Deborah Tannen PhD: Linguist And New York Times Bestselling Author

Before you have another conversation you should read one of Dr. Deborah Tannen's books on linguistics. Dr. Tannen has multiple degrees in English, English Literature, and both an MA and a PhD in Linguistics. Dr. Tannen has published and lectured extensively around the world. She has also published 10 books for the mainstream audience, defining and decoding the differences in language usage between peers who speak the same language. She demystifies a lot of the reasons that disagreements and misunderstandings may occur between people. The wonderful thing about Deborah Tannens books is that she doesn't lose the reader in a lot of jargon and she explains the premises for each of her theories in easy to follow language that serves to clarify your understanding of the ways that language is used.

Her books use real world examples to illustrate her points and they also gives the reader some insight into who Deborah Tannen is and why she chose the field that she chose. She already held degrees in both English and English Literature and was compelled to study Linguistics after the break up of her first marriage. Quite simply she and her first husband were always butting heads and getting into arguments and neither of them understood why. In fact she says that at times she wondered if one or both of them were crazy! After her divorce she attended a lecture on Linguistics and reasons for the problems in her marriage suddenly became obvious. Her passion for linguistics was kindled and she went back to school to earn an MA and her PhD. in linguistics from the University of California in Berkley. She currently teaches and lectures at Georgetown University in Washington DC.

She has since lectured extensively, been featured on radio and television shows, written several academic papers and books for scholarly publication, and also has written 10 books for the mainstream audience. When you read on of her books it is almost an epiphany, things become so clear. You begin to understand how people interact and how differences in conversational style can lead to disagreements, misunderstandings, and misinterpretations. Dr Tannen has done in depth research on conversational style and comprehension on mothers and daughters, sisters, siblings, employers and their employees, children, and many other interpersonal dynamics, seeking and then explaining the dynamics that occur in the space between what you said and what the listener thinks that you said. Dr. Tannens books will give anyone a deeper insight into how language affects both our day to day life, our perceptions of people and events, and offers suggestions on how to decode and demystify the art of conversation and interpersonal interaction.

Dr. Tannens books have been extremely well received by the public. Her book You Just Don't Understand- Women and Men in Conversation (1990) spent four years on the New York Times Bestseller list and was the number one best seller for a whopping 8 months. Since then You Just Don't Understand has been translated into 30 other languages. She has followed that with several other New York Times bestsellers which have explained and demystified talk and interpersonal interaction for millions of people who had thought that the relationships with their husbands, wives, mothers, mother-in-laws, bosses, and children were hopeless.

Since conversation happens everyday, there is no way that you can read one of her books before you engage in your next conversation or argument, however her books are still available in bookstores everywhere in multiple different languages and you can find both new and used copies of her books on sites like Amazon.com and even Ebay. I encourage anyone who has ever held a meaningful conversation with another person and had it go awry of what they intended to seek out and purchase one of Dr. Tannen's books as soon as is possible. You will be glad that you did, and you will understand how language and imagery are related and how they affect your day-to-day communication with others, and what can be done to remedy a lot of rifts in a number of interpersonal relationships.

• Conversational Style: Analyzing Talk Among Friends (1984; 2nd Edition Oxford University Press, 2005)
• That's Not What I Meant! How Conversational Style Makes or Breaks Relationships (Ballantine, 1986, ISBN 0345340906)
• Talking Voices: Repetition, dialogue, and imagery in conversational discourse (Cambridge University Press, 1989, hardcover ISBN 0-521-37001-9, paperback ISBN 0-521-37900-8 2nd edition 2007)
• You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation (Ballantine, 1990, ISBN 0-688-07822-2; Quill, 2001, ISBN 0-06-095962-2)
• Talking from 9 to 5: Women and Men at Work (Avon, 1994, ISBN 0-688-11243-9; ISBN 0-380-71783-2)
• The Argument Culture: Stopping America's War of Words (Ballantine, 1998, ISBN 0345407512)
• I Only Say This Because I Love You: Talking to Your Parents, Partner, Sibs, and Kids When You're All Adults (Ballantine, 2001, ISBN 0-345-40752-0)
• You're Wearing THAT?: Mothers and Daughters in Conversation (Ballantine, 2006, ISBN 1-4000-6258-6)
• You Were Always Mom's Favorite!: Sisters in Conversation Throughout Their Lives (Random House, 2009, ISBN 1400066328)

List provided by Wikipedia.com