Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Eazy_E]

I teach some evening classes of hagwon students who have very little English conversation experience. I wonder if anyone knows of a good textbook that you have used for low-level conversation in the 13-15 age range.

So far I've been using an ESL conversation book aimed at adults. The vocabulary and situations in the book aren't always applicable to young EFL learners. They also find it to be a bit dry.

I'd like to find a book that can give them something interesting to talk about, and build their confidence. Some grammar and listening skills would be important, but communication is the most important thing. They have some knowledge of English but so far the conversation in class is like pulling teeth. I hope someone can help me out!

[Son Deureo!]

It may be too high a level for your students, but I think Small Group Discussion Topics for Korean High School Students published by Pusan National University is very good. It has fairly simple articles that cover interesting, yet age-appropriate subjects (school uniforms, dating, UFOs and the paranormal, Korean re-unification, exam hell...). I found it pretty easy to springboard from those articles into some pretty lively conversation.

[ulsanchris]

YOu might want to try SLE series. Speaking Listening and Expression. Its a korean produced book. I think the series has nine books. It sounds like what you want.

[ItalianPrincess]

Intro to Impact or its Impact Intro...I never remember...its pretty good for beginning level listening/conversation courses. If its too easy, you might try Listen to Me or Impact 1.

[riverboy]

How about side by side?

[Toby]

English Upgrade. Good book.

[ajuma]

Do you NEED to use a book? I find that teaching "real" conversation...from "Wassup?" to "That's DISGUSTING!" more appropriate for students then the stupid "My name is...." "What are your hobbies?" (How many people do YOU know that ask that question????)

[Eazy_E]

That's an interesting point... I could teach them the way that people ACTUALLY talk, but I guess they really want a textbook to refer to. Besides I'm Canadian so they would end up saying things like OOT and ABOOT and I'm not sure if I want to subject them to that.

[OiGirl]

How about one of the Firsthand books?

I think this is the lowest level:

[Eazy_E]

Thanks to everyone who posted, this will certainly help me.

[wylde]

expressways..... great books for that age

[Gollum]

I am addicted to "Get Real" by Macmillan Publishers.

You would want "Get Real" Starter. There are also levels 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Here is a link abou the books: http://www.macmillaneducation.com/Catalogue/american/getreal.htm

You can find them in COEX at Band & Lundis.

Be sure to get the Teachers CD, because the student CDs in the back of the student books only have about 1/3 of what's needed for each chapter.

Those books are so great, because they have actual conversations with different words you plug into them. And they are real-life situation that the kids will actually see and use.

Also, the exercises on every 2 pages all coordinate together to teach the same theme. Then there is some written grammar work in the back of the book that fits the same theme (don't forget to do what's in the back!).

Each 2 page section fills up an hour very conveniently if you do it all. I've found nearly 80 percent of the exercises are worthwhile, and that's pretty good in a book like this. Usually, you end up ignoring a lot of the stuff and doing just parts of the lesson, but I do most things (although some of the chants are a bit goofy, they work).

[sistersarah]

i'm with gollum on the "get real" books. i use books 1 and 2 and once the students get used to using the models, it's great. and it's easy to use the topics to stray from the book and actually talk with them.

[Eazy_E]

Hey Gollum. The Get Real books are probably the closest fit for my situation. Cheers on that one.

Now if I can talk my boss into buying them... he's notoriously cheap.