Press

Review: America is a great land of opportunity. I am sure we all want to get ahead in this country. We want to find the type of employment that is suited for us. We wish to advance in the work world. We wish to make friends.

The best way to get ahead in the world is to speak the mother tongue of the country you are living in. In this case, we are talking about English. With so many "English as a Second Language" courses being taught there is no excuse for not learning. The problem is, what book do you use to learn from?

Have you been looking for a good ESL manual? If you have, I think this is one to consider. The topics cover: Your Life, The Civic Life, along with the everyday aspects as dating, enjoying money, handling stress.

The editors put it together in an easy to use form. You have conversation starters such as, "How much time do you spend each week in cars? Why?"

Dane Robert Swanson
Santa Monica Daily Press
Book Review - January 16, 2009
Compelling Conversations

Review: "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

Review: "This outstanding resource allows teachers to confidently walk into an advanced ESL classroom with self-contained, engaging conversation lessons. The 45 thematic chapters allow you to both evoke student experience with long lists of practical and savvy questions. The inclusion of global proverbs and classic quotations also provides larger cultural contexts to inspire deeper conversations - or writing assignments. Students should also appreciate the generous amount of authentic language. I wish I would have had that book in my old adult/university classes. A great book for adult education teachers, university instructors, and private tutors!"

Eric Busch, founder of www.ESLHQ.com

How can I keep a conversation going? What vocabulary words are needed? How do I show agreement, or disagreement, in a lively, yet polite way? How can I share my experiences in a clear manner? Allow your students to develop authentic, meaningful conversations in English and deepen their critical thinking skills with this amazing text! Offering hundreds of hours of material for compelling conversations, this one-of-a-kind book encourages learners to practice exchanging experiences and ideas in a natural style. The book features 45 chapters on a wide variety of conversation topics and asks over 1,350 questions encouraging students to reflect and share. Conversation practice is further enlightened by 500 memorable quotations from ancient sages to modern writers and over 200 proverbs from around the world. Each chapter ends with an On Your Own exercise suitable for homework or self-study.

ALTA Catalog - Fall 2007

IWOSC member and USC professor Eric Roth has just published his book, Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics. The innovative book, designed for non-native English speakers with a sophisticated worldview and still evolving language skills, includes 45 thematic chapters, 1350 questions, and over 500 quotations and proverbs. Alta catalog, the nation's largest distributor of English as a Second Language materials, has picked up the book. Easy English Times, a monthly newspaper for adult education students, will also be running a monthly column with book excerpts for the next year. Toni Aberson, the book's co-author, has known Eric since before he was born. Eric calls his co-author, an English teacher for over 35 years, "mom." Visit www.compellingconversations.com for free sample chapters.

- Independent Wriers of Southern California (IWOSC) May Newsletter

"Compelling Conversations is tremendously useful and interesting. I use it 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."

-Ronit Farzam/ESL Instructor