Wird geladen
Informationen über das Buch
Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World
Verfasst von Benny Lewis
Gesprochen von Benny Lewis
Buchaktionen
Mit Anhören beginnenBeschreibung
An Unconventional Guide to Start Speaking a New Language Today
Benny Lewis is the creator of www.fluentin3months.com, the largest language learning blog in the world. His proven techniques break down language learning myths and replace them with practical "language hacks" that take advantage of the skills we already possess. Fluent in 3 Months provides everything you need to make learning a new language fast, intuitive, and fun.
Buchaktionen
Mit Anhören beginnenInformationen über das Buch
Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World
Verfasst von Benny Lewis
Gesprochen von Benny Lewis
Beschreibung
An Unconventional Guide to Start Speaking a New Language Today
Benny Lewis is the creator of www.fluentin3months.com, the largest language learning blog in the world. His proven techniques break down language learning myths and replace them with practical "language hacks" that take advantage of the skills we already possess. Fluent in 3 Months provides everything you need to make learning a new language fast, intuitive, and fun.
Über den Autor
BL![]()
Rezensionen
Well, yes, you could be fluent in three months if need be, and you could immerse yourself completely in an environment speaking your target language, but the title is a bit of a hyperbole. Nonetheless, Lewis has a lot of really good ideas for increasing exposure to your target language and inspires a passion for learning it.
A lot of great tips and interesting insights into learning new language.
I got this at the library because I wondered if it contained any suggestions that I haven't already picked up in years of learning languages. The answer is, unfortunately, no. It wasn't horrible, but I'm glad I didn't pay for it. I don't think there's much new information here, and it all boils down to this: speak the language as much as possible as early as possible. I didn't need this book to tell me that.
Not a huge amount in here beyond what's already on the blog, and a bit underwhelming as a result. Still - all the lessons are valid and you can't fault the approach.
Quite helpful really, even for those who are fluent in many languages already.
Basically, have passion for your target language and start speaking as soon as possible with native speakers, the end.
One of the better books I've read on how to learn and maintain a new language. ?
Some good points, but I found every chapter repeated the same information multiple times.
It's worth a read. I don't count it as a great novel and at times, I was ready to lose interest but I would still recommend giving it a try. It has won some awards so a lot of people with more insight than me thought it was good.
Have no idea why this was a National Book Award winner. That's all I'll say!
A beautifully crafted book, and beautifully written. A woman writing in the voice of a man recalling events when he was 13 is no small feat, and I think she pulled it off.
I chose to listen to the audio version of this book because it is one of the books being voted on for our local libraries Big Read. I really enjoyed the story line and the setting on an American Indian reservation. The inspiring legends and stories immerse you in the world of Native Americans. The characters were very real for me and I was truly sympathetic with the main family in the story but of course more so with Joe. The 13 year old who feels a duty to bring justice to his Mother for the crime committed against her. I enjoyed how Louise wove in the Catholic beliefs with the Tribal traditions. The dedication of the young men to each other is moving. There are many layers in this story to keep you thinking and reading.
Both of my book clubs chose to read this latest work by Louise Erdrich this month. It is both the 2012 National Book Award Winner and a 2013 WNBA Great Group Reads selection. I hadn't read anything by Erdrich in a very long time until this appeared on both schedules, not having been overly fond of her books in the past and despite the fact that many readers I respect very much have loved them. So I went into this with low expectations and was, for the most part, pleasantly surprised. Told at a remove of many years by a now adult Joe, this is the story of the summer he was thirteen, when his whole world was shattered an remade innocence-free, full of disillusion, and far more adult than it ever should have been. It is the story of the summer his mother was brutally attacked, raped, and barely escaped with her life in a crime that rocked the very foundations of what Joe believes in, his understanding of the justice system, and the way that the world works. Joe's summer is supposed to be spent hanging out with his best friends Cappy, Zack, and Angus, talking about Star Trek and girls but when his mother returns home from work unexpectedly late one evening, covered in blood and drenched in gasoline, his summer takes on a far more menacing hue. His father, Bazil, is a tribal judge and he enlists Joe's help sorting through past cases on which he ruled, in order to try and find possible suspects in the attack. Meanwhile, Joe's mother, Geraldine who has been in charge of tribal enrollment and verifying Indian heritage, retreats into herself, maintaining a blank-eyed silence about all of it, claiming that she didn't know who her attacker was. Of more importance than the identity of her attacker, is the fact that she doesn't know exactly where the attack happened. It was at the Round House, a sacred building for the Ojibwa, but also a place where three different jurisdictions come together: tribal, state, and federal. Without knowing the exact location and because the attacker is non-Native, there can be no persecution of this heinous crime. But Joe is unable to let the inadequate justice system fail his mother and his people and he and his friends start digging into the evidence. They uncover even more than they had expected and set a plan in motion that will change them forever. In this work, Erdrich addresses the inequalities still evidenced in the treatment of and justice offered to Native Americans. She includes long passages about the history of Native American rights and about the culture and heritage of the Ojibwa people. Some of these passages move the story along and others are diversions that can feel out of place in the tale Joe's telling. There are a plethora of characters in the story and most of them are very well fleshed out although a few of them seem to exist only to offer up long digressions out of the flow of the narrative. The narration itself, being told by the adult Joe, yet through his 13 year old eyes can be somewhat conflicted, sometimes offering observations that are out of character for a young teenager but not noted as being from his adult perspective so many years later. The issues raised here are deep and troubling. On the surface, Erdrich is writing about the definition of family; loyalty, both filial and fraternal; the confluence and question of place; and a history that continues to reverberate terribly today. But on a deeper level, she is also addressing the sacred and the profane, silence and stories, and most importantly the question of vengeance versus justice and the many permutations of injustice. She addresses the disenfranchising of women through not only Geraldine's (and Sonya's) inherent femaleness but doubly in Geraldine's case because she is Native American woman and so twice impotent. She captures the sad but inevitable change in a child's vision of his parents, moving Joe from the simple perception of his father and mother as strong and worthy to a disdain for their weakness and inadequacy and ultimately to a more realistic and better understanding of them as human beings with much more complexity to their characters than he had previously allowed. The pace of the narrative is slow and meandering and it is akin to watching a horror movie and wanting to tell the victim "don't go down there, don't open the door, get out while you still can." In other words, there's no question where Joe's desire for justice is going to take him. In the predictable aftermath though, the story takes a confusing and seemingly random twist which I still can't explain in terms of the themes of the story even though it was alluded to right from the very beginning of Joe's reminiscences. Accessibly written over all, this is a glimpse into a terrible truth of Native culture and all that informs it and if I found weaknesses in it, I still think that it contains the seeds of many varied discussions.
Wow. Wow. What else can I say about this. I have read a lot of Erdrich's work, though not all (she is mightily prolific.) I have always admired her work, but never loved it until now. This book feels so intimate I feel as though I lived it with Joe. I won't recap, but I will make a promise inspired by the Round House; I will never scoff at innocence again. Innocence is a beautiful thing.
This book was sad, but I liked it. I don't think it will stick with me.
Louise Erdrich is a well-known author and National Book Award winner with this story. While the tale revolves around rape and justice, it's real interest lies in the connection to native Americans and their struggle with the inequity of justice and the uncertainty in prosecution due to legal jurisdictional questions.I found the story to be well written and interesting but I would not have placed it among National Book Award winners. It may well be one of the author's best novels, however, and a must read for Erdrich fans.
After a horrible crime is inflicted upon his mother, Joe’s stable, happy family life is forever changed. Joe takes it upon himself to think through the crime, to solve it, and finally, to bring the perpetrator to justice. But still, Joe is only a thirteen-year-old boy. At times, he acts his age and yet at other times, he seems to possess the thinking and purpose of an adult man. This novel will captivate you as well as amuse and horrify you. Filled with Native American lore, it speaks of a culture and mores that are likely different from those you know. Perhaps a bit lengthy, it seems to lose focus of what story it is really telling, but perhaps that is what the author wished: to weave together several story threads to make a colorful tale.
A great coming-of-age novel. Poignant, wise, and some genuinely funny moments.
Moral evil is different. It is caused by human beings. A person does something deliberately to another person to cause pain and torment. That is a moral evil. Page 253Thirteen year old Joe has to come to terms with his mother's brutal rape on the reservation they call home. A boy who is suddenly thrust into the world of men must navigate the complicated realm of justice, retribution, and racial discrimination with little adult guidance, while his trio of rag tag friends become one of the few sources of solace and comfort. Alone he will bear upon his growing shoulders the sins of a community without the understanding nor the wisdom to comprehend the repercussions of his actions. I appreciated Erdrich's ability to paint the horrible circumstances around the crime that is central to the story without being too graphic, but still being able to convey the gravity of the situation. She draws us into Joe's mind, his confusion, his anger, his frustration, without holding back while being completely authentic at the same time, letting his character shine for itself. The story is unapologetic, unassuming, and a wonderful example of how to tell the story from a young person's perspective without making it juvenile or unbelievable. A worthwhile and immersive narrative. Recommended.
An Indian woman is violently raped on the reservation, and her son, now grown, narrates the story of how his thirteen year old self dealt with it. There’s lots about family and friendship and of course Indian legal issues. The relationships the kid has with his friends and family feel really true. I loved it even though it has one of my most hated tropes, kids trying to solve a (potentially dangerous) situation on their own. The descriptions of ghosts and the tales his grandfather tells are perfectly done, and fit neatly into the images of the rez and his world where spiritual and practical things meet. There are many beautiful images of people and Indian lives, like a description of older women dressing up and then dancing gracefully at a pow wow.
This was just not for me. The characters never really engaged my interest. The individual who recommended the book loved it, though.
In the The Round House, we see the world through the eyes of Joseph Coutts over the course of one life-altering summer. As a 13-year-old living in a small town on a North Dakota Indian reservation, the only existence Joe has ever known is shattered after a brutal assault on his mother that very nearly kills her. The resulting trauma from this event causes both his parents to withdraw into themselves—albeit in very different ways—which leaves Joe largely on his own to deal with the emotional fallout from the attack. Despite the support he receives from his extended family and his three best friends, Joe struggles to balance the desire to return his life to the way it used to be with a deeply felt need to avenge his mother. How he investigates the crime and comes to grips with what he is willing to do in the name of justice forms the essential plot of the novel.With this National Book Award-winning story, Louise Erdrich successfully juggles several different themes: a coming-of-age tale, a crime-and-revenge story, a legal thriller, and a treatise on gender and racial inequality. In fact, in the Afterword, the author makes her ostensible mission clear with some startling statistics about the incidence of sexual assault on the reservation and the myriad historical and legal obstacles that prevent the successful prosecution of those cases. To be sure, though, The Round House rises far above the level of a simple harangue about social injustice. Indeed, Erdrich’s flowing prose is at once poignant, earthy, and occasional humorous; with it, she paints a compelling and deeply moving portrait of a disenfranchised culture and one young man’s place in it. While some aspects of the book felt forced (e.g., the heavy-handed use of foreshadowing, the morally questionable resolution), this was nonetheless an engaging and satisfying story that was a pleasure to read.
"The Round House: A Novel" is not ordinarily a novel that I would select on my own to read. However, it was a selection choice for me as part of LibraryThing's Secret Santa 2014. I am glad that the novel was brought to my attention.After reading the novel, I wanted to learn more about the author, Louise Erdrich and discovered she is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, a band of the Anishinaabe (also known as Ojibwe and Chippewa). “The Round Table: A Novel” has received multiple awards and honors as has the author herself in many genres of her writing from poetry to children’s books to novels featuring Native American characters and settings.But it is not as an award winner that I would call this novel to another reader’s attention but due to the compelling way in which the story is shared. At first the reader might perceive it is merely a coming of age story of a teenage boy, on the cusp of manhood, living on an Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota. But that is just one of the woven features of the novel. It also serves to call attention to a “tangle of laws that hinder prosecution of rape cases on many reservations” and sadly that this injustice “still exists.” This novel is not for the faint of heart. It is not merely women’s fiction. It is a coming of age story that peels back the layers of the intricacies in moving from boyhood to manhood, a mystery filled with emotions and suspense. It is also a story of parenting and presents the subtleties of protecting and shielding a child, to sharing family secrets, to the gifts and curses of independent thinking and decisions on behalf of one’s family. As the reader finishes the last chapter of the novel, I can’t imagine anyone ever being the same as the story written in hauntingly beautiful language seeps into every corner of one’s soul. It is a novel that should be read by every adult American (women and men) to prompt action, to awaken our humanity, and to stop the injustices to women in our own country.
I enjoyed the book and did have a hard time putting it down. And when I could not be reading, it was calling my name. It reminded me a bit of Ivan Doig's work about Montana. A book about real life, how things happen, and how people make decisions which may or may not be the best choices. And about living through these events, and living your life as best as you can, with and without regrets. And the pain and the joy of intimate friends and family.
This is one of the best book's I've read for a long time. Louise Erdrich is a fantastic story teller and pulls off narrating her tale through the eyes of a 13-year-old boy. Great stuff and glad to see there's lots of back catalogue to read.
In The Round House, Joe (a Native American) recalls the summer when he was 13 and his mother was raped. The central story is the investigation of the rape, and the difficulties surrounding the prosecution. But the narrative goes off on many tangents and circles back around. It ends up painting a very rich picture of the Indian reservation community and culture, while telling a story with unforeseen twists.I listened to this on audio. The narrator's Native American cadence added to the authenticity, but be warned that is slow. Impatient readers/listeners may prefer the print version.
Audiobook performed by Gary Farmer.
On a summer Sunday, Geraldine Coutts, a tribal clerk living on a reservation in North Dakota, is brutally attacked. Her husband, Bazil, and her 13-year-old son, Joe, accompany her to the hospital, but details of the crime are unknown because Geraldine refuses to discuss what happened. As his mother retreats into sadness and despair, and his father tries without success to get justice, Joe feels that he alone will be able to heal his mother and return his family to normal. Backed by his trusty friends – Cappy, Zack and Angus – Joe takes it upon himself to find evidence and bring the perpetrator to justice.
It is obvious from the dust jacket that this novel will deal with issues of justice. Rape is a horrific crime wherever it occurs. Many victims have difficulty getting justice, but Erdrich shines a bright light on the arcane laws and regulations that govern tribal lands and make getting a conviction in a case such as the one depicted in this novel all but impossible. The facts and figures she includes in the Afterward are eye-opening and disturbing. But the story touches upon much more than this central issue.
Characters in the novel have to come to grips with personal responsibility, PTSD, loyalty, alcoholism and domestic abuse. But Erdrich does not simply wallow in the negative. She shows us a loving family unit with an extended network of friends and relatives who support and cherish one another. She explores a rich cultural heritage as well. The oral story-telling traditions serve to impart valuable lessons from one generation to the next. Mooshum’s long story of the “woman who cannot be killed” and the buffalo reminded me of the kinds of stories my grandparents would tell about our long-gone ancestors. Stories which left us wide-eyed with amazement at a young age, laughing and/or bored in our teens, and nodding in agreement at the lessons imparted later in life: “Oh, that’s what he was getting at!”
Some reviews have expressed frustration with the slow-moving plot. But I think that is deliberate on Erdrich’s part. It mimics the frustration of the victims of the crime with the slow progress towards justice. It also rings true for a child narrator who would have limited access to direct information and be relying on his interpretation of what he manages to overhear – including gossip, innuendo and incomplete facts being related second- or third-hand. And I rather enjoyed some of the more light-hearted scenes – including the boys’ obsession with Star Trek the Next Generation, and the lusty banter of Grandma Ignatia. Such scenes serve to relieve the tension.
As I’ve found in other works by her, Erdrich writes in a style that is lyrical and flowing. Her descriptions bring the landscape to life for me. I was a little put-off by the conspiracy of silence that envelopes the ending. I would love to freely discuss this with someone else who has read the book.
Gary Farmer does a very good job narrating the audio version of the book. However, he has a “gravelly” voice and there were times when I had trouble figuring out which person was speaking because he did not give them sufficiently unique voices.
On a summer Sunday, Geraldine Coutts, a tribal clerk living on a reservation in North Dakota, is brutally attacked. Her husband, Bazil, and her 13-year-old son, Joe, accompany her to the hospital, but details of the crime are unknown because Geraldine refuses to discuss what happened. As his mother retreats into sadness and despair, and his father tries without success to get justice, Joe feels that he alone will be able to heal his mother and return his family to normal. Backed by his trusty friends – Cappy, Zack and Angus – Joe takes it upon himself to find evidence and bring the perpetrator to justice.
It is obvious from the dust jacket that this novel will deal with issues of justice. Rape is a horrific crime wherever it occurs. Many victims have difficulty getting justice, but Erdrich shines a bright light on the arcane laws and regulations that govern tribal lands and make getting a conviction in a case such as the one depicted in this novel all but impossible. The facts and figures she includes in the Afterward are eye-opening and disturbing. But the story touches upon much more than this central issue.
Characters in the novel have to come to grips with personal responsibility, PTSD, loyalty, alcoholism and domestic abuse. But Erdrich does not simply wallow in the negative. She shows us a loving family unit with an extended network of friends and relatives who support and cherish one another. She explores a rich cultural heritage as well. The oral story-telling traditions serve to impart valuable lessons from one generation to the next. Mooshum’s long story of the “woman who cannot be killed” and the buffalo reminded me of the kinds of stories my grandparents would tell about our long-gone ancestors. Stories which left us wide-eyed with amazement at a young age, laughing and/or bored in our teens, and nodding in agreement at the lessons imparted later in life: “Oh, that’s what he was getting at!”
Some reviews have expressed frustration with the slow-moving plot. But I think that is deliberate on Erdrich’s part. It mimics the frustration of the victims of the crime with the slow progress towards justice. It also rings true for a child narrator who would have limited access to direct information and be relying on his interpretation of what he manages to overhear – including gossip, innuendo and incomplete facts being related second- or third-hand. And I rather enjoyed some of the more light-hearted scenes – including the boys’ obsession with Star Trek the Next Generation, and the lusty banter of Grandma Ignatia. Such scenes serve to relieve the tension.
As I’ve found in other works by her, Erdrich writes in a style that is lyrical and flowing. Her descriptions bring the landscape to life for me. I was a little put-off by the conspiracy of silence that envelopes the ending. I would love to freely discuss this with someone else who has read the book.
Gary Farmer does a very good job narrating the audio version of the book. However, he has a “gravelly” voice and there were times when I had trouble figuring out which person was speaking because he did not give them sufficiently unique voices.
This is the story of a 13 year old boy and how he deals with his mother's rape and assault. I liked this book, the voice of the boy was so genuine and intelligent you could not help but sympathize and secretly hope he sets out to accomplish his plan to help his mother. Recommended.
The Round House is a layered story. On one level, it is a coming of age story about a boy whose family is changed forever after the brutal rape of his mother. On another level it is the story of the convoluted, confusing and dysfunctional relationship between US federal law and Indian tribal law. On another level it is a discussion of justice. While this might not be the easiest story to read, it is compelling and beautifully written. Quotes:Women don't realize how much store men set on the regularity of their habits. We absorb their comings and goings into our bodies, their rhythms into our bones. Our pulse is set to theirs, and as always on a weekend afternoon we were waiting for my mother to start us ticking away on the evening. And so, you see, her absence stopped time.