Spanish Sentence Builders - A Lexicogrammar approach: Beginner to Pre-intermediate: 1 (The Language Gym - Sentence Builder Books)

I bought the Spanish sentence builder book as soon as it came out last year and find it incredibly useful. It is great for setting cover as I can just photocopy a sentence builder and the worksheets and know the kids can just get on with it, so the lesson is really useful for them but a non-specialist will not get any questions (as they have been trained to know that everything they need is on the sentence builder and can't ask anything!). Although it is for KS3, it is also really useful for KS4 for revision and consolidation, and for support for weaker students or those that may not have the foundations you would hope for. I have also got the listening book and love the way it directly matches the sentence builder book. I have one lesson per fortnight for each class dedicated to listening and it has really improved confidence and attitude to listening. Thanks to Gianfranco and Dylan so much for such great work, it is so helpful and useful.There are a couple of mistakes, as have been mentioned in other reviews - but I just praise the kids if they spot it, just as I do if they spot a typo in any resources I have created! You know they really get it if they can spot the mistake! Wholeheartedly recommend this book, and I am about to order the new one for intermediate learners too.

I bought this book as soon as it was published and I am delighted with it. I have been incorporating Gianfranco Conti’s teaching methods into my teaching for several years, after following him on social media and attending some of his CPD training sessions. We are in the process of rewriting our curriculum using his EPI method because it is so successful with students at building confidence, enjoyment, fluency and spontaneity. So this book will save us lots of time as it is full of his resources, of the kind which until now, we have been making ourselves, such as Sentence Builders and narrow listening/reading texts. It complements perfectly the many free resources that Gianfranco gives away on his TES page as well as his freely shared ideas and CPD on his methods, via the Facebook group GILT (which he and Dylan Viñales started), his YouTube channel and his many blogs. Dylan Viñales’s free resources and blogs have been very helpful, detailed and informative too. We have signed up to The Language Gym now, where we can make use of the digital resources and the student friendly activities. If you have attended any of Gianfranco’s CPD training sessions or read any of his work (including his books with Steve Smith, which are excellent) and you are already using, or thinking of incorporating this style of teaching, or even elements of it, into your own lessons, then you will be very happy with this book. It covers 19 topics for beginners to intermediate learners of Spanish and it is carefully edited. You do need to be familiar with EPI to make the best use of it but I can’t imagine there are many MFL teachers in the UK (or indeed, English speaking MFL teachers around the world) who are not aware by now of Gianfranco’s researched-backed methods and anyone who has tried them will know how well it works. I can’t wait to begin using this book in my curriculum design and teaching. I believe similar texts will soon be available in other languages too. A fantastic purchase!

An essential addition to any teacher who really has a passion for languages. It puts into practice Gianfranco Conti's EPI approach, with a lot of input from Dylan Vinales, an expert in the field. Each unit starts with a sentence builders and has 4-5 pages full of modelling activities, narrow reading texts and structured production tasks. It is a fantastic addition to any teacher. It is made clear on the front cover that it is beginner to pre-intermediate, and I have used this for my year 6, year 7 and beginning of year 8. It can also be used in a subtle and clever way at GCSE for revision purposes in certain areas.It is also great that the authors have acknowledge formatting and minor issues with the first edition, which they have addressed and announced a 2nd edition coming soon. One cannot ask for more professionalism.Thank you!From a truly chuffed teacher!

Brilliant vocab builder activities

An effective resource that is a must for any practitioner who is looking to implement Gianfranco Conti's EPI methodology into their pedagogy.It reminds me of the sentence grids from older language-learning textbooks in Germany where vocabulary is built by placing keywords into the same sentence structure. However this book goes further in its simple way of introducing and practising grammar patterns. There is a clear focus on reusing and recycling language throughout the book.Though very black and white in its layout, the tasks are clear and concise, meaning that the focus lays in the work set rather than a gimmick that distracts from the learning.It would be great to see another book that caters to the A2/B1 proficiency status in order to continue this push for more spontaneous responses.Let us hope that the future of language learning moves towards using EPI as a vital construct!

Best book I’ve bought to support my students and I can honestly say it has worked wonders in my classroom! 💫The students enjoy completing the task and we finish the lesson with an exam question using the task for support. This has really worked for me and my students as I find the tasks in this book consistently build on their knowledge and chunk phrases together for them thus improving their writing ability. It also provides set phrases support for low ability and extensive language for higher in the form of reading and writing tasks with spelling tests.Thank you Gian for creating this perfect book, I look forward to purchasing more of your products.