Learning the English Language

The most powerful and the most perfect expression of thought and feeling must be traced to the mastery of words. Every speaker's aim is to be heard and understood. A clear, crisp articulation holds an audience as by the spell of some irresistible power.

In language, nothing conduces so emphatically to the harmony of sounds as perfect phrasing--that is, the emphasizing of the relation of clause to clause, and of sentence to sentence by the systematic grouping of words. The phrase consists usually of a few words which denote a single idea that forms a separate part of a sentence.

Look at the example below:

(a) The figure is not correct, it is base on a wrong assumption.

(b) The figure is not correct, it is a baseless assumption.

Example (b) give the reader a clear and crisp understanding – the assumption may not be wrong, but can be baseless.

About the 15000 Useful Phrases

The Fifteen thousand useful phrases was written by Grenville Kleiser. Kleiser is formerly instructor in public speaking at Yale Divinity School, Yale University; author of "How to speak in public," "How to develop power and personality in speaking," "How to develop self-confidence in speech and manner," "How to argue and win," "How to read and declaim," "Complete guide to public speaking," etc.

The English language is so complex in character that it can scarcely be learned by rule, and can best be mastered by the study of such idioms and phrases as are provided in this book; but just as care must be taken to place every accent or stress on the proper syllable in the pronouncing of every word it contains, so must the stress or emphasis be placed on the proper word in every sentence spoken.

To read or speak pleasingly one should resort to constant practice by doing so aloud in private, or preferably, in the presence of such persons as know good reading when they hear it and are masters of the melody of sounds. It was Dean Swift's belief that the common fluency of speech in many men and most women was due to scarcity of matter and scarcity of words. He claimed that a master of language possessed a mind full of ideas, and that before speaking, such a mind paused to select the choice word--the phrase best suited to the occasion. "Common speakers," he said, "have only one set of ideas, and one set of words to clothe them in," and these are always ready on the lips. Because he holds the Dean's view sound to-day, the writer will venture to warn the readers of this book against a habit that, growing far too common among us, should be checked, and this is the iteration and reiteration in conversation of "the battered, stale, and trite" phrases, the like of which were credited by the worthy Dean to the women of his time.

The book was published in 1917, some 90 years ago; it is still a valuable book for people who wanted to improve the mastering of the English Language.

The 15000 Useful Phrase book is now a Public Domain Book. What it means is that you could obtain it free of copyrights. Many website, including our website provide the Book for free in a form of eBook.

However, learning new phrases using just the free eBook could be difficult, painful, and slow. That is why we develop this unique eCourse – 15K Useful Phrases.

The course is offered in 3 levels:

Level 1 – include over 5,800 phrases that cover Useful Phrases, Significant Phrases, Felicitous Phrases and Impressive Phrases

Level 2 – include over 4,200 phrases that cover Prepositional Phrases, Business Phrases, Literary Expressions and Striking Similes

Level 3 – include over 5,400 phrases that cover Conversational Phrases, Public Speaking Phrases and Miscellaneous Phrases

1. 20 phrases – You can use it to practice speaking aloud everyday for about 20 minutes
2. Example sentences – Sentences that make use of the phrases
3. Weekly Exercises – exercises that require you to either construct sentences base on the phrases or to improve some sentences given to you.
4. Review of Exercises – A review of last week exercises

Sign up now for a free trial of Level 1 for one week (5 lessons). Sign up for the Free Trial now!