Exploring English, Level 1

On the surface, the book seems a bit old fashioned... The first time I saw it and the manager at my school asked me to use it in a lesson, I almost gagged... In fact, the copy of the book that the school had definitely seen better times... almost immediately I noticed how dated some of the cartoons looked, and was not endeared to the weird snobby looking middle aged characters who made up the stories... but, little by little, the book began to grow on me... well, actually my students who began demanding some of the stories as dictation homework. - - Soon, I realized that its weirdness is part of what makes the book fun... You have all sorts of strange characters... they eat at greasy spoons, smoke cigars, hang out at gas stations and can be really snobby and quirky (oh dear Otis and his fruit obsession, from an earlier volume!) Between exercises its hard not to make comments on the characters, as well as some weird things in the illustrations (for example, when the police take someone in for questioning, do they really tie them to the chair with rope? Do dogs REALLY look like that, and how is corpulent Albert able to balance both dishes, including a hot cup of tea on his knee?) As for the book itself, I use it in a slightly unorthodox manner with one-to-ones... instead of having the students READ through the stories, I read them to them, and do all sorts of stuff (shadowing, repeating, listening comp, summarizing, etc.) If they're able to handle the structures when I elicit the forms, we skip through the "SIDE BY SIDE" type drills... but if they're having trouble, we go through the chapter. - - The stories are really good for level checking, and also honing in on structural patterns. As for the method: There are pictures that the teacher asks students questions about to elicit forms... Reading exercises you use to check for grammar comprehension.... practice work for making sentences... conversations (I sometimes use them to do stuff like practice reported speech, etc.)... and pair work, for example, pictures that students use to ask each other questions. - - My favorite part of the book through are the stories and paragraphs because they're really great for testing listening comprehension and seeing if the student can form similar sentences by answering the questions... (Again, I don't have my students read them... I have them take notes while I read it to them.) All in all, I think this is one of those books that some teachers are going to hate... and some are going to love (think SIDE BY SIDE...) If you know how to use it and are inspired, you'll probably find the book addictive... if not, its probably not the book for you. I like it because it really gets the student talking, is very focused, and as much as I LOVE SBS, it offers a lot more variety and humor. (Teachers at my school tend to have a lot of fun with the girl with the big ta ta's at the beach... but maybe that's EE2... I can't tell you how much white out we'

I teach an ESOL class through a local college. I use this workbook in conjunction with the study guide to help the students develop basic English conversation skills. My only issue with the book is the overuse (in my opinion) of contractions. Otherwise I think this is an excellent aid.

Okay, I am an English teacher in Korea and I have been forced to teach many horrible books, but Exploring English is not one of these. This book is imaginative and fresh. The material is very well presented with many additional suggestions for expanding the material. The students enjoy this book. The best thing about this book is that it is simple to use and does not require an additional work book. I would encourage any teacher to use this series in the EFL/ESL classroom.