Exploring English, Level 4

I've been teaching ESL for 25 years. As it uses line drawings and watercolors (and Book 5 uses no color at all) Exploring English doesn't look as slick as other textbooks that have a lot of glossy photos of current pop idols. However, the way Mr. Harris has created a community of characters and follows their lives through the series to contextualize the grammar-bases syllabus the book mainly uses is truly masterful. The books don't have any information-gap pairworks, which I love to use, but everything it does have "works." This book is so well written it nearly teaches itself (with the possible exception of book 6), and I love the rich and extensive reading passages included. If I were given the choice of using Exploring English or one of the market leaders such as Interchange, I would go with Exploring English in a hearbeat. My students just learn more, and I feel better at the end of the class.

I like this book but is not a self study, due its function is communication skill, you need to work in a classroom otherwise could be boring, the lessons are driven to chat in a group and make the lesson iteractives. Good luck.