Reviews for In English, of Course

The average rating for In English, of Course based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-05-21 00:00:00 Kevin King I did not particularly care for this story. When I skimmed through it at the library it seemed fine but when I sat down and read it I was a little disappointed. What disappointed me was the illustrations and the meaning they gave to me. I thought the characters were portrayed very stereotypically. The main Asian character in the story reminds me of some type of Japanimation cartoon. There are many different ethincities represented throughout the text but they do not look authentic and they all look pretty much the same. The story is about a group of students who live and go to school in the Bronx but all represent a different culture in comparison to what it is like here in the United States. Each has a tidbit to offer about their home country. It is great that so many different cultures are represented but like I said the illustrations sort of ruin it for me. There is also the idea of the main student struggling to use her English in the classroom. I think it can be a relatable book to new students who have a hard time using their English in the classroom and the hard work it takes to master a new language and life in the United States.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-07-01 00:00:00 Jared Folse What is unique about this text is that it is set in a post WWII classroom and is full of immigrant children. Students can identify the similarities and differences within each student's story and see how they compare. The teacher asks the students to share a little about themselves to their classroom in English. Since this is a class full of immigrant students from different parts of the world, their stories are different as they tell about their culture in their best form of English as possible. However, Josephine, an immigrant from Italy, finds it hard to communicate with her class since she does not speak much English at all.