Customer Reviews

Side by Side: Student Book 3, Third Edition

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've taught with this text in three different countries... and have sworn by it and it.

What I love about it is that it really gets down to the basics of speaking English and does so in a systematic manner. A lot of teachers abuse it by having their students read and write through it, then complain what a dry book it is. The same teachers also use it in such a haphazard manner that after a year the students are in book one, when really Volumes 1 2 and 3 (especially) are a jump start English course. This however is often the result of either inadequate training or not reading the teacher's manual, especially in Japan where teachers and students come and go by the bushel.

Overall, while the book might lack the "cuteness" of other programs, trust me... the pedagogy is well thought out - - especially if you know how to expand from the book and have other activities to bring the language to life. The book is for adults for example, but using the Molinsky and Bliss WORD BY WORD flash cards I've actually created games for children based on the activities in the book. And if the students are too used to reading through the book (from former teachers) I actually copy the pictures from the book with the words whited out, cut them into flash cards, team them up for pair work, and then let them engage in the conversation activities from the book.

This is an incredible book, and a new version has just come out... USE IT DON'T ABUSE IT and your students will make incredible progress. Check out the WORD BY WORD PICTURE DICTIONARY as a great supplement to expand the activities with additional (yet practical) vocabulary as well as EXPRESSWAYS (also by the same authors).

As an English as a Second Language teacher with 19 years' experience, I have used a lot of different programs and texts with my students. Side by Side is by far the best I have ever seen for students from the middle school through adult. It is clear, has an interesting format and appealing illustrations. It covers the different components of English acquisition (speaking, listening, reading and writing) better than any other program I have used, including those designed for use on the computer. One need not have a background in language acquisition to successfully teach someone else English--it's that good. If there were only one tool I could use in my ESL classrooms, or in tutoring one-on-one, without hesitation, my choice would be Side by Side.

I have read some other quite critical reviews of this series, but I would like to point out its merits. I have used book 1 & 2 for the last 10 years, and if I could only take one book with me to my next county - that would be it. These books are the best out there for developing accuracy of forms which are necessary for beginning students. It provides realistic dialogues with ample practice through substitution drills. The illustrations are both humourous and clear so that the books are easy to use with real beginners. For students at the pre-intermediate level and above, I would suggest only using this series as a supplement to practice grammar forms (I usually make an overhead and let students practice in pairs).

As for comments about dialogues with social security numbers or talking about San Juan - if something doesn't apply to your situation - skip it!!!! (That information is relevant for some students)

I was from China and started my life in the USA as a graduate student in Engineering. Although I took the TOEFL before I came to USA, my English is not good enough to express myself clearly and accurately. I decided to improve my English about 4 months ago and started to borrow some ESL books from local libraries.

About 2 weeks ago, I found four "Side by Side" books (Book 1 to Book 4) from a local library and borrowed them. Now I am working on the Book 3 and I have enjoyed every book. I believe that "Side by Side" Book 1 to Book 4 will make very good textbooks for ESL (or ESOL) programs.

Side by Side is a staple in Japan for teaching English to the already inundated Japanese population. I say "already inundated" because the average Japanese citizen has studied 6 years of English in the school system, yet she or he needs to practice their conversation skills.

Side by Side offers the Japanese student the opportunity to simply express in conversation what they already have studied.

As an EFL instructor, I thank the authors for this fun, valuable tool.

When you use the right level book for the right level student it is great. There are many other books out there that gloss over all types of grammars, functions, vocab'and pronunciation. However, this does attempt to explore the more important parts of grammar. The grammar is graduated based upon increasing levels of student's ability, which is an important point. Also, I especially like it's drilling of the third person.

It is a good book if you know what you are doing. A text + student does not equal an English lesson. There is more than just the text book in language learning.

The Side by Side Activity Workbook 3 is a great additional exercise tool to use in conjuction with the Student Book for ESL students. I am currently tutoring Japanese students in English, at various levels, and we find the Activity book is presented in an easy to follow and enjoyable format. The ten chapters are full of practice drills in intonation, stress and pronunciation. In addition, there are plenty of grammatical exercises, which are accompanied by skillful animated stetches to help you along. Many of the activity books, I have used in the past, do not have these helpful visual aide, which certainly communicate well in all languages. All levels of the Side by Side Activity Workbooks are working out very well for my students, so I really do recommend them to other instuctors and will continue to use them in my lessons.

I have been teaching English for the past seven years, and anything that these two authors write is better than anything out there. I have taught a variety of levels of a variety of students, and this works the best. Any teacher who knows what they're doing will try to use either this book or Expressways as often as possible.

My wife has recently come from China and this is the book her english class uses. Though in Miami, FL they are in english-spanish mostly. She finds it interesting and easy to use and I go over her daily lessons with her and find it a very useful tool in learning chinese also. I would certainly recommend that any students learning english look into buying this book.

I have worked as an English teacher for awhile now, and have found that this text is great for teaching motivated students. It is really good for teaching in Japan, because these impersonal characters are a great way to get shy students to talk about and practice a much wider scope of language structures and experience. It can be very hard to tell if a shy student is competent in something, but just doesn't want to talk about it, or doesn't want to talk about it because they are unable. These pictures take that problem away.

Two things to be aware of though are, that on any given page, a certain structure is practiced in a very structured and repetitive way. It is important for the instructor to make sure that the students understand the meaning of what they are expressing, and any new vocabulary that is being introduced with the new structure. Pictures often help with conveying the meaning, but it is the teacher's job to check. I find this to be most necessary in kid's courses, where the motivation comes from mom and dad not themselves, and the kids can feel that just showing up, and going through the patterns is enough. I have had students get to the point where they can put the vocab from each problem into the blanks seemlessly-- but cannot understand or answer a simple question based on the picture I use to check comprehension. Not a fault of the book, just a hint for those who wish to teach with it well.

I like the books so much, that I use them in conjunction with other language specific grammar books as a guide to expanding my own language ability in languages other than English. Contexts of language use, and topics of conversation (and the accompanying vocab) are great in this series, and using them has helped my own Japanese, Spanish, and French. I can look at chapters, and honestly ask myself if I could express similar ideas confidently or fluently in the language I am working on.

To do this, one only needs to accept that not every language uses the same conventions to express the same ideas, and that vocabulary may be more or less varried or have different connotations/nuances than English. Using this to guide a language exchange partner, who can instantly convey these kinds of ideas to me, has been the most helpful. After each sesion I can express at least one new structure confidently, and the session has not fallen into the trap of an hour of free conversation limited to the topics that I or my partner have already established as comfortable.

Like I said in the title, these books are just a great launching pad for someone with imagination-- It is up to you to find out how to best use them.