This set of readers published in China contains 6 volumes. Volume 1 starts with the alphabet, focusing on the pronunciation and writing of letters, simple words and sentence patterns, and also emphasizes English writing. There are many calligraphy exercises at the end of the text, so that children can not only speak English like foreigners, but also And the writing is the same as foreign calligraphy, which is a missing link in domestic English teaching. Starting from Volume 2, there are more formal texts. Each lesson includes vocabulary and text, with English explanations for some new words, allowing students to learn to understand new words through simple English and develop the habit of understanding and thinking in English. Volume 4 also comes with after-class thinking exercises, which can help students better understand the articles and trigger children's thinking. The author's introduction and relevant background knowledge are added before the texts in volumes 5 and 6, and the content is rich and in-depth.
Judging from the English difficulty level of the selected texts, generally speaking, volumes 1-3 of this set of readers are similar to those for primary school graduates in China, while volume 4 is suitable for junior high school students to read. Volumes 5 and 6 can be read by learners of high school level and above. From the aspect of style, we can see that in addition to the common narrative and prose styles, this set of readers also attaches great importance to poetry, drama, exposition and other styles. The book selects many famous works by famous writers. This will be of great help to domestic children to truly experience the power of English, a Western language.
This series of schoolbooks teaching reading and moral precepts, originally prepared by William Holmes who was a professor at Miami University McGuffey, had a profound influence on public education in the United States. The eclectic readers, meaning that the selections were chosen from a number of sources, were considered remarkably literary works and probably exerted a greater influence upon literary tastes in the United States more than any other book, excluding the Bible.
It is estimated that at least 120 million copies of McGuffey's Readers were sold between 1836 and 1960, placing its sales in a category with the Bible and Webster's Dictionary. Since 1961 they have continued to sell at a rate of some 30,000 copies a year. No other textbook bearing a single person's name has come close to that mark. McGuffey's Readers are still in use today in some school systems, and by parents for home schooling purposes.