Another wonderful extension of a well loved nursery rhyme by the author. Aylesworth has captured the rhythm of Mother Goose and created a lively story that is great for read-a-louds! Read it with your kids and write some yourselves!

I have used the Interchange series, as well as others. Interchange format encourages diologue between instructor and students. Interchange 3 is only for very advanced ESL students.

I found the typescript of this work in the papers of Dr. Werkmeister after his death at age 92. "Werkie" had decided not to publish it because it contained some interpretations of Heidegger at odds with those of a colleague, Gene Kaelin. I invited Kaelin to comment on their differences in an Introduction to the work, and solicited a Guest Preface by Eva Hauel Cadwallader, another scholar and friend. Gwen Burda, a professional book producer, Werkie's two friends, and I brought this volume to fruition as a tribute to a man whose philosophical activity spanned 74 years, who taught at the Universities of Nebraska, Harvard, Southern California, and Florida State, and who served as President of the American Society for Value Inquiry and the Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association. The work raises and answers several perrennial questions about Martin Heidegger: How should Heidegger's works be ordered? Was Heidegger an Existentialist? Was Heidegger a Nazi? Would his being a Nazi discredit his philosophical work? and How important was Heidegger in comparison with his contemporary, Nicolai Hartmann?

I teach English in South America, and our students achieve a basic mastery of English from working in their classes, in a multi-media laboratory, and in the three volumes of the New Interchange series. Those who pass through all sixteen levels of classes -- corresponding to three or four units of New Interchange -- master basic English in a little over a year. I am amazed everyday by the reflection of the New Interchange in my students' abilities. The NI program's organization has students ready for rudimentary social conversation in only a week or so, and by the time they reach the end of the series they can talk about most any quotidian thing and many abstractions fluently.

Despite its proven finesse as a text, the series sometimes cries out for deconstruction, which is itself instructive to my students. The music on the accompanying tapes seems cheesy and repetitive, the characters in the conversation unrealistically squeaky (of the Donna Reed / Beaver Cleaver variety), and the text seems annoyingly politically correct on one hand and, on the other, particularly ethno- and geocentric in that peculiarly North American manner. It seems a little strange explaining in South America what a "tan" is or why college-aged youth are in such a hurry to leave their parents' home. It's as if the book assumes every college graduate secures his own apartment with his first paycheck and spends all his weekends at the beach.

Yet it is clear that the book works well and presents concepts from the foundation upward so that students master English conceptually rapidly and well. I recommend the New Interchange series as a textual foundation for any extended (a year or more) program in English.

The latest edition of "Interchange" is certainly an improvement on the original. Teachers who have been using the old book for years will be relieved to see agonizing sections from the old book removed. And the subject material and sequencing of grammar,listening and speaking activities is better too. The workbook is also vastly superior to the old workbook . However, one of the major weaknesses of the old book still remains-the Teacher's Book. The lack of an abundance of really good speaking and grammar activities forces the teacher to do a large amount of preparation work. Here's a tip- supplement Interchange with Heinemann's "Reward Resource Books".

Having never used the first edition of this series, I picked up New Interchange Level 1 so that I could have a structured series to help my students learn general basic English skills. I have been pleased, and find that overall it is a good series to teach from. THE GOOD: Each chapter in New Interchange has a good variety of skills to learn and practice. Students are constantly engaged in reading, writing, listening, speaking, learning new vocabulary and practicing new grammar rules. The content isn't too heavy, and the book makes good use of color and white space so as not to overwhelm the student. I find that the structure of each chapter is constant and reliable so that the students become used to how things are done. The tapes and Teacher's Guide are invaluable! The workbook provides additional practice of concepts that the students have just learned in the student book. All of these resources combine to make it incredibly easy for me (as a teacher) to prepare and give good lessons. THE BAD: I have found that my students are often confused with the grammar exercises. What may seem like clear-cut explanations to a native English speaker obviously aren't that clear to the learners. I am also a little saddened by the fact that each chapter really doesn't go into great depth for any one skill or theme. Each skill is presented, learned and practiced in what sometimes feels like a rushed manner. I have also found it difficult to present an entire chapter in two one-and-a-half hour sessions, as the authors suggest. OVERALL: A good series with lots of skills practice. It is very useful for learners who want to study a variety of general English skills. Very nice for overworked teachers who don't have a lot of time to prepare lessons.

"The Language Teaching Matrix" was a required text for the methodology component of my masters course in education that I took in 1994. It is scholarly, thorough, easy to read, and a worthy choice for any TESOL graduate program, but I'll have to admit that I didn't really enjoy using it. In Nunan's Second Language Teaching and Learning, which was published in 1999, we get to meet real students and hear humorous and occasionally humbling anecdotes. The Language Teaching Matrix, however, only talks of "the teacher" and "the learner", and the materials that Richards develops and uses are invariably generic and lifeless to be beyond belief. But then again, if you are one of the world's most successful EFL textbook writers, why change anything? Buy this book only if you love Jack Richards' textbooks and want to emulate his undeniable professionalism. Otherwise, go for Nunan's SLTL, which I think is far more useful and interesting to read.

I find this book fairly understandable, easy to follow and a bit of interesting with good pictures!

It is published by the press syndicate of the University of Cambridge

I have read this book and I want to review it

If you're an English language teacher stuck in classrooms with 20 plus students for 30-40 hours a week and your text is a disaster your whole life can be hell. You hate your work and your students hate you. What do you do? Teach something else ? But in the end you always have to come back to the text... This has been the dilemma for teachers at my school over the last few years. While Interchange 1 was pretty good and Interchange 2 OK Interchange 3 was a nightmare-the more so as we realized the weakness was in the book and not in our teaching. So New Interchange 3 is something of a revelation- the changes in this book are not merely cosmetic,they are extensive. The layout and presentation of the grammar is sometimes so good I am in awe of how good this is and how bad the original book was. You realize there is real art to writing an English language teaching book- an art only really appreciated by the hands-on teacher. The other stunning improvement in this book is the content. It's so much more interesting, more contemporary, relevant and personal. So on 2 counts; grammar presentation and content this book is a winner. It's only on the third pillar of communicative language teaching- activities- that there is a weakness. The "Teacher's" book is lazy, unimaginative and unhelpful most of the time. A teacher needs to look elsewhere or in his or her own head for activities. Nonetheless, the improvements in NEW INTERCHANGE 3 are such that I can walk into a classroom with enthusiasm rather than dread.