Job Discussion Forums

[blue jay]

A friend of a friend sent me this email asking about conversational English books to use for teaching English:

Hi guys,
My boyfriend and I are starting a homestay business thingy out here in LA.
Part of it is for me to teach English again (sigh) and I want to
focus on conversational/practical English. I used to use Lets Talk
About It and some other books when I taught privates out in Japan.
Does anyone have any suggestions of good books to get. The only book
I brought here with us was the Oxford Japanese/English Picture
Dictionary!!!
-S

Anyone have any good suggestions I can pass along to her?

Thanks..

[Eleckid]

It really depends on the student's level.

The Let's Talk About It (red book right?) is very good for any level students. We use that as a suppliment for the adult classes.

The Let's Talk series are pretty good too. It mainly focuses on talking. I've used level 1 & 3 for my classes, it's good for young adults. However, their level should be at least intermediate, cuz the book assumes that the student already has a good level of vocabs, grammar, etc. And you'll need to get the teacher's CD (it doesn't come with the book), so it can be pricy. But this book came out not so long ago (maybe a few yrs ago), so the topics are still somewhat update (unlike some REALLY old textbooks that came out in the 80's).

The Impact series (Values, Topics, or Issues) are pretty good too. It has a reading section, & some discussion questions. We use those for higher beginner-intermediate highschool or adult students. The good thing about the Impact series is that it comes with the CD, so you don't have to buy them separate.

What A Life! book is ok too. It has both beginner & advanced level version. I use the advanced level book for one of my upper-intermediate adult class. The vocabs in the reading can be a bit challenging for them, but it has both exercises & discussion questions in there.

Side by Side (blue) is for really beginner students. It focuses on only basic grammar points & vocabs.

ExpressWay series are made for ESL students living in the States. They do have a few discussion topics.

True Stories series are good too. They're for higher beginners to intermediate students.

There's also this book called Idiom For Square One which is really good for teaching useful idioms. I've only used it with one private student class last term. I also use it as a suppliment for one of my adult class. This book doesn't promote too much discussion, cuz it mainly focuses on idioms.

I can't think of any other books off of my head right now...I hope that helps a bit.

[Eleckid]

btw most of the books that I've mentioned above are from Longman or Oxford (a majority being Longman's). My school tends to buy a lot of texts from them.

Another book I just thought of for ESL students doing homestay abroad is Passport (from Oxford, I think), it's navy & it's created for Japanese students doing homestay in other English speaking countries. I think that's pretty useful for them cuz the topics are pretty practical. The vocabs aren't so difficult & it promotes a lot of role-play. You'll have to get the separate CD/tape for it. My upper beginner highschool students love it.

Passport Plus (red) is for being a hostess in Japan for foreigners (so it's the other way around). And Passport for Work (green) is for...well pretty much self explanatory...businesses & working with foreigners.