Job Discussion Forums

[alalexander]

What are the best text books to teach native Russsian speakers (adults)? That you can buy in Kiev.

[smithrn1983]

What level and what are you teaching? General English, Business English, exam prep, academic english, etc?

[smithrn1983]

Also, what can you tell us about the students? Do they like talking, do they want to focus more on grammar, vocabulary or skills? How often are they studying? All of this affects which books I use with students.

[coledavis]

I think you can get most books in Kiev. New Headway and Cutting Edge are popular and most schools seem to like them. Personally, I quite like Total English (although you do need to screen it for proofing errors). If you want reliability and a host of material, although it tends to detract from teacher creativity, then there is always English File.

[mookieblaylock]

Headway and Cutting Edge by far the best..

Stay well away from Inside Out and English File.. awful

[coledavis]

Yes, Inside Out seems to omit much of the grammar. Ok for qualified Russian English teachers and rather experienced native speaker TEFLs, but horrible for the inexperienced. (Edited - I missed out the word 'omit' which must have rather detracted from the meaning of my contribution.)

[Sashadroogie]

It might be more helpful if we described why we think such and such a course book is terrific or not, much as coledavies has. We all have our preferences, and certain books suit us more than other. But this is not the same thing as an evaluation of the material.

Some of my colleagues pan Cutting Edge Pre-Int - worst book imaginably, they say. I find this strange as I have used this book many times without any issue, even the much maligned TBL pages. When my colleagues justify their dislike of this book, they usually say something like "it is so boring for me to use! The texts about extreme sports and the environment, for God's sake! I am not interested in any of that, nor are the students!" Yet none of this immediately discounts the learning value of the book. It can still be well-exploited. Learners can learn. ( Teachers may not be too entertained, but that is not the point here.)

Back to the OP, I would say that any of the books mentioned on this page would be fine for Russian learners. Russian learners tend to be fairly tolerant of the lesson materials, so long as the purpose of the lesson is clear to them. I mean, has anybody looked at Russian-produced English books? They tend to be unimaginative, colourless, rote-learning reference books - quite grim as far as I am concerned. Very little scope for learners to actually put any target language into use. The teacher has to do a lot of lesson-planning to inject anything communicative. So Headway and Inside Out seem great by comparison.

And as for Russian language course books! 'Поехали' must surely be the most illogical course book ever produced. Reading activities with questions to which there is no answer. Having to wait until Book 2.1 to have the 'my name is...' lesson. Overloaded tasks where you have to listen to the CD and do complex matching exercises in the book simultaneously. A CD with no logical track number system whatsoever...Arrrrggghhh!

To the OP, choose any book, plan a lesson around it, use it as well as you can. You can't go wrong.

[ecocks]

I used several different ones over the years.

Aside from being sure you spot typos, you can use almost anything. The value of any system is its consistency. A systematic approach which the student can move through with some rhythm in the sessions and you can build lessons around is all you need. You can always skip over the occasional sidebar section or exercise if it seems just too dysfunctional.

In private and small group lessons I normally worked for 30-45 minutes on one of the books, usually Headway (I invested in the complete set of four of everything plus the teacher's manual). Then I'd take a 5-8 minute break, chatting over coffee, tea, cookies or a "tort" before starting on a board exercise, reading from one of the Penguin graded level books, awriting exercise, studying a news story or something specific;y focused on the student's interest area.

Even curriculum such as Speak-Up's or some of the goofy, homemade stuff from the independents can work with a little bit of effort on the teacher's part.

Find what you're comfortable with for the type of lessons you wish to offer and build around it to suit your plans. I had several students who wanted to do the standardized tests for admissions to international schools and others who concentrated on conversational skills, even accent.

Good luck!

[jpvanderwerf2001]

New English File is pretty good.

[Linochka]

Can anyone possibly give their opinion about New English File? The school I'll be working in uses it for their General English adults.

Also, has anyone ever used English in Mind (CUP)? The school uses that for teenage classes.

I'm really only familiar with Cutting Edge and Straightforward, so I don't know how these compare, in terms of setting good contexts, pace and grammar presentation, etc.

[coledavis]

Although it seems to be of an obsession with recruiters to find out which books teachers have used, I think people get used to books quite quickly (unless they are very bad). Re New English File, these are the comments I have heard from other people and I don't disagree with:

Grammatically and in terms of typos, it is never (or rarely?) wrong. (Compare this with the very accessible but error-strewn Total English.)

In that there is so much material, it is both a labour-saver but also a creativity stifler (if you let it) - "like painting by numbers", said one teacher - so you need to use the exercises selectively.

I found some exercises boring, so at times you will want to replace with activities of your own or ones you find elsewhere.

On the whole, apart from being selective, I don't think NEF is a problem. (whereas Inside Out can be real pain for new native speaker teachers.)

[jpvanderwerf2001]

English in Mind isn't fantastic, but it does come with some pretty handy (and relevant) course DVDs.

[Linochka]

Thanks for the replies, especially coledavis - very useful to see the pros and cons, etc. NEF sounds better than I expected, but then I was basing my opinion off 'old' EF.

I didn't know recruiters now care about which books you've used

[Mikalina]

Not sure whether recruiters 'care' about what books you have used but they do seem to get a certain satisfaction in knowing that their choice is known by you.

Also there is a section on the recruitment form used by the recuiter (in the schools where I've worked as ADOS) which specifically asks for a list of books used by the interviewee.

[Mikalina]

'recruiter'