If you teach English as a second language (ESL) or as a foreign language (EFL), you know the importance of having top quality materials to build your lessons around. Teachers and students want to know and use the best English book for their level. If you like the way a book presents the language at one level, the chances are the others in the set will be good for those other levels too. That’s why I made this post to give you my thoughts on which books I think are the best as a set.
I’ve been teaching English as a foreign language in Poland for more than 15 years total as of now, and I have taught from a number of English book series.
Back in my early Teaching Career
I used to teach in a local language school here in Mikolow, and I have to say that school had quite a collection of English course books. We native speakers (about 5 of us) all shared courses with each other and had to share the same collection of books.
Many of my colleagues had formed their favorites and soon it was clear that our book series of choice had settled on New English File (2nd Edition at the time). Yet, around 4 or 5 pm, everyone was always fighting over the same one or two books.
I found that competition for resources was rather annoying, so being the loner that I am, I began experimenting with other books so I wouldn’t have to fight over the most frequently used books.
It was that practice of expanding my range of resources that led me to discover many interesting exercises and activities that I still come back to this day. But which for me was the best English book that I have used?
Freelance Teaching Business
When I struck out on my own to go completely freelance, I endeavored to build my own library of English resources and books to give great lessons under a structured course format.
I understood that I should collect and use the books and resources that I knew and was comfortable with. I also understood that many of the teachers in the area all taught from more or less the same books. Therefore, I knew I had to expand my collection of books even further if I wanted to give an authentic experience.
In recent years, I have come across two series of books I use now almost exclusively when I’m teaching from a course book. In this post, I’ll share my impressions with you below. In both reviews, I will share with you my impressions of the book, the layout, the strengths and (if there are any) weaknesses, and who these English book series work best for. I’ll also mention if the workbooks are worth buying or not.
So, let’s get started with the first set of reviews after the jump.
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National Geographic Learning: Keynote Series
The first time I saw one of these books in a local bookstore for English and Language Resources, I was eager to check it out. The first book I added to my collection was the upper-intermediate level. At the time, I had some adult students who had been with me for around 5 years, and I was running out of materials to use with them (every teacher’s greatest fear).
So, I tried the book as a way to structure my conversation classes with interesting topics and a fresh perspective. I have to say that the book didn’t disappoint. I was thoroughly impressed with the layout and the content which led me to buy more books at Intermediate and Advanced Level.
The Layout
The books are organized into 12 units each with 4 sections, so it looks like (1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and so on). The first section features a TED Talk and comes with the following:
- A lead-in which is great for discussion
- Pre-vocabulary to prepare for the TED Talk (also great for speaking)
- Then follow-up activities to the TED talk.
The TED Talk element was one of the biggest attractions for me with this series and the activities are well-organized.
Section 2 starts with an info-graphic which also introduces the target language for this grammar unit. The info-graphics are amazing tools that you can use as a one-off lesson or to follow along the book’s prescribed format.
Section 3 brings in a text to read and starts with pre-discussion, the text comprehension questions, then vocabulary on the topic.
While section 4 incorporates Listening and related Writing section.
In the back of the book, there is a Grammar Summary for each unit and comes with additional exercises that can be used as a mini-test or quiz.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The two big strengths of this series are the TED Talks DVD you get with the book and the Info-graphics. The other big takeaway I got from using these books is that they are a great tool for conversation lessons, as you will have noticed how I’ve mentioned that so many of the activities are great for speaking practice.
When it comes to downsides (and I am knit-picking here), the units are rather long and, in my opinion, sometimes a bit hit and miss as a topic.
Who it's for
I would say that this series gives the best English book for speaking at any level. Teachers, if you want to develop your students’ speaking and give them authentic materials in the form of the TED Talk, collect all the books in this set. Additionally, you don’t need this book as your go-to as many of the activities can work well to supplement your other materials.
So, whether you run your courses on these books, or just want to add quality resources to your library, I highly recommend the whole set as these are some of the best English books you will find on the market.
Should you buy the Workbook too?
The workbooks follow the coursebook layout but with one key difference, the Presentation Focus. At the end of each workbook unit, there is a presentation focus or a writing focus. These helps students develop their presenting ability. Therefore, I would definitely buy this book, especially if you teach business English and need materials to practice presentations. My favorite in this workbook series is the Intermediate level.
New Era: My Perspectives
In my search to expand my resources and find the best English book, I came across the first level of this book series in that same bookstore and bought it to give it a try. One of the things that attracted me to this book series was the TED Talks it offers, the other thing was the lower price to the Keynote series.
I quickly fell in love with this book series because of its highly inter-connected layout and full scope in terms of the skills it develops. This book will develop your students’ Speaking, Listening, Vocabulary, Use of English, Reading, and Writing abilities, all in a well-thought out way.
The Layout
The books are organized into 8 Units with 7 sub-sections (i.e., 1A-G), and a Skills Review at the end of each Unit that can be used as a test.
The A-sections are the lead-in vocabulary that introduce the topic. The B-sections are listening and act as a lead-in for the grammar (section C). How it works is that the grammar section draws its example sentences from the listening. It’s little things like this that make this book series such a clever buy.
Section D does Use of English Vocabulary work as a pretext for a reading text. Then, section E follows D and often uses examples from the text in a second grammar unit.
Afterwards, sections F and G are the speaking and writing sections where your students will get loads of lexical English phrases. To round off the unit, the writing activity often brings together the vocabulary and both grammar topics into one activity – brilliant!
Finally, there is one TED Talk after every second unit, so there’s a total of four in the book.
Strengths and Weaknesses
I love everything about this book, especially its organization. You will find that you teach the sub-sections in pods. I find it easy to interlink sections A-C, then D and E, and finally F and G.
Additionally, I’m a big proponent of building up my students’ listening skills and this book does an excellent job of that in several ways.
- The listening section B is always a big feature of my lessons
- The Text in section D can be listened to for the possibility of immersive reading. You can read it first then listen on the go, listen first, then read it afterwards, or do both at the same time.
- Some of the grammar sections contain listening activities
- The speaking parts introduce the target activity by listening to an example situation
- There are TED Talks every second unit
To finish up the strength of the listening program, this book series has changed the way language books should include listening activities by offering a smart/qr code that you can scan to access a browser page where all the listening tracks and TED Talks are stored – Awesome!
The main drawback to this series is that the lowest level (1) starts at the intermediate level. In my opinion, the first book in the series is not suitable for beginners or elementary level students.
Who it's for
I recommend this series for EFL or ESL learners at a minimum level of pre-intermediate and up.
Levels 2, 3, and 4 are all more or less upper-intermediate level, so my prescribed progression is to use Level 2 for intermediate students. By the time they’ve finished that book, they will be low upper-intermediate. I would skip level 3 and go straight to level 4 which is Cambridge First Certificate Level. Finally, book 5 is excellent at (C1) advanced level.
In my opinion, the best English book I’ve used to date is the My Perspectives level 2 (B1/B2). You can’t go wrong with this book for intermediate and higher.
Should you buy the Workbooks too?
Absolutely! They are equally as valuable as the coursebooks. The listening sections in the workbook make for great homework activities on the vocabulary because instead of revising the sight vocabulary, they are listening for the vocabulary and applying some comprehension at the same time.
Additionally, the texts are also equipped for immersive reading. And the big bonus for the workbook is that there is a TED Talk for EVERY unit (8 is better than 4).
Which is the best English Book for Business?
Look no further. Check out my review of some of the best English book series for business topics on the market. I cover their layouts, their strengths, who they are for, and more!
