Category: Language Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN-10: 1411611284
Type: Fiction
Pages: 84
Copyright: Aug 1 2004
Originally a free online ESL textbook/reader about a war resister's search for identity, "The Many Roads to Japan" is now available as a paperback from Lulu.com.
The story is about a Vietnam War conscientious objector's adventures and search for identity over a 14-year period. In the online version there are many links, pictures, questions, and the author's reading of answers. PDF, HTML, and Rocket downloads. Good for self, group, CALL, and peace study. Aimed at low intermediate and above ESL students, but native speakers will enjoy the story, too. About 20,000 words. The URL is http://www2.gol.com/users/norris/roadsdownload.html
Professional Reviews
Professor Kazushige Sagawa, Aoyama Gakuin University
Mr. Norris's description of the world of adventure as well as that of misery reminds me of Saul Bellow's "The Adventures of Augie March," "Henderson the Rain King," or "Herzog".... Norris's story of a symbolic life is a gift from his own experience, and it gives us something good, meaningful, and inspiring.... The comprehension questions, exercises, and discussion/essay questions are quite useful in helping Japanese students to think in English and in encouraging them to express themselves in English as well. This is one of the ideal textbooks I have been looking for, and while using it I am happy to say that I can steer clear of the traditional grammar-translation method, which I find so time-consuming and ineffective.
Beth Anderson, author of Night Sounds, Murder Online, and Second Generation
Excellent! I was mesmerized by the visual descriptions of all the places seen by the narrator and the struggle he went through to find the meaning of his life, and what he really wanted to do with the rest of it. I think it's a great learning tool for any student, and it was certainly well written. I'm putting it in my keeper file. There's a lot of information in there you'd never find anywhere else. Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down.
Kazuyo Yamane, Peace Studies lecturer at Kochi University and Japanese coordinator of the International Network of Peace Museums
"The Many Roads to Japan" influenced my students a lot, not only in studying English but also in searching for their own identities and thinking about how to live their lives.
This programmed, self-paced lesson focuses exclusively on the use of postpostions (ga and (w)o) with grammatical objects in the Japanese language without wavering or getting off track in the labyrinth of Japanese syntax and other grammatical issues.
