top of page

Life in the USA is not quite like it is in the movies or on TV.  For people who are unfamiliar with its culture, there is the potential for confusion and embarrassing situations. This book, Life in the USA, has been written to help those new to the United States.

 

From tips for job interviews to garage sales and dating, Life in the USA offers immigrant students helpful hints and answers for becoming comfortable in the United States of America.

We humans learn our language and culture through the stories and rhymes of tales we learned as children. By learning the twenty-six most popular and enduring stories collected in Open Sesame, ESL students learn about Americans and about life in America. Open Sesame facilitates discussions comparing and contrasting American folktales and stories with those of students' native cultures. Specific American cultural values are found in the text and debated by students who often find those values confusing and in conflict with their own values. The allusions learned from these American stories are extremely helpful for fluency. 

 Including such classic tales as "Cinderella," "The Three Pigs," "Johnny Appleseed," and "Rip Van Winkle," and excerpts from more recent stories such as Charlotte's Web and The Wizard of Oz.

The text is accompanied by CDs that "tell" the stories for learners who have not yet acquired all the vocabulary needed to read these original stories and folktales on their own.
Eureka! teaches reading skills, vocabulary building, cross-cultural awareness, and critical thinking. This student- and teacher-friendly text aids ESL students in gaining both language and cultural literacy by reading the classic fables of Aesop, the myths of ancient Greece and Rome, the romantic tales of old England, and in learning American proverbs.

 American English is filled with vocabulary, idioms, allusions, and cultural values from the ancient Western world. Using Eureka! , ESL students will improve their English through a better understanding of the stories and ideals of the ancient Greeks, Romans, and English speakers of the Middle Ages and Renaissance that have influenced modern American English and culture.

Before writing Claiming My Place, Planaria Price wrote six books for adult ESL learners. These are her favorites: 

bottom of page