THE FRENCH EXPERIENCE 2 COURSE BOOK (NEW EDITION)

Benjamin Blech

Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Yiddish

You're not idiot, of course. You can serve up a mean s'il vous plait in a French bistro, live la vida loca for a night of margaritas, and manage a sayonara after sushi, sake, and karaoke. But when it comes to throwing around a little Yiddish, you feel like a total nebbish Don't throw your hands in a helpless "Oy, vey" just yet The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Yiddish is your guide to this unique tongue, whether you're tackling rules of grammar or just throwing around some key phrases so you sound a little less goyish. In this Complete Idiot's Guide you get a fascinating explanation of how and why Yiddish developed, an easy introduction to the Yiddish alphabet, as well as the distinctive sound of Yiddish, and all the Yiddish you'll need for communicating with family and friends or for bargain-hunting on New York's Lower East Side. This book contains a treasury of Yiddish words and phrases for every occasion.

Michael Wex

Born to Kvetch: Yiddish Language and Culture in All of Its Moods

A delightful excursion through the Yiddish language, the culture it defines and serves, and the fine art of complaintThroughout history, Jews around the world have had plenty of reasons to lament. And for a thousand years, they've had the perfect language for it. Rich in color, expressiveness, and complexity, Yiddish has proven incredibly useful and durable. Its wonderful phrases and idioms impeccably reflect the mind-set that has enabled the Jews of Europe to survive a millennium of unrelenting persecution . . . and enables them to kvetch about it Michael Wex—professor, scholar, translator, novelist, and performer—takes a serious yet unceasingly fun and funny look at this remarkable kvetch-full tongue that has both shaped and has been shaped by those who speak it. Featuring chapters on curse words, food, sex, and even death, he allows his lively wit and scholarship to roam freely from Sholem Aleichem to Chaucer to Elvis.Perhaps only a khokhem be-layle (a fool, literally a "sage at night," when there's no one around to see) would care to pass up this endearing and enriching treasure trove of linguistics, sociology, history, and folklore—an intriguing appreciation of ...

Eric H. Roth, Toni W. Aberson

Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics

This innovative ESL/EFL textbook helps advanced English language learners develop conversation skills and improve fluency by sharing experiences, reflecting on their lives, and discussing quotations. The fluency-focused English textbook for advanced English language learners includes 45 thematic chapters, over 1,350 questions, 500 vocabulary words, 250 proverbs and American idioms, and 500 quotations. Designed for adult education, international college, and intensive English language students, the conversations and activities deepen critical thinking skills and develop speaking skills essential to success in community college and university programs. Compelling Conversations has been used in classrooms in over 50 countries, recommended by English Teaching Professional magazine, adopted by conversation clubs and private English tutors, and enjoyed by thousands of English students.