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Compelling Conversations - Vietnam: : Speaking Exercises for Vietnamese Learners of English 2nd ed. Edition
Purchase options and add-ons
- ISBN-100990498832
- ISBN-13978-0990498834
- Edition2nd ed.
- Publication dateNovember 13, 2016
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions8.5 x 0.53 x 11 inches
- Print length233 pages
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Editorial Reviews
Review
About the Author
Eric H. Roth teaches international graduate students the pleasures and perils of academic writing and public speaking in English at the University of Southern California (USC), and holds the title of Master Lecturer. He also consults English language schools on communicative methods to effectively teach English, and writes and edits ESL/EFL books for English language learners with Chimayo Press. Given a full scholarship as a Lilly Scholar, Roth studied philosophy and American history at Wabash College (1980-1984), and received his M.A. in Media Studies from the New School (1988). Since 1992, Roth has taught English to high school, community college, adult, and university students. Highlights of his career include: teaching the first Saturday morning citizenship class in Santa Monica (1994); directing the CES Adult Education Center (1995-1998); working with international students in summer IEP programs at UCLA Extension (1997-2000, 2003-2005); teaching USC engineering students in Madrid, Spain (2007) and Paris, France (2008); and directing the APU International High School in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (2009). USC promoted Roth to the title of Master Lecturer in 2013. Roth co-authored Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics in 2006 to help English language learners increase their English fluency. Recommended by English Teaching Professional magazine, the advanced ESL textbook has been used in over 50 countries in English classrooms and conversation clubs. Easy English Times, an adult literacy newspaper, has published a monthly column, Instant Conversation Activities, based on the book since 2008. The first specific version for a particular country, Vietnam, was published in 2011. Compelling American Conversations: Questions and Quotations for American English Language Learners, designed to help American immigrants develop both academic vocabulary and strengthen speaking skills in English, came out in 2012. A member of the USC faculty since 2003, Roth is a member of numerous professional organizations including: California Association of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CATESOL); the International Communication Association (ICA); the International Professors Project (IPP); and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). Roth has given several CATESOL and TESOL conference presentations and led many English teacher training workshops. He writes short reflective essays, reviews ESL/EFL related books and apps, and shares teaching tips at CompellingConversations.com/blog. Roth looks forward to learning something new today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow.
After 35 years of teaching English and supervising English teachers, Toni Aberson (M.A. English; M.A. Psychology and Religion) believes that a lively classroom is the optimal learning environment. If people are thinking, sharing, and laughing, then they're learning, notes Aberson. The mere fact that those adults are in an English classroom attests to their courage and their determination to learn. Adult English students bring a wealth of interesting experiences with them, continues Aberson. They bring the world into the classroom. The challenge for English teachers is to put students at ease and encourage them to practice English. What better way than to ask students about their lives? I love teaching English. Aberson wrote It's a Breeze: 42 Lively ESL Lessons on American Idioms (2012). This collection of 42 short English lessons focuses on specific American idioms and common phrases. The thematic chapters are organized into seven categories: Let's Get Started, Fun with Food, Body Language, Animal Wisdom, Colorful Language, How's the Weather?, and Where Are You?. Each concise self-contained chapter explores a single American idiom with clear definitions, sample sentences, short readings, comprehension checks, vocabulary lists, writing activities, and conversation questions for adult students. The key in a classroom is engagement, Aberson says, and English students become interested and excited when they're learning about the daily stuff of life. When they are thinking and writing and talking about their real lives-food, jobs, family, homes, sports, movies-that's when they learn the language. Learning English is not easy. It can be a real challenge, but it can also be fun and stimulating. That's what I'm aiming for-the real life and the fun that stimulates ESL students so they want to learn more. They want to jump in.
Product details
- Publisher : Chimayo Press; 2nd ed. edition (November 13, 2016)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 233 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0990498832
- ISBN-13 : 978-0990498834
- Item Weight : 1.22 pounds
- Dimensions : 8.5 x 0.53 x 11 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #4,213,319 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,692 in Speech
- #4,185 in Study & Teaching Reference (Books)
- #10,687 in English as a Second Language Instruction
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors

Eric H. Roth teaches international graduate students the pleasures and perils of writing and speaking in English at the University of Southern California (USC), and holds the title of Master Lecturer. He also created the ELT textbook series, Compelling Conversations and Chimayo Press. Eric consults English language schools on communicative methods.
In 1992, Roth taught his first English as a Second Language class at a refugee center for immigrants from the former Soviet Union, and became hooked. Since then, Roth has taught English to high school, community college, adult, and university students from five continents and over 60 countries. He has also taught university writing courses in Spain (2007) and France (2008), and directed an elite private high school in Vietnam (2009) during summer breaks.
Roth co-authored 'Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics' in 2007 to help English language learners increase their fluency in English. Recommended by English Teaching Professional magazine, the advanced ESL textbook has been used by English language learners and English teachers in over 60 countries. Since then, he and his co-author Toni Aberson have added new titles to the series: Compelling American Conversations (2012) with Hal Bogotch and Compelling Conversations for Advanced Vietnamese English Language Learners (2011). Roth also edited Aberson's latest book titled: It's a Breeze: 42 Lively Lessons on American Idioms that introduces common expressions to high-beginning students.
In 2015,Roth also co-authored 'Compelling Conversations - Japan: Questions and Quotations for High-Intermediate Japanese English Language Learners' and 'Compelling American Conversations -Teacher Edition: Commentary, Supplemental Exercises and Reproducible Speaking Activities.' More recently, Roth co-authored 'Compelling Conversations-Vietnam: Speaking Exercises for Vietnamese Learners of English' with Teresa X. Nguyen in 2017. The two authors collaborated again in 2019 with 'Creating Compelling Conversations: Reproducible Search and Share Activities for English Teachers' and a team of experienced ESL/EFL teachers. All the titles are available as both paperbacks and many as ebooks.
Roth and Aberson also co-author a monthly column in Easy English Times, an adult literacy newspaper, that has published "Instant Conversation Activities" based on their conversation textbooks for over a decade.
A member of the USC faculty since 2003, Roth is an active member of numerous professional Organizations including: California Association of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CATESOL); the International Professors Project (IPP); Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), and the International Society for Education Leadership (ISIL). Roth has given several CATESOL and TESOL conference presentations and led many teacher training workshops. Roth was a plenary speaker at the Virtual ELT Summit in 2020 and gave a keynote presentation at the Virtual ELT Summit 2021. He has recently expanded the micro-sized Chimayo Press to help friends publish books for global souls and sophisticated English language learners.
A collector of vintage postcards, old/odd books, and travel experiences, Roth has enjoyed conversations in over 40 countries so far. He looks to seeing more of our magnificent world in the coming years.

My veins flow culture with pride,
A mixture of two worlds, side by side.
I'm a 1.5 gen, balancing two lands,
Vietnam's where I'm from, U.S.’s where I stand.
The rich Vietnamese traditions, I derive,
Respect for elders and such, keeping it alive.
But U.S. shores have shaped my way,
Independence and dreams, coloring each day.
I embrace duality with love and pride,
Celebrating Tet and July Fourth, side by side.
At Golden West, I chair a department for all to see,
Teaching English, bridging language gaps with glee.
Celebrating each voice, I guide and inspire,
Empowering students to reach higher.
Writing books is my personal space,
Words dancing on the page, my embrace.
As a mom, I'm blessed with two precious hearts,
Taven and Tania, my world, never to be apart.
In the mosaic of my life, my dual heritage, a guiding light,
Influencing my teaching and parenting with might.
Embracing both sides, I showcase the beauty in diversity.
A testament to empathy, acceptance, and unity.
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonTop reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2017The new updated edition has a new fresh look starting with the outside cover.
The new preface includes some separate useful information for the instructor besides the part for the student.
In the table of contents one notices not only does each chapter have a topic name (in some cases more a more updated one than in the previous edition) but a wonderful quotation which can definitely be used as a starting point for any class conversation.
At the beginning of each chapter there are more warm-up questions and activities than in the former edition.
Each chapter’s vocabulary section includes more exercises and activities than before. This includes vocabulary expansion which is based on teaching connecting words to ones being studied using prefixes, suffixes, etc.
Also the pronunciation and classroom activity sections have been revamped nicely. The classroom activity section could be used a great production exercise.
There are great new sections in each chapter. These include the Culture Corner (which I think is a great addition!), Speech Observations and an Internet activity. The Internet Activity is good for usage either as a classroom assignment or a homework project.
Similar to the original edition, paraphrasing of proverbs and the discussing of quotations are great speaking activities in each chapter.
The updated Appendix section is great with its apps suggestions and internet references.
Two items are absence from the new edition. First item are the pages for students to jot down notes in each chapter but in this hi-tech world I doubt that this feature will be missed much by college/university students. The other item was a chapter entitled “Being a Child-- and becoming a Parent” which was separate from the “Describing Family Ties” chapter in the former volume. In the new edition I believe the expanded chapter “Family Bonds” serves the 21st century in more up to date fashion.
In summary, I think the “Compelling Conversations Speaking Exercises for Vietnamese Learners of English -2nd Edition” is a great resource not only for an EFL/ESL instructor teaching Vietnamese students but for any EFL/ESL instructor.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2017I teach university-bound international students in undergrad and master settings, so to have this available to meet the needs of my Vietnamese speakers is exciting, given that not many resources are available for them. As someone who is familiar with the Compelling Conversation series, the textbook has a lot to offer for ESL teachers. Here are my highlights:
1. Topics lead to compelling conversations (family bonds, being yourself, staying healthy)
2. Units begin with a famous quote that lends itself to a conversation about the theme of the unit; "The secret to getting ahead is getting started" - Mark Twain (Ch. 1)
3. Technology supplements are included with every unit (Kahoot!; Companion website; Quizlet0
4. Units include vocabulary tables, example sentences, and paraphrasing practice
5. Focus is on Vietnamese speaker errors / pronunciation challenge areas (/f/ vs /p/)
6. Cultural points are referenced throughout the text (tipping, bribes, idioms)
7. Speech Rubrics are included at the end of the text
8. Layout is not cluttered or squished together; font sizes and subtitles work well to divide up the sections within each chapter; the image quality is great for a black & white text
I would highly recommend the other books in the series, even as supplements. Thank you Eric and Teresa for bringing us yet another valuable resource / textbook.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2017Vietnamese students have such specific learning needs that it often feels unfair at best, or stressful at worst to make sure that they are getting their needs met in the classroom. From grammar, to vocabulary, to pronunciation, it often feels that Vietnamese students need to be catered to with a completely different approach and understanding than students from other cultures and countries. As a teacher, I'm so glad to have this book as a resource to work with my Vietnamese students. Not only does it appeal to their sensibilities and understanding of language learning, but it helps me to understand and extract the discrete skills that my students need. There is a lot for students to work with here as a strong addition to the Compelling Conversations series. This is a must-have for any ESL/EFL teachers with Vietnamese students, and would work as an excellent core text for English classes in Vietnam or Vietnamese communities.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2017This book is an excellent resource for students, teachers, and ESL enthusiasts. The principle criteria includes exercise practice activities in each chapter with an emphasis on vocabularies, pronunciations, and cultural etiquettes. The authors' backgrounds in linguistics help provide a breakdown of the tools and strategies for an engaging conversation. The book is divided into 14 chapters with each chapter dedicated to differing elements of conversations that varies from intermediate skills to more advance skills. Although a beginner learner can also benefit from format of the exercises it offers. Topics of conversations varies from greetings exchanges to conversations about food to expressing oneself. The text organization format is consistent in each chapter allowing it to be very easy to follow along. This is gem of a resource and I would highly recommend it to all those in the process of , interested in , or will be teaching compelling conversations.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2016Compelling Conversations is an effective guide to teach ESL. It's intended for intermediate ESL levels but with a little twist, it's applicable for beginners. The topics included in the book are practical and useful in everyday situations. The lessons are straightforward and easy to use. No need to spend endless hours writing lesson plans or browsing the webs for ideas. These lessons can be used to compliment the class units, warm up activities, or stand alone lessons. I have been using these lessons for my ESL classes, and they work amazingly!
Top reviews from other countries
L. M. LarsonReviewed in Canada on September 11, 20205.0 out of 5 stars Useful for business and personal
The content is divided into useful categories and encourages conversations that can be applied in business AND personal conversations.
Great conversation starters which then branch into extended topics of interest and value for the student
I am grateful to have this as a resource for working with Vietnamese students learning English.
