How To Teach English (Book with DVD) (How S.)

I will soon be a first time ESL teacher. Frankly, I am surprised at the great ratings this book has received. Yes, it has some good tips, but I don't feel like I have a better understanding of how people learn languages. A lot of it seemed like it was common sense. (For example, do you really need a book to tell you that people need to be exposed to language in different ways? i.e. Traditional grammar practice is fine, but a student needs to be engaged in the language through other forms of practice. Duh.) If anything this book reassured some thoughts I have had about how to teach.

I liked how he seperated the chapters into "How to teach Reading" or "How to Teach Listening, Writing..." etc. But as I said, nothing in them was terribly enlightening. (90% of the chapters are examples based on the student's level. So therefor if you are only teaching one level, 80% of the chapter is useless to you!) Also, I was annoyed that he dropped the "Beginner" examples in a couple of chapters. I liked those examples, because I will be teaching young children. I do think that some of his more advanced examples could be "dumbed down" for beginner audiences, but he could have had more examples in some chapters.

The "What If" chapter is useful. (i.e. "What if the students are at different levels...What if the class is very big...What if the students don't want to talk?")As are the first few chapters about how to be a teacher in general. He gives good tips on how to speak in class, how to relate to students, lesson plans, how to give instructions, etc. I believe that this was the best part of the book.

I only gave the text 3 stars because I think that the middle chapters, which specifically concern teaching English (the topic of the book!), could have more information in them. I breezed through them because, minus the examples which I mentioned above, there is not that much information in them. You should read this book along with a more indepth study of teaching ESL.

I am about to start a TOEFL program to become a teacher and needed something to brush up on my English grammer. I bought this book for myself as a refresher and to give myself a head start on what I will be learning. Thus far it has been great. I believe it will be a wonderful tool to help you teach your class as it breaks down the many different modes of teaching. I have not finished the entire book, but am looking forward to exploring the rest of it.

I ordered this book for a class in Florence, Italy in May and even paid to have it sent ASAP., here it is June 13th and am leaving for Italy...STILL HAVEN'T RECEIVED IT.

item received in a very good condition and the shipping was fast... perfect

The book, How to Teach English by Jeremy Harmer, is wonderful and easy to read. It provides you with information on the basics of teaching and provides guidance in how to conduct classroom work effectively. I found it most helpful in getting an understanding of how classes ought to be taught, and conducting class so that students will maintain interest in the lessons.