Real English for life beyond the classroom
English in the real world is constantly evolving, and learners need to move with it. But sometimes the English you can learn from your coursebook just isn’t enough for real life. Being able to understand English as it is really spoken will give you the confidence to succeed in any English-speaking environment. Using a wide range of authentic, unscripted recordings of everyday people from around the world, Collins Listening (B2+) will help you to feel confident and prepared for anything.
> Hear the language people really use when they are speaking
> Free downloadable audio with over 40 authentic recordings in a wide variety of scenarios
> Useful tips to increase your understanding of tone, slang and context
Units are divided into the following themes:
• Lifestyle
• Practical advice and information
• Attitudes and behaviour
• Passions
• Memorable experiences
Each of these areas includes analysis of high-level, natural recordings between one, two and three people. Some conversations took place face-to-face while others were over the phone. All are 100% unscripted and unedited and do not use actors.
About the series:
What is it? Collins’ innovative English for Life series adds the extra bit of authenticity to your studies that traditional coursebooks often lack. The series includes helpful up-to-date and relevant topics needed to get by in English and uses authentic material from the Collins Corpus, the world’s largest database of the English language.
How can the series be used? The series can be used for independent study (self-study) and extra assignments, it's a great supplement to existing coursebooks, and the books can also be used as stand-alone coursebooks for short courses. All books have accompanying teacher resources available online.
What levels are available? There are three levels available:
A2 (Pre-intermediate)
B1+ (Intermediate)
B2+ (Upper intermediate)
About the Author :
Ian Badger is a highly regarded author who has written a wide range of published materials to aid spoken and written communication in English. He runs a training consultancy, Business and Medical English Services (BMES), which specializes in helping organizations and individuals to improve their communication skills in English.
This work, which involves helping speakers from all over the world to communicate clearly and effectively with each other, has made him acutely aware of the need to understand English however it is spoken.
Ian is originally from London but now lives in Bristol in the west of England. He has worked as a director of studies, teacher trainer, teacher of English and communications consultant and is a regular speaker at international conferences.
Ian is also the author of ‘English for Business: Listening’ (Collins, 2011) and ‘English for Life: Listening B1+’ (Collins, 2012).
Review :
‘This book provides learners with a challenging variety of accents and topics to listen to and presents learners with a large amount of useful information, advice and practice exercises with the aim of helping them understand more when they listen to English being spoken.’
© Copyright BEBC REVIEW PANEL 2014
About the Collins English for Life series:
‘… superb, attractively packaged series (…) excellent support for candidates preparing for the Cambridge FCE and higher (…) work on the topics, skills and current needs of the language learner (…) may be used in various ways: either by learners alone, by teachers, or by teacher trainers on language development courses.’
Wayne Trotman, EL Gazette, August 2012
