Modern American English

The present book, Book III, is the third of a series of four books designed as a complete course of study in English as a foreign language. Book I provides elementary vocabulary and lays the foundation of first principles of grammar. Books II and III build upon this foundation, further expand the study of vocabulary and complete the survey of English grammar structure. Book IV is primarily a Reader, the purpose of which is to bring the student into contact with everyday English reading matter, while at the same time reviewing materials already studied and giving students practice with these materials.
The four books of the series have been planned for use in the usual Junior High or High School course of study. The pace of the books, therefore, is leisurely but intensive—as is proper for students studying English on this level. Extensive oral practice is given with everything studied. Students are prepared to move, without difficulty or confusion, from one step to the next, from one lesson to the following lesson. In this connection, vocabulary and grammar structure are rigidly controlled at all times—and particularly on the lower levels. Consequently, there is never the danger, so common in texts of an earlier period, of teaching more vocabulary or grammar structure than a student can readily absorb.
Expressed in a different way, the purpose of this book as well as of the three remaining books of the series is to teach students how to understand English when it is spoken to them and how to speak English themselves. The approach is essentially an audio-lingual one. The students must be able at all times to use what they have studied. All materials and all activities within the books contribute clearly to this end.