Job Discussion Forums

[fluffyhamster]

(In Japan) I knew a couple of reasonably fluent students who turned out to be reading books that I too had bought and myself been enjoying. (Such books could thus claim to have some sort of crossover appeal, especially for students, then!).

The first student had I Thought my Father was God (previously entitled True Tales of American Life), a selection edited by Paul Auster of short factual stories that had been submitted to NPR. I can't remember which exact story she'd been reading, but it had a quite complex conditional in it that she'd wanted to check with me. Anyway, the stories in this collection aren't on average too difficult, being generally all quite short and written in a direct and honest way (i.e. like spoken anecdotes), and many are quite interesting, memorable or poignant.

A later student turned out to have been reading Eugene Linden's The Octopus and the Orangutan: More True Tales of Animal Intrigue, Intelligence, and Ingenuity (albeit in the form of a Japanese translation rather than the English original) - she was already familiar with the story in the short passage I'd used in class, that I'd selected from the English edition. (Again, I can't quite remember which specific story, but this book has quite a few good ones!). I gave her the English edition as a gift, so she'd have a full parallel text of sorts and could if she so wished compare the rest of the English and Japanese editions in her own time.

Anyone have any further "recommendations" to share?

[Sashadroogie]

Das Kapital

The Origin of Species

The Land Question and the Fight for Freedom

Wissenschaft der Logik


Failing those, I find the Harry Potter series to be popular and accessible...

[fluffyhamster]

If that's representative of the sort of stuff that your students read (especially if it's in English), then they (Russians?) must be better on average than Japanese students, Sasha! (FWIW those were eikaiwa - conversation school - students that I was talking about). Do you teach in a university or something?

Yeah, (but) everybody has read or knows about the Harry Potter books and other bestsellers, though I've never seen any of my students reading very mainstream stuff other than a Japanese translation of The Fellowship of the Ring (which again anybody would be familiar with, esp. thanks to the films). [But hey, any and all recommendations are of course still very welcome, and potentially revealing! ].

[johntpartee]

Sash was being sarcastic, that's his appeal; hey, Sash, I love ya, I mean it, now get outta here!

Back on topic:

I usually have the students read aloud from an abridged "light" classic; two of the favorites have been "Dracula" and "Mutiny On The Bounty". This seemed to whet their appetites for other western literature, with some surprising results. Students were giving talks about "Little Women", "Huckleberry Finn", "The Count of Monte Cristo"(!),.....

[spiral78]

Our Saudi pre-meds were assigned 'Wuthering Heights.' (abridged/light version).

I could have come up with something more appropriate, I think...

johnt - are these versions of the classics in modern language (I hope?). I've never looked at them - it's not really relevant in my current teaching context.

[Sashadroogie]

Sheesh, guys, c'mon! Yes, I'm sarcastic, but that is just a defence mechanism to protect my inner child... None of which changes the fact that Russians really read!! Really. It's true as anyone who's been on the metro will attest. All the classics, like Dickens and Austen will be read. John Updike is popular, for some unknown reason. Somerset Maugham too, though I'm trying to wean my students off him. Not uni students by the way. Just random adults in a general English class. High level, naturally. But they manage even at lower levels. 'Life of Pi' was a popular too a couple of years back. Not so hard to read...

[johntpartee]

[spiral78]

Our Saudis still found the illicit relationship between Cathy and Heathcliff.....well, interesting and challenging. It's a class of both men and women, and two of the women don't wear headscarves already....I personally just think that there is little/no need to challenge their worldviews unnecessarily - they've got enough challenges living here as is!!

I obviously wasn't the teacher who assigned the work, but of course I got the questions, being considered objective and reliable (at least by the Saudis ).

Trying to think of a cotton-candy classic that would have been a better choice under the circumstances. Little Women (for the females)? Oliver Twist?

[johntpartee]

Alice in Wonderland? I know the women here (China) loved that new movie that came out.

[Sashadroogie]

I've been meaning to give Finnegan's Wake a bash with the students. Would need to be well-oiled beforehand though...

[spiral78]

Hmmm, strengthening ties between Kamarady in East and West through common interests Not a bad idea.

On third thought, our Saudis are pre-med students. I wonder if anyone's cotton-candied Grey's Anatomy yet? If not, JohnT, maybe a lucrative idea??

[johntpartee]

Perhaps a Jonas Salk coloring book?

[spiral78]

Does such a thing exist? They're keen on crayons

[Sashadroogie]

I believe there was a Communist Manifesto colouring book at one stage. You only needed the red crayon, ha! Will have to check with my Young Pioneer buddies

[fluffyhamster]

Heh, I suspected Comrade Sash was being a bit szarki, but decided to hedge my bets in my reply in an effort to keep the thread "on course". Not of course that it's gone off course (though I'm personally not too sure about using classic i.e. somewhat dated literature much).