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From: mary zoeter [mailto:anmlntwk@verizon.net]
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 9:56 PM
To: Thomas Cole
Subject: Re: The Article Book
Dear Mr. Cole,
Thanks for responding. I use your book quite frequently with my English students. All of them are Koreans, and, as you probably know, the Korean language has no articles, so mastering 'a', 'an', and 'the' is a challenge for them. Your book is excellent.
The only bone I have to pick with you is one of your sentences, the one that says, "Snakes are hated and feared." Whenever I come to that sentence, I tell my students that I am going to add something. I usually add, "....by people who know nothing about snakes."
In the course of my teaching, I find that many of my students are afraid of sharks, spiders, worms, bats, and snakes, to name a few. As an animal advocate, as well as a teacher, I feel compelled to take every opportunity to educate my students about the nonhuman animals that inhabit our planet. Your sentence gives me a good opportunity to do so.
Are you planning to write any more English books? I hope so.
Sincerely,
Mary Zoeter
Alexandria, VA
From: Thomas Cole
To: mary zoeter
Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2007 10:21 AM
Subject: RE: The Article Book
Dear Mary,
By all means add that to the sentence. I myself adhere to Dan Blocker's ("Hoss" in Bonanza, as you recall) advice that he gave to his kids when they wanted to go hunting. "You can go hunting as soon as the animals can shoot back," he said. (Or at least that's how I remember the tale.) I was bitten by a snake in Mexico as a kid, but I hold no grudge. I'm surprised you didn't take me to task on the Mountain Lion story. I always felt I was a bit too charitable to the ranchers in that one.
If you like The Article Book, I suggest you try my newest, The Preposition Book, also by Michigan. Don't forget that both books have software games that I wrote to support them, Fish Trek and Preposition Pinball respectively.
I will have another book coming out in August if the schedule holds. It is a grammar/writing book for Intermediate students. It has a baseball game that goes with it.
Thanks for using my book.
Tom
Dear Tom,
I will look into getting The Preposition Book. Thanks for your response.
Sincerely,
Mary Zoeter
