TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface Chapter I How do we learn languages? Chapter II Speaking with foreign accent Chapter III Who sets the norms of linguistic correctness? Chapter IV Charm and repel of bad language Chapter V Successful use of language Chapter VI What makes text writing so difficult? Chapter VII Linguistic politeness or hypocrisy? Chapter VIII Omnipresence of allusion Chapter IX The power and misery of translation Chapter X Communication in the globalising world Bibliography