To develop your own speech, to speak beautifully, interestingly and competently, you don’t have to be a philologist or linguist. Sometimes it is enough to read good fiction from time to time, which in itself instills the skills of beautiful and rich speech. However, this process is slow and must be regular, and reading a large number of books is not always possible. So if you want to give yourself an “intensive course” on improving your speech skills and not get bored, then you can turn to specialized books. If only school textbooks were as informative and varied.
“The Living and the Dead Word” – Nora Gal
The book by translator Nora Gal was written more than 40 years ago, but over the past ten years it has been republished just a dozen times. It has not become outdated at all and even gained a new breath with the advent of the Internet, because all the principles of the “living word” have become relevant again.
To become a good translator, it is not enough to know a foreign language well; you also need to have a brilliant sense of all the subtleties of your native one. Nora Gal is an excellent translator, so all her advice on enriching your own speech and getting rid of verbal garbage was priceless 40 years ago, and now, and in 40 years will also come in handy (if we don’t all start speaking Chinese).
Olga Gromova “No Bib”
The series was developed specifically for children and includes, in addition to “No Bibika,” the books “Top-Top,” “Boom,” “Don’t Cry, Bunny” and others. You will be able to talk to your child by showing him pictures and engaging him in communication with gestures and words. Kids enjoy participating in games and, along the way, learn new phenomena, objects and their names.
The book contains colorful, large illustrations that are accessible to children. Simple texts compiled by a specialist are interesting to children and encourage them to pronounce new words. In addition to the main text, the book contains recommendations for parents to help teach their child to communicate with words and gestures.
© Elena Staretskaya, BBF.RU
“From Adam’s apple to the apple of discord” - Vadim Khrappa
Etymology studies the origin of words and expressions, and reading a regular etymological dictionary is quite boring. Vadim Khrappa kindly studied it for us and wrote many interesting notes about how the most incomprehensible and tricky set expressions and phraseological units appeared. In addition, he devotes a lot of time to telling how to use them correctly and what mistakes can be made. If you accidentally change a preposition or ending, you’ll blurt out something completely different.
“The Russian language is on the verge of a nervous breakdown” – Maxim Krongauz
Maxim Krongauz, being a linguist, closely monitors changes in the Russian language and tries to reconcile Internet language and literate speech according to all the rules. Unfortunately, his book “Albany Self-Teacher” was somewhat late. It was published when Albany slang was already a thing of history. But “The Russian Language on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” will remain relevant for a long time, as it talks about fundamental changes in the modern language, the most common mistakes that appear even in the media, as well as how to prevent the depletion of vocabulary in the era of simplification and speed of information delivery.
Principles of working with literature
It's not enough to read books. You need to work correctly with literary sources. Unfamiliar terms are underlined, written down in a notebook, and the meaning is checked in a dictionary.
Part of the text is analyzed in detail according to the diagram:
- means of expression;
- aphorisms;
- favorite places.
The authors of the book studied the works in detail. One page was rewritten 10-20 times. It is more difficult to analyze poems. Not only rhyme is important in them, but also other ways of presenting information. Reading poetry requires preparation.
For a competent analysis, you will need to study different authors. Compare them, look for special stylistic features of the poems. It is useful to learn them by heart and recite them in front of a mirror.
Any skill will take time to develop. To improve the quality of speech, you need to read books every day - 5-10 pages will help expand your vocabulary.
Quality comes only from the time spent. Reading helps memorize grammatical structures and popular expressions. A large vocabulary fills speech with synonyms.
Beautiful coherent speech is the result of long work. The learning process is complex and requires daily practice.
“Alive as life” – Korney Chukovsky
The Soviet writer Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky wrote not only famous poetic fairy tales for children, but also “popular non-fiction,” although he himself would have condemned this term. “Alive as life” appeared at a time when office (the language of bureaucratic conversations and papers) began to dominate in the Russian language, and foreign words began to actively replace Russian analogues. Now the situation with foreign words is exactly the same, but clerical and memorized phrases are still taught at school. So Chukovsky’s book, even at an older age, will help you get rid of bad language habits.
Scientific and other books
Fiction is not the only way to develop speech. The exact sciences are represented not only by boring research by scientists, but also by fascinating books.
Understanding the world around us and the laws of its existence improves intelligence. Listening to a scientifically savvy interlocutor is interesting and exciting.
Don't try to cover all existing areas. Choose 2-3, study them. Physics, biology, the origin of species, medicine - topics that are relevant at all times.
Scientific literature helps to speak competently and concisely. Dawkins's books are interesting to read and contain controversial topics:
- evolution of species;
- analysis of Darwin's theory;
- evidence of evolution.
These materials provide the basis for the development of coherent speech; the information contained in them will help substantiate the point of view and prove it. There are good authors in psychology - Cialdini, Ariely, Muir. They teach non-verbal speech: behavior, gestures, facial expressions. Literature is useful to all future speakers.
Many people wrote about the exact sciences, physics and mathematics: Perelman, Hawking, Kaku, Derbyshire. For easy comprehension, listen to audiobooks. They allow you to study while traveling and everyday activities.
Reading literature of different genres allows you to improve your style. Scientific journals contain short notes. Many of them are published in electronic form and can be read from electronic devices.
Philosophical works are difficult to understand. They radically change their worldview, thinking, and perception of the world. They address a number of controversial issues. The authors of the books are savvy in public speaking skills that can be adopted.
“Russian with a dictionary” – Irina Levontina
Irina Levontina wrote her observations about changes in the Russian language for several years in the form of separate articles, and then published them in a separate collection. The book immediately became a bibliographic rarity and only the reprint can be purchased at an affordable price. This alone can speak about the quality and necessity of such notes. Irina, with humor and even some joy, welcomes the fact that language does not stand still, but lives and changes. Unlike linguists of the old school, who are sad and claim every year that the language is becoming poorer, Irina Levontina is convinced of the opposite. The main thing is to understand how to use all these new words and phrases, she argues, then the speech will remain lively and rich.
Radislav Gandapas “Kama Sutra for the speaker”
The title of the book is not only a marketing ploy and a provocation. Giving the title to his work, the author proceeded from the fact that everything done with pleasure is crowned with success. Another argument in favor of this title, according to Radislav Gandapas, is that the speaker has some kind of intimate connection with the audience, and the speaker in this case must take a male position. This analogy is confirmed by the examples given in the book. The Kama Sutra for the Speaker examines important issues that arise in the process of speaking or communicating: how to cope with anxiety, how to build the outline of a speech, how to attract and maintain attention, how eye contact and motor skills work.
The book will be useful to everyone who organizes presentations, conducts seminars, participates in conferences, etc.
“How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere” - Larry King
This book is not about the Russian language and not about speech as a linguistic phenomenon. And not even about speech technique or oratory. This is the unique experience of a person who wants to teach us to speak, and not be silent, not to be shy and not to be shy - at the same time to speak beautifully, intelligently and well. For the Russian reader, the examples from the book are somewhat Americanized, but much can be taken into account and used in everyday communication.
Exercise groups
Books on public speaking contain different sets of exercises. They are aimed at improving diction, intonation, and the ability to correctly regulate the pitch of the voice.
Speech is a complex structure, its components work together. It is not enough to expand your vocabulary. You need to use it correctly, be able to present oral speech and formulate phrases correctly.
Articulation gymnastics are useful to improve pronunciation:
- raising the tip of the tongue up and down;
- clicking sound when the jaw is motionless;
- stretching-compression of lips and others.
The complexes are aimed at improving muscle mobility. With them, the pronunciation of sounds becomes clear, intelligible, and beautiful. The training is carried out using tongue twisters. They group words according to different sounds.
To make it more difficult, squeeze a wine cork between your teeth. In the book by N. Rom “I want to speak beautifully! Speech techniques. Communication Techniques" presents different sets of exercises. For beautiful and intelligible speech, you need to observe proper breathing. You can develop it with the help of Strelnikova’s breathing exercises, running and other physical activity.
The Stanislavsky system is popular. It is used in many countries. Relaxation and release of the vocal apparatus are required, followed by mobilization of the body’s strength. Speech deficiencies are identified and work is carried out to eliminate them.
The system is outlined in the book by E. Sarabyan “Learn to speak so that you are heard.” The technique is performed at home, the exercises are laid out sequentially.
“Do we know Russian?” – Maria Aksenova
In fact, Maria Aksenova has a whole series of three books entitled “Do We Know Russian?”, but if you like the first one, then you’ll pay attention to the other two. The author takes a thread from the world and writes about all the interesting things from linguistics, philology, spelling and even journalism that are associated with the correct or incorrect use of language norms. As the name suggests, the main emphasis is on mistakes, and mistakes that are most often funny or unexpected. The only negative that is often attributed to the author is the abundance of exclamation marks. What can you do, she reacts very emotionally to mistakes in her beloved native language.
Websites and blogs
Gramota.ru
Benefit . It will help you check the spelling of a word and find out its meaning. About the resource . Gramota.ru is a reference and information portal dedicated to the Russian language and everything connected with it. On the site you will find reference materials and literature, a word checking service, you can write a dictation and check your literacy level.
"Interactive dictation"
Benefit . Identifies gaps in knowledge and determines the level of language proficiency. About the resource . The Moscow City Methodological Center has developed a series of interactive dictations based on the texts of classics of Russian literature.
"Textology"
Benefit . He will tell you interesting things about the language and rules, and will help you prepare for the exam. About the resource . The online magazine “Textology” will help improve your Russian language. Here you will find reference materials and dictionaries to help with vocabulary, spelling and punctuation.
"Literacy on the Chalk"
Benefit . Stop making stupid mistakes and fall in love with the Russian language. About the blog . A blog on Mel.fm, in which common mistakes in spoken and written speech are analyzed using tests and games.
"Total dictation"
Benefit . Remember everything you once learned at school. About the resource . The online school of the all-Russian campaign “Total Dictation” publishes Russian language lessons that will help you remember the basic rules, sort out common mistakes and expand your vocabulary.
"The Oddities of Our Language" - Nigel Brown
The book is called “Oddities of Our Language” and was written by an English-speaking author, but it is not about English at all. However, it’s not about Russian either. Nigel Brown explores the appearance of borrowed words in other languages, and they almost always coincide in both Russian and English. So in “Weird Things of Our Language” we act as citizens of the world, and at the same time we learn where a huge number of words come from and whether they have changed their meaning over time.
Tatyana Kulikovskaya “Expanding the vocabulary of children 2-4 years old”
Speech therapist Tatyana Kulikovskaya wrote this book so that parents could teach their child correct speech. Teaching children begins with onomatopoeic words: meow-meow, aw-aw, etc. and gradually moves on to more complex words. Lessons with your child will not take more than 10 minutes a day, but the basics of speaking will be laid. The benefit is necessary if the child already has speech problems. With the help of this book, parents will help their child learn simple words and become familiar with phenomena and objects.
