Hi there! Thanks for using this book!

I’m so happy that you are joining me on a new adventure in learning English. This book was written for people who want to improve their English in a fresh and fun way. It’s for students and songwriters, for groups and individuals, and for those who want to write and understand English lyrics better. Since this is a new method, I would like to explain how the book is organized, and how each part can help you, so that you can get the most out of Rock Your English!
About the language used in the book – although I am American, I have used British English as the standard for spelling and grammar, as that is what is mostly taught at secondary schools throughout Europe. However, the song lyrics used throughout this book sometimes break the rules – the grammar may not be ‘correct’, and the spelling might be American. I have kept the lyrics in their original form.
I wrote this book in the same way that I speak, which is pretty informal; as I want this book to feel like a dialogue between you and me. As a language coach, my goal is to encourage you to do well, and to have fun learning, and I have tried to do that throughout this book. Oh, and another thing…officially you are supposed to write numbers out as words (one, two, three, instead of 1,2,3). I have chosen to use numbers and not words for this, because it saves space (and also because I like breaking rules!). Now it’s time to start rocking your English, and I hope you enjoy the ride! Let’s go!

LEARNING TOOLS

THE BOOK
Rock Your English! is divided into 15 chapters, and each one has a special focus. The first 14 chapters concentrate on one particular grammar form per chapter. Chapter 15 is on creative (song)writing to get your expressive juices flowing, and to help you activate all of the forms that you’ve learned in Rock Your English!

THE CD
This book should be used in combination with the Rock Your English! CD, which features one song per chapter. These are the songs that are used in the ‘Ear Candy’ section of each chapter. I will tell you more about the ‘Ear Candy’ section a bit later on in this introduction.

THE ROCK YOUR ENGLISH-WEBSITE
This is the website that goes with the book. All of the answers to all of the quizzes, assignments, and exercises can be found here, and they are organized per chapter. There are also special sections on the website where you can find more information on extra activities that can be used in a group/band/classroom situation, and extra grammar exercises if you just can’t get enough! You’ll also find more information on our National Lyrics Contest and you can enjoy a different column every month, written by some of your favourite pop stars! You can also learn more about me as a coach, and see why I have The Best Job In The World.

HOW THE BOOK IS SET UP
Every chapter in Rock Your English! has the same structure. I will go through the different sections and explain how they should be used, and what learning goals they can help you achieve.

POP QUIZ!
Each chapter starts out with a Pop Quiz! This is a fun way to get you ‘warmed up’ in English. All of the photos used in the Pop Quizzes are of artists that have sung songs with lyrics that use the grammar forms highlighted for that chapter. Some of the artists may be familiar to you, and some of them might be new. This is a fun way to broaden your musical horizons, and have fun learning at the same time! The second part of the Pop Quiz has questions about the artists in the pictures. Do you know who got arrested? Who gave birth at age 14? Which band broke up and then got back together again? The purpose of the Pop Quiz is not specifically to work on grammar yet, but just to get you to start thinking about the artists featured and to see how much you know about them, and to get you curious about what’s next in that chapter. I have tried my utmost to verify that all of the answers are indeed factual, and my sincere apologies if there are any inaccuracies. All of the answers to the Quiz can be found here.

EAR CANDY!
Ear Candy is just as sweet as it sounds…something yummy for your ears! Here you get to listen to a song from the Rock Your English! CD, and at the same time, read the lyrics which are printed in each chapter. As you read, you should pay attention to what you’re hearing, as the special grammar form is highlighted throughout the lyric. At the end of the song you will be asked certain questions about the lyrics in general. The songs might be ones you already know (if so, sing along!), or they might be new to you. That’s not important. What’s important here is that you focus on the lyrics and the grammar highlighted. This is a great way to work on ‘active listening’ in English. Many times when you listen to a song, you just listen in a passive way, and perhaps only focus on the music. In Ear Candy, you concentrate on the words of the song, and think about not only what the artist is saying, but how they say it. For some of you, this might be the very first time that you listen to a song in an active way. It’s an excellent way to learn new words and expressions, and to see how much you understand when you really concentrate!

GRAMMAR EXPLANATIONS
I have tried my best to keep the grammatical explanations as simple as possible. I wanted to break each form down to its essence and then explain how to use it. Every grammar form used can be found in the “charts” section at the back of the book. This is where you can look when you want to know how to structure this form. I have given example sentences to show you how to use each form wherever possible. I apologize in advance for my silly jokes, but hey, I think it’s pretty hard to learn if you’re not having some fun!

TIMELINES
We say that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ in English. And since this book is long enough, I have tried to explain every grammar form, wherever possible, by using a timeline. A timeline can help you see when the grammar form starts, when it ends, how long it’s been going on, etc. Many people are ‘visual learners’ and they remember something better once they’ve seen it. I have found the timelines to be very useful in my teaching, and I use them in my workshops whenever possible.

WATCH OUT!
Many grammar forms are connected to ‘time words’. These are words that say something about a moment or a period of time in the past, present, or future. Some examples of these are: yesterday, today, at 5 o’clock, since, when, and lots more. To help you remember which ‘time words’ are used with which form, I have added a little section called ‘Watch Out!’ (with a funky bling bling watch!) to help you remember these words a bit easier.

DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE!
Part of learning how to say something is learning how not to say it. In the ‘Don’t Believe the Hype’ section, I have highlighted typical mistakes that Dutch and Belgian people make while using the grammar form highlighted in each chapter. You can learn a lot from other people’s mistakes…and I’m glad that people still make mistakes, because that keeps me busy as a teacher. Hopefully, after using this book, there will be a lot less mistakes to deal with!

GRAMMAR EXERCISES
I have used different types of grammar exercises throughout the book. Personally, I think it’s pretty boring to do the same type of exercise over and over again. And it’s hard to learn if you’re not having fun! ‘Rock Your English’ uses exercises where you have to fill in the verb, find the mistakes and then correct the sentences that are wrong, choose the right answer, translate from Dutch to English, and write your own sentences. It’s a good idea to put all your answers in a special notebook, so that you can find them again easily when you want to check your answers. All of the answers can be found on here.

THE REMIX
Each chapter deals with one form in particular, but sometimes at the end of the chapter I want to ‘mix it up’ a bit and challenge you. The ‘Remix’ section takes the new form you’ve been learning and mixes it with another form that is similar to it, from a previous chapter. It’s a great way to see how much you remember from earlier chapters, and a very realistic way to mix up the grammar. Normally, we use different forms when we speak, and this is a great way to activate that. The answers can all be found on the website.

LYRICAL EXAMPLES
This is what makes ‘Rock Your English’ so special, I think. Every form used in the book is highlighted in lyrics chosen because that particular form is used. I have spent years going through my own music collection, and begging, borrowing, and stealing the collection of others, to find songs that use the form highlighted in each chapter. I have taken only bits of the lyric – either part of a verse, or a chorus, to show how it’s been used. Listening to music and concentrating on the lyrics is a fresh and fun way to really focus on what people are saying and how they say it. By concentrating on the lyrics, you will see how the grammar is used in music. Some of the artists or songs might be familiar to you, and others may not. It doesn’t matter if you know or like the songs used, but it does matter that you do the assignment after each lyrical example! After each one, you will be asked to do something – to translate it into Ducth, to answer questions about the vocabulary or grammar in it, to make your own sentences using special grammar or vocabulary, or to change what’s written. I have tried very hard to identify the original artist for each song, and apologise in advance if this information turns out to be incorrect. All of the answers are on the site. If there’s a question where more than one correct answer is possible, you will find different examples of answers for questions on the website.

EAR CANDY 2
Every chapter closes in the same way. You get another chance to listen to the same song you heard at the beginning of each chapter, with the lyrics in front of you, but now with a twist. Lots of the words are missing! This is a fun way to challenge your ‘active listening’ skills and really have you concentrate on what you’re hearing. Can you understand what the artist is singing? Fill in the missing words and then check back to the full lyrics at the beginning of each chapter to see how well you did!

OK! Enough explanation...now let’s get started! Time to Rock Your English!