I love ESL textbooks.

I love flipping through various English textbooks. Now that I have used, probably over a dozen texts in teaching, I can see pretty quickly if I think the book will work well for the type of class I like to teach. (i.e. awesome) There are definitly books that I've looked at and wondered how they got published, but this upcoming one has taken the cake. I took as good of pictures as I could of the chapter entitled, "Hard Times," from the book, "Express Yourself!" This must be a different version than the one I used in Korea, because I DID use an Express Yourself book in my conversation class in Korea, and I remember hating it.



"Look at the pictures and vocabulary words. Talk about what is happening in each picture."

The guy is reading about a factory closing in the newspaper. He is pretty bummed about it and the next photo shows him waiting in line at the unemployment office.


Man and wife are worried about the future. Husband has already filled the garbage can with empty beer cans.


Husband didn't get the new job. He drinks even more and then shouts and scares his wife and kids.


Wife and kids move out, leaving a note, "You don't care about us anymore." Husband is sad. He drives around and thinks about killing himself till he goes in a church and ponders his future.

All right class, let's discuss unemployment, domestic abuse, and suicide today! Let's also discuss the stereotypes that have been reinforced through these cartoons.

Stereotype 1- When a man who works in a factory looses his job, he will turn to drinking.

Stereotype 2-If a blue-collar man drinks, he will drink to excess and scare his children and wife

Stereotype 3-Man work. Woman stay home with kids.

Stereotype 4-Only a life disaster of this importance could drive a man to church....OR that church is the only thing that could prevent this man's suicide.