Customer Reviews

English 3200 with Writing Applications: A Programmed Course in Grammar and Usage (College Series)

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This is the best book on sentence structure ever. I wish I had this book when I was in school. I read alot of books on grammar and they never work for me. I usually forgot what I read after a day or two. I am an electrical engineer. Math and science are always my best subject while english is my worse.

This book show me how to combine simple sentences into compound and complex sentence. How to add adverb and adjective clause into the sentence to make it more meaningful. It show you the same example in many different ways. It is like doing algebra.

This book use a scientific approach. You will learn sentence structure and remember it for the rest of your life.

As a journalism student many moons ago, English 3200 saved me from the fate of sixty percent of my peers. Back then, the majority of prospective journalism majors washed out of the College of Communication at my university. The reason? Any paper submitted for a grade with a spelling error, incorrect grammar, punctuation error, or improper formatting earned an automatic "C" with half letter grade deductions for subsequent errors. This book beefed up my English language skills in a hurry and I was able to graduate from the program cum laude. Today, our language has been deconstructed by a pervasive popular culture and educational apathy in public schools as students are dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. English 3200 fights back with a practical vengeance leaving its readers more articulate and fluent in our native tongue. As an adjunct college instructor, I am always distressed, but hardly surprised, to find many foreign-born students more fluent in English than native-born speakers and writers. This book, once completed from cover to cover, provides the proper guidance, as much as most of us will ever require, for expressing ourselves using our native tongue in correct and impressive form.

In high school, I was placed in "dumb" English, but while in the U.S.Army, a friend gave me this book. I read it over and over and this, along with a small pocket dictionary, qualified me for honors English in college. Subsequently, I earned a Medical Degree from UCLA, and I am now a medical writer as well. I recommend English 32000 to all writers and students.

You can start anywhere, literally anywhere. Just open the book at any page and go; truly, it is that easy. I came across this book when taking an English Upgrade course in writing at the University of Toronto back in the 1970's - subjunctives, subordinate clauses, adverb clauses, appositives, punctuation, and on, and on, and on ... . My marks went from C's to A's.
The book eventually fell apart in my hands from the constant use and reuse as I referred to it when I needed it. I referred back to it all the time, simply because some of the topics are, to some extent, obscure and not easy to remember without constantly using them. Is your boss picking on you because you can't write? Are feeling out of the game because you can't get a handle on English grammar? - get the book (and use the book) and get your boss of your back and maybe impress your boss's boss as well.
I just ordered a new one, because my wife speaks English as a second language, and she will have no trouble using it what so ever.
It is a gem, a prize, and a wonder.
sincerely

My son was severely learning disabled when I began to home-school him. This text enabled us to find the right approach to learning. Having missed most of his first 6 years of school because of the learning disability...Matt was thrilled to find he understood the basic concepts of grammar. His remark was..."I didn't know I was so smart!" Well, he's still learning disabled and works 2 or 3 times harder than most...but he has learned that programmed instruction such as this works! I highly recommend it.

I used an earlier edition of this classic textbook in Junior High 28 years ago, and it is EXCELLENT. What makes it unique is the layout which actually resembles a computer based training format with instant feedback. I only wish more instructional books utilized this format. You WILL master english grammer with this book.

This is a marvelous book that works because students learn the way they are going to use the concepts: by learning to recognize the relevant small features of a phrase or sentence that lead to a decision. Students can do about 50 frames in 7 minutes. After three repetitions, students give 100% correct answers AND apply concepts well in their own papers (unlike many handbook assignments that lead to good quiz results but no carryover to course papers). Both and native speakers have used this with satisfaction. Good diagnostic tests help students figure out which topics they should work on. This should be available in a software version.

A bastion of decency for those who are weary of the reckless useage of the English language which pervades every aspect of American life. In addition to serving as a learning tool for the uninitiated, this text is a resource companion for the seasoned communicator.

From my college days, throughout my Naval career and even today I continue to use this wonderful book. The University of Kansas had an English Comprehensive Test that was required to be passed by all undergraduates prior to graduation. I failed this test on my first try. I simply had to pass the test the next time around. "English 2000" was recommended to me by one of my instructors. I passed the Comp Test and I have been using this book and later editions ever since. If you need any kind of help with English, this book is for you.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn and acquire the skills that will enable a person to write clearly and effectively. The goal of the author is to impart knowledge that helps to identity the components of good sentence structure and how to express ideas clearly through techniques found in this book.

Like any programmed instruction book, this one uses frames and follows the pattern of giving a little piece of information which requires a response from the reader. Response is reinforced immediately by turning to the next page and seeing if the response is correct or incorrect.

There are about 40 frames for each lesson. What I like about this approach is that I can set a goal and reach it. At the end of each lesson I have learned something new; each lesson enables me to express more clearly what I want to say. Also, if I need to review a particular lesson or part of speech, I can look it up in the index, discover on what page it begins, and then work through that lesson again. (Sometimes a person may miss a significant definition which may not sink in until one goes through the lesson again.)

Programmed instruction is a great way to learn, and English lends itself particularly well to this technology of teaching. Writing is a tool, and like any tool such as a keyboard, mouse, or calculator, one needs to learn how to use the tool before it benefits you or anyone else. Working through this book is similar to learning how to use a tool; the tool itself is "complete thoughts expressed through writing". English 3200 is a medium through which you can learn how to clearly express your thoughts so that others may easily understand your message. I highly recommend it to everyone.