Where can new learners of English in Australia find out more about their new country?
When librarians asked me for easy-read non-fiction for adult beginners, I started making a list of ‘Read about Australia’ titles. I had to ask myself some questions:
What would learners like to know about? What do they need to know about? Could I link the books with some Citizenship topics? How could I make the books engaging and fun to read, as library books that learners have to CHOOSE to pick up?
Plus, as an indie publisher creating illustrated books, what photos could I easily source from a photo library, or get permission to use? (Did you know you need permission to use photos of Uluru in a commercial publication, for example?)
Four titles so far…
The list of potential topics is quite a long one, but so far I’ve published four Read about Australia titles. These are Capital Cities of Australia, Outback Australia, Amazing Birds of Australia and Beach Icons of Australia. They are full colour paperbacks, all with follow-up worksheets and audio online.
Sadly, I could not make them true beginner level. They are elementary or post-beginner, as there are too many words which learners will have to look up. So that’s EAL 2, but I’ve tried to keep to mostly present tense, and to avoid complex sentences. You’ll also see the layout has a ‘literacy reader’ look, as I was thinking of learners who are still relatively new to literacy in our script, or to reading in any script. I wanted the books to be light-hearted and fun to read, not a ‘reading task’ activity.
I do know the books have been used successfully by strong beginners, with support. I am also hoping to create some real beginner readers online later this year, so watch this space.
What I’m working on…
The second set draft titles are Flags and Icons of Australia, Amazing Animals of Australia, The Bush in Australia and G’day! English in Australia. I’m just waiting to get permission to use a picture of a dhari (which I’m sure you know is the white headdress featured on the Torres Strait Islander flag). The editing is done, but those covers need tweaking, and of course the books need trialling…
If you’d like to look inside the books, you could visit your nearest language bookshop or library supplier – or ask at your local library. Or you could go to Amazon and scroll down the product pages to see the interior samples, like this:
The books should be available where you usually buy your language books, as well as on Amazon.
A question for you about non-fiction readers:
What other reading books have you found where learners can reinforce their reading skills while learning about their new country?
I know there are some great illustrated books for kids. However, even when the content is right, they may be aimed at English speakers and use a fair bit of passive voice etc. (“Koalas can be found in …”)
Many terrific Australian EAL reading books present settlement, cultural and safety information through fiction (think of Urban Lyrebirds, ESL Reads and Prace Pageturners)…
Please let me know what you’ve found, and I’ll update this post or create a new one…
