My Trouble Is My English: Asian Students and the American Dream

I read this book as a course requirement, and I must say, it's very impressive. This ethnography ought to be read by all educators. Not only is it very beautifully written, but it also sheds light on the unique experience of students with different cultural backgrounds and learning styles. What is truly groundbreaking about this book is that the author took the time to not only know the children's challenges as students, but she took the time to really know them as individuals with real hopes and dreams, who must find a balance between Asian and American values and culture. I feel fortunate to have been given such lucid insight into this rich culture from the account of these students' experiences. This is an enlightening book, and it will make you think about what is actually going on in our education system, and from within, how to truly help minority students succeed. For a fresh perspective and highly enjoyable, yet intellectually stimulating reading, I would recommend this book.

The first chapter of this book offers a dual lens of this Chinese author struggling to comprehend how her American peers read literature. For example, they want to discuss minor themes or political issues instead of plot. Later, when the author enrolls in a graduate school of education program, her lens broadens more, as she observes another philosophy of teaching which emphasizes students making their own meaning based on experiences and feelings, rather than stressing the sexuality of the characters in the book, or other seemingly irrelevant issues. Fu's observations offer American readers much insight into some of the problems often found in schools. Her book should be read by teachers and advanced students as a means to learn more about how American culture affects learners who are not native, as well as ones who are. My only criticism is that the subsequent chapters sometimes seemed redundant. They focus on Fu's study of four ESL students from Laos, who are often marginalized by their silence. This is an important book, one I predict will be widely read and discussed in the education field.