Practical English for Adults · Full-color series · 3 books
For Chinese-speaking adults who can read English but often get stuck in real conversations. Keep the conversation going when you didn't catch something, make your meaning clear when you explain a situation, and move the conversation forward when you disagree.
Each book starts from one specific sticking point. The three passages below are drawn from the books' forewords.
A time, an unfamiliar word or a sudden question brings the conversation to a halt.
You know which part you missed, but in the moment you can't think how to speak up.
Start with: What Can I Say Next?
When someone asks "Where do things stand?", "Why?" or "What's still left to do?", you can't find the right order for the information.
You can ask people to repeat themselves, but find it hard to explain something from start to finish.
Start with: Make Your Meaning Clear
Even after things have been explained clearly, a conversation can still stall on a disagreement, limited resources or a vague answer.
You want to propose options, respond to disagreement, and turn what you have actually agreed on into action.
Start with: Move the Conversation Forward
Book 1 practices filling in what you didn't catch or didn't understand. Book 2 practices connecting several facts into a clear explanation. Book 3 practices exchanging conditions with the other person and working out an arrangement both sides accept. Each book can be used on its own.
《把话接下去》
Spot gaps in communication and repair them: point out the exact part you didn't catch, didn't understand or can't say, get the information you need, then check it.
《把事情说清楚》
Organize a connected explanation and respond to follow-up questions: make the main point clear, link facts to reasons, and distinguish what is known from what is guessed, and what is done from what is not.
《把沟通推进下去》
Negotiate and reach an outcome you can act on: understand the disagreement, propose alternatives, and confirm who is responsible, when it will be done, under what conditions, and what is still undecided.
In all three books, every lesson is 4 pages with the same structure. The aim is not to memorize whole dialogues, but to say your own next line based on how the other person responds.
A continuous dialogue written for the lesson, in English and Chinese side by side. Read it through once and mark where you get stuck.
Four ways to say it, with explanations in Chinese and notes on when to use each.
How to carry on when the other person responds in different ways; exercises ranging from multiple choice to prompted speaking practice.
Say it yourself in a different situation, with a self-check list.
The characters in the books, Lin and Maya, are fictional adult colleagues, and the situations are mostly training, work arrangements, community events and everyday errands. The English is common American usage; you are not expected to imitate any particular accent. The three books build on one another step by step in communication skills and do not correspond to CEFR or other language levels.
The text, exercises, Chinese explanations and color illustrations in these books were generated with AI tools and revised through several rounds of AI review; the layout was done by software; the characters and situations are fictional. The books have not yet had a final review by an independent human language editor, and have not yet been tested with target readers.
Try before you decide. Each book has its own sample PDF with one complete lesson and its answer key.
The conversation stalls when you didn't catch something, didn't understand, can't express something in the moment, or need to ask for help.
You can say single sentences, but when asked "Where do things stand?", "Why?" or "What's still left to do?", you can't find the right order for the information.
Even after things have been explained clearly, a conversation can still stall on a disagreement, limited resources or a vague answer.
Each of the three books has its own sample PDF (12 pages, including 1 page explaining the sample): the cover, contents, foreword, how to use the book, one unit opener, all four pages of one lesson, and the answer key for that lesson. No email address needed.
Read free samples