English changes from middle school
A roadmap for English study, from school grades to the CSAT, all in one book.

Elementary school English is qualitatively different from middle school English.
Middle school English is the stepping stone to intermediate English.
In elementary school, the goal is to learn simple communication expressions and become familiar with English, but in middle school, grammar begins and the amount of study increases rapidly.
For example, you learn about 800 words in elementary school, 1800 in middle school, 1800 in high school, and you need to know at least 6000 words to take the CSAT.


Whether a child attends a top English kindergarten or studies with Mom's English, they all start at the same starting point in middle school: exams.
No matter how good your pronunciation is or how fluently you can speak simple sentences, it won't help you score well on the test.
Children who know grammar rules and are good at reading long, complex texts get good grades.


The author was working as an English teacher at a middle school in Gangnam, Seoul, when he was selected through an open recruitment by EBS and began working as an English instructor.
He is now a representative instructor at EBS, and more than 500,000 middle school students have taken the author's lectures.
After teaching children for 14 years, I have come to realize that no child wants to not be able to study, and I decided to write this book for children who are lost and don't know what to do.


Middle school English consists of three things: vocabulary, grammar, and reading comprehension.
The key among them is grammar.
Because in high school there is no time to study grammar.
The English section of the university entrance exam evaluates reading comprehension skills, and to be good at reading comprehension, you need to be familiar with grammar.
To understand grammar, you need to know the vocabulary and have basic literacy skills.
Ultimately, you learn vocabulary and grammar in middle school, and focus on reading comprehension in high school.


In this book, the author explains how students about to enter middle school should study English in the future, that is, the principles and methods of English study.
What are the differences between elementary and middle school English? How should I study middle school English? What's most important in middle school English? How can I study English for my child as he or she prepares to enter middle school?

This book aims to be a guide for just such children.
This is to provide specific suggestions on how to study English as a subject for those who are graduating from elementary school and entering middle school, and how to prepare for high school and entrance exam English.
Studying for an English exam isn't something you can achieve simply by speaking well or investing a lot of time.
To achieve good results, you must clearly understand the objective of the test and learn effective study methods tailored to the test.

---From the "Preface"

Middle school English requires a completely different approach than elementary school.
The goal of middle school English is to systematically learn grammar based on the communication skills learned in elementary English, and through this, to develop reading and writing skills.
Learning grammar may seem difficult, but it is important to build a solid foundation of grammar during this time to prepare for high school and college entrance exams.
---From "Chapter 1: The Big Picture of English, From Elementary to the College Scholastic Ability Test"

The best time to understand the big picture of grammar is between 6th grade and 8th grade.
If you enter middle school with even a little bit of a grasp of the big picture of grammar, you will be able to digest the content you learn there more easily.
These days, many students start preparing for grammar from elementary school due to concerns about middle school English.
But it's not too late to start brushing up on your grammar when you get to middle school.
Since building basic skills through communication and English reading in elementary school is the foundation for grammar, I do not recommend starting with grammar without sufficiently building an understanding of English sentences.
---From "Chapter 2 Middle School English is Grammar"

In elementary school, we learn about 800 words, and in middle and high school, we learn about 1,800 words.
If you aim for a high score on the CSAT, you need more than 5,500 words, and it is essential to study vocabulary used in non-literature texts separately.
As the number of required vocabulary gradually increases, learning vocabulary from textbooks alone becomes insufficient, so additional vocabulary study outside of school curriculum is essential.
---From "Chapter 3: If you're a complete beginner, start with vocabulary"

When choosing a textbook for reading practice, it is best to choose a passage with five or fewer unfamiliar words.
It is effective to choose a passage that you can understand about 70% of, and then practice reading each sentence accurately while increasing the difficulty of the passage.
---From "Chapter 4: The Goal We Must Ultimately Reach: Reading"

To systematically develop listening skills, it is helpful to use specialized textbooks.
For example, the 'Bricks Listening' series and the 'Mother Tongue 100% Real-World MP3 Middle School English Listening 24 Mock Tests' series are comprised of various practice problems, allowing you to build your skills step by step from the basics.
You can use the textbook to practice vocabulary, dictation, problem solving, and improve your listening skills.

---From "Chapter 7: The English Teacher's Study Method"

When planning for the future, it's helpful to distinguish between long-term and short-term goals.
Long-term goals are about the big picture, such as what kind of person you want to be or what kind of job you want to have, and short-term goals are about what you need to do right now to achieve that long-term goal.
For example, you may have a long-term dream of becoming a diplomat.
Then, in the short term, you could set goals like getting a top grade in English this semester or finishing a grammar book this month.

---From "Chapter 8: How to Maintain Your Mental Health"