American Words and Ways [antikvár]

The European who has learned English from grammars and the síáíid&LÉ authors cannot speak correctly the language of the American home or of the American markét place. And if he has acquired his knowledge of American behavior from books of etiquette and modern literature he may be guilty of blunders as ridiculous to the observer as they are unhappy for himself. What the European-especially the European of Germán background-needs is a summary, specific and practical, of thepeculiarities of American daily speech, conduct, and point of view. To supply this information, the author divides his book into three sections: Speaking and Writing Colloquial American English, Social Forms and Social Customs in America, Differences in National Characteristics and Temperament. In the first of these, the European will discover, among other things, a guide to standard American pronunciation, a key to the vagaries of American tenses, a brief survey of American slang. In the second, he will be informed of American prejudices concerning such matters as shaking hands, the use of honorary titles, the custom of sending flowers. In the third, he will be initiated into the American habit of "kidding," will learn how Americans "talk shop," will observe how they behave when they get angry. The European making his home in this country must find a job, attract friends, fit himself into a vigorous and confusing way of Iife. He needs an interpreter of the Iife and the people, and that is what American Words and Ways, the first real attack on the problems of linguistic and social acclimatization, provides. And though this book is written for the use of European readers, Americans will read it for pleasure, and American teachers and students will welcome it as a refreshing and keen approach to the nuances of our own language and customs. Readers, moreover, interested in the problems of national temperament, will find that Mr. Whyte's chapters on Germán behavior provide a real insight into the psychology of that people. The Viking Press Publishers New York City