Free teaching materials for private lessons

[MikeT92]

Is there such a thing as a free textbook (online or downloadable, for general english at least ) organised into levels, containing different kinds of activities? In absence of one how could a private teacher make a studying program? There are lots of random materials on the net, but they are uncategorized. Lets assume a teacher determines a student's level according to the cambridge system; if he had those books he would pick a right one and work from there; otherwise the test gives general information about a student's level. What should be done next?

[sawlor29]

Hi Mike,

This reply might be too late, but what age group are you looking for? kids or adult class.

Robbie

[MikeT92]

Hi Mike,

This reply might be too late, but what age group are you looking for? kids or adult class.

Robbie

Both. Why are such popular publishers as cambridge or oxford offering their systems in the paperback form only (not to mention the thickness of paper they are printed on) and not in the form of e books? It would be so much easier for teachers and students to be able to download those materials instantly and pay to the author only for proprietary rights.

[Cent]

I have never found a free textbook online. I know where I live in the US I could go hunting in some used book stores for a textbook. If they are private lessons and you only have one student. There are graded level readers from both Cambridge and Oxford. I prefer the Oxford but they are abridged stories from levels 1 to 6. They have before, during, and after you read questions. They can be really helpful as a supplement for just a general teaching of English. They are also available for $10 or less online through Google Play, Kindle, or iTunes.

[JulietHuynh]

I have never found a free textbook online. I know where I live in the US I could go hunting in some used book stores for a textbook. If they are private lessons and you only have one student. There are graded level readers from both Cambridge and Oxford. I prefer the Oxford but they are abridged stories from levels 1 to 6. They have before, during, and after you read questions. They can be really helpful as a supplement for just a general teaching of English. They are also available for $10 or less online through Google Play, Kindle, or iTunes.

I'm sorry - this question is pretty off topic to the main post's question. Cent, did you find that the Cambridge version wasn't American English friendly? I had another teacher tell me that she felt that at times she had difficulty explaining certain topics and forms to students because the phrases were more British English than American English.

[Cent]

JulietHuynh when I use British English teaching material the most noticeable difference is the spelling. I just let the students know that in American English it is spelled this way. All other differences I will also use the same answer "In American English it is more common to say it this way..." The Oxford graded level readers have a number of American authors such as Mark Twain, Jack London, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. They are all abridged and retold by an author who hopefully has experience with English language learners. The graded readers from what I saw tend to be more neutral not favoring one dialect over the other.
Even if these graded level readers did lean heavier on the British English (which they don't) I figure it should not affect the original poster MikeT92 because I did notice the way he spelled "organised".

[JulietHuynh]

Thank you, Cent! I figured the spelling would be most noticeable. The other teacher mentioned some differences in relative pronoun usage and prepositional phrases, but bringing up that it's a dialectal difference is a great idea. It will at least make the learner aware that these differences occur instead of trying to explain forms we are unaware of ourselves.

Good eye there.