Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ultrahipnosis]

Hello,

I am interested in reading an English novel/story with my students in a free talking class. I am considering a couple of books, and I am looking for a few more suggestions. The books I am considering are:

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach

Has anyone used either of these books for classes? Please let me know what you think about my ideas.

[Howard Roark]

How old are they? I remember Jonathon Livingston Seagull bored the crap outta me when I was in 7th grade. But I appreciate it now that I'm 23!

[djsmnc]

Depending on your students level of English, I stubled on a cache of books in a store in Bundang one day...They are all the classics (i.e. Frankenstein, Anne Frank, Great Expectations, Tom Sawyer) skimmed down a bit, but leveled accordingly by grade level. The difficult words are footnoted with a Korean translation. There's quizzes at the end of the chapters, but they are in Korean, so they really serve no purpose for this kind of class. The books are cheap though, and they are perfect for people to read along with in class...

[peppermint]

If you are in Seoul Kim and Johnson's bookstore in Gangnam has a big selection of books with this kind of thing in mind. Some selections from Oprah's book club, some classics etc

If the kids are young, a chapter from the new Harry Potter would probaly go over well, as the Korean translation isn't available yet.


Sounds like an intersting idea, please let us know how it works out.

[kimchikowboy]

Actually, one novel I'd love to work with in a class is Being There by Jerzy Kosinski. The sentence structures and vocab is very basic and understandable for intermediate students, and there is a lot of jumping off points for discussion. Also, you can bring in the great movie version with Peter Sellers.

[ultrahipnosis]

Actually, my students are all older. I think my youngest student is 23 years old, so I honestly don't think that age will be a problem. I am living and working in Busan near Nam Po Dong, so I will probably buy my books at English Plus. I am debating between using a novel and a book of conversation topics. My only complaint about the conversation topic books is that they are always very serious and require a lot of abstract thought, which is sometimes very difficult for people who do not have a strong grasp of the English language.

[whatthefunk]

Be sure that the book you choose is based in reality and not overly spiritual and/or metaphoric. I had my older class read a very simple poem, and they all understood the words, but couldn't understand the metaphor that the poem was describing. I tried to help them understand it, but after 40 minutes of drawing diagrams, pictures, and just generally making an ass out of myself, I gave up.

[Mashimaro]

[beebay007]

I have never read the jonathan seagull book (and never been to korea yet) but I have mets lots of koreans and a few times when they see a seagull, they say "there's Jonathan!", an obscure reference to that book - I hadn't heard of the book till I met Koreans. I think it shows that many Koreans already know this book. Maybe they read a Korean translated version though.. would it be boring if they already know the story?