What is this best-coursebook-ever of which you speak?


In the world where Outcomes is all the rage, there’s at least one person who can't see what all this ballyhoo is about. This person is my student Vera, the author of the post below.

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2 March, 2020 - I remember that day quite vividly. I couldn’t believe my eyes while I was holding it in my hands. It was 660 grams of sheer joy and happiness. It was Outcomes Advanced. Two years have passed since then and now I’m not jumping for joy having this book. After all, there’s only one step between love and hate, isn’t there? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate it - I just don't like it either. Even though I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is that puts me off it, I’d like to share a couple of thoughts as to why this book is not my cup of tea.

1. Walk on by if your memory is like a sieve

Vocabulary is something lots of people lavish praise on this coursebook for. All those beautiful chunks and collocations, which are real, which are natural, which are extremely useful - and which are impossible to memorise. The book just swarms with them. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about exercises that would come in handy to put this vocabulary into practice. Maybe it’s just me who can’t use the words I’ve just come across straightaway, but I felt like I was swimming in treacle.

Some of you might argue that there’s a vocabulary builder to help me out. Yeah, right. I honestly tried to use it for a while but the thing is it took a huge amount of time to work with it properly. Not only did it rob myself of time, but it also peppered me with even more chunks and collocations to learn. And there’s only so much my brain could process and my memory could take in. 

2. Walk on by if your horizons are limited

The topics for discussion, on the surface, make the impression of being riveting and alluring. In practice, they are anything but. When it comes down to it, the texts are openly boring. What I mean is they should spark interest and desire to think, to discuss, to dig deeper, not to yawn, shouldn't they? In effect, it seems to me many texts were included just for the sake of vocabulary, nothing else. The questions (which are supposed to either encourage me to use new lexis or to discuss the points outlined in the text) sometimes seem to be weird or just too formal. Take these ones as an example: ‘Do you like dancing? Who are the biggest fashion stars in your country at the moment? When else might someone have a scan?’ (pages 45, 138, and 88 respectively - feel free to check). What kind of questions are they? They are anything but thought-provoking. If it wasn’t for my teacher and her ability to ask challenging questions and to incorporate challenging Ted talks and articles, learning would have been a torture.

Yet again, maybe it’s just me who is neither knowledgeable about nor interested in all the realms of life. I don’t want to talk about politics while talking about business. I don’t want to get into the details of medicine. I have a one-track mind if you like, but the book is definitely not for everyday life as I know it.

3. Walk on by if your life is too short for a long book

And finally, time. How long should it take to cover the book profoundly, not superficially? If you learn the language for yourself, just for pleasure, it’s not a problem - take your time. But what if you have specific goals to meet and the time is limited? This book is not for you then as it seems to be never-ending. Besides, loads of vocabulary along with tedious texts don’t add sugar to help the medicine go down.

To sum up, the book is perfect but only …

- if you have extraordinary memory and capability to use new words right here and now;
- if you are lucky enough to have a fantastic teacher who is ready to come up with one hundred and more exercises to liven the book up;
- if the time is limitless;
- if you are not burdened with earthly things like work, housework, family and friends and hobbies;
- if you know everything about everything;
- if you are a diligent, enthusiastic and avid learner.

So, I wonder, is this really the best coursebook ever?

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Fun fact: Vera is the person who was in my "Outcomes Advanced" group from the very beginning to the very end and studied the book from cover to cover (which took us two years and two months!). 

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