Do you shy away from situations that require you to speak in English? Do you wish to command an army of words at a moment’s notice? Filled with innovative and practical learning devices, this book is a comprehensive guide to mastering the art of reading, writing and speaking English. As a learner who has spent many years navigating the treacherous slopes of the language, Manish Gupta understands the challenges faced by an Indian learner. He recounts his own struggles and narrates his interactions with people to outline tips and tricks to improve vocabulary, pronunciation and spoken English.
Banter, chit-chat, gossip, natter, tete-a-tete: these are just a few of the terms for the varied ways in which we interact with one another through conversation. David Crystal explores the factors that motivate so many different kinds of talk and reveals the rules we use unconsciously, even in the most routine exchanges of everyday conversation. We tend to think of conversation as something spontaneous, instinctive, habitual. It has been described as an art, as a game, sometimes even as a battle. Whichever metaphor we use, most people are unaware of what the rules are, how they work, and how we can bend and break them when circumstances warrant it.
'Read this fascinating book and you'll become a better listener, a better conversationalist and better company' Adam Kay 'A brilliant book on the art of conversation' Matt Haig 'A compulsory book for these divided times' Sathnam Sanghera 'An intriguing exploration of the importance of a proper chinwag' Sara Cox 'A terrific book from a terrific broadcaster. Worryingly good'' Jeremy Vine 'An insightful, important read' Stacey Dooley 'A genuinely brilliant broadcaster' Matthew Syed 'A masterly book' Matthew d'Ancona 'Brilliant in the year and just as brilliant on the page' Anita Anand 'Fascinating and thought-provoking' Jane Fallon 'Informed, open-minded, fair, astute, caring and funny' Ricky Gervais 'A grand theory of conversation' Dan Snow 'The conversation king' Laura Whitmore ... How do you talk to someone who doesn't want to talk to you? What happens in the brain when we're having a good conversation? What have smartphones done to how we connect? Conversations are broken. And while effective dialogue is supposed to lead to greater fulfilment in our personal and professional lives, all the scientific evidence points towards us sharing fewer interactions than previous generations. From ever decreasing face-to-face meetings to echo chambers online, we no longer have the necessary tools to talk to each other. Nihal Arthanayake is bucking this trend. As the world becomes increasingly more fractured, he has built a platform of 1.2 million listeners a week on BBC Radio 5 Live who regard him as one of the best people of his generation at having public conversations. Guests from the world's biggest stars to leaders of inner-city gangs have lauded his seemingly innate ability to stimulate positive discussions without the need for confrontation. Now he wants to understand how he developed his skills, what it exactly means to have a 'great conversation' and, most importantly, how he can teach us to have better interactions in our everyday lives. Let's Talk blends Nihal's experiences as an acclaimed interviewer with expert and celebrity opinion on the secrets and psychology behind successful communication. From tracing the evolution of dialogue to discovering what lights up in the brain when we're enjoying a good discussion, Nihal speaks to conversational authorities including Lorraine Kelly, former president of Ireland Mary McAleese, Professor Tanya Byron, internationally bestselling author Johann Hari, Matthew Syed, and many more, to find out why good conversation has eroded over time and how we can fix it. Part how-to and part manifesto, Let's Talk is Nihal's accessible, anecdotal and invigorating toolkit to having better conversations with anyone, any time.
Let's Talk... If you're a teen and you're alive....then you've got problems! If you're a parent and you have a teen....then you've got problems! What if you had your own personal guide to help you through...Someone to whisper directly in your ear and give you the solution for your particular dilemma? Dr. Nikki Goldman Ph.D. spent years listening to parents and teens. They wrote to her, called her and spent time with her in her office. They asked her for solutions to their problems. They questioned her about the very personal: Sex, Pregnancy and Romance, Drugs and Addiction to the worldly such as Money and Work and Internet Dangers. They wanted to know about Loss, Emotions and Fear. These are their conversations.
When it comes to increasing student motivation and success in writing, classroom talk is a powerful tool. More than simply providing assessment data for predetermined standards, talking with our students builds relationships and acommunitywhere students rely on one another-;not just their teacher-;for advice, affirmation, and support. Let's Talk: Managing One-on-One, Peer, and Small Group Conferences author Mark Overmeyer providesreal classroom examples and stories to help educators make conferences more manageable and meaningful.Organized by types of conferences, Let's Talk distinguishes between teacher-student talk-;which covers one-on-one, small-group, and whole-class conferences-;and student-student talk-;which includes one-on-one and group peer conferences. In addition to addressing the challenges and needsof teachers, coaches, principals, and staff developers in the elementary and middle level grades, Overmeyer also focuses onhow to work with English language learners.Throughout the book, Overmeyer describes how classroom talk benefits students in a variety of ways, from discovering their interests and backgrounds as writers to helping them develop the language to reflect on their writing progress.
Letâ€(TM)s Talk Second edition is a speaking and listening course that takes students from a high-beginning to a high-intermediate level. The Let's Talk 3, Second Edition,Teacher's Manual has been enhanced and expanded to offer increased support and flexibility. Included are detailed teaching notes, clear learning objectives for every activity, teaching tips, expansion activities, and writing options. Provided as photocopiables in the back of the book are model conversations for discussion support, talking points for additional speaking practice, and a complete assessment program including quizzes and tests. The Audio CD packaged with the Teacher's Manual provides all the listening sections for the assessment program.
Letâ€(TM)s Talk Second edition is a speaking and listening course that takes students from a high-beginning to a high-intermediate level. The Let's Talk 2, Second Edition,Teacher's Manual has been enhanced and expanded to offer increased support and flexibility. Included are detailed teaching notes, clear learning objectives for every activity, teaching tips, expansion activities, and writing options. Provided as photocopiables in the back of the book are model conversations for discussion support, talking points for additional speaking practice, and a complete assessment program including quizzes and tests. The Audio CD packaged with the Teacher's Manual provides all the listening sections for the assessment program.
Fictional sex scenes are about more than who put what where. We'll explore things that writers should keep in mind, and how authors can use the ways their characters think about and engage in sex to create more fully rounded characters and even better stories.
For readers of Being Mortal and When Breath Becomes Air, the acclaimed founder of Death over Dinner offers a practical, inspiring guide to life's most difficult yet important conversation. Of the many critical conversations we will all have throughout our lifetime, few are as important as the ones discussing death—and not just the practical considerations, such as DNRs and wills, but what we fear, what we hope, and how we want to be remembered. Yet few of these conversations are actually happening. Inspired by his experience with his own father and countless stories from others who regret not having these conversations, Michael Hebb cofounded Death Over Dinner—an organization that encourages people to pull up a chair, break bread, and really talk about the one thing we all have in common. Death Over Dinner has been one of the most effective end-of-life awareness campaigns to date; in just three years, it has provided the framework and inspiration for more than a hundred thousand dinners focused on having these end-of-life conversations. As Arianna Huffington said, "We are such a fast-food culture, I love the idea of making the dinner last for hours. These are the conversations that will help us to evolve." Let's Talk About Death (over Dinner) offers keen practical advice on how to have these same conversations—not just at the dinner table, but anywhere. There's no one right way to talk about death, but Hebb shares time—and dinner—tested prompts to use as conversation starters, ranging from the spiritual to the practical, from analytical to downright funny and surprising. By transforming the most difficult conversations into an opportunity, they become celebratory and meaningful—ways that not only can change the way we die, but the way we live.
