Terms to Chew Over: 'Hansel and Gretel' Like You've Never Heard It   Enjoy a feast of idioms related to health and gluttony as we present the classic children's fairy tale, as retold by Slangman David Burke

Helping Students to 'Step Out of Apathy': A Lesson From the Holocaust   "One of the premises from which I teach is that students should not be 'witnesses' in a class," says Karen Wink, an English professor at the US Coast Guard Academy

At a Party, If All Else Fails, Throw Yourself on the Mercy of the Crowd   "Art of Mingling" author Jeanne Martinet says: "One of my mingling survival rules is that nobody is thinking about you, they're only thinking about themselves"

Slang in the World of Hooky Bulls, Businessman's Events and Dirt Baths   As guest host Adam Phillips discovers in Montana, the air at a rodeo is thick with the professional lingo of bull riders, ropers and steer wrestlers

Teaching English in Russia: Insights From Two Generations of Teachers   Mikhail Nokhov from Dagestan is an Honored Teacher of Russia who has taught for 38 years; Erdem Dugarov of Siberia has taught for seven years

Teachers of English in Russia Feeling Winds of Change in Their Profession   Two professors, one from St. Petersburg and the other from Kursk, discuss the rise both of American English and technology in language teaching

Hey You, in the Next Cube, Is That Document Buzzword-Compliant?   Writer Paul Dixon talks about some of the terms he included in his newest edition of Slang: The Topical Dictionary of Americanisms

Heated Words: Lingo of the Men and Women Who Fight Wildfires   Not surprisingly, firefighters have developed their own special ways of describing the fires they fight and the techniques they use

"Punctuation Rap"

'National Punctuation Day': Seeking to Put a (Full) Stop to Poor Writing   Newsletter publisher and ex-journalist Jeff Rubin founded National Punctuation Day three years ago to make a point (and for the publicity)

Using Language Technology to Help Learners With Accent Reduction   Discussion of an electronic tutoring product that helps non-native speakers of American English learn to pronounce words with a native accent

A 'Dialect Nomad' Goes in Search of Changes in American English   An interview with linguist Walt Wolfram, co-editor of the new book "American Voices: How Dialects Differ From Coast to Coast"

'Islamofascism': Dusting Off an Old Name for a New Form of Extremism   Manus Midlarsky, a Rutgers University professor who studies war and extremism, discusses the Italian origin and current application of the term "fascism"

Getting Into the Writing Game, With Words of Advice From a Coach   "I always start every piece of writing I do by thinking about what is the core thing that I really want to say," says Jack Hart, author of "A Writer's Coach"

Understanding the Reasons for Grammar, Not Just Learning the Rules   "I'm a firm believer that grammar is not only about structure," says Diane Larsen-Freeman, director of the English Language Institute at the University of Michigan

Listening to the Sound of Words for Subtle Clues to Their Meaning   Morten Christiansen at Cornell University discusses a study of "phonological typicality" in nouns and verbs. What's that mean? We explain.

Learning English by Listening, Um, to How People, Uh, Really Speak It   Listen as English teacher Lida Baker, out with a new textbook called "Real Talk," discusses the growing use of authentic listening materials in language classes

'Shifting Sands' of English Teaching Bring Changes to Schools in Middle East   Interviews (recorded earlier this year) with Ghina al-Badawi, a school principal in Beirut, and Nada Wanni of the Department of English at the University of Khartoum

Economists Pursue Happiness by Asking Americans How They Feel   Professor Miles Kimball explains why the University of Michigan has added some happiness-related questions to its monthly survey of consumer confidence

How a Child's Ability to Learn Language Figures Into the Immigration Issue   Hoyt Bleakley at the University of Chicago discusses the linguistic connection between ages and wages in the lives of immigrant families in the U.S.

To Make a Long Story Short: Summary Skills for Better Readers and Writers   Some advice from Emily Kissner, a sixth-grade teacher in Pennsylvania and the author of a new book, "Summarizing, Paraphrasing and Retelling"

Morocco's New Way to Teach English Proves Popular, at Least With Students   "Instead of teaching English in the traditional, boring way, you teach it through exciting and interesting issues," says high school teacher Lahcen Tighoula

Two Places, One Pursuit: English Teaching in Nepal and Afghanistan   Interviews conducted at the 40th annual TESOL convention with an English professor from Kathmandu and a lecturer from Kabul (pictured)

In Choice of Immigration Terms, Some Say Focus on the Act, Not the Actor   Linguist Otto Santa Ana at UCLA says "illegal immigrant" is a biased political term, and that journalists should opt for neutral language like "undocumented immigrant"

What Does It Mean When Something Is 'For Good' or Offered 'On a Plate'?   Find out as we answer listener mail from India, China and Romania, and take an English teacher's advice for using music to teach slang (at left, the singer Rihanna)

Like It or Not, a Discourse Marker Making Its Mark on a Wider Stage   From NBC News, a report on the spread of the word "like," including an interview with Carmen Fought, a linguistics professor at Pitzer College in California

Forget 'Chicken' and 'Egg,' What Comes First With 'After' and 'Before'?   "It's exactly the opposite of what you would expect if you were learning this language -- the word 'after' signals the first event," says English teacher Lida Baker

'The Meaning of Tingo': One Man's Favorite Words, From 254 Languages And now for something completely different: Adam Jacot de Boinod is a Londoner who has compiled a book of quirky words found in languages other than English.

Lost for Words? Here Are Some Tips to Remember About Improving Memory   "We don't forget, we just haven't learned it in the first place," says communications trainer Wendi Eldh, who explains the "three R's" -- record, retain and retrieve

How 'The Thing' Has Entered the Language of People in New Orleans   Debra Howell, an artist whose home was damaged by Hurricane Katrina, talks about new terms like "The Thing," "Katrina brain," "NUNO" and "pre-K/post-K"

Tribes in California Attempt to Preserve Native American Dialects   More than half of the native California tongues have disappeared.  Many others have only a few, aging speakers left.

Concise and Precise: A Way to Force People to Think Before They Write   "This technique benefits clients; it doesn't matter how well-spoken they are or how new they are to the American language," says lawyer-turned-writer Jim Allan

'Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today'   VOA's Book Editor Nancy Beardsley talks (nicely) with Lynne Truss, author of 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves,' whose newest book deals with manners

F-u-n With Broadway's 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'   A musical satire of spelling competitions and the pressure to "go to Washington," where the best real-life young spellers compete

Stagecraft: Acting Like an Actor to Improve Your Memory   Our guest is Tony Noice, actor, director, teacher and cognitive researcher. He offers some advice based on how actors memorize their lines

'You're Wearing That? Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation'   The title says it all. Georgetown University linguist Deborah Tannen discusses the subject of her latest book with VOA's book editor, Nancy Beardsley

An English Learner Is in a Jam Over What to Call Slow-Moving Traffic   Plus, confusion over the present perfect, and what's the difference between "inhumane" and "inhuman"? Questions from Bangladesh, Morocco and Brazil

Teaching Older People to Become Better Listeners to Avoid Alienating Others   George Shames, a retired psychologist, teaches a course in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that draws on some basic skills of counseling

When There Is Bad News, Helping Cancer Doctors Find the Right Words   Dr. Anthony Back describes a program in which specially trained actors serve as cancer patients for oncologists to improve their communication skills

Self-Instruction: Five New Year's Resolutions for English Learners   "My first resolution that I would recommend people make is to spend a certain amount of time listening to English," says English teacher Lida Baker

What Do 'Refugee,' 'Jump the Couch' and 'Spokesweasel' Have in Common?   They're all terms we discuss with Grant Barrett of the Historical Dictionary of American Slang, in reviewing some notable words of 2005