MSI Press Blog

  Well, that title is a mouthful, but it says it all. Dr. Harold Goodman not only has analyzed and reviewed Boris Shekhtman's book, How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately, but also he studied Russian with Boris for more than 300 hours. Rather than regurgitate his words, here is the link to them. To read more about Boris and his books, click HERE .                                         Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter.

  Today's Publisher's Pride is  How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately  by Boris Shekhtman, which reached  #15 in study and teaching reference and #35 in academic and commercial writing reference .  Read more posts about Boris and his books  HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any  MSI Press LLC  book.  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.       MSI Press is ranked among the top publishers in California. Check out our rankings -- and more --   HERE .

Reissued -- two beloved oldies in the language teaching world. These books have been published continuously since we first published them years back. We transferred them shortly after publication to Villa Magna LLC. Recently, Villa Magna made the decision to focus on the works of Omar Imady (also one of our authors, whose works we will eventually be transferring to Villa Magna) and recently transferred their language books to us. Both books are unique -- and likely foretell the future of language teaching though the focus they suggest is only slowly starting to become part of the profession, on the periphery. We are confident, however, that, in time, they will represent the mainstream of teaching approaches. Communicative Focus   describes in detail the theory and nature of the principles and practices used in his approach to language teaching. He is not afraid to talk about some aspects of language learning and teaching, such as the development of lexical and grammatical accuracy, as

  And the best books of September 2023 are ... drumroll! .... Top 100 Amazon 1.          Hot new releases           Bob McGee’s book,  A View through the Fog , was #1 in hot new releases in bridge engineering for the entire 30-day new-release period and bounced around #13-#41 overall in bridge engineering. Great showing for a first-time author.         Steven Greenebaum’s book,  An Afternoon’s Discussion , was #1 in ecumenism in hot new releases on June 24 and #21 overall in Christian ecumenism, mostly staying in the top 100 during the new-release period. Congratulations to him on that #1 status!!  General categories a.    Kris Girrell’s book, Learning to Feel , reached #60 in biographies of social scientists and psychologists.   b.      Shannon Gonyou’s book, Since Sinai , reached #10 in biographies of Judaism.   c.       Steven Greenebaum’s book,  An Afternoon’s Discussion , reached #59 in ecumenism.   d.      Larry MacDonald’s book, RV Oopsies , reached #34 in travel humor, #116 in

  And the best books of October 2023 are ... drumroll! .... Kris Girrell’s book, Learning to Feel , reached #60 in biographies of social scientists and psychologists. Shannon Gonyou’s book, Since Sinai , reached #10 in biographies of Judaism. Steven Greenebaum’s book, An Afternoon’s Dictation , reached #59 in ecumenism. Larry MacDonald’s book, RV Oopsies , reached #34 in travel humor, #116 in business and professional humor, and #136 in hospitality, travel, and tourism. Bob McGee’s book, A View through the Fog , reached #31 in bridge engineering. Ken Mogren’s book, Spunky Grandmas and Other Amusing Characters , reached #69 in limericks and humorous verse. Boris Shekhtman’s book, How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately , reached #52 in study and teaching references. For more posts about Girrell and his books, click  HERE . For more posts about Gonyou and her book, click  HERE . For more posts and Greenebaum and his books, click  HERE . For more posts about MacDonald and his boo

  This week's book back story features How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately   by Boris Shekhtman. from the editor -- Boris died several years ago from cancer , but his book lives on because it is unique and useful. Boris himself was unique. He won awards for his teaching; more important, he made lifelong fans from his students for his teaching. As one of the few teachers capable of bringing learners to the near-native level of foreign language proficienc y, he developed a number of techniques -- or tools -- that he found to work with nearly all students quickly and effectively. They worked with his diplomat students, journalist students, students with special needs, and just everyday students. After decades of success with these tools. he elucidated seven of them in a book, How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately, a slim volume with powerful suggestions. RIP, Boris. Purchase the paperback 25% discount with coupon code FF25 at the  MSI Press webstore . For more

  Poliplumas writes:  Shekhtman gives some excellent advice on learning a foreign language, focusing on conversational techniques to improve learning and confidence. I find his approach helpful for any foreign language student at any level.  Read more here . For more posts on Boris and his book, click HERE .                                         Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter.

  Today's Publisher's Pride is How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately by Boris Shekhtman, which reached  #15 in study and teaching reference and #35 in academic and commercial writing reference .  Read more posts about Boris and his books HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with  MSI Press LLC ? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Planning on self-publishing and don't know where to start? Our  author au pair  services will mentor you through the process. Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com. Want to communicate with one of our authors? You can! Find their

  Communicative Focus  was written through collaboration of Boris Shekhtman, who had left the Foreign Service Institute to open his own highly successful private school, using language teaching techniques that were quite unique but extremely effective, and Dina Kupchanka, a young teacher who taught for him.  The realization of the principles introduced in  Communicative Focus  had appeared earlier as actual classroom exercises in several publications, a book published by Cambridge University Press ( Developing Professional-Level Foreign Language Proficiency ),  How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately  (an immensely popular book published by MSI Press), and articles in the Journal for Distinguished Language Studies. The theory behind these activities had never been spelled quite so explicitly before (lack of room in the previous publications to include theory). Further, it took some time before the profession was ready to move on from teaching language as linguistics and teachi

  To the Reader from the Author The book which you, dear reader, have picked up was written approximately twenty years ago. However, the reasons that brought it to the light of day then remain as important today as ever. The first of these reasons is the survival of foreigners who are living entirely surrounded by native speakers of the foreign language. I came to the United States with a decent level of English, but, naturally, I did not feel myself to be on a par with Americans. I am certain that a great many people are suffering and have suffered from this feeling of “linguistic inferiority.” Some people come to accept this feeling. Others try to improve their foreign language. Still others--and I belong to this group--try to find a set of strategies to help them to use the language that they have acquired more effectively. Back then I had already begun to realize the strategic significance of simplifying thoughts in order to be understood; after all, it is better to expr

  It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today, we step away from our weekly format to tell a couple of stories that might be revealing and helpful to authors who think that the only ways to get a book published are through the help of a literary agent, direct contact with a publisher, or self-publishing. Likely, very few authors think they might be contacted by a publisher and asked to write a book. But it does happen. How it happens, though, tends to be an "oh, by the way" that comes up as a publisher's need or as a publisher's insight about opportunity. Thre examples come from our publishing house.  When the pandemic broke out, there seemed

  excerpt from How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately by Boris Shekhtman -  TOOL #5: BREAKAWAY There is a second tool which can enable us to say what we really want to say. To understand the functioning of this tool, we have to understand the dynamics of knowing two languages. There is a very interesting relationship between these two languages, determined by the extent of the foreigner’s knowledge of the second language. In fact, if the foreigner knows the second language as well as he or she knows the first, it is possible there will not be any dependency at all between the two languages. These languages can exist independently of one another. Our foreigner can turn on the first language, or the second one, at will. But the relationship between these two languages can become complicated very quickly if our foreigner does not know second language as well as the first. In this case, the foreigner, as he or she encounters deficiencies in speaking the second language, relies o