FOR FOREIGN STUDENTS Book 2 BY C. ECKERSLEY ESSENTIAL ENGLISH for Foreign Students BOOK TWO - vevised edition C. ECKERSLEY Illustrations by CHARLES SALISBURY, _ BURGESS SHARROCKS and from ‘Punch’ and ‘The Humorist’ ie: FOREIGN LANGUAGES PRESS Sofia, 1967 PREFACE - ESSENTIAL ENGLISH is a course in four books, of which this 1s the second, for the teaching of English to adult foreign students. Ít aims at giving the student a sound knowledge of the essentials of both spoken and written English and taking him well on the way to a mastery of idiomatic conversational and literary English.
The normal constructions and sentence patterns of English are introduced gradually and systematically, and are well drilled at every stage. The learner is guided through “ essential ” grammar in the simplest possible manner, and every new construction is explained and illustrated as soon as it is used. The restricted vocabulary within which the four books are written has been based on A General Service List of English Words. But neither this list, nor any other list, has been followed slavishly and blindly ; the vocabulary and the grammar and the structures talight have been tested constantly by the experience gained during some thirty years of teaching English to foreign students or writing text-books for them.
Because I believe that a knowledge of the spoken tongue is the true basis of language learning, much of this book is in “ conversational” form; and my constant endeavour has been to ensure that, despite the restrictions that a limited vocabu- lary naturally imposes, every sentence in these conversations is expressed in the living colloquial idiom that an educated Englishman would use. _ And, since the most effective spur to learning a language (or anything else) is interest, every effort has been made to cover the linguistic pill with the jam of gaiety. So, as soon as the preliminaries are mastered, the reader is introduced to Mr. Priestley, his household and his group of students.
We see them here and in all the other books. chatting together, 1 A new edition of the Interim Report on Vocabulary Selection (Longmans). V ` ví PREFACE telling jokes, reading stories that they have written, singing songs or acting short plays. It is on these conversations and stories and the “ talks by Mr.
Priestley ” that the language teaching is based, and from them that the copious exercises by which the teacher is enabled to test how far the work has been understood, are drawn. There are numerous changes in this new edition. Fresh, and it is hoped, more interesting reading material has been added including a short play, some episodes in the Priestley household, a song and two poems, and two new stories about Hob’s extraordinary relatives. Special attention has been paid to the use of the Tenses in English, and three ‘‘ Examination Papers ”, for revision, have been introduced (after Lessons 10, 21, 33).
are five new “ Stories Without Words ” (pages 26, 55, 75, 149, 237), and an attempt has been made to teach some points of grammar in a lively, pictorial manner, as, for example, on pages 87, 129, 160, 170, etc. An index also has been added. In the Teacher’s handbook! that has been prepared to accompany this volume, further guidance has been given on the main techniques of language teaching, a great deal of extra teaching material has been given in the “ Commen- taries ”’, detailed suggestions and practical hints are given on - the teaching of each lesson, and a complete Key to the exercises and solutions to puzzles and crosswords in the Pupil’s Book is provided. Though a text-book that is the ideal one to every teacher and student is, perhaps, an impossibility, it is hoped that most students and teachers will feel that this new edition is an improvement on the old one, but the author will be most grateful at any time for further criticisms and suggestions that will help to make EssentiaL ENGLISH more useful to those who study it or teach from it.
1 Essential English, Book II, Teacher's Book. ? CONTENTS LESSON 1 THE PRiesrLrvs" House. 2 COMMENTS ON LESSON 1. POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS, Past Perrect TENSE, Ip1oMATIC EXPRESSIONS.
Tue VocaBuLary OF EVERYDAY Lire. 5 Parts or SPEECH. 6 HOB TELLS A True Story. 7 COMMENTS ON Lesson 6.
Past Continuous TENSE, REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS AND EMPHASISING PRONOUNS 8 One Giorious Hour. : g Kinps or Nouns. 10 IMMARGARET PRIESTLEY”S BtTHDAY MORNTNG ` EXAMINATION PAPER NoO. : II TWO POEMSANDASONG.
12 THe Furure TENSE. 14 PFRIEDA WRITESA LETTER HOME. 14 COMMENTS ON LESSON 13. 1§ HOLIDAYS HAVE STARTED.
102 16 THe Furure Continuous TENSE. 107 17 ThHE RAILWAY STATION:. 2 127 20 JAN AND FRIEDA LEAVE FOR SWITZERLAND. 133 21 GENDER OF NOUNS.
146 : 22 Hos’s Story or His ỦNCLE TOM. 151 23 ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE. 157 24 BACK FROM THE ÏOLIDAYS. ¬ 163 25 “THE FUTURE PERFECT TENSE.
177 27 WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 193 vi CONTENTS LESSON PAGE - 29 MEALS. 199 30 Some More SHOPPING ° 206. 31 Dress 214 32 Friepa’s First Day IN “Lonpon 220 33 Ovar Reaps His Pray.
226 EXAMINATION Paper No. 234 PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY OF Essential English Boor II. 238 INDEX 247 LESSON 1 The Priestleys’ House You have heard (in Book I) about Mr. Priestley and his students.
I want, now, to tell you something about his house. He is an old friend of mine, and I went to visit him about a fortnight ago and stayed at his house for the week-end. He lives in a very nice house. It-is called ‘The Pines” and is about ten miles from London.
There is a big garden all round it,and I went in at the garden gate and walked along the path to the front door. There is a smooth lawn in front of the house with beds of roses in it. I knocked at the front door. i raizs THỈNH mG T, > ; 8 wt 1% I 2.
ESSENTIAL ENGLISH Mr. Priestley opened it and, with a smile and some words of welcome, shook hands with me, and we went into the hall. Priestley came to greet me. I said, ‘‘ How do you do ?”’ and gave her the flowers that I had bought for her.
She said, “Oh, thank you. What beautiful roses! How kind of vou to bring them! I love roses, and ours haven’t been good this year. These are lovely.” She took them away to put them in water, and Mr. Priestley and I went into the sitting-room and sat down in armchairs before the fire, for it was a.
rather cold day and I was very pleased to see the bright fire burning in the fireplace. | Their sitting-room is quite a big room, about 25 feet long by 15 feet wide. There was a thick carpet on the floor. One or two good water-colours hung on the walls, and there was a large and very interesting oil-painting that I hadn’t seen before.
There was a piano on one side of the room (both Mr. - - „ v LESSONONE _ 3 Priestley are fond of music, and Mrs. Priestley plays the piano beautifully). There were three or four comfortable armchairs, a radio, and three or four bookcases filled with books.
On a small table near the window there were copies of The Times, Punch and some foreign newspapers and magazines. Priestley returned with the roses in a bowl which she put on the table and a few minutes later Susan! came in with tea and a very nice cake. I had expected to see John Priestley and Margaret. I had brought a box of chocolates for her; I knew she liked chocolates, but they told me John was up at Oxford and Margaret had gone to a birthday party at the house of a friend of hers.
After we had chatted for 4 little time, Mrs. Priestley said, ‘‘ Will you excuse me, please? I want to see about the dinner. Did you know that Lizzie! had left us?” “No, I didn’t,” I said. “Yes,” continued Mrs.
Priestley, “she got a letter about a month ago to say that her sister-in-law had died, and so Lizzie has gone to keep house for her brother. That cake that we had at tea was hers; she sent it to me yesterday. Since she left, I have done the cooking and baked the cakes, but mine are never as good as hers.” “‘Nonsense, my dear; I don’ t think Lizzie’ s cakes were any better than yours,’ "said. _ “Take no notice of Charles,” said Mrs.
Priestley with a smile. “ They say love is blind; it seems to me he. can’t taste, either. My » husband’ s ideas about 1 You remember Susan, the maid and Lizzie, the cook, in Book I.
4 ESSENTIAL ENGLISH grammar are, I am sure, better than mine, but when. it’s a question of ideas about cakes, mine are far better than his. She went out, and Mr. Priestley said, “It’s bad luck about Lizzie, isn’t it? I’m afraid Susan will go, too, before long.
A young fellow near here, Joe Marsden, has asked her to marry him. is trying © to buy a café in the High Street. The café is not his yet, but [ think he’ll get it, and, when it zs his, I’m pretty sure Susan will marry him and go to help him to run the café. It will make things difficult for, my wife.
Ours is quite a big house for one woman to run, and it’s almost impossible, nowadays, to get help 1 in the house.” - After a little time Mrs. Priestley joined us again and said, ‘‘ Dinner is ready,” so we went to the dining- room, a pleasant-looking room with a Persian carpet on the floor, a dark oak dining-table, six chairs and a sideboard. A red lampshade gave a warm colour to the room, and an electric fire kept it comfortable while | we had dinner. Susan drew the brown velvet curtains across the windows as it was now quite dark outside, and we sat down to dinner, a very English one— roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, and cabbage grown in their own garden, followed by apple-pie with thick cream and sugar.
When we had finished dinner, Susan took the dishes from the dining-room to the kitchen, and Mrs, Priestley went with her to make coffee. _ Priestley took me to his study for a quiet smoke and to show me some of his books. After a quarter of an hour or so, Mrs. Priestley came LESSON ONE 5 to tell us she had made the coffee and it was in the sitting-room.
So we went there to take coffee and talk together and listen to the news on the radio. Priestley played some Chopin, my favourite - composer for the piano. It was now eleven o’clock and I was feeling rather tired. Priestley saw this and said, “‘ You have had a tiring day and you look sleepy; come along upstairs to your bedroom.” oN ay A IIECASINO TNE QS Serr mm.
À2 TERRACE Can = ° = A GARAGE TT.DINING KITCHEN ROOM SITTING PLAN OF THE HOUSE Upstairs there are five bedrooms, a bathroom and a lavatory. We went to my room and he said, ‘‘ Here you are. There is running water in your room and you can wash there or go to the bathroom, whichever you prefer. You will find soap in the soap-dish, and here are your towels.
Put on the electric fire and warm your pyjamas before putting them on.