I currently give private English lessons to Japanese students online and one of the books that has been a life saver for me is the face2face course book series. Since the majority of my students have a somewhat firm grasp of the English language, but still need some improvement, the book I’ve used the most is Face2face Intermediate.
The introduction of this book describes its lessons as pure vocabulary and grammar material. When I read this description I was not entirely thrilled to use the book in my class. I’m the type of teacher who likes to teach grammar structures in a real life context in order to get my class interested in what they are learning.
"Face2face is informed by the Cambridge English Corpus and its vocabulary syllabus is mapped to the English Vocabulary Profile, meaning students learn the language they really need at each CEFR level" -Chris Redston (Author)
However I remember that when I flipped through the pages and analyzed the contents of the book I was pleasantly surprised. Although this is a grammar and vocabulary course book, the teaching method behind it is very different from most books out there. The book has 12 units which teach grammar structures through situations, stories, and dialogues rather than completely focusing on drills or grammar exercises. While working with this book teachers and students will work on themed chapters which focus on things like describing emotions, technology, tourism, pollution/environmental topics, and social interaction (just to name a few). In every chapter there are also games, crossword puzzles, conversation questions, and matching activities to help students practice what they have learned.
The book is filled with glossy images and colorful photographs which give each chapter a modern and somewhat informal tone. There is a major focus on reading comprehension and many of the articles in the book have a casual style to them; some articles even look like they were taken from fashion or travel magazines. The book also comes with a CD and every unit puts a strong focus on listening comprehension. I even noticed that there were songs on the CD and I discovered that in the last few chapters, students get the chance to analyze lyrics and common expressions in songs.
Working with this book has helped me plan engaging lessons which help students learn important grammar and vocabulary through a more alternative approach. Something else that I really enjoyed about this book is that my students got the chance to look into the topic of cultural diversity since many of the reading activities talk about cultural facts specific to the US and the UK. In a sense one could say that this book has all of its bases covered
For students who are looking to study English on their own I would not recommend this book since a good deal of activities need to be worked on in a group or with the assistance of a teacher. For teachers and students working in a classroom setting, this book is perfect and it can definitely help intermediate students prepare themselves for the upper intermediate level.
