammar: A Concise Reference is an unprecedented guide delivering clear, straightforward explanations of Taiwanese grammar while offering insightful comparisons to Mandarin. Designed to be both functional and accessible, the text makes searching for topics quick and easy with fully cross-referenced entries and a comprehensive index. Topics covered range broadly from parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adverbs, etc.) to grammatical topics (aspect, negation, passive voice, etc.) to special topics (terms of address, pronunciation, time, etc.). This text is ideal for self-study and enables students at all levels to learn Taiwanese by building a solid foundation in grammar. Taiwanese (also known as Hokkien, Fookien, Amoy, Southern Min, or Fukienese) along with its variants is spoken by over 40 million people worldwide and is a member of the Chinese language family. Features of this text include: • Easy-to-use reference guide with cross-referenced entries and a comprehensive index • 1000+ example sentences using everyday vocabulary rendered in Taiwanese, Mandarin Chinese, and English • Character script for Taiwanese in accordance with the official selection of Taiwanese Characters by the Taiwanese Ministry of Education (2007) • Romanization provided for both Taiwanese (Pe̍h-ōe-jī) and Mandarin Chinese (Hànyǔ Pīnyīn) • In-depth guide to pronunciation using English approximations and full explanations on rules for changing tones (tone sandhi) Tags: Taiwanese, learn Taiwanese, learning Taiwanese, Taiwanese language, Taiwanese grammar, Hokkien, learning Hokkien, Amoy, Southern Min, Fukienese, Fookien, Min nan
Publisher: Greenhorn Media
ISBN: 099639821X
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 746
Book Description
Taiwanese Grammar: A Concise Reference is an unprecedented guide delivering clear, straightforward explanations of Taiwanese grammar while offering insightful comparisons to Mandarin. Designed to be both functional and accessible, the text makes searching for topics quick and easy with fully cross-referenced entries and a comprehensive index. Topics covered range broadly from parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adverbs, etc.) to grammatical topics (aspect, negation, passive voice, etc.) to special topics (terms of address, pronunciation, time, etc.). This text is ideal for self-study and enables students at all levels to learn Taiwanese by building a solid foundation in grammar. Taiwanese (also known as Hokkien, Fookien, Amoy, Southern Min, or Fukienese) along with its variants is spoken by over 40 million people worldwide and is a member of the Chinese language family. Features of this text include: • Easy-to-use reference guide with cross-referenced entries and a comprehensive index • 1000+ example sentences using everyday vocabulary rendered in Taiwanese, Mandarin Chinese, and English • Character script for Taiwanese in accordance with the official selection of Taiwanese Characters by the Taiwanese Ministry of Education (2007) • Romanization provided for both Taiwanese (Pe̍h-ōe-jī) and Mandarin Chinese (Hànyǔ Pīnyīn) • In-depth guide to pronunciation using English approximations and full explanations on rules for changing tones (tone sandhi) Tags: Taiwanese, learn Taiwanese, learning Taiwanese, Taiwanese language, Taiwanese grammar, Hokkien, learning Hokkien, Amoy, Southern Min, Fukienese, Fookien, Min nan
French Fluency 1
Author: Michael Campbell
Publisher: Glossika
ISBN: 9789865648527
Category : French language
Languages : en
Pages : 404
Book Description
Glossika Mass Sentences * Fluency training for serious language learners. * Recommended for High Beginners (A1 A2) as Supplementary Training to your current studies; some working knowledge required; good for brushing up or breaking through a plateau. * Vocabulary Index included (includes varying pronunciations of each conjugation/declension with a frequency count). * 1000 bilingual sentences with pronunciation guide in phonetic International Phonetic Alphabet with liaisons. * Accompanies the audio sold separately at Glossika.com, which includes hands-free spaced repetition. * Authentic and informal language use by native speakers, gradually building up sentence structures. FEATURES: * Serves as reference material to the audio training. * Lots of repetition of key syntactic components and vocabulary. * Introduces how to render foreign names and placenames in natural dialogue (with appropriate declensions and conjugations). * All sentences are bilingual in format and includes International Phonetic Alphabet to help you master the correct pronunciation (in phonetic form, which means we write out all the liaisons between words). * Informal, friendly language. Formal language used where appropriate. * Covers the following syntactic structures: predicates, adjectives, nouns, present and past verbs, habitual, continuous and completed actions INCLUDES: * If you're serious about getting fluent in 3 months, follow our intensive schedule to finish Fluency 1-3 in 3 months. * Each book trains 1000 sentences, with Fluency 1 surpassing more than 1000 vocabulary words used in context and collocations. SAMPLE (some letters may not display correctly on your screen, so you can get the embedded font editions from www.glossika.com directly): 278: We often sleep late on weekends. Nous faisons souvent la grasse matinee les week-ends. nu fᵊzɔ̃ suvɑ̃ la ɡʁas matine le wikɛnd ] 383: What do you usually do on weekends? Que fais-tu d'habitude les week-ends? ko fɛ ty d‿abityd le wikɛnd ] 434: What do you usually do on weekends? Que fais-tu generalement les week-ends? ko fɛ ty ʒeneʁalᵊmɑ̃ le wikɛnd ] 563: Why were you late this morning? - The traffic was bad. Pourquoi etais-tu en retard ce matin? - La circulation etait mauvaise. puʁkwa etɛ ty ɑ̃ ʁᵊtaʁ so matɛ̃ - la siʁkylasjɔ̃ etɛ movɛz ] 624: I enjoyed the party. How about you? Did you enjoy the party? J'ai aime la fete. Et toi? As-tu aime la fete? ʒ‿ɛ eme la fɛt e twa a ty eme la fɛt ] 731: How fast were you driving when the police stopped you? A quelle vitesse conduisais-tu quand la police t'a arrete (♀arretee)? a kɛl vitɛs kɔ̃dɥizɛ ty kɑ̃ la polis t‿a aʁete (♀aʁete) ] 807: I've seen that woman before, but I can't remember her name. J'ai deja vu cette femme, mais je ne me souviens pas de son nom. ʒ‿ɛ deʒa vy sɛt fam mɛ ʒo no mo suvjɛ̃ pa do sɔ̃ nɔ̃ ] 821: Are you married? How long have you been married? Es-tu marie (♀mariee)? Depuis quand es-tu marie (♀mariee)? ɛ ty maʁje (♀maʁje) dᵊpɥi kɑ̃ ɛ ty maʁje (♀maʁje) ] 879: When was the last time you went to the movies? - Just last week. Quand es-tu alle (♀allee) au cinema pour la derniere fois? - La semaine derniere. kɑ̃ ɛ ty ale (♀ale) o sinema puʁ la dɛʁnjɛʁ fwa - la sᵊmɛn dɛʁnjɛʁ ] 974: We've lived in Paris for six (6) years. We lived in Paris for six (6) years, but now we live in Rome. Nous avons vecu a Paris pendant six ans. Nous avons vecu a Paris pendant six ans, mais maintenant nous vivons a Rome. nu z‿avɔ̃ veky a (...) pɑ̃dɑ̃ si z
Publisher: Glossika
ISBN: 9789865648527
Category : French language
Languages : en
Pages : 404
Book Description
Glossika Mass Sentences * Fluency training for serious language learners. * Recommended for High Beginners (A1 A2) as Supplementary Training to your current studies; some working knowledge required; good for brushing up or breaking through a plateau. * Vocabulary Index included (includes varying pronunciations of each conjugation/declension with a frequency count). * 1000 bilingual sentences with pronunciation guide in phonetic International Phonetic Alphabet with liaisons. * Accompanies the audio sold separately at Glossika.com, which includes hands-free spaced repetition. * Authentic and informal language use by native speakers, gradually building up sentence structures. FEATURES: * Serves as reference material to the audio training. * Lots of repetition of key syntactic components and vocabulary. * Introduces how to render foreign names and placenames in natural dialogue (with appropriate declensions and conjugations). * All sentences are bilingual in format and includes International Phonetic Alphabet to help you master the correct pronunciation (in phonetic form, which means we write out all the liaisons between words). * Informal, friendly language. Formal language used where appropriate. * Covers the following syntactic structures: predicates, adjectives, nouns, present and past verbs, habitual, continuous and completed actions INCLUDES: * If you're serious about getting fluent in 3 months, follow our intensive schedule to finish Fluency 1-3 in 3 months. * Each book trains 1000 sentences, with Fluency 1 surpassing more than 1000 vocabulary words used in context and collocations. SAMPLE (some letters may not display correctly on your screen, so you can get the embedded font editions from www.glossika.com directly): 278: We often sleep late on weekends. Nous faisons souvent la grasse matinee les week-ends. nu fᵊzɔ̃ suvɑ̃ la ɡʁas matine le wikɛnd ] 383: What do you usually do on weekends? Que fais-tu d'habitude les week-ends? ko fɛ ty d‿abityd le wikɛnd ] 434: What do you usually do on weekends? Que fais-tu generalement les week-ends? ko fɛ ty ʒeneʁalᵊmɑ̃ le wikɛnd ] 563: Why were you late this morning? - The traffic was bad. Pourquoi etais-tu en retard ce matin? - La circulation etait mauvaise. puʁkwa etɛ ty ɑ̃ ʁᵊtaʁ so matɛ̃ - la siʁkylasjɔ̃ etɛ movɛz ] 624: I enjoyed the party. How about you? Did you enjoy the party? J'ai aime la fete. Et toi? As-tu aime la fete? ʒ‿ɛ eme la fɛt e twa a ty eme la fɛt ] 731: How fast were you driving when the police stopped you? A quelle vitesse conduisais-tu quand la police t'a arrete (♀arretee)? a kɛl vitɛs kɔ̃dɥizɛ ty kɑ̃ la polis t‿a aʁete (♀aʁete) ] 807: I've seen that woman before, but I can't remember her name. J'ai deja vu cette femme, mais je ne me souviens pas de son nom. ʒ‿ɛ deʒa vy sɛt fam mɛ ʒo no mo suvjɛ̃ pa do sɔ̃ nɔ̃ ] 821: Are you married? How long have you been married? Es-tu marie (♀mariee)? Depuis quand es-tu marie (♀mariee)? ɛ ty maʁje (♀maʁje) dᵊpɥi kɑ̃ ɛ ty maʁje (♀maʁje) ] 879: When was the last time you went to the movies? - Just last week. Quand es-tu alle (♀allee) au cinema pour la derniere fois? - La semaine derniere. kɑ̃ ɛ ty ale (♀ale) o sinema puʁ la dɛʁnjɛʁ fwa - la sᵊmɛn dɛʁnjɛʁ ] 974: We've lived in Paris for six (6) years. We lived in Paris for six (6) years, but now we live in Rome. Nous avons vecu a Paris pendant six ans. Nous avons vecu a Paris pendant six ans, mais maintenant nous vivons a Rome. nu z‿avɔ̃ veky a (...) pɑ̃dɑ̃ si z
Asia's Orthographic Dilemma
Author: William C. Hannas
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 9780824818920
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 356
Book Description
With the advent of computers and the rise of East Asian economies, the complicated character-based writing systems of East Asia have reached a stage of crisis that may be described as truly millennial in scope and implications. In what is perhaps the most wide-ranging critique of the sinographic script ever written, William C. Hannas assesses the usefulness of Chinese character-based writing in East Asia today.
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 9780824818920
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 356
Book Description
With the advent of computers and the rise of East Asian economies, the complicated character-based writing systems of East Asia have reached a stage of crisis that may be described as truly millennial in scope and implications. In what is perhaps the most wide-ranging critique of the sinographic script ever written, William C. Hannas assesses the usefulness of Chinese character-based writing in East Asia today.
Fluent Forever
Author: Gabriel Wyner
Publisher: Harmony
ISBN: 038534810X
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • For anyone who wants to learn a foreign language, this is the method that will finally make the words stick. “A brilliant and thoroughly modern guide to learning new languages.”—Gary Marcus, cognitive psychologist and author of the New York Times bestseller Guitar Zero At thirty years old, Gabriel Wyner speaks six languages fluently. He didn’t learn them in school—who does? Rather, he learned them in the past few years, working on his own and practicing on the subway, using simple techniques and free online resources—and here he wants to show others what he’s discovered. Starting with pronunciation, you’ll learn how to rewire your ears and turn foreign sounds into familiar sounds. You’ll retrain your tongue to produce those sounds accurately, using tricks from opera singers and actors. Next, you’ll begin to tackle words, and connect sounds and spellings to imagery rather than translations, which will enable you to think in a foreign language. And with the help of sophisticated spaced-repetition techniques, you’ll be able to memorize hundreds of words a month in minutes every day. This is brain hacking at its most exciting, taking what we know about neuroscience and linguistics and using it to create the most efficient and enjoyable way to learn a foreign language in the spare minutes of your day.
Publisher: Harmony
ISBN: 038534810X
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • For anyone who wants to learn a foreign language, this is the method that will finally make the words stick. “A brilliant and thoroughly modern guide to learning new languages.”—Gary Marcus, cognitive psychologist and author of the New York Times bestseller Guitar Zero At thirty years old, Gabriel Wyner speaks six languages fluently. He didn’t learn them in school—who does? Rather, he learned them in the past few years, working on his own and practicing on the subway, using simple techniques and free online resources—and here he wants to show others what he’s discovered. Starting with pronunciation, you’ll learn how to rewire your ears and turn foreign sounds into familiar sounds. You’ll retrain your tongue to produce those sounds accurately, using tricks from opera singers and actors. Next, you’ll begin to tackle words, and connect sounds and spellings to imagery rather than translations, which will enable you to think in a foreign language. And with the help of sophisticated spaced-repetition techniques, you’ll be able to memorize hundreds of words a month in minutes every day. This is brain hacking at its most exciting, taking what we know about neuroscience and linguistics and using it to create the most efficient and enjoyable way to learn a foreign language in the spare minutes of your day.
Remembering Simplified Hanzi 1
Author: James W. Heisig
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824875931
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 432
Book Description
At long last the approach that has helped thousands of learners memorize Japanese kanji has been adapted to help students with Chinese characters. Book 1 of Remembering Simplified Hanzi covers the writing and meaning of the 1,000 most commonly used characters in the simplified Chinese writing system, plus another 500 that are best learned at an early stage. (Book 2 adds another 1,500 characters for a total of 3,000.) Of critical importance to the approach found in these pages is the systematic arranging of characters in an order best suited to memorization. In the Chinese writing system, strokes and simple components are nested within relatively simple characters, which can, in turn, serve as parts of more complicated characters and so on. Taking advantage of this allows a logical ordering, making it possible for students to approach most new characters with prior knowledge that can greatly facilitate the learning process. Guidance and detailed instructions are provided along the way. Students are taught to employ "imaginative memory" to associate each character’s component parts, or "primitive elements," with one another and with a key word that has been carefully selected to represent an important meaning of the character. This is accomplished through the creation of a "story" that engagingly ties the primitive elements and key word together. In this way, the collections of dots, strokes, and components that make up the characters are associated in memorable fashion, dramatically shortening the time required for learning and helping to prevent characters from slipping out of memory.
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824875931
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 432
Book Description
At long last the approach that has helped thousands of learners memorize Japanese kanji has been adapted to help students with Chinese characters. Book 1 of Remembering Simplified Hanzi covers the writing and meaning of the 1,000 most commonly used characters in the simplified Chinese writing system, plus another 500 that are best learned at an early stage. (Book 2 adds another 1,500 characters for a total of 3,000.) Of critical importance to the approach found in these pages is the systematic arranging of characters in an order best suited to memorization. In the Chinese writing system, strokes and simple components are nested within relatively simple characters, which can, in turn, serve as parts of more complicated characters and so on. Taking advantage of this allows a logical ordering, making it possible for students to approach most new characters with prior knowledge that can greatly facilitate the learning process. Guidance and detailed instructions are provided along the way. Students are taught to employ "imaginative memory" to associate each character’s component parts, or "primitive elements," with one another and with a key word that has been carefully selected to represent an important meaning of the character. This is accomplished through the creation of a "story" that engagingly ties the primitive elements and key word together. In this way, the collections of dots, strokes, and components that make up the characters are associated in memorable fashion, dramatically shortening the time required for learning and helping to prevent characters from slipping out of memory.
Babel No More
Author: Michael Erard
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451628277
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 309
Book Description
A “fascinating” (The Economist) dive into the world of linguistics that is “part travelogue, part science lesson, part intellectual investigation…an entertaining, informative survey of some of the most fascinating polyglots of our time” (The New York Times Book Review). In Babel No More, Michael Erard, “a monolingual with benefits,” sets out on a quest to meet language superlearners and make sense of their mental powers. On the way he uncovers the secrets of historical figures like the nineteenth-century Italian cardinal Joseph Mezzofanti, who was said to speak seventy-two languages, as well as those of living language-superlearners such as Alexander Arguelles, a modern-day polyglot who knows dozens of languages and shows Erard the tricks of the trade to give him a dark glimpse into the life of obsessive language acquisition. With his ambitious examination of what language is, where it lives in the brain, and the cultural implications of polyglots’ pursuits, Erard explores the upper limits of our ability to learn and use languages and illuminates the intellectual potential in everyone. How do some people escape the curse of Babel—and what might the gods have demanded of them in return?
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451628277
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 309
Book Description
A “fascinating” (The Economist) dive into the world of linguistics that is “part travelogue, part science lesson, part intellectual investigation…an entertaining, informative survey of some of the most fascinating polyglots of our time” (The New York Times Book Review). In Babel No More, Michael Erard, “a monolingual with benefits,” sets out on a quest to meet language superlearners and make sense of their mental powers. On the way he uncovers the secrets of historical figures like the nineteenth-century Italian cardinal Joseph Mezzofanti, who was said to speak seventy-two languages, as well as those of living language-superlearners such as Alexander Arguelles, a modern-day polyglot who knows dozens of languages and shows Erard the tricks of the trade to give him a dark glimpse into the life of obsessive language acquisition. With his ambitious examination of what language is, where it lives in the brain, and the cultural implications of polyglots’ pursuits, Erard explores the upper limits of our ability to learn and use languages and illuminates the intellectual potential in everyone. How do some people escape the curse of Babel—and what might the gods have demanded of them in return?
The Chinese Language
Author: John DeFrancis
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 9780824810689
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 348
Book Description
"DeFrancis's book is first rate. It entertains. It teaches. It demystifies. It counteracts popular ignorance as well as sophisticated (cocktail party) ignorance. Who could ask for anything more? There is no other book like it. ... It is one of a kind, a first, and I would not only buy it but I would recommend it to friends and colleagues, many of whom are visiting China now and are adding 'two-week-expert' ignorance to the two kinds that existed before. This is a book for everyone." --Joshua A. Fishman, research professor of social sciences, Yeshiva University, New York "Professor De Francis has produced a work of great effectiveness that should appeal to a wide-ranging audience. It is at once instructive and entertaining. While being delighted by the flair of his novel approach, the reader will also be led to ponder on some of the most fundamental problems concerning the relations between written languages and spoken languages. Specifically, he will be served a variety of information on the languages of East Asia, not as dry pedantic facts, but as appealing tidbits that whet the intellectual appetite. The expert will find much to reflect on in this book, for Professor DeFrancis takes nothing for granted." --William S.Y. Wang, professor of linguistics, University of California at Berkeley
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 9780824810689
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 348
Book Description
"DeFrancis's book is first rate. It entertains. It teaches. It demystifies. It counteracts popular ignorance as well as sophisticated (cocktail party) ignorance. Who could ask for anything more? There is no other book like it. ... It is one of a kind, a first, and I would not only buy it but I would recommend it to friends and colleagues, many of whom are visiting China now and are adding 'two-week-expert' ignorance to the two kinds that existed before. This is a book for everyone." --Joshua A. Fishman, research professor of social sciences, Yeshiva University, New York "Professor De Francis has produced a work of great effectiveness that should appeal to a wide-ranging audience. It is at once instructive and entertaining. While being delighted by the flair of his novel approach, the reader will also be led to ponder on some of the most fundamental problems concerning the relations between written languages and spoken languages. Specifically, he will be served a variety of information on the languages of East Asia, not as dry pedantic facts, but as appealing tidbits that whet the intellectual appetite. The expert will find much to reflect on in this book, for Professor DeFrancis takes nothing for granted." --William S.Y. Wang, professor of linguistics, University of California at Berkeley