Product Description
The third edition of this groundbreaking book includes videotaped lectures in DVD or VHS format. Now teachers can use the audio program (available on both tapes and CD) with the support of video simulation of an academic lecture experience. Many new and updated lectures with high-interest topics are included.Lectures and readings on topics of universal interest provide stimulating content-based material for developing comprehension, notetaking, and academic study skills. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Thank you for good product!
I was really saticfied with this book. It said used one but the condition was really good such as New one!And the shipping was ok. I ordered on Thursday or Friday, I received Wednesday or Thursday.
Thank you so much for good product.

bad revision
I have used both the intermediate and advanced versions of this book. I got the new edition of the advanced book and was very disappointed. I don't like the topics of the lectures as well as the earlier edition. They weren't as clearly organized as the others. The professors seemed to ramble more. Furthermore, I didn't like the outlines for the lectures they gave in the new book. Finally, I didn't find as many note-taking tips. If you can, get the earlier edition of this book. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is about developing listening comprehension skills in the language classroom. In Part I, some essential background issues are dealt with. The author defines the characteristics of real-life listening, analyses the problems encountered by language learners, and discusses the considerations involved in planning successful classroom listening practice. Part II contains a wide variety of exercise types. The activities range in level from elementary to advanced and illustrate techniques appropriate for both adults and children. The exercises can be used as they stand or they can serve as models for teachers who wish to design their own materials. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Recommended book
Well, I take "Method of TESL" this semester. This book is recommendedbut not required. However, the professor did say "IF YOU WANNT TO TEACH ESL. THIS BOOK SHOULD BE ON YOUR BOOKSHELF". So it is on my bookshelf now.

interesting and practical
Teaching Listening Comprehension begins by identifying and focusing on two of the most fundamental and pertinent questions that English foreign language teachers ought to be asking; What does listening to English in real life entail? and What problems do second language learners face when trying to listen in a foreign language?The introduction, which is roughly one fifth of the book, deals specifically with these two issues, with the remaining hundred or so pages being made up of classroom activity examples. Ur's knowledge, experience and common sense, and her refusal to lose focus of what we are doing and why, make each of her suggestions worthy of time and consideration, and her clear and non-academic style of writing makes for easy reading, too. Although Teaching Listening Comprehension is now somewhat dated (it was written in the mid-eighties), the pedagogical principles are still basically the same as they used to be. You may not want to try out all of Ur's suggestions (who would?), but if you are looking for a thorough and practical guide to the nuts and bolts of listening in a foreign language and how to be an effective listening teacher, and you are prepared to modify Ur's exercise examples to suit your own teaching environment, then there is much to be gained from reading and using her book.

Excellent for listening!
The first part of this book is dedicated to the general principles of teaching listening comprehension to language learners. This part is really invaluable. Penny Ur is considered an authority in the teaching oflistening after writing this,at least here in Europe, and it is surely amust have for anyone involved in Language teaching.

It was originallypublished in 1984, however, and at points it may seem dated especially itssecond part with suggestions of listening exercises.

Even so I especiallyenjoyed the clear and informallanguage which presents the necessarytheoretical background without the academic stiffness. ... Read more

Product Description
The third edition of this groundbreaking book includes videotaped lectures in DVD or VHS format. Now teachers can use the audio program (available on both tapes and CD) with the support of video simulation of an academic lecture experience. Many new and updated lectures with high-interest topics are included.INTERMEDIATE LISTENING COMPREHENSION is designed to familiarize students with the major rhetorical patterns of formal, spoken English. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Outstanding Product for English Listening Development
Based on the 2 first lessons, it is a Very Excellent Product ! The lessons are very interesting and culturally enriching. They also are very well sequenced, in the sense of helping the listener to learn the vocabulary and the correct pronunciation of the words. I really loved the first 2 lessons (about Napoleon and the old Italian city of Pompeii, buried by the Vesuvio's ashes). Everything I listened and saw shows an outstanding product, that totally merits my payment. I highly recommend it !

Good Text
My S.O. is working out of this book for an ESL class at a local community college.Combines historical and other useful information along with the main goal of teaching English.Seems to be a well-thought out text though I really don't have any basis for comparison since I don't have much experience with ESL. ... Read more

Product Description
Pronunciation and Listening Comprehension in North American English. The Clear Speech, Third Edition, Teacher's Resource Book provides unit overviews, teaching suggestions, audio scripts, and answer keys for each unit in the Student's Book. It also includes diagnostic tests, 15 unit quizzes on photocopiable pages, and an audio CD that contains the listening material for the unit quizzes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Students really like this book
My students really like this book.I focus on pronunciation with my highly motivated and well educated adult students in NYC.They want to
improve their clarity of North American speech.They really like the paired exercises and the opportunity to practice the music of the language.

I received is student's resource book. So far not solved.
Hi,
I ordered is teacher's book, but received is student's book. I would like return it, but so far still not solved. Please help!

not as good as any other texbook
I have taken quite a few Pronunciation classes and used different textbooks. This one is not as good as any other books we used in class. The structure of the chapters are not very reasonable and clueless. Too many rules in books conflict with standard rules we learn all along. They may be correct, but obviously confuse people who are not native speakers. And some exercises are not well designed, kind of useless. I won't recommend this book to any non-native English speaker. It is not in the same level of any other textbook in any sense.

CLEAR SPEECH
THIS PROGRAM IS GOOD FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO LEARN ENGLISH. IT IS A GOOD WAY TO LEARN A PERFECT ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION. TRY IT.

A great book for non-native speakers
The book starts from clear listening tests which made sense. Introduction to syllable(s) and sound(s) by listening to the CD is very useful, plus the pics show how the lips change when the alphabet vowel sounds are being said. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Don't Buy If You're Trying to Learn By Yourself!
This is apparently the student's book to some random Spanish course. This is not a book to use to learn Spanish yourself. The first two sections, "Listening Comprehension" and "Speaking" are completely useless because you are supposed to listen to a teacher speak then answer questions. I thought that there would be a cd or something to listen to, but there is nothing! ... Read more

Product Description
Clear Speech from the Start gives beginning students immediate help in mastering the crucial elements of English pronunciation. Stressing basic pronunciation and listening comprehension in North American English,  Clear Speech from the Start concentrates on features that will have the most significant impact on a student's ability to understand and communicate with others. These features include rhythm, stress, intonation, and speech sounds that carry specific grammatical meaning. The text presents these features through kinesthetic exercises and visual and auditory modeling, thus making them accessible even to beginners. Each Student's Book comes with a student Audio CD that contains roughly one third of the exercises included in the class audio program. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Excelent book!
It is beautul book! It big help for my English. My teacher, when she look it for her said my: "It best prenansiation book!" Clear Speech from the Start Student's Book with Audio CD: Basic Pronunciation and Listening Comprehension in North American English

Wasn't what I was looking for.
I was looking for something I could use as an SLP.I didn't realize that buying this as a package with the other Clear Speech book was redundant, since they are different volumes for the same book.

Most Innovative Illustrative Technique
Now, I've seen some pretty innovative approaches to illustrating pronunciation.But this takes the prize so far.

From the author's letter to teachers:

"For years, teachers have been asking me to write a version of my intermediate level book, Clear Speech, that would be usable for beginners.They said that it would make more sense to help students with pronunciation early, rather than wait until they have developed habits that are hard to overcome.Also, teachers often found that their beginning students became discouraged when people didn't understand what they were saying, and of course, a discouraged student is harder to teach.Teachers who were trying to help their beginning students with pronunciation expressed frustration with the limited results they were getting from traditional methods of drilling minimal pair (e.g., ship/sheep) or asking students to "sound out" the letters in print.[ e.g. "Do you want to go to the store? / Doo yoo wahnt too goh too thuh stor?" ]They were asking for a more effective approach.

All of this made sense to me.But the problems was that I just couldn't think of an approach that would work.For one thing, beginners simply don't have enough vocabulary to understand explanations.And with so much else to learn, there isn't much class time for pronunciation.One thing was clear to me:A really useful book had to be radically different from any other in the field, including my own intermediate level book."

The author has succeeded beyond everyone's expectations.

It's good book
If you have some problem of English pronounciation,
You should use it.
Because it is really useful for them, and
it is really helpful.
So, you should use it if you have some problems.

Now ESL beginners can build clear pronunciation!
Conventional wisdom in the ESL/EFL world holds that pronunciation should not be taught at the beginning level. It's just too technical, requiring complicated descriptions and explanations for which beginning students don't have the vocabulary.

But if there were a way to make the material accessible? Even beginners need to communicate clearly -- intelligible speech fosters successful academic, work, and social interactions, and that's got to be encouraging for the student! Judy Gilbert's well-planned approach makes clear pronunciation truly accessible to beginners.The book -- rightly so -- limits the pronunciation points to those that are most urgently needed for intelligibility.The principle areas covered are: (1) the alphabet: using letters to spell out loud for clarification, (2) decoding spelling/reading words: using simple spelling rules to predict the pronunciation of a word, (3) syllable number: developing awareness of the number of syllables in words and phrases, being sure not to add unnecessary syllables or to omit necessary ones, (4) syllable stress: lengthening stressed vowels and reducing unstressed ones, (5) word connections: linking words together (this improves both listening comprehension and the smoothness of the student's speech), (6) the music of English: the pitch contours and rhythm of the language, and (7) articulation: t/d, s/z, l/r/n, and th.

There are some very cool things in this book for pronunciation teachers and learners.For example, there are tongue shape drawings looking from the back of the tongue to the front and out the mouth.Can't picture it?You'll have to see it to believe it!Along with the traditional front and side views, this new perspective really helps you visualize what's going on inside your mouth to produce a specific sound.I only wish there were drawings for all the American English vowels and consonants!!(But then it wouldn't be a beginning textbook, would it?)

I also like the vowel pronunciation rules.Example:the letters 'ai' are pronounced like the first letter [a] in the combination.Think: straight, complaint.Then, in the appendix, a percentage is given for how often the rule works, in this case, 95% of the time.This will give the student the confidence to guess how a new word is pronounced, take 'restraint', for example, but not stress out when the rule doesn't work, as in 'plaid'.

There are many helpful graphics in the book.Two of my favorites are the extra-wide bolded letters for stressed vowels (I think you can visualize that) and the diminishing letters for continuant sounds (Thatsssokay. The storezzznearrrMain [the second and third s's, z's, and r's have decreasing font sizes]).

I've been looking for a book like this for a long time.Mostly, I do corporate accent and pronunciation training and executive speech coaching with foreign-born clients who have a high intermediate to advanced command of English.But occasionally, I am asked to train employees who have a lower level of English.This is definitely the book I'll choose for them!Trainees can apply the basic concepts they learn to company-specific vocabulary and technical terms.

I only wish all learners of North American English could start out with this book... ... Read more

Product Description

Have you ever asked your students "Are you listening?" and felt uneasy that their response didn't distinguish listening from hearing? We expect children to spend fifty percent or more of their school day engaged in listening-comprehension activities, yet despite today's emphasis on skills-building in the language arts, most literacy curricula ignore the teaching of this crucial skill. Thanks to Listen Hear!, that's about to change.

Product Description
Yookoso!, meaning welcome in Japanese, is the first volume of a two-volume series for beginning Japanese courses. Based on modern principles of second-language acquisition, it was the first beginning Japanese text to integrate the teaching of all four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) and to be accompanied by a full complement of ancillary materials. Grammar is treated as a tool for developing the ability to communicate in Japanese, not as the focal point of the text. The illustration program (photographs, line drawings, realia) and the two-color, hardcover format is unique in this field, providing an attractive context for language learning. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

yookoso! An Invitation to Contemporary Japanese
I never received my order.I waited almost a month and requested Amazon to review and refund my order.Very disappointed.

bad bad bad`
I hate this book, it is not helpful, doesn't translate a lot of the exercises or examples so you don't really learn anything, you have to really search for the vocab, translation, grammer instructions, or even what chapter you are in. Bad book. Buy "Genki".

atama wa itai...
Actually, it's a fairly good book, but certain parts really make my head hurt. (as the above topic says) I'll start out with the good.

It has a decent amount of material. Approx 700-800 native words and non-english based loanwords, and around 200 required kanji, with perhaps 500 more shown. I'm glad that it touches Kanji, because many worse textbooks avoid it altogether for Japanese 1-2 (college) or Japanese 1. (HS) Like many people here, I was a serious language learner before I started taking the class, so the first semester was ridiculously easy, with a few of the Kanji being the main new material.

The classroom exercises are logical and good practice. I had lots of fun talking back and forth with classmates, especially because lots of them were just getting into it, heehee. They're valuable and sensible for functioning as a tourist in Japan, at least. Later chapters are more useful for those who plan on an extended visit, the closest to a "useless" chapter being the part in chapter 5 with terms to refer to your own family with. My family has no interest with Japan, it's only useful for plays/TV/RPGs or knowing what your host family's saying. =p

However, the most awkward aspect of the book was the romaji. Romaji is the term for the alphabetical representation of Japanese. Their version of romaji would represent ‚¨‚¤ and ‚¨‚¨ as "oo", along with ei/ee, which only causes confusion later when you switch to the kanas (japanese "alphabets") and have to remember which ones had special "rules." This is done to make them look closer to their pronunciations, and is completely unnecessary, because ‚¨‚¤ could have easily been ou.

The tapes themselves have a rough learning curve. After the first part or so, the speech goes straight to its maximum, native-like speed seen throughout the rest of the book. This leaves listeners running the tape over and over, no matter how well they can understand the sensei.

Harsh criticism aside, it's still a pretty good book, I'd have voted 3.5 stars if I could. My college could have easily chosen much worse.

hmm is 3 stars too much?
This book does not teach at a fast pace at all. When I completed just one semester of Japanese I already amassed 3Xs the vocabulary than what it has presented in this book. If you want to study at a slower pace then go ahead and get this. It does possess some properties that make it not totally bad but remeber that there are also better, CHEAPER, books out there. If you are studying outside of a class atmosphere using either a Japanese friend or the internet chatrooms you will have better luck with this book than a normal text.

shippai suru kanousei no aru mono wa, shippai suru.
I studied Japanese for about one year before taking the class. I have used several language texts, including ones that teach in kana/kanji and in roomaji.All of them were superior to Yookoso.I am not exaggerating when I say that this text is inferior to the others.

First, the organization of the chapters makes very little sense.The book tries to put things into vocabulary-based chapters and fails miserably at keeping things from fragmenting.After all, most of the grammar exercises are unrelated to the overall theme of the chapters; that is, the constructions provided do not correspond well with the ideas presented by the theme for the chapter.Moreover, the grammar exercises themselves appear to be fragmented--grammar points are covered, the text moves on, and they pop up again later in the chapter.Nothing seems to blend together and nothing builds upon what has been learned.At least, not as much as in other texts.

Yookoso's fragmented set-up is not its only problem.It often gives little or no explanation of the grammar points, merely throwing out one or two examples in lieu of a more detailed lesson.I realize that this is a classroom text, but every other classroom text I've used was superior in its explanations and examples.The grammar is addressed with examples of a grammar construction and a sentence or two explaining the basic uses in the Japanese language of said construction.Despite this, the evolution of such a construct, methods for combining grammar constructs, and more detailed examples are omitted.This text tries to distill the major points and in this, it succeeds.However, the lab manual does not merely ask for the basics.It asks for complex sentences when the examples themselves are so base that it FEELS like a textbook rather than living language.In other words, Yookoso provides simple, elementary sentences and demands complexity from students later in the laboratory portion.

Language must be presented so that the techniques can be mimicked.If I'd mimicked Yookoso, I wonder what the results would be. ... Read more

Product Description
A formal evaluation of students listening abilities is crucial in order that language teacher's can meet the pedagogical needs of their students. While there has been a considerable body of work done on assessing the listening abilities of native speakers, the issues surrounding the assessment of second language learners listening abilities are still emerging. This book outlines in an accessible manner the theory and research relating to the listening ability of foreign language learners. It provides language teachers with guidelines to design and develop suitable listening tasks for their students. ... Read more

Product Description
Listening comprehension is a vital part of language learning--but one that is frequently under-emphasized in Chinese textbooks except at the advanced level. To help fill that gap for beginning and intermediate students, here is Making Connections. It offers students an early start to develop strategies that will improve their listening comprehension.

The dialogues in the recordings are all natural and unrehearsed conversations by native Mandarin Chinese speakers; each dialogue has extensive written exercises that guide students through the conversation, and focus on particular aspects of the language that surfaced in the dialogue.

While this audio-and-book set is suitable for users of all first- and second-year textbooks, it will be especially helpful to users of the bestselling Integrated Chinese series. This is because in Lessons 1-23, Making Connections offers listening comprehension material that corresponds to the topics that are covered in Lessons 1-23 of Integrated Chinese ("Greetings," "Family," "Dates and Time," and so on).

The second part, starting with Lessons 24 through 46, offers topics that are varied and situational. Since they are arranged in order of difficulty level, these lessons can be used totally independently or concurrently with Lessons 1-23. As the conversations and exercises become increasingly challenging, intermediate-level students will be able to strengthen their listening abilities dramatically.

Whether it's used alone, with the Integrated Chinese series, or with other textbooks, Making Connections is the ideal resource for improving listening comprehension for beginning and intermediate students.

Simplified or traditional characters, with pinyin and English ... Read more

Product Description
This series features:
* separate listening/speaking and reading/writing volumes
* detailed teacher activity and planning manuals
* communicative, task-based, interactive classroom activities
* proficiency-based orientation
* focuses on the learner
* includes both forms of the Chinese character
* presents real-life, graded tasks in various contexts
* students develop their own strategies to express meaning
* already adopted by many secondary schools and college level programs

listening and speaking development in Hanyu Pinyin; illustrated withexercises; insightful cultural notes ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Communicting in Chinese Student lab workbook
I was looking for this book required for a mandarin class. It came in brand new condition as seller noted on the buy info for me on Amazon.com All info required was available to me on the website.No problems at all.Thank the seller for all his work and info. to sell this book.

Good beginning text but ....
For a beginning text, this provides a reasonably quick start for the beginning western learner.There are many frequently used phrases which you can just memorize and then later substitute different words.There are two flaws for the beginner in purchasing this book.First, the edition I have is all in pinyin with no introduction to Chinese characters. Some introduction to the characters is needed to add richness to the learning as well as to move on after completing the book. In this latest edition I see a reference in the description that some introduction to characters may now be included.The second flaw is more significant for the serious learner. After completing the book there is no migration path to the elementary and intermediate level. This is the situation I experienced. If you are serious about the Chinese language, then I would consider the Integrated Chinese series or the Ni Hao series which will take you from the beginning all the way through intermediate levels. Overall though, it is a good starting book for the beginning learner of Mandarin Chinese.

Great!
This book is very informative and a great learning tool for those just beginning to learn Chinese. The text is organized well and there is a handy dictionary in the back of the textbook.

Great textbook
The book is very down to earth and helpful for learning Chinese . The author approached Chinese via Communicative Learning Approach, which is very crucial for people who
want to acquire Chinese oral/aural skills.

Communicating in just a short while...
This text is well-formatted to give useful phrases for common dialogue.It has focused, short lessons that lead you through an idea and get you communicating quickly.It also includes cultural notes and some more important linguistic notes, (though it is not a heavy-duty linguistics book).It really delivers quickly with phrases you can use and understand right away.For pronunciation, though, I would recommend the tapes as well. ... Read more

Product Description
This title outlines an approach created by the authors that has already been successfully used to improve the listening skills of over 600 children. Listening isn't a language problem, it's about being able to concentrate. And listening is at the heart of learning: poor listening prevents children from learning. Children, themselves, generally don't understand what good listening is, so there is little point in teachers saying: Listen to me. This book outlines an approach created by the authors that has already been successfully used to improve the listening skills of over 600 children. This in turn has had positive effects on both behaviour and learning. The book explains how listening develops and how to teach good listening. It provides an extensive range of activities to teach each of the four rules of good listening, and includes an easy-to-use assessment tool to measure progress and support target setting. The book also offers strategies that will enable children to listen well in all learning situations so that teachers can generalise good listening throughout school. Online and photocopiable resources to support activities are included. ... Read more

Product Description
Available in a 2-volume format, Nachalo is the most exciting text available for beginning Russian courses. Written by a respected team of Russian scholars and linguists, Nachalo presents grammar functionally and teaches students the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing within the context of a wealth of cultural information. The abundant practice material in Nachalo ranges from focused and controlled to open-ended and communicative. Nachalo features an on-going story set in Russia with a cast of Russian and American characters, exposing students to new vocabulary and structures in authentic situations. Most exciting of all, Nachalo includes the most extensive package of support materials for any beginning Russian text on the market, including a video tied specifically to the text, shot on location in Moscow. The Second Edition is even more powerful with a text-specific Website and an all new student CD-ROM. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Nachalo Book 2
I used both Nachalo books in my university's Russian Language courses and definitely learned a lot. The course, while sometimes sporadic and a little funny, is well put together and introduces topics in a manner which promotes solid learning. The speaking examples for the most part are good, but sometimes led to confusion between me and my partners in Russian, being easily completed or, conversely, difficult. The workbook is a must to get the most out of the book, as is a good Russian dictionary and verb book, which the book lacks in completeness. I am definitely keeping both of my books as I complete my Russian minor. They are invaluable aids on my way to mastering Russian.

CDs loose in textbook
The Nachalo Book 2 arrived quickly and in good condition. However, I am disappointed because the two Listening Comprehension CDs that come with the textbook were both put inside the pages of the book uncovered. I'm not sure yet whether the CDs are damaged, but I will be disappointed if scratches resulting from this careless packaging ruin the CDs. A soft slipcover for the CDs would have been sufficient.

Pleased with Nachalo Book 2
Nachalo Book 2 is a superb textbook for learning Russian. The grammar is clearly explained, there are easy-to-follow exercises for each new topic, the readings are interesting and cover a wide array of themes, and there is even cultural information - about life in Russia - included in English. I'm taking an intermediate Russian course at the local university, and this book is a great guide.

This is not a book!!!
I had expected to receive a soft cover, spiral bound edition of Nachalo 2.Instead, I received a spiral bound set of CDs to accompany volume 2. ... Read more

Product Description
An innovative new film-based program designed to motivate and inspire beginning French students.Based on the French film, Le Chemin du retour, Debuts is a completely integrated program for the first year French course.

Le Chemin du retour is a two-hour feature-length film, divided into twenty-two episodes and an Epilogue.Each episode includes on-screen pre- and post-viewing activities that make the film accessible to students.Episodes are about fifteen minutes in length and correspond to the chapters in the textbook.Over eight hours of viewing bring the richness of French language and culture to beginning students, while at the same time exposing them to clear and natural French that they CAN understand.

Le Chemin du retour is an engaging story about a young French journalist, Camille Leclair, and her pursuit of the truth about her grandfather's past.Through Camille's quest, students are introduced to many facets of today's French and Francophone cultures as well as to important historical events in France.They learn language in the functional context provided by the film, and concepts are reinforced by the on-screen activities that help students verify their comprehension.

Debuts, the textbook, is coordinated with the individual episodes of the film and offers students additional pre-and post-viewing activities.Vocabulary and grammar presentations and exercises recycle and expand on dialogue and concepts in the film and also help students to talk about their own lives.Finally, the cultural content of the film is further explored in cultural notes and readings in each chapter. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Not at all bland like other language texts!!
This book was used in my university class in San Diego. The combination of watching a movie in French and doing exercises that relate to the film's content made life a lot more interesting for the class. We looked forward to classes because we were involved in the story. Great resource for teachers and students who want to learn on their own.

Worst French language book.
I have taken 2 French classes and they both used this book. One of the authors is a professor at my university which is why it is required. I found it to be both dull and uninformative. Also, the movie that accompanies the book is very cheesy and dated (in my opinion).

There are better books out there
I used this book in introductory French.It is tied directly to a movie that is supposedly about French culture...the movie is soap opera and does not help you learn any more French than would interactive classroom activities and real French cinema.The movie is supposed to detail diversity in French; however, a trip to Maroc is as diverse as it gets.My guess is that the authors didn't want to expose intro students to the real facts behind French colonialism and why it is a global language. ... Read more

Product Description
This classroom set of 10 cassettes has been designed to accompany a French language course for fourth and fifth-year students. It provides practice in listening and reading comprehension based entirely upon authentic French conversations recorded in Paris and Britanny. ... Read more