Fundamentals of English Grammar - Second Edition

I teach English as a second language and use this book in my advanced classes. The lessons are in logical order allowing the student to progress from the simple to the more complex with ease. Although the county provides this book free of charge, my students were so enthusiastic about it that they all bought their own copies. Even native English speakers could learn a great deal from this excellent text.

The exercises in this workbook are well targeted to help students with specific issues in English grammar, issues students commonly meet. The exercises encourage thinking in English instead of translating.

At UC Berkeley, when I first started, several teachers recommended this book to me. I perused it and used it for the next 16 years - when the program was closed. The large number of exercises, the charts that really show how the verbs function (for visual learners), and the oral exercises (for aural learners and reinforcement) were invaluable. Even now, I sometimes refer to it for answers and ideas in specific areas. However, I must say that two teachers with whom I worked, really disliked this book, and never used it. But, 2 out of 28, still puts it pretty high on the list as far as I am concerned. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
P.S. It is the mid-level book of a 3-book series. The other two are also excellent!

I think this book is really wonderful. I have been teaching ESL/EFL for about eight years, and I have yet to see a book that is so complete. I teach English in Mexico, where everything the students have ever learned comes on a chart, so the charts are a HUGE help. What I most like about this grammar book is the oral exercises. Since I focus mostly on speaking and listening (due to my student's needs, of course) the students generally love the oral drills. I really recommend this book, especially for the oral practice of the grammar points. Any grammar book gives you boring fill in the blank exercises, but this book goes beyond that.

This book is exhaustive but it gets the job done for any student on a plateau. It should be used after a simpler book like Side by Side 3. The goal is to reinforce and consolidate the skills learned in the simpler communicative learning books. TESL/TEFL apologists for ESL students obviously have not integrated this book because their students are not ready for it yet. It is a social matter of lower-educated working adults or a motivated language learner. It is for immediate students and will polish their skills in general. Spoken language is not very directly correlated with reading and writing. If you can not speak well, then do a simpler book. Then practice, practice, practice...and do this book as you practice speaking only. You will move off the plateau in a few weeks to a couple of months. When you are finished, my experience with private students is profound. You are ready for advanced ESL classes in community college or local university. Advanced-level English is not for academic students, it is a bare minimum for the functional English literacy in this society. You'll still need spell check and grammar assistance, but you'll be so much more confident. You'll distinguish your language skills in spoken, reading and in your general everyday writing. You can't skip to near-native speaker with this book, and slang books alone are not a short cut. This is a time saver.