Michael Berman – författare

A Bridge to the Other Side is a collection of articles and traditional folk tales that deal with our feelings about and attitudes towards Death, both our own death and that of those nearest and dearest to us. A bridge between earth and heaven, this world and the next, features in the mythology of many different peoples. For example, in Norse legends, Bifrost or Bilrost is a burning rainbow bridge between Midgard, the world, and Asgard, the realm of the gods. The bridge is known as Bilrost in the Poetic Edda; compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and as Bifrost in the Prose Edda; written in the 13th century by Snorri Stureuson. Both the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda alternately refer to the bridge as Asbru (Old Norse Esirs means bridge). The Persians believed in a bridge between earth and paradise too. In his prayers the penitent in his confession would say: I am wholly without doubt in the existence of the Mazdayacnian faith; in the coming of the resurrection of the latter body; in the stepping over the bridge Chinvat; as well as in the continuance of paradise.

Despite being located on the extreme eastern boundary of Europe, and having been frequently conquered by invading people from Asia, including Arabs, Turks, Persians, Mongols, and more recently Russians, Georgians still regard themselves very much as Europeans and it is to becoming a future member state of the EU that the majority of the people now aspire. As for the traditional folk-tales from the region, one of their main characteristics is that they are packed with action: Whilst a written, 'literary' novel or short story might devote paragraphs to descriptions of people or places, these tales usually settle for an adjective or two; 'a thick impassable forest', 'a handsome stately man', or a formula such as 'not-seen-beneath-the-sun beauty'. Many of the heroes and heroines do not even have names (Hunt, 1999, p.8). Safely cocooned, or so we like to kid ourselves, in our sanitised western urban environment, we tend to take the elements for granted. However, tales from a time when the Earth was new help to jolt us out of our daily lethargy, as do the stories in this collection - a number of which have never been translated from Georgian direct into English before.

Known as the land of the mountains, Dagestan lies immediately north of the Caucasus Mountains, and stretches for approximately 250 miles along the west shore of the Caspian Sea. With its mountainous terrain making travel and communication difficult, Daghestan is still largely tribal. Despite over a century of Tsarist control followed by seventy years of repressive Soviet rule, there are still 32 distinct ethnic groups in Daghestan, each with its own language, making it unquestionably the most complex of the Caucasian republics. Shamanic practices are still prevalent in this country, where one of the ten lost tribes of Israel can be found, and in which the stories of the elders provide the people with evidence of who their ancient ancestors were and where their roots lie. In Daghestan, as in the neighbouring countries of Georgia, Chechnya, and Azerbaijan, these roots lie in shamanism. This book, one of only a handful available in English on the country, contains the texts of some of these stories as well as commentaries on them.

'Everything shifts in the Caucasus, blown by some of the strongest winds on earth. Even the ground moves, splintered by fault lines. In early Georgian myths, it is said that when the mountains were young, they had legs - could walk from the edges of the oceans to the deserts, flirting with the low hills, shrouding them with soft clouds of love' - Griffin, 2001, p.2. But what about those aspects of life which remain relatively constant - the traditional practices of the mountain people, the practices that are reflected in their folktales and their folklore? It is these constants that this study concentrates on, in particular those that relate to shamanism.

'Everything shifts in the Caucasus, blown by some of the strongest winds on earth. Even the ground moves, splintered by fault lines. In early Georgian myths, it is said that when the mountains were young, they had legs - could walk from the edges of the oceans to the deserts, flirting with the low hills, shrouding them with soft clouds of love' - "Griffin", 2001, p.2. But what about those aspects of life which remain relatively constant - the traditional practices of the people, the practices that are reflected in their folktales and their folklore? It is these constants that this study concentrates on. Find out about the land with which the earliest folklore of Europe is connected - the land where Noah's Ark is said to have settled, the land of the Argonauts and of Prometheus.

This book consists of a collection of 56 traditional and contemporary tales, graded Pre-intermediate, Intermediate, Upper Intermediate or Advanced. These come with photocopiable worksheets, as well as an answer key that contains notes for teachers with pre-listening, while-listening, and post-listening tasks. Stories not only entertain; they can also alter our experience so as to facilitate growth and change, and the tales included in this book have all been chosen with this aim in mind. Storytellers, unlike folklorists, who make statistical samplings of all the stories they have gathered, choose in the end those stories they believe in. Stories have been chosen that deal with topics that tend to be featured in course books so they can be incorporated into an integrated programme.

This workbook, which consists of 60 short self-study units, is called "On Business and for Pleasure" because although it has been designed to help students with the Business English they need for their work, it is hoped that the challenges it sets will, at the same time, prove to be enjoyable. An Answer Key has been included so the learners can check what they have done, and thus work independently, if that is what suits them best. And the exercises are of the kind of length that will enable students to work on them when they have relatively short periods of time to spare, such as while commuting to and from work on public transport. The size of the book should make this convenient too, with it being available in paperback rather than in a larger format.

Michael Berman has been teaching English as a Foreign Language and giving talks and workshops at both national and international conferences all his working life, and this volume is a collection of the articles and materials he has written on the subject over the years that have not been published in book form before. As well as articles on particular approaches to language teaching, such as the application and use of NLP and Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences Theory, you will also find plenty of practical teaching materials to make use of with your students: first day activities, for example, stories with suggestions for follow up work, and lead ins to introduce new topics. In this book you will find something for everyone.

Written and designed for TEFLs (Teachers of English as a Foreign Language), this is a visually appealing, thoroughly practical resource full of exercises, activities, stories, visualisations, puzzles and information for immediate use in the classroom. It provides exercises and advice for teaching and contains all a teacher will need to keep students challenged and learning in the style that suits them best.A Multiple Intelligences Road To An ELT Classroom covers all essential areas making teaching easily accessible, compelling and fun! An extremely versatile book, this can also be used as an activities resource for teachers of English as a first language.