English for Starters 1 has been developed for Primary 1 children and teachers in Syria, taking into account all the changes in methodology over the past few years. English for Starters 1 aims to teach pupils to communicate effectively using simple English, and to set the groundwork for successful language learning in the future. The course aims to stimulate the child’s interest in learning English and to develop confidence through a range of activities that encourage pupils to speak to one another, so promoting an active use of the English language. Pupils learn a new language most effectively when they are encouraged to use the language for themselves.
The idea of writing this book started after observing students (foreign language learners of English) suffering from the lack of actual daily-life situations in the English used in their grammar course. They usually separate the grammatical rules from the contexts in which they are used, and memorize them as a poem. Some beginner students translate these rules into their native languages and fall at the danger of transfer. As a result, most of these courses have created a great deal of difficulty to students at all levels of their language proficiency.
From its dim origins among Germanic speakers in the British Isles, the English tongue spread for over a millennium through commerce, cultural exchange, and military conquest to become the de facto language of our modern, globalized world. From the Shanghai stock exchange to the United Nations to Internet message boards, whenever people reach out to one another across culture and geography, they do so overwhelmingly in English. Yet the remarkable story of its rise to global dominance has been curiously neglected by historians.
Imprisoned in English: The Hazards of English as a Default Language
In Imprisoned in English, Anna Wierzbicka argues that in the present English-dominated world, millions of people - including academics, lawyers, diplomats, and writers - can become "prisoners of English", unable to think outside English. In particular, social sciences and the humanities are now increasingly locked in a conceptual framework grounded in English. To most scholars in these fields, treating English as a default language seems a natural thing to do.
Improve Your EnglishEnglish is a fascinating and fun language. But it is also full of rules and exceptions which can be frustrating to learn. What you are reading is a simple guide to the main points of the English language (for example, sentence construction, the different types of words and punctuation) and how you can apply these to: • Write better English - every day • Identify and avoid common mistakes • Communicate more effectively and get results
