Foster, Tony | Paperback / softback | 24-09-2018 | 9789046906354

To be able to understand and speak a language well, you need to know the rules of that language. Ideally, learning these rules should be as enjoyable and easy as possible. This is where our book and its accompanying website come into the picture: English Grammar through Dutch Eyes is a contrastive English grammar. Its focus on the differences with Dutch makes it easier for Dutch-speaking students to learn the rules of English. It also gives teachers and future teachers an idea of which areas of English grammar are more difficult to teach.

The many examples and flowcharts make the rules easier to grasp. The light-hearted tone and the authors’ enthusiasm about the importance of grammar in everyday communication make for a more accessible and student-friendly read. On the website, the authors explain a variety of grammatical topics in short web clips. The online factsheets offer quick reference for those who want to know more about topics not dealt with in the book. Finally, each chapter comes with exercises that learners can do to check their understanding of the reading. For instructors there are PowerPoints, test questions and a concise teacher’s manual.

English Grammar through Dutch Eyes was written for Dutch-speaking students at universities and universities of applied sciences who want to gain thorough knowledge of English grammar. However, the book is also suitable for anyone who uses English on a day-to-day basis.

Tony Foster, Martijn Lemmen, Dick Smakman, Aletta Dorst and Philomeen Dol teach English language and linguistics at Leiden University’s English Department. Philomeen also works for the Leiden Academic Language Centre, where she teaches English-language courses.