| Book of the Month | ||
| Oxford Practice Grammar | |
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Author: John Eastwood
432 pages + CD
Price £8.30
ISBN 0I9 41369
It's the time of the year when many people are thinking about doing an English course, or maybe they want to do an English exam. Or maybe a formal course is not for them. Some people like to learn by themselves at their own speed - maybe with help and exercises from English for Everybody! But you can't be online all the time, and if you are going to study from a book, you don't want to waste your time and money. So is the Oxford Practice Grammar right for you?
First of all, if you are not at least intermediate level, this book isn't right for you. If you are intermediate - or above, read more. As the title of the book says, this is a grammar book. There are no reading exercises, and no writing exercises. You might think that the CD on the cover has listening exercises, but it doesn't - its an English test on a disk. If you have used English Grammar in Use by Raymond Murphy, you will understand this book as soon as you open it. There are exercises on the right-hand pages, and explanations of the grammar on the left. At the back there are indexes for punctuation, pronunciation, word formation, spelling the end of words (as in 'how many Ls in carefully?' ) and English irregular verbs.
There are 153 units in the book. Most of them take two pages (one explanation, and one exercises) there are some units that have two pages of explanation, and two pages of exercises.
The exercises are also put into larger blocks which are each about a different kind of grammar. So you have - verbs (all the tenses are explained) nouns, articles, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, relative clauses, conditionals, and link words (such as 'and, if, because'). You can start the book at any place, because this is not one of those grammar books which gets harder as you come to the end. All the parts are the same level of difficulty, so if you are having trouble with relative pronouns (for example), you can begin the book by studying relative pronouns.
Each part starts off with a short conversation between some of the characters in the book. The grammar point you are going to study is used in this conversation, so you can see how a native speaker would use it. This is a good idea. Another good idea is to keep the same characters in every exercise, so you can see the same people in different situations. There are some pictures as well, but these are drawings. They are small, and thry are used to give you more information about the grammar point. This is not a book which is full of large pictures and half-empty pages.
The grammar explanations are good, and they are easy to understand. There are lots of examples, though there are not so many examples of common mistakes. The exercises on the right-hand page give you practice, and the answers are at the back of the book (but make sure that you get the book with answers - there is another book for classes, that doesn't have answers.) As you go through the book, you will find progress tests about the work you have just done. There are 25 of these. There is also a larger test at the front of the book (and on the free CD) which you can do to test your level. (Or you can do it here, now with us!)
Oxford University Press publish many academic books, and they have a very good reputation. The exercises and explanations in this book were tested at English language schools (including the Ekersley School in Oxford) to make sure that the students understand the work in the book. OUP (Oxford University Press) say that this book isuseful for people doing the First Certificate English Exam. (FCE) You will learn all the grammar that you need for the exam, but remember that exams are about more than just your English, and make sure that you have done some FCE practice tests as well.
Who is this book for? Mostly it is for people who want to study English by themselves, or with a tutor. It can be used as a class grammar book, especially the version with no answers at the back, but teachers will want some other books too, for reading, speaking games, and the other parts of life in an English Language classroom. If you think that you want to do the FCE exam, this book will improve your grammar.We think that this is a good book. There is nothing very surprising or original about how it explains things though. The CD is useful, but you should not buy the book just to get it. This is a book for just one thing - it teaches you intermediate level grammar. But it does this very well. If you want a book with fun, speaking exercises, and lots of pictures, you should look for another book. If your English is about intermediate level, and you are serious about grammar, then look at this book, and at Intermediate English in Use. We think that Intermediate English in Use is a little bit easier to use, and the exercises are better presented. On the other hand, the Oxford Practice Grammar has a more material, and the price is very good. You will have a good book whichever one of the two you buy, so you can choose.
Verdict - A good grammar book, with clear explanations, and useful exercises at a low price. The CD is nice, but it seems to be just the starting test made interactive.
Assessment 8/10