Open Sesame : Understanding American English and Culture Through Folktales and Stories

Rating:
Summary: The magic of Open Sesame for ESOL Adults
Review: I've used Open Sesame for three wonderful trimesters in my ESL immigrant classes in Los Angeles and now in my EFL college classes in Japan. It is a wonderful course text to use to teach core vocabulary, idioms, reading skills, critical thinking, and especially American culture and allusions. My students are stimulated by the cultural questions and we have great discussions comparing and contrasting their folk stories and values with the ones in Open Sesame. The cassette tapes are great for them to study listening at home and in their cars. I must disagree with the reviewer from Germany that it is a supplemental text--it covers everything I need in my advanced EFL curriculum. By the way, the illustrations are charming.

Rating:
Summary: Open Sesame Understanding American English & Culture through
Review: This book contains exerpts from famous folktales and stories in American Culture for ESL students. The exerpts are short and manageable for most intermediate to upper-intermediate students. At the end of each story, there are comprehension questions and vocabulary exercises to support the story- This book is a great supplementary tool for the classroom, or for students who are trying to understand the basis (and Background) of many American Metaphors and analogies. I was a bit disappointed by the book, because I was looking for a course book, and not a suplementary book.