target student: lower secondary (Sekundarstufe I / école d'orientation / sc. media) aged 12-13+ Intermediate level is suitable for Upper-Secondary aged students

          

• Written from a teenage viewpoint so students explore language through topics and ideas relevant to them

• Captures interest with the wide variety of photostories, culture pages, projects and songs

• Solves the problem of mixed-ability classes with graded exercises in the Language Booster – a unique combination of workbook and grammar builder

• NEW material including texts, photostories, activities, projects and songs

• NEW graded exercises and extra focus on writing skills in the Language Booster

• NEW multilingual wordlist
  
                                        
  Starter Glossar English - German                Starter Glossar English - German - French

• NEW culture video, and culture pages in the Students’ Book give students an insight into the English-speaking world

• NEW testing programme and improved teacher’s notes give even more support for teachers

• NEW Companion Website with information and extra activities on each level

                                    

• Four level course from Starter (little or no English) through to Intermediate
• The student's books contains 20 units (136 pages) including four review units for a total of 90-120 hours teaching
• "Learning Goals" set out linguistic objectives
• Grammar & Functions appear in user-friendly "Grammar" & "Grammar Flash" boxes while more detailed expalnations and practice is found in the "Language Booster"
• tackles mixed abilities with 3-level exercises on same grammar point
• "Interaction" section features pairwork activities to improve speaking skills
• "Boost Your Writing" gives specific practice on developing writing skills
• "Projects" & "Over to You" sections encourage individual & personalised work
• unit by unit glossary of vocabulary & expressions 
• "Soundbites" give students specific pronunciation practice 
• "Wide Angle on the World" found in review units, consolidate key skills with in a cross-cultural setting
• "Culture Flash" focuses on UK and U.S. customs & culture
• Songs provide extra vocabulary practice in a relaxed fashion 
• TB features bank of photocopiable resources
• 1 page progress checks every 2 units with self-evaluation
• seperate progress test booklets
• programme supplementary materials include four videos and cd roms suitable for all four levels
• companion web-site features free downloadable resources ready for classroom use

Author Bio

Brian Abbs is a well-known writer of many series of best-selling textbooks for teaching English as a Foreign language. These course books, mainly co-written with Ingrid Freebairn, include Strategies, Discoveries, Flying Start, Blueprint, American Blueprint, and most recently, the Snapshot series for teenagers Brian took a first degree in English Literature at the University of Leicester and later studied Applied Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh. Before becoming a full-time writer, he taught for many years in Sweden and London where he was head of the ELT Division in the Language Faculty at Ealing College of Higher Education (now Thames Valley University).

While at Ealing, Brian played an important part in setting up the first Royal Society of Arts teaching training qualifications in ELT, particularly those involving multi-cultural education. He was also Course director for the first groups of university students from the People’s Republic of China who came to Britain in the 1960s to study English full-time at British academic institutions. It was his work and experience with Chinese students that led Brian into writing language teaching material.

In the course of his long career, Brian Abbs has been active in the Society of Authors and professional ELT organisations. He has taught and lectured widely in Europe, the Middle East, the Far East, including the People’s Republic of China, Australia and Latin America. He now lives in London where he concentrates on producing materials for ELT.

Ingrid Freebairn is renowned worldwide as the co-author of the Strategies series, Discoveries, Blueprint and more recently, the Snapshot series. She has been involved in teaching and teacher training in the UK, Sweden and France. She has also carried out numerous lecture tours throughout Europe, the Far East and Latin America. She is an expert on ELT video materials and has been involved in the production of Family Affair, Two Days in Summer, Face the Music, Out of the Blue, and The Winning Team.

Chris Barker is an experienced publisher of educational foreign language materials, and has developed materials for magazine-based teaching. He worked with the British Council teaching English at the University of Belgrade, where he was involved in syllabus design. He has also taught ESL, EFL, and Adult Literacy in Britain.