Teach English in Yantai Zhen - Chongqing

Course Book ReviewThe New English File Series I believe that this series is the best course book currently available in the market for adults. This is a 6-level series of books, which I personally find equally successful. The series offers a very balanced composition of the various skills required when learning a new language: grammar, vocabulary, reading, listening, writing and speaking and right from the beginning there's attention to the pronunciation. The series introduces a novel approach, which will be discussed later on. The books are motivating because the material in the books is interesting and appealing to adults. The authors have somehow managed to surpass cultural differences and create interest in people from various cultures and backgrounds. The visual aspect is also important, the design of the pages is easy on the eye and the pages are not overcrowded with information and texts. The Structure of the Books: The books are divided into units which are called 'files' sub-units which are termed 'lessons'. At the end of each file there's a ?Practical English? section followed by a Writing assignment. In the Upper Intermediate and the Advanced levels the 'Practical English' is replaced with ?Colloquial English?. Followed by those two is a 'What can you Remember' part which reviews all the language learnt in the File. Almost all the skills are addressed: grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, reading and listening. At the end of the last file there are the tape scripts of the listening used in the book. Then there's the Grammar Bank and the Vocabulary Bank, which encapsulate the grammar points and vocabulary used in each file, and the Sound Bank, which summarizes the pronunciation system taught throughout the book. Each lesson contains a good selection of reading texts and listening, both followed by comprehension questions or activities, new vocabulary, speaking activities and pronunciation. The authors have tried to tie all the different skills taught in each lesson under the same topic. For example in the intermediate book, the passive form is taught by learning about films and thus also learning vocabulary related to films. Then there's a 'film questionnaire' where students discuss their favourite and not so favourite films, actors directors etc. Each lesson has reference to the relevant Grammar Bank part at the end of the book and to the Vocabulary Bank, when relevant. Grammar is never the first the thing that the students meet at each lesson. It will always be lead into through either a reading or listening activity. The Grammar Bank is a very concise and straight-to-the-point summary of the grammar rules. And it is followed by a few exercises that preferably would be done in class in the Study Phase to make sure students understand the new grammar structure. The Vocabulary Bank is, to my opinion, one of the strongest features of the books. For each level the selection of vocabulary is almost always spot on. For example the Elementary book starts with nationalities and countries, then followed by numbers, colours simple adjectives etc. All the basic vocabulary that an elementary adult student would need. The Intermediate book starts with food, which is then followed by personality (descriptions), money, transport and travel etc. Each vocabulary page is basically some sort of a pictionary and some contain a few gap-filling sentences. The book introduces a system to help students learn the phonetic alphabet. Each phonetic symbol is associated with one sample word. The sample words are simple such that students are familiar with. The phonetic symbol is incorporated into a graphic design of that sample word. The idea is to facilitate the students remembering what each symbol sounds like. Other than that there's a lot of emphasis throughout the book on putting the stress on the right syllable within the word. And in more advanced levels- stress of words within a sentence and then the intonation within a sentence are addressed. Additional Material Each student's book is accompanied with a workbook and a CD ROM and an excellent website that gives students a chance to do some further exercises on grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. The website is fun and gives students instant feedback so that they can immediately see their mistakes. Teacher?s Book The Teacher's Book is a great resource for communication, vocabulary and songs activities that follow the course syllabus. It also contains some extra grammar handouts in case the teacher feels need some more practice. The Teacher's Book is accompanied with a ?Tests and Assessments CD? which provides different types of tests that can be used by the teacher throughout the course.