Everyday English for Grown-Ups: Getting to Grips with the Basics by Michelle Finlay
| Everyday English for Grown-Ups: Getting to Grips with the Basics by Michelle Finlay | |
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| Category: Reference | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: A primer for adults (both native and non-native English speakers) which covers all the basics in an easy-to-digest and witty manner. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 192 | Date: March 2015 |
| Publisher: Michael O'Mara Books Ltd | |
| ISBN: 978-1782433347 | |
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It can seem a long time since we learned the nuts and bolts of the English language when we were at school. At the time the niceties of colons and intricacies of apostrophes weren't really that relevant to our lives and it's only when we miss out on a good job because our English isn't up to scratch or someone makes a scathing remark about our abuse of the language that we realise that we could do with an urgent and discreet brushup. Step forward Everyday English for Grown-ups - and it's aimed at native and non-native English speakers.
The book starts with the basics - the nuts and bolts or parts of speech - and works its way through nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, pronouns and all those other little bits which no one can ever remember what they're for. Throughout the book all the points are illustrated by good, relevant examples and it's very simple to get to grips with the points being made. After we've got the different parts of speech we need we move on to sentences in all their forms. There's considerable emphasis placed on punctuation which is where many people find their English fails them and I was particularly impressed by the paragraphs on apostrophes, colons and semicolons.
The chapters on spelling and pronunciation are well and wittily done and manage to be of assistance to both the native and non-native English speaker without being patronising to either. The book goes beyond the usual English grammar primer in covering letter writing and CVs in some depth and it will be particularly suitable for a native English speaker who wishes to brush up on their grammar or for a non-native English speaker who already has a reasonable command of the language. I suspect that it would also be more than a little useful when assistance is required at homework time.
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.
For more help with brushing up your English we can recommend Cliches: Avoid Them Like the Plague by Nigel Fountain, I Used to Know That: English by Patrick Scrivenor and Style Guide by The Economist.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Everyday English for Grown-Ups: Getting to Grips with the Basics by Michelle Finlay at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Everyday English for Grown-Ups: Getting to Grips with the Basics by Michelle Finlay at Amazon.com.
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