Reviews of Compelling Conversations from Amazon Books

Outstanding for ESL and more, December 21, 2008

By P. Schulze (Seattle) -
I cannot praise this book enough. It is an outstanding resource for producing natural, flowing conversations.

The students I tutor are well educated adults, rich in culture and experiences. This book allows them to produce natural conversations using what is most intimate to them: their lives and their culture. The result of these conversations is far beyond "speaking English." I am learning and connecting with my students on a level that helps me identify their desires and needs based on their responses to the questions. Heinz Pagels, the late American physicist, said: "It seems obvious to me that if you want to understand a spoken language, you out to study the people who speak it and speak it well." That is the connection I feel to teaching ESL when using this book. As a tutor, I too am sharing my culture and experiences and it enhances the learning process. There are many chapters in this book that can create compelling conversations outside of the ESL environment. If my parents were still living I would use "Describing Family Ties" to learn all those things I wondered about them but never asked. If I were exploring a possible relationship, using "Exploring Daily Habits" could be very insightful. The authors have my deepest respect and gratitude for this outstanding resource.

And thank you Amazon for bringing the book to my attention!

Amazing for private tutoring, December 12, 2008

By hollie (california, USA) -
I tutor several girls from Asian countries, and this book is a great way to get them working on pronunciation and exposing them to American concepts. It's the best conversationalist book I've found.

A wholesome learning resource!, December 4, 2008

By Erika Villafane "Erika" (Miami, Florida USA) -
When compelling conversations got into my hands I couldn't help but to think: I wish I had this book when I was learning English!

As English as a second language speaker, I can really tell the difference that compelling conversations has with other ESL text books: topics richness that takes learning at a higher level.

Not only you will feel motivated to improve your language skills, but you will have a rich-provoking theme about life to discuss and share with your tutor or classmates. That in turn makes you grow personally and you certainly will remember the discussed matter here when need it to apply into a situation out of the classroom. You will appreciate American culture as well as other's point of view.

The book is very well structured into four sections totaling 45 chapters. Each one of them is organized into conversations starters followed by vocabulary, proverbs and the indispensable quotations. One that really caught my attention was the Arab proverb "he who has health has hope and he who has hope has everything"

I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn while enjoying the process.

Erika Villafane