In this post, I would like to give away my book called GRAMMAR UP. This book uses a new, holistic approach to learning English grammar. In this book, you will practise your reading comprehension and grammar at the same time.
When you take English in school, you learn one piece of grammar at a time. Scott Thornbury calls this approach Grammar McNuggets. After a while, you become confused by all the rules, and you forget most of them.
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Native speakers don’t know the rules for the present simple or present perfect tense. They use them.
With Grammar Up, you work in the same way. The grammar points are not explained—you have to use them. And when you use the grammar, you learn it.
The book contains 17 short texts. First, you have to read the text and answer the comprehension questions. You can either write your answers on a piece of paper or you can remember them. Check your answers on the next page.
This comprehension exercise is followed by the first exercise. You will see the same text you have read, but this time half of every second word is deleted. The text looks like this:
You wi_____ see t_____ same te_____ you ha_____ read, b_____ this ti_____ half o_____ every sec_____ word i_____ deleted.
Try to read the text and complete each word. It is ideal to read the text aloud this time. If you are not sure how to complete a word, turn back to the original text and find the correct answer.
This exercise is followed by the second Grammar Up text. This time you see a text in which all the verbs are in the infinitive form, all the prepositions are replaced by a dash (-), and all the articles are replaced by an asterisk (*). The text then looks like this:
You SEE * same text you READ, but this time half – every second word DELETE.
Your task is to read the text again and add all the missing words and forms. It might not be a bad idea to write out the text as well.