Official Review: Laugh & Learn about English with...

[CataclysmicKnight]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Laugh & Learn about English with Luke" by Luke Zimmermann.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Kids may say the darndest things, but so do teens and adults when they learn a second language. Growing up, I often heard that English is the most difficult language in the world to learn, and books like Laugh & Learn about English with Luke by Luke Zimmermann make me believe it!

"Overally, English is a very irregular language."

Luke himself learned English as a second language, and has taught abroad in numerous places, teaching English to (at least) Taiwanese, Korean and Middle Eastern kids and adults. In the process, he's heard and read plenty of humorous mistakes, and this book presents 80-ish pages of examples. They're broken into different sections, showing how difficult pronunciation, writing and utilizing the correct words and phrases can be.

The book does a fair job of teaching along with the humorous examples. At one point the author explains, for example, that because names can be hard for people in other countries to pronounce, people often change their name to be more accommodating. However, the Taiwanese students end up picking names like "Nut", "Nacho" or "Golf". Luke himself had an issue at one point - his name at that point was Luc and the students called him Luka because, as a student said, "We don't want to call you garlic, teacher." Each section end up being very short, but they're often both hilarious and educational.

I was rather surprised by the balance of "laughing" and "learning" in the book. I went into this worried it would be essentially a textbook with some humor, but the it ended up being the opposite. There's some learning, like with the names mentioned previously or with things like the importance of picking up culture along with language (some cultures are much more expecting of "please" or "thank you" and others don't understand sarcasm, for example), but there isn't much in the way of specifics. It's mentioned that those learning English may pick up some examples of what not to do, but really it came across as entertainment for those who already know English.

"My best friend is Fatima. She has lovely adjectives."

Finally worth mentioning is that because the book is focused on grammar and words, there are times that cussing/vulgar/"bad" words and sentiments are both eluded to and explicitly written. There's also a chapter on innuendos - the vast majority of the "bad" stuff has been separated into this chapter so that people can skip it if they'd like.

Overall, I think anyone who loves grammar (like me!) will get a kick out of Laugh & Learn about English with Luke. It's a quick read and the bit of education gives the book a fair amount of added weight as well. I give the book a solid 3 out of 4 stars because, while there were times the book had me laughing out loud and sharing passages with my fiancée, there were some that missed their mark.

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Laugh & Learn about English with Luke
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[stoppoppingtheP]

Sounds like something I might enjoy. Great review!