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Intermediate Language Practice - English Grammar and Vocabulary | |
Publisher: Macmillan
Author: Michael Vince with Paul Emmerson
€26.70
ISBN 1-4050-0768-0
There has long been a divide between books that prepare students for the exam and books that teach the English required for that exam. This book is refreshing because it not only attempts to do both, but succeeds. Michael Vince has been writing EFL books for decades and has plenty of classroom and theoretical knowledge to back up his work. The Intermediate Language Practice is one of a series - you can also get Advanced, First Certificate and Elementary versions. Each is 'with' a different writer, so it appears Mr Vince has been collaborating hard.
This is a relatively expensive book, but it has a lot to offer. There are 296 pages, divided into two main parts. There are 51 grammar exercises and explanations going as far as page 209 and then vocabulary in 21 exercises on pages 209 - 272. This version of the book comes with an answer key, but there is a class version on offer without. The grammar section is in what has become almost the standard format in recent years - up to two pages of explanations and examples, followed by about four pages of exercises. These exercies are standard grammar exercises, covering the usual topics - Capital letters, pronouns, present perfect and reported speech, and so on, but all of the type that a student can expect to meet in the PET exam: gap fills, sentence rewrites, deciding if sentences are correct, etc. The PET preparation is even more obvious in the 'consolidation' exercises, which appear after every nine exercises of new material. These are basically PET-style exam practice. Nevertheless as the PET and the consolidation exercises are both testing English at this level, the dual purpose exercise perform both functions well. The cartoon-style pictures are used sparingly. They are there simply to break up the text and add nothing to it. There is not too much white space (which happens when a publisher tries to spread a 150 page book over 200 pages), and the blue-and-white colour scheme is easy to work with.
Who is this book for? Anyone who does not want to stop learning English in order to take time to learn for the exam. Teachers with mixed exam and non-exam students will also be happy to find a book that works well with both groups. Exam students will need some more coaching on how the exam works, but this book covers the English side nicely. There is a lot of material packed between the covers giving well over a hundred hours of study time for both class and independent students.
Verdict: Expensive, but worth it for some
Assessment 9/10