RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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Hi gang,
I may be given the opportunity to choose a novel for my adult ESL students to read. Most of the other profs will be shopping off of Oprah's Book of the Month club and boring their students to death. I want something I'll like and that the students will like too. I'd prefer fantasy.
It would have to have relatively simple prose (say, written for young adults), not be overtly sexual or racist, and not be extremely long. Any recommendations? Also, no half-naked girls on the covers ;-). These restrictions do not reflect my tastes as much as the limits of what I could get away with in this institution.
Thanks in advance,
Tarren
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Mossflower by Brian Jacques
-- breaks down into three books
-- simple storyline
-- everyone loves animals
-- old paperback, should be cheap
The Three Musketeers - Dumas
-- abridged version should have less flowery text
-- there is a movie that goes with it
-- swashbuckling is awesome
Jhereg by Steven Brust
--short
-- its about a gangster, everyone loves an anti hero
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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ESL= English as a Second Language?
Yes. Sorry. That's right. ESL= English as a Second Language. Most of them speak arabic as a first language but we will also have Chinese, Korean, French, and Spanish represented in the class.
Thanks for the suggestions so far.
The book I use should be one that a kid could read but that an adult would read. They are adults but their reading level is much lower. Many of them rarely read novels in their first language.
Jhereg by Steven Brust
--short
-- its about a gangster, everyone loves an anti hero
Good/book series, but a bit criminal/dark in nature. I liked it though. You don't get many anti-hero choices.
Aside for the reading/interest level is there anything that should be avoided, in respect to cultural sensibilities?
Terry Brooks has some good choices; Wishsong/Elfstones of Shanarra series is one.
I would recommend Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings, its a simple story a short book and its part of a big series. You can buy the first 3 in one book 2nd hand from amazon for 4.50usd.
Its more of a young adult book so it should be easy for them to follow.
I would also recommend anything by Terry Pratchett, for great examples of satire anything in the diskworld collection, especially the earlier works, they are shorter.
the original Dragonlance story is also a good read for examples of DnD style stories.
The Innocent Mage (Kingmaker, Kingbreaker) is a great story by an aussie :)
anyway hope this helps
the original Dragonlance story is also a good read for examples of DnD style stories
Greetings fellow ESL teacher!
The Dragonlance books could be good for you, at least the early ones. The text is pretty light (fight monsters, save the world) and the language is simple, with the occasional new word you could expand on quite easily.
If your class isn't up to them, or you think it's too long, try some Roald Dahl. They're fun, simple and very short. This means you can cover two and compare them if you want, or you'll have the time to take it slow and pick it apart, word by word.
Good luck!
Peace,
tfad
Hi gang,
I may be given the opportunity to choose a novel for my adult ESL students to read. Most of the other profs will be shopping off of Oprah's Book of the Month club and boring their students to death. I want something I'll like and that the students will like too. I'd prefer fantasy.
It would have to have relatively simple prose (say, written for young adults), not be overtly sexual or racist, and not be extremely long. Any recommendations? Also, no half-naked girls on the covers ;-). These restrictions do not reflect my tastes as much as the limits of what I could get away with in this institution.
Thanks in advance,
Tarren
How about Ayn Rand's 'Anthem?' I guess that is fantasy of a sort. It's manageable length, story that moves and philosophical ideas you can kick around, and her prose is clean and fairly simple. Personally, if I were teaching conversational American English now I don't think I would assign the students something like Tolkien or CS Lewis, since it's British English, and rather old British English at that. 'Hobbit' is actually a fairly formidable read; some of the vocabulary is pretty stiff. I see where you are headed, but I don't necessarily agree that fantasy would be a good choice. If people are just getting the basics of English syntax under their belts, you probably don't want to burden them unnecessarily with something exotic which contains a lot of unusual names or RPG vocab.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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Jhereg by Steven Brust
--short
-- its about a gangster, everyone loves an anti heroAside for the reading/interest level is there anything that should be avoided, in respect to cultural sensibilities?
At some point, we have to just give up when it comes to cultural sensibilities. We have had students who refused to listen to music ... any music ... and objected because the conversation tape had a musical riff when introducing each listening.
I would want to avoid anything overly sexual or racist. I would not want to have the inherently evil characters based upon arabic cultures. Religious themes are touch and go.
Don't worry about that though, I'm just soliciting suggestions. I'll look at several of the suggested books.
You're brave. I wouldn't use fantasy -- as much as I like it.
I'm more of an Of Mice and Men kind of guy and rely on my reading prep instructions to keep it from getting boring.
Classic. Short. Lot's of interesting issues in it for immigrating learners.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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Hi gang,
I may be given the opportunity to choose a novel for my adult ESL students to read. Most of the other profs will be shopping off of Oprah's Book of the Month club and boring their students to death. I want something I'll like and that the students will like too. I'd prefer fantasy.
It would have to have relatively simple prose (say, written for young adults), not be overtly sexual or racist, and not be extremely long. Any recommendations? Also, no half-naked girls on the covers ;-). These restrictions do not reflect my tastes as much as the limits of what I could get away with in this institution.
Thanks in advance,
TarrenHow about Ayn Rand's 'Anthem?' I guess that is fantasy of a sort. It's manageable length, story that moves and philosophical ideas you can kick around, and her prose is clean and fairly simple. Personally, if I were teaching conversational American English now I don't think I would assign the students something like Tolkien or CS Lewis, since it's British English, and rather old British English at that. 'Hobbit' is actually a fairly formidable read; some of the vocabulary is pretty stiff. I see where you are headed, but I don't necessarily agree that fantasy would be a good choice. If people are just getting the basics of English syntax under their belts, you probably don't want to burden them unnecessarily with something exotic which contains a lot of unusual names or RPG vocab.
Well, I'm in Canada so I can get away with a bit of British English.
The students are not complete beginners but what we call 'academic beginners'. For the most part, they hope to be reading university level textbooks within one year. Most of them won't be able to do that but that is their goal.
I have thought about the concern about unusual names and vocabulary but we have decided to have our students read novels. Modern day novels too often have political ramifications that could be complicated here. Still, if you have some suggestions for modern day novels that don't turn foreigners into villains, I'm game.
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Why not a western? The dialogue is a good fit if you are learning conversational English with American idioms (although the "yep" and "nope" might be a tad annoying back East?), and Louis L'amour's prose doesn't seem that difficult. Plus, it might be more relateable than fantasy; some people don't go in for anything that seems "supernatural." Best of all, it wouldn't seem like reading Young Adult literature, because it isn't -- it's for all ages.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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Why not a western? The dialogue is a good fit if you are learning conversational English with American idioms (although the "yep" and "nope" might be a tad annoying back East?), and Louis L'amour's prose doesn't seem that difficult. Plus, it might be more relateable than fantasy; some people don't go in for anything that seems "supernatural." Best of all, it wouldn't seem like reading Young Adult literature, because it isn't -- it's for all ages.
Any particular recommendations?
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Why not a western? The dialogue is a good fit if you are learning conversational English with American idioms (although the "yep" and "nope" might be a tad annoying back East?), and Louis L'amour's prose doesn't seem that difficult. Plus, it might be more relateable than fantasy; some people don't go in for anything that seems "supernatural." Best of all, it wouldn't seem like reading Young Adult literature, because it isn't -- it's for all ages.
Seconded on the Louis L'Amour. I would highly recommend Haunted Mesa.
My two cents: how about one of the early Drizzt books? As much as I've grown to loathe the character, I still find the first few to be quite entertaining and easy to follow.
EDIT: DO NOT READ The Halfling's Gem if you don't want negative stereotypes.
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Any particular recommendations?
The Louis L'amour I own:
The Iron Marshall
Fallon
The Californios
Beyond the Great Snow Mountains (a collection of short stories, some of which might be unsuitable)
Some of the themes are dated but there is relatively little sexism and racism in L'amour's writing, and you can explain about the age of the genre, the time period it reflects, and developing sensitivities, to your class. A bigger concern might be gun violence, because that is pretty much standard (just like sword violence is in S&S). Nothing too graphic, not "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly" graphic, but it's still gun play.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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Any particular recommendations?
The Louis L'amour I own:
The Iron Marshall
Fallon
The Californios
Beyond the Great Snow Mountains (a collection of short stories, some of which might be unsuitable)Some of the themes are dated but there is relatively little sexism and racism in L'amour's writing, and you can explain about the age of the genre, the time period it reflects, and developing sensitivities, to your class. A bigger concern might be gun violence, because that is pretty much standard (just like sword violence is in S&S). Nothing too graphic, not "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly" graphic, but it's still gun play.
I'll check some of these out.
Catcher in the Rye.
Ugh
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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Black God's Kiss
Couldn't get away with that cover. The guys would love it but look down on me for bringing it into the classroom.
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I would also recommend anything by Terry Pratchett, for great examples of satire anything in the diskworld collection, especially the earlier works, they are shorter.
I would second the Pratchett Recommendation. Wee Free men was written as a childrens book, targeted at 12-15 y/o but great reading for adults.
Robert Heinlein also has some great "Childrens" fiction though his is more sci-fi.
Black God's KissCouldn't get away with that cover. The guys would love it but look down on me for bringing it into the classroom.
And that's pretty tame for a pulp cover...too bad.
Just a few more bits: I used The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe teaching fourth grade and The Hobbit teaching seventh. They were regular public school classes (but in abnormal Princeton--still well ethnically mixed, however.) The former went over easier than I thought it would, while the latter went over harder. But as others noted, still had to do lots of glosses on British culture (which as an Anglophile was actually a part of the fun for me.)
Branching out a little: in eighth I used War of the Worlds, The Martian Chronicles, Dracula, and Frankenstein. Can only recommend The Martian Chronicles and Frankenstein from a teaching perspective, although the latter would probably be kind of tough for ESL.
I wonder: how much of enjoying Prachett depends on cultural forms of humor and a good knowledge of the genre being parodied?
If non-fiction could be taken into account (or perhaps one of your colleagues might be interested) what about one of the published collections of 'Alistair Cooke's Letter from America'? He did a great job of explaining various american perspectives, culture, and historical events to the British for several decades, and as an oldtime BBC worker, I would suspect he would be very grammatically correct.
Charles:
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Black God's KissCouldn't get away with that cover. The guys would love it but look down on me for bringing it into the classroom.
Could you have it laminated over or find another publishing?
Pratchett might be too tough for language and and cultural references, and for the record, I haven't read Wee Free Men because I found pictsies' talk too hard to follow in Carpe Jugulum...so I definitely don't recommend that book for ESL (any text with lots of dialect and colloquialism is hard for me to follow, even if I am quite fluent with English).
One book which popped to mind is Haroun and Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie...which is kind of young-adult fantasy with adult interest, and maybe something with a cultural connection...
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I'd pick The Hobbit--the English is perfect and the story is easy to read, and there's very little in it that can offend. It's also a favorite and often-translated work in the ME. I have an Arabic version I bought at Kuwait International, so I wouldn't be surprised if a few of your Arabic-speaking students have read in before.
"The Sword in the Stone." - T.H. White
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I'm just thinking off the top of my head, but if I recall "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime" is written such that it can be understood by people with rather low reading comprehension, but it is a complex story that adults will find more rewarding. It's narrator has autism and is very straightforward in his writing. I haven't read it for a while, but I doubt it would be very difficult. I would also recommend Sabriel, if you are really looking for Fantasy literature. It's supposedly aimed at preteens and teens, but it deals with some heavy-duty stuff and I still love it dearly. I think that wouldn't be too difficult... I would recommend going to your local bookstore (Not Barnes & Noble if you can help it, local people know more usually) and asking about their teen book section. Fantasy and SciFi books that are marketed to teens usually have very grown-up themes but may not have the heavy-handed prose found in the more "adult" stuff. Of course, it may just be their publisher didn't think they could sell it to adults and know that teens who read will read anything put in front of them.
As you may have guessed, I've worked in a bookstore. And let me tell you, it's just as awesome as it sounds. Sam Weller's FTW!
EDIT: I second the Hobbit, it's a classic and the prose is simple but not too easy that it would feel like children's literature. Anything by TH White is also a winner, and you may be able to get away with Narnia stuff too, although if they pick up on the supposed "Christian" overtones, it may be more difficult. I personally find Narnia to be rather universal, but many others disagree.
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For me I'd say that Ursula K LeGuin's Earthsea novels and Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising sequence are the best examples of fantasy found in the children's/YA section that have plenty interesting themes and use of language that's sophisticated but not too difficult.
Alternatively, outside of proper sword-and-sorcery stuff, how about Neil Gaiman? His new one "The Graveyard Book" about a child brought up in a graveyard by ghosts, inspired by The Jungle Book, is very like Pratchett's kids book in using mostly straight-forward language, but not shying away from complex or even disturbing themes (the chapter Hounds of God is wonderfully Lovecraftian for instance), plus each chapter works as a self-contained short story. Alternatively Neverwhere and Anansi Boys are both more adult, reasonably short and great reads. Basically I'd say any of his novels except for his short story collections (sexual themes in some stories) or American Gods (quite long and has a squick-inducing sex scene) would work.
Jhereg by Steven Brust
--short
-- its about a gangster, everyone loves an anti heroAside for the reading/interest level is there anything that should be avoided, in respect to cultural sensibilities?
At some point, we have to just give up when it comes to cultural sensibilities. We have had students who refused to listen to music ... any music ... and objected because the conversation tape had a musical riff when introducing each listening.
I would want to avoid anything overly sexual or racist. I would not want to have the inherently evil characters based upon arabic cultures. Religious themes are touch and go.
Don't worry about that though, I'm just soliciting suggestions. I'll look at several of the suggested books.
Then you want to stay away from the Terry Goodkind Sword of Truth series. Starts off innocent enough but then gets progressively 'more powerful' sexually/racially/violently.