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Latest post Mon, Jan 26 2004 1:15 AM by Usenet. 1 replies.
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Jeremy Chen    818596 Sun, 25 Jan 04 01:52 AM

Hi,My mother tongue is Chinese, and I live in Taipei, Taiwan. An American here whose Chinese is quite fluent told me that he bought all Chinese textbooks from schools and went through them. I think it a good idea because in fact a large group of people will not ever open any educational books after graduation. Knowing what people had learned in advance is beneficial for communication. Besides, it's inconvenient and sometimes painful for people who don't live in an English environment to jump from American English to British English to Australian English to etc.

all the time. I guess each country will choose a fixed style, spelling, and grammar for their adorable kids. As a person in the era of globalization, of course, I should get used to all styles, but I think focusing my attention on one style is a good preparation for adjusting to next.
Many people also suggest classical masterpieces, like Alice's adventure in the Wonderland, etc. For a outsider, I cannot easily tell the differences between modern and old-fashioned English style, word usage, and so on. When studying Chinese, I had to learn Classical Chinese nobody will use it today, but it is taught for preserving culture and tradition, or cultivating classical language sense. I hope to know: Have people done the same thing in English-speaking countries? If so, should I be patient before developing enough sense to discriminate between modern and old-fashioned differences.

If you think learning English from high school textbooks is useful, please tell me where to buy some online, in Taiwan, or in the U.S. I know there are plenty of American Schools everywhere also in Taiwan. That means books should be available everywhere. 2nd-hand books are preferable when available. The reason I ask here, instead of waiting in the front gate of these schools and asking their students, is that I am lazy and like to ask everything on the Internet beforehand. ;-)
Thanks.
Donna Richoux    819445 Mon, 26 Jan 04 01:15 AM

"My mother tongue is Chinese, and I live in Taipei, Taiwan. An American here whose Chinese is quite fluent told ... a good idea because in fact a large group of people will not ever open any educational books after graduation."

(snip)
"If you think learning English from high school textbooks is useful, please tell me where to buy some online, in ... plenty of American Schools everywhere also in Taiwan. That means books should be available everywhere. 2nd-hand books are preferable when available.(snip)"

I browsed the Web, and it looks like the big textbook publishers are willing to sell to individuals (look for the section for "Parents" or "Families"). I didn't look to see if they can ship overseas.

http://www.mcdougallittell.com/
http://www.prenticehall.com/
These books aren't cheap a new book on American history, for example, is $60-70.
For second-hand books, I've been quite happy with abebooks.com, but I've never tried finding something without knowing the author or title.

Best wishes Donna Richoux
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