No Stinkin Grammar

The Author’s work reflects researching the intricacies of the English language. The section about spelling reinforces the point that learning to spell words is a matter of memorization, given the immense number of exceptions to every rule of spelling. One cannot simply spell a word by using the letters that one hears when saying the word. English is an exceptionally difficult language both to learn and to teach, as clearly pointed out in both No Stinkin’ Grammar I and the current volume. I urge English teachers to read these books, not only for further knowledge of the English language, but also to remind themselves that the teaching of English grammar, writing, and spelling is a monumental and essential task. No Stinkin’ Grammar II delves deeply into the intricacies of the English language. The Author’s insight is presented in an easy-to-read, sometimes humorous approach. He presents information from the viewpoint of a writer who is challenged by the “stinkin’ grammar” of the exceptional English language.

Written from an Anthropological viewpoint, No Stinkin Grammar presents a humorous and sometimes satirical consideration of rules and exceptions in modern English. Beginning with the familiar sentence diagram and proceeding through the intricacies of use and misuse of modern English, it details frequently confusing and often contradictory applications of our language. Not offering a text on grammar or syntax it considers such elements of modern English as Wikipedia, silent letters, the origins and history of modern usage, spelling versus spoken English, the spelling bee, oxymorons, homonyms, Post It notes, cursive script, and other interesting features of American (US) English. Interesting to Teachers and students alike, it examines our language not from its core but at its perimeter where the rules are often fuzzy and even contradictory. It provides and amusing look at the language we share.

The Author's work reflects researching the intricacies of the English language. The section about spelling reinforces the point that learning to spell words is a matter of memorization, given the immense number of exceptions to every rule of spelling. One cannot simply spell a word by using the letters that one hears when saying the word. English is an exceptionally difficult language both to learn and to teach, as clearly pointed out in both No Stinkin' Grammar I and the current volume. I urge English teachers to read these books, not only for further knowledge of the English language, but also to remind themselves that the teaching of English grammar, writing, and spelling is a monumental and essential task. No Stinkin' Grammar II delves deeply into the intricacies of the English language. The Author's insight is presented in an easy-to-read, sometimes humorous approach. He presents information from the viewpoint of a writer who is challenged by the "stinkin' grammar" of the exceptional English language.

Essential and engaging essays about the joys and challenges of creative writing and teaching creative writing by a host of Canada’s leading writers.

Recalling an early upbringing in rural Illinois, the author relates the natural and academic influences on his philosophy beginning as a boy, including hunting, trapping, farming, and living in a small Midwestern community. The people, places, and events characteristic of small town life are recalled with a flair toward humor and an appreciation of times less hectic. Saturday night fish-fry gatherings, oiling the local streets, hunting, gathering natural resources, a myriad of other events comprising the fabric of small-town life intertwine in a story of individual development.

Sometimes setting pen to paper requires bravery, and writing well means breaking free of the rules learned in school. Liberating and emboldening the beginning writer are the goals of Ted Kooser and Steve Cox in this spirited book of practical wisdom that brings to bear decades of invaluable experience in writing, teaching, editing, and publishing. Unlike ?how to write? books that dwell on the angst and the agony of the trade, Writing Brave and Free is upbeat and accessible. The focus here is the work itself: how to get started and how to keep going, and never is heard a discouraging word such as ?no,? ?not,? or ?never.? Because of the wealth of their experience, the authors can offer the sort of practical publishing advice that novices need and yet rarely find. Organized in brief, user-friendly chapters?on everything from sensory details to a work environment, from creating suspense to revising and taking criticism?the book allows aspiring (and practicing) writers to dip in anywhere and find something of value.

A uniquely compelling, refreshingly practical and unimpeachably informed how-to guide for aspiring and published nature writers.

An examination of more than sixty years of successes and failures in developing technologies that allow computers to understand human spoken language. Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey famously featured HAL, a computer with the ability to hold lengthy conversations with his fellow space travelers. More than forty years later, we have advanced computer technology that Kubrick never imagined, but we do not have computers that talk and understand speech as HAL did. Is it a failure of our technology that we have not gotten much further than an automated voice that tells us to “say or press 1”? Or is there something fundamental in human language and speech that we do not yet understand deeply enough to be able to replicate in a computer? In The Voice in the Machine, Roberto Pieraccini examines six decades of work in science and technology to develop computers that can interact with humans using speech and the industry that has arisen around the quest for these technologies. He shows that although the computers today that understand speech may not have HAL's capacity for conversation, they have capabilities that make them usable in many applications today and are on a fast track of improvement and innovation. Pieraccini describes the evolution of speech recognition and speech understanding processes from waveform methods to artificial intelligence approaches to statistical learning and modeling of human speech based on a rigorous mathematical model—specifically, Hidden Markov Models (HMM). He details the development of dialog systems, the ability to produce speech, and the process of bringing talking machines to the market. Finally, he asks a question that only the future can answer: will we end up with HAL-like computers or something completely unexpected?