"In sum, Compelling Conversations is a recommended resource for teachers who want to make thier conversation classes more learner-centered. It should be especially appealing to those who wish to escape the confines of the Presentation-Practice-Production approach and do without a formal grammatical or functional syllabus. It reflects both authors' considerable professional experience, and would be a notable addition to any English teacher's bookshelf."
- Hall Houston
Luzhu, Taiwan
English Teaching Professional Jan. '09 pg. 44
"A wonderful source of materials triggering authentic
(not stilted) communication."
- Dr. Sharon Myers
University of Southern California
American Language Institute
“Immigrants need to feel comfortable speaking
English, but too often students learn everything except
conversation in ESL classrooms. Compelling Conversations allows students to learn by speaking. It's a wonderful addition
to our curriculum.“
- Zigmund Vays, Founder and President,
Community Enhances Services College
“This book is excellent! Both teachers and students
love it.“
- Marina Goldshteyn, director of CES Adult Education
Center
“ I wish I had written this book! It will provide
students with hours of conversation practice."
- Nina Ito, coordinator, American Language Institute,
California State University, Long Beach
And co-author of the Great Big BINGO Book (Pro Lingua
Publishers).
"Second of all, your book is a masterpiece, congratulations. My students are more than delighted with the topics, the quotations and everything about your book."
- Fernando Beconi, English Teacher
"I am an English tutor working with Japanese adults in Jackson, Michigan. I was a public school and ESL teacher for many years, retired, and now my retirement job is tutoring. A few weeks ago I purchased the PDF of your book and then this week I bought the hard copy which just arrived from you this morning. I want to tell you what a marvelous book this is! I've always used questions as a conversation stimulus, and now I have this whole organized around topics book to use with my students! As you probably know, Japanese people arrive in this country with a fair understanding of English grammar and quite a lot of vocabulary, but are initially unable to engage in conversation. This book is the perfect answer to this situation!"
"Thank you so much for putting this together!"
- Joan Villanueva
“Compelling Conversations is tremendously useful
and interesting. I use Compelling Conversations almost everyday
in my ESL class. I prefer to use Compelling Conversations
because my advanced students enjoy the variety of choices
they have with the number of questions in each chapter.
If we've already discussed a question before or the students
don't seem particularly interested in answering it, we simply
skip that question and move on to the other questions.”
“The new vocabulay words in each chapter and
the quotations make our discussion even more interesting.
The material in this book does not have an expiration date.
The students especially appreciate learning the new vocabulay,
idioms, expressions, and slang contained in most of the
questions. I recommend Compelling Conversations to ESL teachers
of all levels, especially intermediate, high intermediate,
and advanced.“
- Ronit Farzam, M.A. in Linguistics/TESL, ESL instructor
"After intensive search for a good textbook on conversation practice for advanced ESL students, I'd almost compromised and bought one at a
bookstore a few weeks ago. I am glad that I didn't at that time and
found your book on Internet afterwards. Materials for beginners and
intermediate level are replete, but ones for advanced level are not, as
you probably know well."
"I used the book today in my private class with a student whose weakness
is in conversational skill. We both like it very much. It's interesging
and intellectually stimulating. I am also going to use it in my exchange
lesson with a native American who learns Japanese from me. Since I am
not a native speaker, it's crucial to keep up my level all the time. "Compelling Conversation" is going to be a great help for my continuous endeavor."
"I feel honored that I am the first one who put hands on your book in Japan :-)"
Mie Takahashi, English teacher, Japan
“I just wanted you to know that I loved using
your book,'Compelling Conversations' for my adult ESL student.
The proverbs and quotations were a wonderful source of additional
conversation, and writing.”
"We were only able to complete the first 6 units
as he was here for only 3 weeks. Both my student and I loved
it! He told me that this was exactly the type of conversation
skills that he needed."
"His parting words to me were, 'I will never forget
you'. Those are the kind of words that a teacher cherishes."
- Regina Pabo, ESL instructor
"Your book is a masterpiece, congratulations. My students are
more than delighted with the topics, the quotations and everything about
your book. IŽd like to thank you again for sending me the copy, it has
and will be a great tool for my class."
- Fernando Beconi
High Intermediate English Teacher
Institute called Centro Paraguayo Japones
(Paraguayan - Japanese Cultural Center)
"I have been teaching ESL for years, in New York teaching Russians and Tawainese, and most recently this summer at UCLA where I had 44 French students. The program provided no lesson plan and I stumbled upon COMPELLING CONVERSATIONS and it has been a lifesaver. To discuss movies, and music, books, and the beach (especially!) with French teenagers got us into some very helpful talks. So I highly reccommend this approach to opening up and getting to know students using English."
- Hank Rosenfeld, ESL Instructor
"I've actually been using Compelling Conversations in my private
lessons with students who want to have conversation practice. I have
students prepare a chapter of their choice before coming to the
lesson. We have some fairly loose conversations on several of the
open-ended questions, or we discuss a few of the quotations for half
of the lesson. I try to jot down some problem areas, and then we make
a lesson on the spot, focused on one or two of the most recurrent
problems."
"It's a great book. Thanks for the hard work that was put into making it!"
- Jerry White,
Houston, TX
