Gareth King - Colloquial English: A Complete English Language Course

Colloquial

English

The Colloquial Series

Series Adviser: Gareth King

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Colloquial

English

A Complete English

Language Course

Gareth King

First edition published 2005

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge

270 Madison Ave, New York NY 10016

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor and Francis e-Library, 2005.

To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledges collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.

2005 Gareth King

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data King, Gareth.

Colloquial English: a complete English language course /

Gareth King.

p. cm.

Includes index.

1. English language Textbooks for foreign speakers.

2. English language Spoken English Problems,

exercises, etc.

I. Title.

II. Series.

PE1128.K43 2004

428.24 dc22

2004010470

ISBN 0-203-53691-6 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-67024-8 (Adobe eReader Format)

ISBN 0415299535 (pbk)

0415299527 (CD)

0415299500 (Cassette)

0415299519 (Pack)

I dedicate this book

to the memory of my dear friend

Buzz Burrell 19562003

who loved the English language always

Contents

Acknowledgements

ix

Introduction

x

English spelling

xi

IPA symbols

xii

Grammatical terms used in this book

xiii

1

Pleased to meet you!

1

2

Where are you from?

20

3

Could you tell me where the bank is?

33

4

Have you got any bread?

47

5

What shall we do today?

64

6

Hello, could I speak to Vicki?

81

7

What date is it today?

98

8

Can I make an appointment?

117

9

Ive lost my passport!

135

10

Which do you prefer?

155

11

Ill see you at half past five!

175

12

You cant be serious!

194

viii

13

The people we met were fantastic!

209

14

What would you do?

226

15

I said youd phone back later

241

Key to exercises

259

Reference grammar

276

Irregular verbs alphabetical list

280

Irregular verbs by type

283

Grammar index

286

Acknowledgements

I thank Sophie Oliver and Suzanne Cousin at Routledge Language Reference Editorial for their unstinting support and encouragement throughout this project; the various reviewers of the original proposal for their positive response and helpful feedback; Linda Paulus, Production Editor, for her hard work and accuracy; the Guardian and Daily Mirror newspapers for permission to use material; my friends and colleagues in the bunker for populating a significant proportion of the book; my fellow CaRPistas in cix:carp for real and useful pedantry of a consistently high order; and of course Adam, Liam and Jonquil for being the best family in the world.

Introduction

Although this book is a member of the Colloquial series, and conforms broadly with the format and approach of other titles in the series, Colloquial English necessarily departs in some respects from its fellows.

For a start, it is written in the target language, and an assump-tion of prior knowledge of the language must therefore be made.

Nonetheless, I have tried to keep explanations simple and succinct, allowing the context of the dialogues and exercises to show the user how the language works.

Presentation of vocabulary is another problematic issue in a book aimed at users from diverse linguistic backgrounds. There can be no two-way glossary at the back of Colloquial English, and instead I must depend on the students having access to a good learners dictionary of English fortunately there are a number of compre-hensive and reliable works readily available on the TEFL market, and at a reasonable price.

I have made sparing use of the IPA phonetic alphabet (and in a broad rather than narrow transcription) where I have thought the disparity between the spelling of common words and their pronunciation warranted it; and I have listed the IPA symbols and combinations of symbols at the front of the book for reference. Naturally the accompanying CDs/tapes will also be of benefit in this regard, and I strongly recommend their use in conjunction with the course.

This book does not shy away from grammar, and a glance at the index will show how central a component of the course it is. In explaining the grammar in the body of the book, while aiming to keep technical language to a minimum, I have not held back from using grammatical terminology where I think this helps make the system and mechanisms of the language clearer for the learner.