Page 8 - English Vocabulary in Use : Elementary

To the teacher
This book can be used in class or as a self-study book. It is intended to take learners from a
very basic level of vocabulary to a level where they can use around 2,000 words and
phrases. The vocabulary has been chosen for its usefulness in everyday situations, and the
authors consulted a written and spoken corpus of present-day English to help them decide
on the words and phrases to be included. The new vocabulary (on average 20-25 items per
unit) is presented with illustrations and explanations on the left-hand page, and there are
exercises and activities on the right-hand page. There is a key and an index with
pronunciation for all the key vocabulary.
The book focuses not just on single words, but on useful phrases and collocations. For
example, difficult teaching points such as the difference between do and make, are dealt
with through collocation (we do our homework, but we make mistakes), and useful phrases
(e.g. come along, in the unit on come) are presented.
The book is organised around everyday topics, but also has units devoted to core verbs such
as get and bring/take, as well as units concerned with ways of learning vocabulary. Typical
errors are indicated where appropriate, and the most typical meanings and uses are focused
on for each key item. The units in the book can be used in any order you like, but we
would advise doing the initial units on learning vocabulary (Units 1 and 2) first, as these lay
the foundations for the rest of the book.
The right-hand pages offer a variety of different types of activities, some traditional ones
such as gap-filling, but also more open-ended ones and personalised activities which enable
learners to talk about their own lives. Although the activities and exercises are designed for
self-study, they can be easily adapted for pair-work, group-work or whole-class activities in
the usual way. The key sometimes gives alternative answers to the exercises, and also
usually gives possible model answers for the more personalised ones.
When the learners have worked through a group of units, it is a good idea to repeat some
of the work (for example, the exercises) and to expand on the meaning and use of key
words and phrases by extra discussion in class, and find other examples of the key items in
other texts and situations. This can be done at intervals of one to three months after first
working on a unit. This is important, since it is usually the case that a learner needs five to
seven exposures to a word or phrase before they can really know it, and no single book can
do enough to ensure that words are always learnt first time.

When your students have finished all the units in this book, they will be ready to move on
to the two higher level books in this series: English Vocabulary in Use: pre-intermediate and
intermediate, by Stuart Redman, and after that, to the higher level, English Vocabulary in
Use: upper-intermediate and advanced, by the same authors as this book.
We hope you enjoy using the book.

English Vocabulary in Use (elementary) 5