Touchstone is an innovative new series for adult and young-adult learners of English. It is based on extensive research into how people actually use English. The four-level series combines an integrated multi-skills syllabus with a communicative approach to language teaching, and has been developed using the North American English portion of the Cambridge International Corpus of English.

The result is a groundbreaking series that helps learners communicate naturally and effectively, even at the very beginning levels. Packed with exciting ideas and offering a fresh approach to teaching and learning, Touchstone delivers North American English as it is actually spoken.

The Cambridge International Corpus (CIC) has been developed by Cambridge University Press to help in writing materials for learners of English. It is a large collection of texts, stored in a database, that can be searched to see how English is used. The English in the CIC comes from many sources including newspapers, books, Web sites, magazines, TV programs and recordings of everyday conversations.

Student's Book Full-color Student's Books are organized in clear two-page lessons.

Teacher's Edition The interleaved Teacher's Edition contains practical teaching notes and a wealth of optional activities side-by-side with the Student's Book pages. Comprehensive language notes provide insights into English usage, enabling teachers to guide students toward effective communication. Audio scripts, answer keys and tests are provided.

Audio Program Recordings of natural English conversation provide students with models for speaking and pronunciation, as well as experience listening to fluent native and non-native speakers of English.

Workbook The Workbook provides follow-up exercises for each lesson in the Student's Book, giving thorough practice of new vocabulary, structures, and conversation strategies, and providing extra reading and writing activities. A progress-check chart at the end of each Workbook unit helps students evaluate their progress, plan further study, and review weak areas.