Foreign Languages Books - Page 2

The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human Nature

Steven Pinker

By: Allen Lane Amazon Marketplace: 2 new & used starting at $10.58

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 40 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Lacks 'stuff' on the physiological and cognitive origins of language 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Although Pinker is renown in the field of linguistics, I was a bit disappointed with the single sidedness of this book. In it, he examines the origins of the English language, but to a large degree fails to introduce the factors attributing to the physiological and cognitive results from the birth of language. I anticipated a book with more in-depth research on the origins and effects of language on the formation of consciousness and cognition. An example of such book is Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza's "Genes, Peoples, and Language,' which I highly recommend.

Good but dense 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I am a Pinker fan and I enjoyed this book but it is closely written with much detailed linguistic background to support Pinker's ideas on the relation between cognition and language. Entertaining sections include the one on dirty words and his critique of Fodor's "Extreme Nativism":

"Fodor is a brilliant, witty, and pugnacious scholar who, among other things, helped to lay the conceptual foundations for cognitive science and to develop the scientific study of sentence comprehension.5 His notorious theory that we are born with some fifty thousand innate concepts (a conventional estimate of the number of words in a typical English speaker's vocabulary) makes an appearance here not as a player in the nature-nurture debate but as a player in the debate over how the meanings of words are represented in people's minds. In the preceding chapter, I proposed that the human mind contains representations of the meanings of words which are composed of more basic concepts like "cause," "means," "event," and "place." Fodor begs to differ. He believes that the meanings of words are atoms, in the original sense of things that cannot be split. ......"

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Longman Classics)

Mark Twain

List Price: $9.53 By: Addison Wesley Publishing Company Amazon Marketplace: 7 new & used starting at $3.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 511 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Huck Finn 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book is required reading for my 16 yr old son....the
book arrived quickly & in great shape! Saved me driving all
over town to compete w/ other parents also looking!! Thanks!

Huckleberry Finn 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Huckleberry Finn is a classic. Simple as that. It provides a look into what life was probably like for a 19th century boy. It was different than the life of children today, because today life centers around education. Back then, it was a regular thing to play hooky, even though they got in trouble for it when they were caught. And when they were punished, usually it was with a beating instead of `You're Grounded!'.

The book shows us how badly slaves were treated. They weren't even considered humans! It was like they didn't have feelings, and didn't see things the same way white people did. They way the slaves actually did think was odd. It was sad to see that they could slap a slave for no reason, and the slave would accept it either because they were used to it or they thought that whites were better than them.

Huck Finn is rather unrealistic in the aspect of adventure. I'm guessing most boys back then didn't run off with an escaped slave to Cairo. The way that Mark Twain wrote the book was different than other first/second person books I've seen. The dialogue was very much like the 19th century southern Mississippi talk. Sometimes it got hard to decipher what a paragraph in slave-speak meant because it was so obscure.

All in all, Mark Twain's writing style is different than the traditional Southern book, but that doesn't detract at all from the story. I liked it!

Editorial Review:

'Cordially hated and dreaded by all the mothers of the town because he was idle, and lawless, vulgar, and bad - and because all their children admired him so', Huckleberry Finn, the fourteen-year-old son of the town drunkard, joins runaway slave Jim on an exciting journey down the mighty Mississippi River on a raft.

Pride & Prejudice (Oxford Bookworms)

Jane Austen

List Price: $5.95 By: Oxford University Press Amazon Marketplace: 7 new & used starting at $19.55

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 904 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Worth paying for on the Kindle 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Kindle owners hopefully are aware of the wealth of free editions of the classics which are available through Feedbooks and other sources.

I obtained a copy of P&P from feedbooks originally and while it was easy to get and the price was right, the overall quality of the text is not great. I've found several typos, presumably the result of OCR errors and it's somewhat distracting.

Since P&P is one of my wife's favorite books, I was delighted to see
Penguin had released an electronic edition for $0.50 complete with the usual footnotes, essays and maps that one's used to
finding in textbook editions of the classics.

The table of contents is pretty minimal. The headings include the editor's material, and the three volume headings.

Editorial Review:

It's time to rediscover the wonderful books we all cherish.

Originally published anonymously in 1813, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is one of the most widely read and most popular novels in the English language. The courtship between the independent Elisabeth Bennett and the handsome yet arrogant Mr. Darcy illuminates the page in this wonderful novel of comedy and manners.

501 Spanish Verbs: with CD-ROM (Barron's Foreign Language Guides)

Christopher Kendris, Theodore Kendris

Amazon Price: $11.55 List Price: $16.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Barron's Educational Series Amazon Marketplace: 92 new & used starting at $9.90

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 235 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Barron’s is today and always has been the Number-One reference source for verb usage in virtually every major language. With more than 1.5 million copies in print, the all-time best selling 501 Spanish Verbs beats all less well-established rivals with its brand-new 6th edition. It’s printed in two colors, it features tinted page edges for ease of reference, and it comes with extra help for Spanish language students in the form of a CD-ROM. The book presents the most important and most commonly used Spanish verbs arranged alphabetically with English translations in chart form, one verb per page, and conjugated in all persons and tenses, both active and passive. The accompanying CD-ROM gives students practice exercises in verb conjugation plus a concise grammar review. This combined book and software package is a comprehensive guide to Spanish verb usage with a wealth of reference material and language tips, including a bilingual list of more than 1,250 additional Spanish verbs, helpful expressions and idioms for travelers, and verb drills and short tests with all questions answered and explained.

Pensar en grande: la magia del éxito (Think Big: The Magic of Success, Spanish Edition)

David Joseph Schwartz

Amazon Price: $16.98 List Price: $16.98 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Giron Books Amazon Marketplace: 7 new & used starting at $13.95

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 156 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Abaracadabra-The Magic of Thinking Big 5 out of 5 stars.
136 of 137 people found this review helpful.

What's it about? Changing your thinking patterns to get the things you want such as a higher income, financial security, or greater enjoyment in living.

What's the main idea? Success is determined not so much by the size of your brain as it is by the size of your thinking.

How does it accomplish this? In every chapter of the book, the reader will find many practical ideas, techniques, and principles that willl enable them to harness the power of thinking big. Every technique is illustrated by a case history. In this way, the reader will not only figure out what to do, but see exactly how to apply each principle to actual problems and situations.

Give me an example. In the chapter titled "How to Think Big", an example is used of a successful realtor to illustrate the principle "see what can be, not just what is." In this example, the realtor has a knack for selling rundown, unattractive property- not by selling it for what it is, but for what it COULD be.

Is the writing style boring or technical? Absolutely not. The writing style reminds me of Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends & Influence People. Also, the many examples make it an interesting read which holds your attention.

Who should get it? Everyone who wants to do better in life! So if you want to live "big" it all starts with thinking that way. Readers who like this book may also be interested in Finding Happiness in a Frustrating World. And remember, think BIG!

Editorial Review:

One of the world's foremost authorities on motivation, Schwartz shows how thinking big can bring big results. Learn how to set high goals and exceed them in a big way with this easy, step-by-step approach.

Por Quien Doblan Campanas

Ernest Hemingway

List Price: $15.95 By: Editorial Planeta, S.A. (Barcelona) Amazon Marketplace: 2 new & used starting at $30.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 269 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Stylistically superb but lacking in action and thin on the background of the Spanish Civil War 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I began reading For Whom The Bell Tolls directly after finishing a particularly bad modern novel. At first, For Whom... was a breath of fresh air: no long, run-on sentences; no excessive adverbs in the dialog tags; not a whole lot of meaningless adjectives, etc. The dialog was crisp and terse and enjoyable, and the setting was captivating.

But then... nothing happens. For a really long time. And all of the flashbacks via thought and story start to get confusing. At times, I wasn't sure if the story was in the present or past; in the thoughts of the protagonist or the speech of another character. And speaking of characters, four of them are strong and compelling: Robert Jordan (the protagonist), Maria (his love interest), Pilar (a tough old woman), and Pablo (a once-great but now tarnished soldier). A fifth character of note is the Gypsy, but the other characters in this ensemble cast are largely indistinguishable from one another.

One more criticism: I was really hoping to get a better understanding of the Spanish Civil War and its politics. Maybe I did. But Robert Jordan and his cadre are not hardline Communists nor anarchists (they have special contempt for the latter) but "republicans" in their fight against the Fascists. Not a lot of background is given as to the roots of this conflict or the underlying motivations of each camp.

Overall, I feel I have been enriched by reading this book, and I like Hemingway's writing style (this is my first Hemingway since reading The Old Man and the Sea in 9th grade), but all in all, I understand why this has been called one of the "10 Books Not to Read in your Lifetime." Also: Did I have an edited version? What was with all of this "I 'obscenity' in your milk," etc.?

Editorial Review:

High in the pine forests of the Spanish Sierra, a guerrilla band prepares to blow up a vital bridge. Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer, has been sent to handle the dynamiting. There, in the mountains, he finds the dangers and the intense comradeship of war. And there he discovers Maria, a young woman who has escaped from Franco's rebels...

1001 Most Useful Spanish Words (Beginners' Guides)

Seymour Resnick

Amazon Price: $2.00 List Price: $2.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Dover Publications Amazon Marketplace: 51 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 100 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Outstanding value 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Particularly useful for intermediate-level speakers of the Spanish language. This book very concisely presents a wealth of vocabulary and demonstrates the grammar of each palabra introduced. For a very small price, it represents a terrific value.

Why Is This Book Useful? 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

After learning German from scratch, I realized about eight months later that my unwieldy and large German-English dictionaries were a drag. They were slow and clunky. When I decided to learn Spanish, the first thought I had was to find the right reference book for starting out with the basic vocabulary. This book has the perfect form and function for the beginning student. When I'm doing exercises, I can find the word I need in this book without skipping a beat or losing my train of thought. Buy this book if you're looking for efficiency. It has, for the most part, all the vocabulary a beginning student needs without the clutter of word entries a student doesn't need. It's easy to work with because I know from the moment I need it whether it will have the word I need or not. It's a two dollar workhorse that's a pleasure to use.

Editorial Review:

Indispensable learning aid includes definitions of common Spanish words arranged by such categories as foods, numbers, days of the week, months, colors, seasons and family. At the book's heart is a dictionary, from a to zapato, where each word is used in a Spanish sentence (with English translation) demonstrating its proper use.

The Groucho Letters: Letter From And To Groucho Marx

Groucho Marx

List Price: $16.00 By: Da Capo Press Amazon Marketplace: 2 new & used starting at $30.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

No personage is too big, no nuance too small, no subject too far out for Groucho’s spontaneous, hilarious, and ferocious typewriter. He writes to comics, corporations, children, presidents, and even his daughter’s boyfriend. Here is Groucho swapping photos with T. S. Eliot (”I had no idea you were so handsome!”); advising his son on courting a rich dame (”Don’t come out bluntly and say, ’How much dough have you got?’ That wouldn’t be the Marxian way”); crisply declining membership in a Hollywood club (”I don’t care to belong to any social organization that will accept me as a member”); reacting with utmost composure when informed that he has been made into a verb by James Joyce (”There’s no reason why I shouldn’t appear in Finnegans Wake. I’m certainly as bewildered about life as Joyce was”); responding to a scandal sheet (”Gentleman: If you continue to publish slanderous pieces about me, I shall feel compelled to cancel my subscription”); describing himself to the Lunts (”I eat like a vulture. Unfortunately the resemblance doesn’t end there”); and much, much more. That mobile visage, that look of wild amazement, and that weaving cigar are wholly captured, bound but untamed, in The Groucho Letters.

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Anne Lamott

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Anchor Amazon Marketplace: 212 new & used starting at $3.08

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 307 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Touching and funny 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Anne teaches writing and this book is based on what she shares with her class. I love the personal stories she tells, especially about her son, Sam. Writers often talk of "voice", and I feel I know Anne through this book. I can hear her voice.

She makes the serious memorable, but also funny. Writing is important, but she does urge us to not take it all too seriously.
She talks about the thrill of seeing oneself in print, but then the raging doubt and the self-loathing that can come sometimes.
It is full of lessons, like seeing the world through a tiny window and just describing that bit - and then widening it. Don't start with a big project, just write a short assignment.
Writing is not just for publication - it is it's own reward. Commit to finishing. She is realistic, encouraging but without promising the world. Highly recommended!

Editorial Review:

"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was  ten years old at the time, was trying to get a  report on birds written that he'd had three months to  write. It was due the next day. We were out at our  family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen  table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper  and pencils and unopened books on birds,  immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my  father sat down beside him, put his arm around my  brother's shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy.  Just take it bird by bird.'"

D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths

Ingri D'Aulaire, Edgar Parin D'Aulaires

List Price: $18.95 By: Airplay Audio Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 7 new & used starting at $9.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 145 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A great look into ancient Greece. 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

If and easy-to-read introduction into Greek Mythology is what you are seeking, then there is no need to look any longer. All the stories from Gaia and her children the Titans to the legendary gods atop Mt. Olympus and their children are explained in rich detail with fully colored illustrations, that alone are worthy of 5-stars. But the adventure doesn't stop there, all the minor and major events that are attributed to Greek Lore are presented in the same painstaking detail. This definitely a must for all lovers of Greek legend and even for those with minor interests.

Editor of the highly recommended Greek novel: Fates by Georgiou Tino.

Beautiful! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I got this book a long time ago when I was little, and even though some of the content was no doubt too old for me at the time, I still loved it and never grew tired of reading the book.

I use this as my guide to greek mythology still - the pictures are gorgeous, and the stories well done.

I'd recommend this for any Greek mythology lover.

Editorial Review:

The internationally renowned D'Aulaires offer a masterpiece for the entire family in this perfect retelling of Greek myths for children of all ages. 2 cassettes.