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 student’s having access to a good learner’s
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 pronun-
ciation warranted it; and I have listed the IPA symbols and combin-
ations 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.
English spelling

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/
r
/ car, four
†
/εi/ say, eight /s/ send, miss
/ɑi/ my, night /ʃ/ should, wish
/ɔi/ boy /t/ it, time
/əυ/ boat, home /θ/ think, three
/ɑu/ now, found /ð/ the, with
/ə/ hear, here /v/ very, give
/εə/ hair, where /w/ want, when
/υə/ sure /j/ yes, you
/z/ prize, rose
/`/ (precedes stressed syllable) // measure
†
silent before consonant and at end of sentence
Grammatical terms
used in this book
action verb – a verb that describes a dynamic action or event: run,
read, throw, phone.
active – a sentence structure where the doer of the action is the
subject: the dog
bit the postman.
adjective – a word that describes a noun: red, heavy, electronic,
difficult.
adverb – a word that describes how, where or when an action or
event takes place: quickly, here, tomorrow.
auxiliary – a special verb that is used with another (main) verb:
I was
going, he didn’t come; compare modal auxiliary.

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adding -ed: flew (fly), came (come), went (go), made (make).
modal auxiliary – special auxiliary verbs that have their own
meanings, but are used with other verbs: he can
speak English,
you shouldn’t
go.
negative – the form of the verb that tells you that something doesn’t,
didn’t or won’t happen.
noun – a word that names a thing, person, place or idea: cat, James,
London, honesty.
object – the thing or person that receives the action in a sentence:
Liz fed the cats
; compare subject.
passive – a sentence structure where the receiver of the action is the
subject: the postman
was bitten by the dog; compare active.
past continuous – a tense of the verb that indicates ongoing action
in the past: I was reading.
past participle – the form of the verb used with have to form the
present perfect tense: I’ve arrived
, she’s gone.
past perfect – a tense of the verb one stage back in the past from the
present perfect: I had broken my leg.
past simple – a tense of the verb that indicates completed action in
the past: I stopped.
phrasal verb – a combination of verb + adverb which has a special
meaning: blow up, turn off, take off.
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