The book follows Andre, a student from Switzerland, as he spends a year completing his English studies at a private language school in North America: from his arrival at the airport, to getting around the city, to attending school, to hanging out with his classmates. All of the situations and related language are real and directly relevant to adult ESL students.

Join Andre on his one-year adventure. It’s about to begin just outside the airport terminal…

A Year in the Life of an ESL Student is used by

  • teachers as a supplementary text for advanced-level adult ESL students.
  • students who want to improve their comprehension and usage of idioms and advanced vocabulary found in daily conversations, movies, TV shows, and radio broadcasts.
  • students who need to refine their understanding and usage of social register.
  • students who are currently studying English at a language school in North America.
  • students who are preparing to study English abroad or those who desire further study once they have returned to their country.

Each of the 16 chapters in the book consist of

  • dialogues that use the idioms and vocabulary in a realistic manner and deal with the experiences and challenges that an ESL student is likely to have while studying in North America.
  • clearly written definitions complete with sample sentences.
  • a wide range of exercises that reinforce the idioms and vocabulary that are covered in the dialogues (i.e. matching, cloze, crossword, word search, and scrambled sentences).
  • thoughtful comprehension questions that assess a students understanding of the dialogue.
  • engaging discussion questions that push the students to use the idioms and vocabulary to talk about their own life experiences.
  • interesting extension exercises that draw a students attention to one specific aspect of the dialogue.

The final section of the book contains

  • a list of websites related to the topics discussed in each of the chapters.
  • an easy-to-use and concise answer key.
  • a glossary that includes all of the idioms and vocabulary covered in the dialogues.

Reader Reviews

"Your Go-To Guide To Idioms"

If you’re an advanced ESL student or a teacher looking for a guide to idiomatic language, look no further! A Year in the Life of an ESL Student by Edward Francis helps students navigate the confusing landscape of idioms and provides teachers with a comprehensive tool kit to guide them.

Reviewed by: Karin A.Keefe

"Excellent Source For Advanced ESL Students"

I have been teaching advanced ESL adult sudents for ten years and this is the best Idiom source I've found yet! Each chapter provides an excellent variety of excercises to choose from and it is challenging enough to be interesting to very bright adult students!

Reviewed by: C.E.Wilson

"A Must-Have Resource!"

This text is an invaluable resource for people who are English language learners. Each chapter begins with a dialogue between two characters in the book, in settings such as arriving in the city, picking up a friend at the airport, and catching a movie.

Reviewed by: Dr. Dana Sparkman