Perfect Phrases for ESL Conversation Skills - book review

I teach 2 of my 3 English Learners at my local public library and I make as much use of their ESL collection, and that of the affiliated libraries as I can. Occasionally, a book I come across is so useful, I add it to my personal library because I don't want to risk needing it and having it out of the library with another tutor or learner.

Perfect Phrases for ESL Conversation Skills is one of those books. I have borrowed several books of idioms, that have been helpful, to a degree. The whole area of idioms and phrases is imperative to English Learners, because Americans speak in idioms incessantly.  One of my learners has an excellent vocabulary and can write well, but he can be confused when listening to Americans speak, because we don't speak in the formal way he was taught English in his native country.

This book, Perfect Phrases for ESL Conversation Skills by Diane Engelhardt, is not brand new, but I hadn't seen it in my library before.  It was published last year.  She has brilliantly blended idioms and commonly used phrases and classified them in such chapters as:

• Small Talk
• Past Experiences
• Likes, Dislikes and Interests
• Objects and Processes
• Problems and Advice
• Decisions and Goals

The above topics comprise Part 1 of the book.  Part 2 consists of:

• Opinions
• Group Discussions
• Serious Subjects

And Part 3 is entitled

• Afterthoughts

The best aspect of this book is its contemporaneousness.  Several other idiomatic resources I have consulted are a bit outdated.  Language is not static, it evolves and we need to keep our students understanding how American English speakers actually talk. Perfect Phrases for ESL Conversation Skills by Diane Engelhardt has captured current speech in the kinds of phrases we use and has classified them in a user friendly way.  

As I indicated above, this book is going to become part of my personal library.

I Am Observing

(It's been quite a while since I last blogged.  I have had and am still having a less than optimum recovery from a fractured wrist, but I'm doing my best to resume my usual activities.  Thanks for your forbearance over the long pause.)

I am observing, with all of my adult English learners, that -ing verbs are commonly used, but often without their auxiliaries.  Frequently, a student says, "I going to the store."  Of course I know what they are saying, I'm just a little unsure of when their trip will or did take place. I know that for the most basic skill level, that statement communicates enough.  However, all of my learners, already had varying levels of skill in English and desire to speak more properly.

I have been creating some tense sheets to help them.  There are several ways to say something in the present, but sometimes the present tense is more like a description of what one does routinely or for a living, and not what one is doing at that instant.  For example:

I play golf.    Well, that can be the answer to, What do you do to relax?  or What do you do for a living?

I am (or I'm) playing golf.  That can be the answer to, Hi, Dad!  Just wanted to call to see what's going on,  or What are you doing next Saturday morning?

The same goes for the other auxiliaries like is, are, was, were.

I have found it helpful to compare:

I play golf

to

I am playing golf

and

I played golf

to

I was playing golf

and so on.

Once the understanding of the progressive nature of the auxiliary word and the -ing verb are understood with simple repetition and description of the progressive aspect of the word combination, my students improved in their comprehension (because we frequently speak in this progressive action manner) and in their conversational usage.

If you or your English Learners are stumbling with this, and want to improve their accuracy, perhaps using these kinds of examples will be helpful.