diff --git a/doc/ref/guile.texi b/doc/ref/guile.texi
index 278aca998..dc3dc075e 100644
--- a/doc/ref/guile.texi
+++ b/doc/ref/guile.texi
@@ -216,16 +216,11 @@ Indices
 @node Programming in Scheme
 @chapter Programming in Scheme
 
-Guile's core language is Scheme, and an awful lot can be achieved simply
-by using Guile to write and run Scheme programs.  In this part of the
-manual, we explain how to use Guile in this mode, and describe the tools
-that Guile provides to help you with script writing, debugging and
-packaging your programs for distribution.
-
-For readers who are not yet familiar with the Scheme language, this part
-includes a chapter that presents the basic concepts of the language, and
-gives references to freely available Scheme tutorial material on the
-web.
+Guile's core language is Scheme, and a lot can be achieved simply by using Guile
+to write and run Scheme programs --- as opposed to having to dive into C code.
+In this part of the manual, we explain how to use Guile in this mode, and
+describe the tools that Guile provides to help you with script writing,
+debugging and packaging your programs for distribution.
 
 For detailed reference information on the variables, functions
 etc. that make up Guile's application programming interface (API),
diff --git a/doc/ref/intro.texi b/doc/ref/intro.texi
index 580e437ff..d2faf35f8 100644
--- a/doc/ref/intro.texi
+++ b/doc/ref/intro.texi
@@ -169,12 +169,13 @@ Then, for bonus points and maximising the ability for the user to experiment
 quickly with code changes, the system should allow parts of the source code to
 be modified and reloaded into the running program, to take immediate effect.
 
-Guile allows this kind of interactive programming, and this distinguishes it
-from many Scheme implementations that instead prioritise running a fixed Scheme
-program as fast as possible --- because there are tradeoffs between performance
-and the ability to modify parts of an already running program.  There are faster
-Schemes than Guile, but Guile is a GNU project and so prioritises the GNU vision
-of programming freedom and experimentation.
+Guile is designed for this kind of interactive programming, and this
+distinguishes it from many Scheme implementations that instead prioritise
+running a fixed Scheme program as fast as possible --- because there are
+tradeoffs between performance and the ability to modify parts of an already
+running program.  There are faster Schemes than Guile, but Guile is a GNU
+project and so prioritises the GNU vision of programming freedom and
+experimentation.
 
 @node Supporting Multiple Languages
 @section Supporting Multiple Languages
diff --git a/doc/ref/scheme-ideas.texi b/doc/ref/scheme-ideas.texi
index d2dfbe795..e1119190b 100644
--- a/doc/ref/scheme-ideas.texi
+++ b/doc/ref/scheme-ideas.texi
@@ -14,11 +14,12 @@ Readers who already possess a background knowledge of Scheme may happily
 skip this chapter.  For the reader who is new to the language, however,
 the following discussions on data, procedures, expressions and closure
 are designed to provide a minimum level of Scheme understanding that is
-more or less assumed by the reference chapters that follow.
+more or less assumed by the chapters that follow.
 
-The style of this introductory material aims about halfway between the
-terse precision of R5RS and the discursive randomness of a Scheme
-tutorial.
+The style of this introductory material aims about halfway between the terse
+precision of R5RS and the discursiveness of existing Scheme tutorials.  For
+pointers to useful Scheme resources on the web, please see @ref{Further
+Reading}.
 
 @menu
 * About Data::                  Latent typing, types, values and variables.