English Made Easy: A Pictorial Approach to ESL

This compilation consists of excerpts from “English Made Easy Volume One: A New ESL Approach: Learning English Through Pictures,” an English as a Second Language (ESL) textbook. Published by Tuttle Publishing, the book by Jonathan Crichton and Pieter Koster focuses on practical communication skills rather than explicit grammar rules, employing pictures and real-life social situations to aid learning. The content is organized into units, each covering specific functions, grammar points, and topics, such as introducing people, discussing occupations, asking for directions, and making appointments. The book includes word lists, practice sentences, and revision activities with answers, making it suitable for both self-study and classroom use.

English Made Easy: Practical Greetings and Conversational Starters

The “English Made Easy Volume One” textbook provides various examples of basic greetings and conversational starters as part of its curriculum for learning English. The book’s approach focuses on teaching the practical use of English, with grammar informing the structure rather than being explicitly taught through labels and rules, especially for beginners.

Here are the areas in the sources that discuss basic greetings:

• Introducing people: This function is taught in Unit 3: “I’d like you to meet my accountant.”. Key phrases learned for introductions and initial greetings include:
• “Have you met…?”
• “I’d like you to meet…”
• “Hi”
• “Good to meet you” These phrases help learners manage social relationships and introduce individuals.
• Starting conversations: Unit 4: “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?”, focuses on initiating conversations. A common phrase used to start a conversation is:
• “Excuse me” This unit also introduces “question tags” as a grammatical tool to facilitate conversation.
• Asking and answering about names: Unit 1: “What’s your name?”, covers fundamental initial interactions. Phrases taught for this purpose include:
• “How to ask and answer about names”
• “What’s your name?”
• “My name’s…”
• Greetings and farewells: A dedicated section in Unit 11: “What’s the matter?”, teaches how to give greetings and farewells. This unit covers a comprehensive set of common greetings and parting phrases:
• “Good morning.”
• “Good afternoon.”
• “Good evening.”
• “Good night.”
• “Goodbye.”
• “See you later.”
• “Have a nice day.”
• “Thanks for coming.”

The textbook uses a picture-based approach to present language in context, allowing students to observe, discover, and practice how language is used in real-life social situations.

English Made Easy: Mastering Social Interactions

The “English Made Easy Volume One” textbook is designed to teach practical English communication skills, which are inherently tied to social interactions. The book’s methodology emphasizes learning by observing, discovering, and practicing how language is used in “real life social situations,” rather than focusing on grammatical labels and rules, especially for beginners. This approach aims to provide learners with “easy access to the vocabulary, grammar and functions of English as it is actually used in a comprehensive range of social situations”.

Building on our previous discussion about basic greetings, the textbook covers a wide array of functions that constitute social interactions:

• Greetings and Farewells: The curriculum directly teaches how to give greetings and farewells in Unit 11: “What’s the matter?”. This includes common phrases like “Good morning,” “Good afternoon,” “Good evening,” “Good night,” “Goodbye,” “See you later,” “Have a nice day,” and “Thanks for coming”. This foundational aspect of social interaction is introduced alongside topics like talking about health and expressing obligation.
• Introductions and Starting Conversations:
• Asking and answering about names is covered in Unit 1: “What’s your name?”, including phrases like “What’s your name?” and “My name’s…”. This is one of the very first social interactions taught.
• Introducing people is a key function in Unit 3: “I’d like you to meet my accountant.”. Phrases such as “Have you met…?” and “I’d like you to meet…” are taught, along with responses like “Good to meet you” and “Hi”. These help learners manage social relationships effectively.
• Starting conversations is explicitly addressed in Unit 4: “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?”. A common phrase introduced for this purpose is “Excuse me”. This unit also integrates question tags as a grammatical tool to facilitate conversational flow.
• Making and Responding to Offers and Invitations:
• The book teaches making, accepting and declining offers in Unit 6: “Would you like something to drink?”. This unit introduces phrases like “Would you like…?”, “What would you like?”, “No, thanks,” and “Yes, please”.
• Giving, accepting and declining invitations is a central theme in Unit 2: “That’d be great!”. Key phrases learned include “How about…?”, “Would you like to come to…?”, “I’d love to,” “That’d be great,” “I’d love to but I can’t,” “I’m afraid I can’t,” and “Sorry, I can’t”.
• Expressing Opinions and Agreement/Disagreement:
• In Unit 9: “This one is better,” learners acquire the skills for asking for and giving opinions, as well as agreeing and disagreeing. Phrases like “What do you think…?”, “Do you like…?”, and “I don’t agree” are practiced.
• Asking for Clarification:
• Unit 7: “He’s a tour guide” focuses on asking for clarification, providing crucial phrases such as “Could you repeat that please?” and “I’m sorry”. This is essential for effective communication and understanding in social settings.
• Discussing Health:
• Inquiring about health is also part of the functions covered in Unit 11: “What’s the matter?”. Phrases like “Are you all right?”, “What’s the matter?”, “What’s wrong?”, and “I’m sorry to hear that” are taught.
• Telephone Interactions:
• Unit 17: “They’re working in the garden” addresses social interactions over the phone, teaching how to answer the telephone and how to make a telephone call. Phrases like “Hello. John speaking,” “Can I speak to Tom, please?”, “Who’s calling?”, “I’m sorry, she’s busy,” and “Can I take a message?” are covered.
• Other Conversational Topics: The book also introduces various topics that facilitate social conversation, such as talking about occupations (Unit 7), talking about travel (Unit 8), asking about prices (Unit 8), talking about hobbies, skills, and interests (Unit 13), talking about what you like and don’t like (Unit 17), and making appointments (Unit 18).

Overall, the “English Made Easy” textbook provides a comprehensive framework for learning various social interactions in English by presenting language in practical, real-life contexts, allowing learners to observe, discover, and practice naturally.

English Made Easy: Daily Life & Social Situations

The “English Made Easy Volume One” textbook provides a practical approach to learning English by focusing on its use in “real life social situations”. This methodology naturally incorporates a wide array of daily activities and common routines, moving beyond basic greetings and social interactions into more functional aspects of everyday life. The book aims to give learners “easy access to the vocabulary, grammar and functions of English as it is actually used”.

The curriculum covers daily activities through various units and functions:

• Occupations and Work: Learners are taught how to talk about occupations in Unit 7: “He’s a tour guide”. This includes phrases like “What do you do?” and identifying professions such as a taxi driver, pharmacist, mechanic, nurse, businessman, doctor, receptionist, police officer, or teacher. The unit also addresses discussing past occupations, such as being a tour guide or a taxi-driver. Engaging in work or discussing one’s profession is a core daily activity for many adults.
• Hobbies, Skills, and Interests: The textbook dedicates sections to discussing leisure and personal interests. Unit 13: “How much is this purse?”, teaches how to talk about hobbies, skills and interests, providing examples of playing musical instruments like the piano, violin, or trumpet. Unit 17: “They’re working in the garden”, expands on this by teaching how to talk about what you like and don’t like. Examples of activities discussed include “washing the car,” “reading the newspaper,” “working in the garden,” “shopping,” “swimming,” and “watching television”. It also covers playing sports like chess, football, golf, and tennis. These functions enable learners to express their daily recreational activities.
• Shopping and Transactions: The book prepares learners for common daily transactions. Unit 13 focuses on how to buy things, including asking “Do you take…?” for payment methods like cash or credit. Unit 8: “I’m going to New York”, teaches how to ask about prices for various items.
• Travel and Commuting: Daily travel is addressed in detail. Unit 8 includes how to talk about travel, asking “How did you get here?” and discussing modes of transport such as by bus, train, or plane. Unit 19: “You’re not allowed to park here”, specifically covers how to use public transport, with phrases for waiting for a bus, getting on, and getting off, or using a train, tram, or ferry. Additionally, Unit 14: “It’s the second street on the left”, focuses on asking for and giving directions, which is essential for daily navigation.
• Managing Time and Appointments: Organizing daily schedules is covered in Unit 18: “What’s the time?”. This unit teaches how to say the time using phrases like “What’s the time, please?” and covers how to make appointments, discussing specific times for meetings or other engagements.
• Health and Well-being: Unit 11: “What’s the matter?”, instructs learners on how to ask and answer about health. This includes inquiring about someone’s condition (“Are you all right?”, “What’s the matter?”, “What’s wrong?”) and talking about common ailments such as a headache, backache, earache, stomachache, or toothache. Discussing health is a frequent part of daily interactions.
• General Actions and Routines: The textbook introduces vocabulary and practice for a wide range of common actions. Unit 16: “She bought a cake”, specifically teaches how to talk about the past and the present for actions like washing, opening, closing, pulling, pushing, talking, running, eating, bringing, coming, going, taking, doing, meeting, having, leaving, thinking, paying, hurting, getting, making, teaching, sleeping, writing, buying, selling, and driving. These verbs are fundamental for describing daily routines and activities.

The textbook’s picture-based approach presents language in contexts, allowing students to observe, discover, and practice how these daily activities and the associated language are used in real-life scenarios, facilitating practical communication skills.

English Made Easy: A Practical Grammar Approach

The “English Made Easy Volume One” textbook, as indicated by the sources, takes a distinctive approach to English grammar, particularly for beginners. Rather than teaching grammar through explicit “labels and rules”, the book focuses on presenting how English is used in practical, “real life social situations”. The underlying philosophy is that “grammar informs the way that the book is structured”, but students learn by “observing, discovering and practicing how language is used”.

Here’s a breakdown of how grammar is handled and the specific grammatical points covered:

• Implicit Learning for Beginners: The authors believe that “especially at beginner level, new students do not need to clutter their learning with grammatical labels and rules”. This means that while grammatical structures are present and inform the content, they are not taught as abstract rules to be memorized.
• “Grammar Tips” for Information: Each unit of the textbook includes “Grammar tips” that outline the new structures introduced in that unit. However, these notes are “for information only and need not be learned by the student”. This reinforces the book’s focus on practical application over theoretical understanding.

The textbook covers a comprehensive range of grammatical concepts, integrating them into the functions and topics discussed, which we’ve seen in our conversations about basic greetings, social interactions, and daily activities:

• Unit 1: “What’s your name?” introduces possessive adjectives, negatives, and the simple present tense. These are fundamental for initial interactions and talking about ownership.
• Unit 2: “That’d be great!” teaches personal pronouns, present continuous tense, and imperatives, which are crucial for making and responding to invitations and giving simple commands.
• Unit 3: “I’d like you to meet my accountant.” covers singular and plural demonstratives for introducing people and asking for things.
• Unit 4: “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?” includes possessive pronouns and question tags, which are useful for starting conversations and confirming information.
• Unit 6: “Would you like something to drink?” addresses count/uncount nouns and open questions, essential for making and declining offers related to food and drink.
• Unit 7: “He’s a tour guide.” introduces the simple past tense, allowing learners to discuss past occupations.
• Unit 8: “I’m going to New York.” covers the present perfect tense, enabling discussions about duration and travel.
• Unit 9: “This one is better.” teaches comparatives and superlatives, vital for expressing opinions and making comparisons.
• Unit 11: “What’s the matter?” revisits imperatives, alongside greetings and health-related discussions.
• Unit 12: “I live in the big house.” introduces the future tense with ‘will’ and spatial prepositions, allowing learners to talk about locations and future plans.
• Unit 13: “How much is this purse?” focuses on some and any and distinguishes between present simple and present continuous, important for buying items and discussing hobbies.
• Unit 14: “It’s the second street on the left.” covers directional prepositions and ordinal numbers, which are key for giving and asking for directions.
• Unit 16: “She bought a cake.” delves into elision with will and further distinguishes past, present continuous, and future tenses, enabling comprehensive discussions about past and present activities and future predictions.
• Unit 17: “They’re working in the garden.” introduces gerunds and the past continuous tense, used for talking about likes/dislikes and ongoing past actions, particularly in telephone interactions.
• Unit 18: “What’s the time?” includes present simple with future meaning, relevant for discussing times and making appointments.
• Unit 19: “You’re not allowed to park here.” teaches prohibitions and quantifiers, which are important for understanding rules and discussing quantities, especially in the context of public transport.

In essence, the textbook’s design ensures that students gain “easy access to the vocabulary, grammar and functions of English as it is actually used”, by integrating grammatical structures into practical communicative functions rather than isolating them as abstract rules. This approach aims to help learners “progress easily from one unit to the next, using the combinations of pictures and text to discover for themselves how English works”.

English Made Easy: Travel and Leisure for Learners

The “English Made Easy Volume One” textbook, as evidenced by the provided sources, integrates discussions about Travel & Leisure throughout its curriculum, enabling learners to communicate effectively in these real-life social situations. The book’s approach is designed for students to learn by observing, discovering, and practicing how the language is used in context, rather than memorizing abstract rules.

Here’s a detailed discussion of how Travel and Leisure are covered:

Travel

The textbook includes various functions and vocabulary related to travel and transportation:

• Talking about Travel: Learners practice phrases like “How did you get here?” and discuss different modes of transport such as by bus, train, or plane. The book also introduces the term “ferry”. For instance, in Unit 8, learners discuss “I’m going to New York”, and are taught “How to talk about travel”.
• Public Transport: Unit 19, “You’re not allowed to park here”, specifically covers how to use public transport. This includes learning phrases for waiting for a bus, getting on, and getting off. It also covers using a train, tram, or ferry.
• Asking about Prices: A crucial aspect of travel is understanding costs. The textbook teaches “How to ask about prices” for various items, which is applicable to tickets or travel-related expenses. The book introduces numbers up to twenty for these purposes.
• Duration and Time in Places: Learners can discuss how long they have been in a location, using phrases like “How long have you been here?” and “I’ve been here for two days” or “We’ve been here for two weeks”. They also learn to express duration using “since” (e.g., “Since August”) and “for” (e.g., “For three years” or “For two months”).
• Directions and Locations:
• The book teaches “How to ask for and give directions”. This involves using directional prepositions like “straight ahead,” “on the left,” “on the right,” “before,” “at,” and “past”.
• Ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.) are introduced for navigating streets, such as “Take the first street on the right” or “It’s the second street on the left”.
• Unit 12 focuses on “How to give your address” and “How to talk about location”. This includes using locators and numbers over twenty.
• Common institutions like a bank, bus stop, cinema, gas station, hospital, police station, post office, railway station, stadium, supermarket, and taxi rank are used in the context of directions.
• Prohibitions related to travel: The textbook covers prohibitions using phrases like “You’re not allowed to park here”. Other examples include prohibitions on eating or drinking on the bus, using a cell phone on a plane, turning left, or taking a bicycle on a train.

Leisure

The textbook provides extensive vocabulary and functions for discussing leisure activities and personal interests:

• Hobbies, Skills, and Interests:
• Unit 13 covers “How to talk about hobbies, skills and interests”. This includes playing musical instruments such as the piano, violin, trumpet, and guitar.
• Unit 17 expands on this, teaching “How to talk about what you like and don’t like” regarding activities. Examples include “washing the car,” “reading the newspaper,” “working in the garden,” “shopping,” “swimming,” and “watching television”.
• The book also covers playing sports like chess, football, golf, and tennis.
• Social Interactions and Events:
• Learners are taught “How to invite people to your house and other places,” and “How to accept invitations” or “How to decline invitations”.
• The textbook covers various places to visit and events such as the movies, dinner, lunch, the beach, a picnic, a party, a concert, a market, a meeting, a restaurant, the theater, and an art gallery.
• Unit 18 introduces the topic of weddings.
• Giving and Asking for Opinions: Learners are taught “How to ask for and give opinions”, and also how to “agree and disagree”. This applies to discussing things like food, restaurants, or books.
• Time Management for Leisure: Unit 18, “What’s the time?”, teaches “How to say the time” and “How to make appointments”. This is essential for planning leisure activities and social engagements.
• Shopping: While shopping can be a necessity, it is also a common leisure activity. The book teaches “How to buy things”, “How to ask about prices”, and how to discuss payment methods like cash or credit.
• Health and Well-being: Discussions around health can be part of leisure, especially when considering activities someone might like or dislike due to their physical state. The book covers “How to ask and answer about health” and topics like body parts and common ailments.

The “English Made Easy” textbook uses pictures and text to help students discover how English is used in these practical contexts, allowing them to progress easily and learn basic communication skills for both travel and leisure scenarios.

By Amjad Izhar
Contact: amjad.izhar@gmail.com
https://amjadizhar.blog

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