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eddy-cool · Joined: 06 Jul 2008 Posts: 1008

'Grapes of Wreath' = 'Wrath'...hahaha! Not surprised, though.

When I taught normal college students (English majors) British Literature they got 2 hours a week of it.

Their timetables were chock-a-block full with other subjects, and students complained endlessly they had 'no time' to read up for class or to do homework assignments.

Leon Purvis · Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:30 pm Post subject:

lf_aristotle69 · Joined: 06 May 2006 Posts: 546 Location: HangZhou, China

Yes. That student is thinking of another book. It's about Ralph and his haemorrhoids problem...

LFA

Shandy · Joined: 16 Jul 2008 Posts: 11

sorry for the belated response, but thank you for all your contributions.

englishmaster · Joined: 03 Sep 2004 Posts: 118

I have taught literature in China and Taiwan, and even once in Korea. I can definitely tell you that Chinese students' reading comprehension is not up to snuff for comprehending literary language. They have a pretty hard time just following the plot, let alone elements such as irony and metaphor.

My solution is to use simplified readers of the sort put out by Heinemann and Macmillan. These are much shorter than the originals, and use highly simplified language. You can go through what's happening in the story much more easily with simplified readers, and give the students short comprehension exercises.

Hope this helps.