A few comments from Rock Talk users....

Tina Bacon—Adult ESL Instructor
One of the wonderful things about Rock Talk is the title. You know, you really picked a good title because I’m afraid to sing. To sing in front of a class, I couldn’t even imagine. But when you’re singing along with the Rock Talk songs, it’s easy. My voice is not very good, but when I’m singing with a whole bunch of people and participating in it, I just love it and so do the students.

The songs themselves are absolutely delightful. There’s no great stretch of your voice with Rock Talk. The songs are not like “The Star Spangled Banner”! You have a lot of fun.

When you have a multi-level group, you can’t devote attention to three different groups at the same time. With this, they can all get in—they can all participate, sing, and start using the language—enjoying it. This is particularly true with the vowels which are so impossible for newcomers. Repetition in a conversation can be very boring, but when it’s in a song, it’s fun!

What I love most about Rock Talk is that it teaches the students to take risks! You have to take risks to learn a language. You have to make funny faces and twist your vowels around. Rock Talk makes it fun! The kids take risks! The adults take risks and they enjoy it! They laugh with each other, at each other, and we all have a wonderful time!

Barry Bakin—Adult ESL Instructor
When I first saw a Rock Talk presentation, I just thought it was great the way the songs were arranged in the groups of three, and the fact that it wasn’t the confusing nature of songs that you get off the radio or off of a CD, with a lot of extra vocals and a lot of extra technical things that happen with musical arrangements. It’s clear and the singing voice is very clear.

All those things together, and the fact that it’s a prepared package, convinced me to try it. And I had a great response right from the beginning. So it became a sort of staple for my grab bag of activities that I do.

It’s well worth the amount of money that you invest in buying the book and CD for the hours and hours of classroom activities and enjoyment that you and your students will get. And if you’re not really a singing type, it’s even more valuable because it allows you to bring music and songs into your classroom which otherwise you might be a little bit hesitant to do.

Debbie Hanley—Community College ESL Instructor
I teach at the community college level, transition to academic writing. I love your books because there are so many ways you can use them. I am so thankful because your books help my students practice the things that I’m teaching, for example, pronunciation. And music touches the hearts of the students, and when something can touch your heart, it makes learning that much easier and more meaningful. Music touches the heart in a way that no other medium can. I watch students melt; I watch students relax. It evokes something that they can even write about that I couldn’t get other than through music.

A lot of students take the music and practice at home. I love the stories where they say they’ll be practicing at home and their kids want to sing along too! Another thing that’s great about Rock Talk is that because Transition to Writing is such a structured class, it’s fun to introduce these songs and talk about what they mean . . . the cultural aspects. I have seen students’ pronunciation improve in ways that I’ve never seen before with any other textbook. I just love the flexibility that it lends. As teachers, we know students have different learning styles, and music touches something that nothing else does. Rock Talk is unique. I’ve seen no other program like it. I love it!

I’ve taught all different levels and all different kinds of students. I’ve been teaching since 1979. Before, I’d have to search for things . . . try to find music or whatever on my own. Your program is absolutely comprehensive, so we don’t need to search anymore! It’s great! Great stuff!

Skai Zoe—Adult ESL Instructor
What’s great about Rock Talk is that it covers so many things. You’ve got pronunciation, participation, reading, and listening; you’ve got total class involvement! The fact that Total Physical Response is part of this . . . it’s so totally covered. A lot of times I get the students to clap, to snap their fingers, and to even dance when we’re doing this. They love it! I’m like, “Yeah! It’s time for Rock Talk!” and they say, “Yay!”

It’s such a great program. Also, I like the fact that it’s a CD. We can take a part of the song and when they’re clapping and snapping and getting into it . . . we can stop it and we can redirect them. We can talk about the fact that they’re getting to learn about the song, but then really talk about what is happening in the song. That’s what’s really great about it! There are just so many things to do. It’s endless!

Plus there’s the fact that it’s built around popular music which makes them comfortable right away. A lot of times, the students will say, “Oh, I know that song!” They have it interpreted in their own language and now they’re learning it in English. It’s a way to really tie in the cultures. They feel so much more comfortable learning. It takes away the fear of learning. It takes away the fear of being in a different country. That’s the thing that’s so great with music!

Rock Talk breaks down some of these walls, some of these fears of learning. That is a huge barrier—the fear of speaking, fear of making a mistake. And when they’re singing, they’re not thinking about anything except just having a great time. They want to listen even after the time that we have to leave! They actually want to stay and listen.

And when we talk about some of these songs, even on jealousy and things like that, it’s great because it opens up a whole new discussion, which I think is really important in ESL. I don’t think English as a Second Language is just about English. I think it is about culture. I think it’s about learning that they have the ability to change their lives. For the most part, these students are learning English because they want more control in their lives.

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