GAM WRIT ERS

The student companion to English

In most of the Anglophone countries, more so in The Gambia, children hardly use English outside the confines of the class. For this reason, the English teacher’s task becomes difficult because he should strive to teach children the oral and written skills needed to help them express themselves in the official language.

Due to the poor performance of children in this language, Fodeh Baldeh decided to write this 346-page book, published in 1997 in Nigeria entitled The Student’s Companion to Good English. On the cover, he further wrote: ‘An encyclopaedia of English grammar and correct usage’ and ‘A dependable book for all learners of English’.

The book is in three parts: the first (p. 1-155) is divided in 23 chapters. This part elaborates on the differences between British and American English, borrowed words from other foreign languages, idiomatic expressions, proverbs, extracts from great writers for reading aloud among other things; the second part (p. 157-203) has three chapters. This part provides the skills needed for letter and essay writing, reading comprehension and summaries. Two Gambian texts are used as samples; the third and last part (p. 205-274) provides the common mistakes made by students. Many exercises are provided in pages 275 to 289 to help put to the test the acquired knowledge and skills in the book.

There are four appendixes providing information on literary terms, irregular verbs, military vocabulary and abbreviations used daily. There is, at the end of the book, the answer script for corrections.