The book is intended to help develop the oral communication skills of second language learners, especially those who have had a regional language medium of instruction at school and who have had little or no exposure to spoken English. It is primarily aimed at students preparing to enter the main stream, which would require them to compete with those who have a stronger base in English. The book can also be used as self-instructional material by people who are employed or engaged in different activities of their own. The book comes with an audio CD that gives learners an opportunity to listen to dialogues in everyday situations and that provide answers to practice exercises as well. Also included are brief, easy to understand tips on pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and usage. The book offers learners a second and more advanced set of 25 functions that require the use of relatively complex language structures than those in Part 1.

Ms Susheela Punitha is former Professor of English, Mount Carmel College, Bangalore. She has also been actively engaged in developing course materials and in conducting ELT workshops.