Korean Job Discussion Forums

[glbtrttr]

I teach at a middle school in Seoul, and in July I need to recommend an English novel for the students to read over their summer break. Does anyone have any good recommendations? The level at my school is probably middle- to low-level English (high-beginner to low-intermediate). Has anyone had their students read an English novel before?

Thanks!

[Fishead soup]

Naked Lunch: William S Burroughs
Tropic of Cancer: Henry Miller

[wayfarer]

[genezorm]

if their english level is above usual korean middle school students i would recommend the little prince

[thatwhitegirl]

How about a Roald Dahl book?
Although the recommendation for The Little Prince is great.

[R. S. Refugee]

How about the first Harry Potter book? Sorcerer's Stone, I think it is titled.

Here's what I know (from other sources since I haven't read it) about that book:

1. It's short. The Harry Potter books became longer and higher level as they went along to match the aging of the children they were aimed at (as I understand it).

2. All Korean children know the Harry Potter stories very well from having seen the movies. So, understanding the story already should make it quite a bit easier.

3. Korean children seem to enjoy the movies even if they've seen them before so keeping interest shouldn't be much of a problem.

[ddeubel]

I would make sure they have an "audio" book.

You can buy and share online with your students and bypass the exhorbitant prices. Though with the new kindle coming out -- this will get much better!!!!

I think Little Prince is much too"deep" for middle school. You really want something to motivate them. You might also take a look at something historical like
Hana's Suitcase. This is a good book for that age and also translated into Korean.

A good book but probably too difficult is Freak the Mighty.

Take a look at the kindle and other teaching books at my bookstore. Helps support EFL Classroom costs and I urge teachers to use this as an easy place to get recommended books for EFL -- i'll be promoting it in a few weeks once we have a librarian in place and more books on the shelf. Fully integrated with EFL Classroom 2.0
http://eflclassroom.ning.com/wpage/books

Good luck,

David
http://eflclassroom.ning.com

[Cornfed]

How about The Hobbit.

[mrsquirrel]

Lots of books on MacMillan, OUP website.

For the girls things like Annie or Little Women.

Boys - Treasure Island or The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (actually both sexes love that one)

[T-dot]

Call of the Wild

Its short and simple.

[Draz]

[politica]

I'm actually thinking about doing the same thing for my elementary Advanced Class (I've got several foreigners in it). Here is a list of books I'm looking at right now:

Charlotte's Web
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
James and the Giant Peach
Call of the Wild
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (I LOVED this book as a kid)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Wind in the Willows
Where the Red Fern Grows
The Little Prince
The Secret Garden
possibly something from Beverly Cleary?

Can I ask- are you having the students purchase the books, or is your school providing them?

Good luck,
politica

[BS.Dos.]

Stig of the Dump by Clive king

[oskinny1]

Little Prince. They sell versions with Korean vocab in them and they are dirty cheap.

[Cornfed]