| My friend Sarah lives about three hours north of New | | | | tool for correct word pronunciation. It pleased and |
| York City, and is teaching English as a foreign | | | | astonished Sarah that the girls learned a true |
| language to four young women who work in a | | | | American sound very quickly, even before they |
| Chinese restaurant in the nearby town. They meet | | | | realized the real meanings of the phrases. The first |
| once a week, with the girls coming in to Sarah's living | | | | conversations that Sarah had taught were simple |
| room with the delicious odors of shrimp and fried rice | | | | waitress phrases, but after the visit to the restaurant |
| trailing them. Sarah finds that audio books are very | | | | she decided that she preferred the audio book's |
| helpful in this process, for hearing the same words and | | | | emphasis on simple daily conversations. In addition, the |
| phrases repeated over and over plants the words | | | | girls got great fun out of "conversing" with each other, |
| very firmly in their minds. The four young women are | | | | and "conversing" with the audio book, and dissolving |
| all smiles and giggles, and sometimes Sarah thinks that | | | | into fits of giggles. Maybe the humor was a bit |
| her teaching English as a foreign language class is | | | | obscure, but teaching English as a second language |
| more a game to them. But after she hears that the | | | | was turning out to be great fun. |
| two audio books she gave them were fought over by | | | | There certainly was a more serious side to this too. |
| the four girls, she realized how serious they were | | | | Employees of small Chinese restaurants like this who |
| about their studies. When Sarah visited the restaurant | | | | do not learn English simply remain as restaurant |
| and listened, she realized that most of the | | | | workers, and can get moved to other states as the |
| conversation in the restaurant was not in English, for | | | | need for employees in those places increases. Having |
| both the staff and the customers. Sarah was one of | | | | someone teach English as a foreign language allows |
| the few Americans in the place. The importance of | | | | them to choose to remain in the area if they wish, and |
| hearing English daily through those audio books was | | | | increases the girls chances of eventually choosing |
| very important, almost as much as her teaching English | | | | another career. Whether or not the girls thought about |
| as a foreign language to them. | | | | all of this, they did cherish their audio books of English |
| One aspect that she truly liked about the audio book | | | | conversation and pronunciation as true treasures. |
| was its agreement with her methods of teaching | | | | Teaching English as a second language had become |
| English as a foreign language. Sarah liked to begin with | | | | an important part of Sarah's life and a very important |
| daily conversations, and emphasize the "give and take" | | | | foundation stone in the girls' lives. Their audio books |
| of simple conversations. The audio book's structure | | | | would probably be a treasured memento for years, |
| had the same format, using simple conversations as a | | | | long past the time they were needed. |