Should I choose New Concept III to improve my English?

by Ghoti
(Shang Hai, CN)

Thanks for reading my questions!

I am a greenhand from China. I am an English enthusiast and I found your website really useful and attractive when I first came here. I like it here.

So...my question is about my recent textbook
-New Concept English III.

Is it a good textbook to improve my English?

I've learned that the textbook above can be helpful with English writing skills, is that true?

I am trying hard to recite every essay I meet in it, however, you know, it's really boring. I stick with it and recite more every day, but this needs great perseverance.

I believe that it's more difficult for Chinese learners to improve their English compared with any other country in the world.

Any advice to my question? Thank you for your help!

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Answer:

Hi Ghoti,

My apologies for the extremely late reply. I started a new job and I haven't been able to work on the website very much over the past several months.

New Concept English III

It is a good textbook or not?

First, I have to tell you that I had not heard of this textbook before you asked me about it. This does not mean that it is not a good book, but it does mean that it is new and hasn't been around very long.

If you search for it in Google, you can actually find it at Scribe.com.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/464369/New-Concept-English-Book-III

http://www.scribd.com/doc/18486032/New-Concept-English-Book-II-III-IV-Combined-and-Annotated

From this I now understand what you are talking about. It is a collection of readings or paragraphs on different topics.

To answer your question, this book alone will not help you. It is just a book of paragraphs or stories.

What will help you learn is HOW you use it.

You mentioned that it is boring to recite these stories and I 100% agree with you. Just reading stories is boring. Where is the fun in that? Is that interesting or useful? NO.

So you need to think of activities that you can do USING these stories to help you improve.

Here is a bit of motivation to get you started:

1) Try to summarize in your own words (orally or in writing) what is being expressed or told.

2) Do you agree or disagree with what is being presented? Defend your position.

3) Record yourself reading the stories out loud and listen to yourself. Does it sound correct? Try to pronounce things clearly and slowly.

4) Try to write an email to a friend explaining the story.

5) Form your own questions for each exercise. Try to ask interesting questions that use different forms of grammar.

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That should make things a bit more interesting for you. For me, a book really needs to be interesting and useful to get me to use it. There are so many great books out there, but the number one problem is that if students done USE them then students don't learn.

I think the key to learning is finding an activity that you really enjoy, and then doing it over a long period of time.

Best of luck with your English and do keep in touch Ghoti.

Cheers,
Diana