| Book of the Month | ||
| Advanced Language Practice | |
Publisher: Heinemann ELT
Author: Michael Vince
295 pages, 60 chapters
Price £12.95 (in England)
ISBN 0 435 241249
So you thought that EFL books were too easy? That they did not explain the more complex grammar that you need for the Proficiency exam? To go with English for Everybody's Proficiency exam practice launch in December, we present perhaps the best book to prepare you for the Proficiency grammar test.
Michael Vince, the writer of this book is an ELT professional. He has done a number of other books, though we have not reviewed any of them yet. He has lived abroad (in Milan, Italy) and he speaks at least one other language. Both of these things are useful for ELT writers, because it helps them to understand the problems that students of English must face.
This book is in three parts. The first 30 units are grammar, beginning with the past, future and present tenses. No matter how well you might think you know these tenses, this book will tell you something new about them. Each chapter starts with short explanations and examples, and then there are plenty of exercises to help you to practice. There are black-and white cartoon drawings in the exercises, usually about the sentence just below. Some of these are quite amusing cartoons, and they break up the text well. For some reason, the cartoons stop after the grammar exercises, which is a pity. There are regular progress tests every couple of units, though these are more like revision exercises than tests.
The only way to learn vocabulary is to practice it, preferably through reading, writing and speaking. So in the vocabulary section there are no explanations, just exercises showing the right way to use vocabulary in different contexts. Many of these exercises are are like those you will find in Proficiency exams. If you do not know the difference between (for example) struggle, attempt, effort and toil then this book will be useful. The vocabulary is divided into categories such as leisure, the natural world, and health. The problem is that there are so many words in the full English vocabulary that no book can teach them all.
The last ten chapters are called "words and phrases" but are mostly about prepositions and which words go with them, though there are also chapters on things like describing weights and other measurements. Again there are no explanations - each chapter is just test exercises all the way through. Colloquialisms and vocabulary exercises can also be found here, and again the format is rather like that of some of the tests for the proficiency exam. At the end of the book is a key giving the answers to all the tests, but no explanations why one answer is right and the others are not. There is also a two-page index to help you find where particular grammar points can be found in the book. If you are studyingf with this book, there is no reason to start at page one and go from there. You might prefer to do grammar one day, and vocabulary the next.
This is a very large book - almost three hundred pages, and each page is the size of a page of photocopy paper. All the space is used - there are no big colour photographs, and no illustration is more than a few centimeters high. The only white space in the book ("white space" is pages, or parts of pages with nothing written on them) is at the end of each section. If you get the book now, you will probably find that even if you use it a lot, you will not have finished it by the time you do the exams next July.
Though the book calls itself Advanced Language Practice, it is really Advanced Grammar Practice. There is no reading, no listening, and no functions (functions are how to introduce yourself, apologise, and so on). You do not get a CD with the book. All that you get is a book full of exercises on types of English grammar and sentence construction. But it is Advanced, and there is lots of Practice. If you want a book that is fun and relaxing, then do not buy this book unless you think that doing lots and lots of difficult grammar exercises is an enjoyable way to relax.
Who would the book be good for? Well, two types of user. Anyone who wants to take an Advanced or Proficiency exam should seriously consider buying this book, and so should anyone who has to deal with advanced English in their work. If you are an academic, a lawyer, or an engineer, you will already know - the people at the top of your profession either have good English or wish they did. Now is the moment to prepare yourself!
Verdict - This book is about English Grammar and how to use it. If your English is already good and you are prepared to work hard to make it much better - buy this book.
Assessment 10/10