Customer Reviews

Conversation Gambits: Real English Conversation Practices

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This book is a treasure trove of expressions students need to learn to be able to converse fluently. The activities can easily be adapted by the teacher to suit his/her students' interest. Students also enjoy learning the phrases and practising them. So far, every lesson I have taught based on this book has been successful in terms of students' improved conversation ability. The next day or the next lesson you can hear them using the new language unprompted. A must for any ELT/ESL teacher's bookshelf.

The authors of "Converastion Gambits" have taken a very "lexical phrase" approach to conversation skills. Each unit is very simple, and gives a range of expressions for students to learn and memorise as lexical phrases. The theory is that native speakers have huge stockpiles of such "chunks" that we draw on.

The skills covered include responding with sympathy, interrupting, expressing opinions, disagreeing, back channelling, and a huge range more. Each unit has a simple practice exercise, though this will need to be supplemented with other exercises for more extensive usage.

I have found that students enjoy it and love the input. They also love using the new phrases. It is a great resource that works for a whole range of levels.