Mad women in the attic

This is a story from the point of view of the 'mad women' in Jane Eyre. I found it all consuming and couldn't put it down. Don't worry if you haven't read JA it's still a fantastic book and if you are a JA fan, don't feel it will detract from that wonderful novel, as the 2 can be read exclusively of each other. Either way, you will be left wondering, was his wife mad, or did Mr Rochester make her that way?

A fun way to learn some Spanish words

This is a little book of 25 Spanish crossword puzzles. Maybe puzzle isn't quite the right word here as each puzzle only consists of around six words! Still, it's only easy if you know all the words. You're likely to pick up some useful vocabulary even if you are an intermediate student as I could only manage to finish two puzzles unaided out of the 25. There's a list of the 150 Spanish words used at the back of the book and the solutions. I used to do a puzzle each day and found it sort of amusing. If you get bored with the puzzles, then you can always colour in the pictorial clues. Plus it's dirt cheap. Recommended.<br />

Onwards and upwards

Having listened to the foundation course, the advanced course continues <br />in the same vein, but with far less annoying students. As an aid to further developing my language skills I found it engaging and at a pace that neither let me get bored nor left me behind. These cd's gave me the confindence to try my spanish with the spanish in spain and made potentially tricky situations go smoothly. Also they have given me an excellent headstart with spanish literature. My goal now is to read all the Harry Potter books in spanish and not just 'The Philospher's Stone'. Excellent.

Very readable, original format

Interesting and original format for a book. Story touching, compelling yet sometimes frustrating. Insights into British culture from a Chinese perspective both funny and interesting. This is a very readable, upfront book - I didn't feel the author was trying to do anything underhand with the story - it's honest in it's beauty and bleakness. 2 very different people coming together in what, at times, seems like a hopeless exercise. But then I'm sure lots of people have been there, or at least have an idea of what the author is getting at.

only for begginers

A pleasant way of learning some basic Spanish phrases. Only really suitable for beginners, and aimed firmly at European Spanish. Don't pay any attention to the English mans pronunciation of the Spanish words, it is quite often wrong and a bit off putting.

Best dictionary ever!!!!

On the surface it just looks like your average dictionary but open it up and... It’s got to be the dictionary I’ve ever seen in two colours: black and a calming blue. Lots of usage examples. Good size. Worth it just for the blue!!!

Provides easy access to the language, but treat it as an aid

I am one those people who can kinda of speak Russian by having a Russian parent but who never studied Russian, makes plenty of mistakes, can’t really read and don’t really understand the workings of the language (so im pretty far from the perfect Pushkin scholar). I bought this book in the hope of adding a rigerous element to my understanding.

I thought this book was absoloutely brilliant for my needs. It quickly and easily guides you into a stage where you comfortably read new words (even if you don’t understand them). Secondly this book introduces words and grammer in a way that they are actually used. As someone who is comfortable in domestic and mundane conversation i found the corner stones of my own vocabulary brought up and dissected within the first few chapters. In answer to one of the above criticsms about it being heavy on grammer, to be honest if you want to learn to speak Russian rather than survive a holiday, grammer is unavoidable its just the way Russian is. If its too hard take it slowly but its the highly inflexive element of the language that adds vibrancy and colour to its usage.
But as a word of caution when using this book don’t get overly bogged down in the gritty detail of the grammer. Learn the common rules and say it out loud so that you can get the general gist of how a case should sounds. Arm yourself with ability to just use the common rules nad try and speak and listen (rent films, use TV and Radio on the internet etc). You will make many mistakes but it makes the giant of a language manageable and enjoyable,besides making mistakes is just a different way of learning. In summary use this book as a reference and an aid in conjunction with other ways of learning, do not use it as a bible where you obey every word.

There are far better books in this field

There is clearly a need for books like these, and Mr Bruton-Simmonds has sought to exploit a potentially lucrative market. However he has little of worth to say, and there are many better books out the which cover the same ground.

The book is poorly structured, so cannot be used as a reference book or grammar. There is little universality to the advice which instead comes across as semi-random series of predjudices. That the book tails off into a long, irrelevant diatribe about pop music underlines the author's highly subjective and personal approach.

Worse, some of his advice is incorrect, at other times of limited usefulness.

Truss is great

Who would think that a book about punctuation could make one laugh out loud? Lynne Truss does it for me. Her zero tolerance approach to punctuation is erudite, informative, challenging and funny. One learns about the Apostrophe Protection Society. Truss wants a militant approach to signs where the apostrophe is misused. She teaches us the origins of punctuation and the rules for commas, semicolons, colons, brackets etc. I learned about the Oxford comma and American rules for quotation marks. Most of the rules I learned at school in the fifties when English was taught well. But it was never such fun as this. L earn here about the Apostropher Royal and Aldus Manutius the Elder, 15th century father of punctuation. In these days of sloppy communication it is good to hear how important is proper attention to punctuation. It has started a war and was used to try and save a man from the gallows. It can alter the sense of sentences and even produce theological disputation. Truss tells it all. She is a delight to read. The only problem is you may now wonder if you are getting your writing right, particularly if you are a careless and poor typist like me.<br />

Awful Woman.

I am of a like mind with Rhythmvox (see above) but I have a lower tolerance threshold. This presentation is absolutely awful. How this woman could ever have worked with the Great Michel I cannot imagine. Nor can I think how the publisher could have allowed this product to go out under the Michel Thomas label.<br />The distinguishing mark of the Michel Thomas method is that there is no cra p ; just plain workmanlike progression, building up to quite advanced grammatical constructions. I have worked through the whole series and what I now lack is idiomatic vocabulary and practice. The practice I can get using a tutor via Skype. Because I need the vocabulary I bought this product. But I just can't stand this awful woman.<br />If the publisher reads this review I suggest they go back to the text and strip out all the goo. (That would probably reduce the five discs to three.) Recruit a Michel sound-alike and get rid of one or other of the native speakers. There must be a big enough market for the course to be published in two versions. One for Europeans wanting to speak Castilian (Madrid) Spanish and one for Americans wanting to speak Mexican.<br />The one star I can give these discs is for the fact that they are cheap enough to hang in the hedge to scare off the neighbour's cats. If I wired them up to speakers they would certainly scare off the neighbours!<br />

Sugoi (great) learning material

I bought this book hoping to learn hirigana over a month, but i was quickly proved wrong as the book made the process easy, fun and very quick to learn and I was finished in about 2 weeks. This book is really worth the money if you are willing to put in the time, then rewards reaped are bountiful. Everything from stroke order to what kind of stroke is shown making the process easier to follow rather than throwing you into the deep end with no help. I have also bought the katakana version and attempting to learn that too. <br />I really do recommend any budding person trying to learn the Japanese language to start with hirigana using this book. I hope you enjoy the book as much as I have.

An essential resource for making every word count

I am midway through an Open University degree course and have found 'Line by Line' to be an absolutely indespensible resource. Whenever an academic essay is required I find remaining within strict word limits to be one of the most taxing requirements. Using the simple, but effective, techniques in the book I am able to literally cut an essay word length in half without losing valuable content. Trust me, if you are about to embark - or are already engaged in - any type of scholarship, this is the book for you!

Outdated!

For [...] I wasn't expecting much, and didn't get much!<br /><br />The phrases in this book are hilariously outdated and a dead giveaway to the 1960's original publishing date. Such gems as"please lubricate my vehicle","where can I find an American doctor?" or yelling"garcon!" at a waitor make hilarious reading, but trying out any of these phrases on real French people will get you slapped.

An easy read...

I actually owned the english version of this book when i was a child, which helped me learn to speak my own language. When i saw this as a deal on a Dummies Guide to Arabic, i jumped at it. It's a very simple way of learning; on every page is a picture of a situation (for instance, rooms in a house) and around the edge of the pages are small pictures of each componant of that scene, and the name for it. So for instance if you were looking at a bathroom scene, around the edge would be a picture of a bath, sink, sponge, shower curtain etc. At the back of a book is an alphabet list and an index of words (useful if you can't tell what a picture is).<br /><br />These books are fantastic for picking up words fast, and give clear and fun examples of grammar and verbal trends. Although as stated, it can sometimes be unclear as to what the pictures are referring to, it's not hard to either check it up at the back of the book or look the Arabic word up on the net to find the real meaning.<br /><br />In all, along with the Dummies Guide to Arabic this book has served me very well, and is a pleasure to own. It's also a lovely throwback to my childhood :)

Great book!

i thought this book was brilliant! it covers various topics e.g. shopping, transport, clothes etc. the book consists of 10 chapters- this may seem like a lot but the chapters are really short(except chapter 10). i've finished using this book and i can say that french has never been easier! there was one thing about this book that really annoyed me and that was the amount of vocabulary you have to learn. but it was well worth the hassle as most of the words i'd learnt came up in the exam. i would recommend this book to anyone- be assured that you'll gain something out of revising from this book.

Everything you need to get started in Swahili

This compact little book is the perfect place to start learning Swahili. It is easy to carry around and dip into. The pronunciation guide is printed alongside the Swahili and English, so everything is where you need it and clearly laid out. I found a lot of the phrases useful and after a little practice, was able to try them out with confidence. There are also some nice little tips sprinkled throughout the book, cultural information, etiquette, etc.<br /><br />After a couple of business trips to Kenya, I decided it was time I tried to learn some basic Swahili words. Swahili is an enjoyable language to learn, and the locals are really impressed when you speak a few words. So I think it is well worth getting this book and putting in a little effort. Even if you learn only a small number of words and a few phrases you will be rewarded with smiles. Safi!

Interesting selection of varying levels of difficulty

This isn't a book for beginners. My French is post O level and taken more years ago than I intend to disclose. I started re-learning it by teaching myself 10 months ago. I can now read most of these stories using the parallel text to check my understanding and to argue with the translations - yes I'm that confident now. For some stories I needed more help than others... 'Apprendre à vie' and 'David' gave me no trouble at all but 'Tous Feux Éteints' was a struggle. I enjoy the fact that some stories are easy and others are difficult because I'm trying now to get used to different styles and pick up vocabulary so this collection of stories has really appealed to me. I love the parallel texts because I don't need a dictionary and I can use the translation for reassurance and as I say to argue with. I really recommend these short stories - I have several parallel texts and am always looking out for more. But this isn't for beginners - you do need a reasonable reading age in French - I think mine is about 12 or 13! So most of the time I know what's going on but complex structures and vocabulary do still confuse me. If you want to increase vocabulary and immerse yourself in the culture then these short stories are ideal. I love to read them on the train because I don't have to juggle with a dictionary and the prices are very good. Yes, I recommend this collection. Ahhh some extra words - there are no exercises with this selection and no vocabulary list - some parallel texts do have those. But this does have a very good introduction. As the editor hints at the denouements on some of the stories I would advise reading it *after* you've read the stories! There are twelve in all and of varying lengths... `David' is very long but some of the stories are just a few pages. I repeat - this isn't for beginners... you need to have studied to the equivalent of GCSE or O level to be able to cope with these. But they really are an enjoyable and varied collection. Actually, they're worth reading in English but the translation lacks that je ne sais quoi! ;->