Book review:    On Point B1   Pre-intermediate English  

Reviewed by Karin Scheffold-Mokler

Title:  On Point B1  Pre-intermediate English
Authors:  Louis and Cathy Rogers
Publisher:  Delta Publishing, 2020
ISBN:  978-3-12-501263-9 
Copyright:  Ernst Klett Sprachen GmbH, Rotebühlstraße 77, 70178 Stuttgart 

Overview:

This new course book offers a refreshing and very well-structured innovative course consisting of the course book itself and a workbook plus audios online. The teacher’s book includes both a DVD video and CD Rom with additional material.  

Each of the 12 units consists of lessons A to D:

Lessons A and B are the main lessons for grammar, presented via listening or reading texts and introducing relevant and up-to-date vocabulary for each topic. 

Lesson C contains a longer text which is taken from real-world sources and based on events happening in the world. The aim is to practise the student’s reading skills and recycle the grammar from the previous lesson.

Lesson D presents phrases or a language point useful for a particular speaking context and offers a guided approach to improve the student’s writing skills.

All audio files, videos and flash cards can be downloaded through the free Delta app and used at any time.

What I like about the book:

I really enjoyed reading through the course book and I was fascinated by the informative and innovative topics which are exciting to read. 

The topics range from an online survey about being lonely (which age group feels most lonely?), what kind of friend you are, a holiday in the Lake District, travelling to Vietnam, being a team leader, why we use white lies, getting rich on Instagram, healthy food, city life, being an optimist or pessimist, technology, environment etc. I particularly like how much information is given about numerous countries and places all over the world.

In each lesson, students are frequently invited to work in pairs or small groups giving them ample opportunity to speak and practise the new grammar, vocabulary and phrases. In the writing section, students are asked to write blogs, e-mails etc. and sometimes even to correct each other’s mistakes. Interactivity and personalization which are so important for learning play a very important role in this book.

There are 6 videos of a very high quality with the following titles: Vietnam, The good old days, Parkrun, Film locations, Saving the planet, Are you addicted?

Both the numerous audio files and the videos constantly offer the students listening comprehension activities teaching them at the same time correct pronunciation and intonation.

What could I criticize? 

As I haven’t used On Point B1 with my students yet, there’s nothing I could suggest to improve.

At any rate I would love to work with the course book in my courses as soon as possible.  

Recommendation

On Point