Teaching English - Books and Materials Recommendation

[began]

Hello everyone.

This is my first post here, it looks like a nice place - it`s good to see that there are forums with this kind of ... character :)

I was wondering if someone could recommend some books and materials that are contemporary to the nowadays standards (full sets of Student`s Books, Workbooks, CD`s and maybe DVD`s) for courses for all kinds of levels - elementary, pre-intermediate, intermediate, upper-intermediate, etc.

Maybe something like "New English File" or "New Headway"...

I am thinking about opening an English Language School, so if you have any recommendations about what books and materials I could use, please let me know, I would highly appreciate it.

Thank you in advance.

[began]

Still not one single answer??? :)

Come on guys, what books do you use to teach?

(sorry for the doublepost)

[mara_ce]

Originally Posted by began

Still not one single answer??? :)

Come on guys, what books do you use to teach?

(sorry for the doublepost)

I don’t select the books. That’s the coordinator’s job. I’ve been working with ‘Adventures’ Elementary and Pre-intermediate levels and New English File for all levels. I’d recommend the first one for adolescents. They enjoy the activities and never get bored. I use the second one with students age 16 + .

[began]

Thank you for your answers.

I am using New English File for students above 16 too. I cannot compare them with anything else realy, since I`m still a beginner in teaching. But from my point of view I think they are OK.

As for the "Adventures" - thank you for your suggestion, I`ll check it out.

I was looking through some Longman books like "Parade"... I`m not sure if that is the best choice for elementary school children.... I`m still doing some sort of research. Thanks again for your answers - if anyone else is willing to share their experience - you can do it in this topic, I think it would make an interesting and useful survey.

[eksena]

'Welcome' for primary and 'Click On' for secondary school by Express Publishing. They contain a Students' Book, a Work Book, 2 profound Teachers' Books both for SB and WB, a set of flashcards, CDs, set of DVD together with a DVD-workbook. Each unit deals with the four skills and provides lots of language practice.

'New Opportunities' by Longman also have a full set of books and cds/dvds and could be used for older teens and young adults.

You can get more information on their sites.

[Teaching English Games]

Hi there,

Text books are a good idea to serve as a foundation for the teacher. The problem starts when teachers ONLY use the textbook - generally lessons become quite boring!

Once you have found your textbook think about adding extra resources to your library for teachers to make lessons much more lively and interactive. The problem with textbooks is usually one reads a passage, and then answers questions about it. Or you listen to something and answer questions about it. It's rarely fun or particularly motivating.

I specialise in brilliant resources for teaching kids, and especially preschool, but if your school is for adults then I do have one relevant book: 194 Fun Activities for Teens and Adults. That can be used alongside any textbook to liven things up and give the students more of a chance to practise English actively. Importantly there are plenty of speaking tasks in there where joining in is not optional, so your shy or quiet students will not be left out.

You are welcome to try out the free ones that you may receive by email.

ESL Games and Activities for adults

Kind regards
Shelley

[Ugg Boots]

hi, this is links london!
i just want to recommend you New Concept English, and Around America
i think they good books, so i want to recommend them to you!
And you can also ask Google... and other search engines..
i think you will get you answers.

[Suzanne]

Hi Began,

I have been teaching two years and I have found some good books for newbie teachers because the books are self explanatory and easy to adapt.

Professional/Business - Cambridge 365 Bk 1, 2 & 3
Young learners - Incredible English 1 - 6 Oxford or Cambridge Starters/Movers/Flyers.
General English - Headway Elementary - Upper intermediate.

A useful website for books is - Cambridge International Book Centre - EFL / ELT Books as they are very reasonable and delivery is exceptionally good and efficient. I live in southern europe.

If you want any more help, advice or chat, you can contact me

Suzanne

[Sensible]

Hi, I have been teaching English to university students in Thailand for four years now. When I first started the course book was 'New Interchange' by Jack C. Richards published by Cambridge. In our faculty all the teachers vote for one of several books available to use and in my second and third years of teaching we used different books. One of the books 'Breakthrough' had several glaring mistakes that were potentially very dangerous for elementary students. This year we have returned to using 'New Interchange' and I couldn't recommend it more highly for elementary through to intermediate level. This is for what we call Foundation English levels 1, 2 and 3.

Beyond Foundation English 3 our students go on to English 4 and study elective subjects where teachers are responsible for their own course book selection. Some teachers draw material from several different books while others write their own.

I am in the process of writing my own course book for 'Standardized Test Preparation' (ie: IELTS,TOEIC and TOEFL) and have used the Longmans Series along with a very good intermediate level book entitled 'Achieve TOEIC' by Renald Rilcy and published by Marshall Cavendish. It too is a very good choice of book for intermediate and upper-intermediate students, in my opinion.

I am also of the opinion that this is a very good idea for a thread as there is a plethora of books to choose from on the market. Some are of limited value and others are superb. Many (most) books now come with a CD Rom and I suggest that close inspection be paid to what the CD Rom actually contains, as I have been very disappointed in the past. A teacher should also ensure that the book contains concise answer keys.

HTH

[davidbailey]

New Interchange is really popular here in Brazil as well...
and I have used it in the past. But I prefer to create my
own lessons and use authentic online material. My student
appreciate not being tied down to a single textbook.

P.S. Although it does take a lot more work and planning. ;)