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The Many Roads to Japan
(free online version for ESL/EFL teachers and students)

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  THE MANY ROADS TO JAPAN A Search for Identity An interactive reader for ESL
students and teachers (recommended for low intermediate level and up)
>  * Listen to the Podcast - All nine chapters are recorded by the author.
>  * Older (free) online and PDF versions are also available at the bottom of
>    this page. Some of the links in the text may no longer be working.

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From the Introduction

> 

Japanese people often ask foreigners why they came to Japan. It is not always an
easy question to answer. There are many, often complicated, reasons that bring
foreigners to Japan. The Many Roads to Japan tells the story of the adventures
of one foreigner who had to follow many twists and turns in his life journey
before finding his niche in Japan.

College-aged students will find they have much in common with John Banks, the
main character of this story. As with today's youth, who find themselves in a
world that no longer offers them any guarantees and yet demands from them
crucial decisions to be made at an early age, so it was with John Banks and his
generation, who in their teenage years were also faced with making important
decisions in a turbulent, changing world. The decisions made between the ages of
18 and 22 can have a strong effect on the rest of one's life and even catapult
one in unimagined directions, both emotional and physical.

The key event in John's life was his decision to refuse to fight in the Vietnam
War. This decision launched him on a search that ultimately led him around the
world and finally to Japan. The Many Roads to Japan chronicles that search. I
hope that The Many Roads to Japan, in showing how John's perseverance and faith
in himself helped him survive many ordeals and realize his dreams, will serve as
a source of inspiration for young readers facing an increasingly uncertain
future.

The various exercises at the end of every chapter are designed both to provide a
review of the most important information contained in the chapters and to give
practice in skimming for main ideas and scanning for specific kinds of
information. If done in class, the teacher should use strict time limits to
encourage the development of these important reading skills. The
discussion/essay questions are meant to involve students personally in the story
by asking them to respond to the events in John's life and relate them to their
own experiences. For listening practice, students can listen to the podcast of
this story by clicking the link at the top of this page. 

For more details on how best to use this book in the classroom, interested
teachers can download my two articles on how I think literature and reading
should be taught to ESL students: "Getting Students More Personally Involved: An
Alternative to the Yakudoku-and Lecture- Dominated Methods of Teaching
Literature and Reading" and "Getting Students More Personally Involved in Their
Reading and Literature Classes: A Case Study."

Teachers who would like to obtain a copy of the answer sheet for all
end-of-chapter questions can contact me via e-mail at the address listed below.
Just substitute the @ mark for the letters "AT." I would also appreciate any
comments, criticism, suggestions, and reactions you have about this book. If you
find any broken links or would like to recommend other links, please feel free
to let me know.

Robert W. Norris
rwnorris AT gmail.com 


P.S. Teachers and students are welcome to read the entire book on my home page.
Click here to read Part 1 (chapters 1-5). Click here to read Part 2 (chapters
6-9). An older and free PDF version (1.5 MB) can also be downloaded by clicking
here.


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Copyright (c) 2001-2021 Robert W. Norris. All rights reserved.