Raymond Murphy - the author of the best textbooks on English grammar

There is hardly a person among those who study English, who did not hear the name of the author of the books, - Raymond Murphy. A red textbook is a handbook and teachers, and students all over the world. For over 30 years he has been the sales leader among the grammar textbooks. The textbooks in question are part of the English In Use series of Raymond Murphy (pictured below on the left) and other authors, which Cambridge University publishes.

History of textbooks

Raymond Murphy is an American who taught English in Germany. Over time, working with foreign students allowed him to create a textbook that could be used throughout the world. In total, the course has 3 tutorials - Elementary Grammar in Use, Blue (Intermediate Grammar in Use) and Green (Advanced Grammar in Use). Below we will consider what includes each of the textbooks and how to deal with them independently in order to achieve positive results.

Before considering the features of each of the books, it is worth noting their common features - they all consist of lessons (unit) that include one or more topics on a two-page grammar (one is theory, the other is practice), applications and keys to exercises for testing . The passed theory can be fixed directly in the book and it is desirable to keep notes in simple pencil to correct mistakes during verification or in the future when repetition there were no ready answers to tasks.

All the textbooks are written in English, but work is under way on the Russian version of the publications, in which the aspects of the foreign that are particularly difficult for students will be explained in detail.

Red

The textbook "Raymond Murphy: Elementary Grammar in Practice" consists of 107 lessons, 6 applications, additional exercises and keys to all assignments. This textbook is recommended for those students who can read English, have just started learning a language or have been taught for a long time, but there are topics in which there are confusing moments. Here, only the most necessary grammar for mastering the basic level is considered. The structure of the textbook allows you to pass topics both in stages and selectively, as there are links to related topics. The textbook has audio with voice acting examples from the theoretical part of the lessons. At the end of the book there is a test for self-examination - a questionnaire that includes all the topics of the course from the textbook, which allows you to identify sections of grammar that are poorly understood and need to be repeated.

The following topics are covered in the annexes:

• Irregular Verbs;
• phrasal verbs;
• Spelling (pronounced pronunciation of the word);
• Short forms of verbs.

This textbook is suitable for those whose language level corresponds to A1, A2 and B1 on the level scale of the European Language Competence.

Blue

The next tutorial in the series, authored by Raymond Murphy, is a blue cover manual that includes 147 lessons, 7 applications that include additional material with grammar tables (a complete table of irregular verbs, differences in American and British language versions), self-test exercises And answers to tasks. To this edition there is an additional textbook with exercises (English Grammar in Use. Supplrmentary exercises) and a disk with the voice acting of examples from the units.

It is suitable for those who want to know the language at the level of B1 and B2.

Green

Another textbook is practical grammar for advanced level. It is not written by Raymond Murphy, but by Martin Hevings. But due to the fact that he complements the line of textbooks "Raymond Murphy., English Grammar in Use" it is called "green Murphy". This is the latest edition in the lineup and is a kind of Everest, which if they want, but can not conquer many students for many reasons, one of which is complexity. It consists of 100 units. Unlike the two previous books, here we consider the peculiarities and subtleties of the use of English grammar. To this textbook there is no additional book with exercises, but there is a disk.

This tutorial is an excellent choice for those who want to know English at the level of native speakers of C1 and C2. The course of this textbook will help pass the international exams - TOEFL and IELTS.

Each of the courses presented in the textbooks assumes systematic training at least three times a week for 60 minutes. Such approach will allow to achieve positive results and test them in practice. The series in Use assumes self-study, and if during the learning process the student has problems with understanding the presented material, then you can use the video lessons from teachers of English language freely available on the Internet or ask for help from friends who are native speakers.