Is Pearl Buck a good resource for ESL studentes?

[cheshire]

Do you think the novels written by Pearl S. Buck is a good resource for learning English for ESL studentes?

She was born of an English speaking family, but didn't spend her life in an English environment except for her tutor and her parents.

I wonder if this "to have made" by her is what a native speaker of English would have written. What is your opinion?

There was no music in the roar and the grind of trolley cars to have made him homesick.

 

[liliput]

Do you think the novels written by Pearl S. Buck is a good resource for learning English for ESL studentes?

She was born of an English speaking family, but didn't spend her life in an English environment except for her tutor and her parents.

I wonder if this "to have made" by her is what a native speaker of English would have written. What is your opinion?

The sentence is fine. I'm afraid I've never heard of Pearl S. Buck but I assume that having grown up in an English-speaking household she has a native level of English. Even if she doesn't, presumably the editor of her publishing company does.
In my opinion, the best reading resources for ESL students are plays, or novels with a lot of dialogue, because they allow you to learn the patterns of spoken English.

 

[cheshire]

Thanks for your input, liliput

1.There was no music in the roar and the grind of trolley cars to have made him homesick.
2.There was no music in the roar and the grind of trolley cars to make him homesick.

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Do you think these two sentences mean the same? Could you explain the difference if there's any?

 

[Suehil]

It's just a question of tense.
2. would be 'There is no music .... to make him homesick'

 

[cheshire]

Thank you!

They are different in meaning.

In #1, he is homesick, but the cause of the homesickness was not the sound of the trolley cars.

In #2, he is not homesick, and there is nothing in the sound of the trolley cars that would cause him to be homesick.

Some people may tell you that there is no difference in the two. That is because most people are no longer precise in their language use.

I got this answer from an American. I wonder if that's so...

 

[Dimcl]

Thank you!

I got this answer from an American. I wonder if that's so...

My response to you in a previous thread was so similar to this post by an American that I almost thought it was my previous post except that I didn't make the little comment about people no longer being precise in their language. Here's my post from your previous thread:

In sentence 1, he was made homesick by something but not by the trolleys. From this sentence, we know that he was homesick but we don't know whether he still is or not or what caused it.

In sentence 2, the stimulus for his homesickness was absent and he did not become homesick.

You will note that my response was almost identical to the one you quoted in this thread. The makeup of the first sentence is perfectly clear and understandable as Liliput and Suehil have said. And Pearl Buck is a fine author to read keeping in mind that her best works were published in the 1930s.

 

[mjscott]

Cheshire,
You already know my feelings about to have made and how I just like it better (besides my lengthy examples).

I really enjoyed reading Pearl S. Buck books as a growing person who was becoming aware of other cultures. Her books gave me an insight into the lives and cultures in Japan--where even the vein of philosophy, which runs deep in our being, is different than in Western cultures. Her books are fairly easy reading and opened up my mind to something other than what I had grown up with.

 

[Dimcl]

Cheshire,
You already know my feelings about to have made and how I just like it better (besides my lengthy examples).

I really enjoyed reading Pearl S. Buck books as a growing person who was becoming aware of other cultures. Her books gave me an insight into the lives and cultures in Japan--where even the vein of philosophy, which runs deep in our being, is different than in Western cultures. Her books are fairly easy reading and opened up my mind to something other than what I had grown up with.

Weren't her book(s) to do with China, Mjscott? It's been so long that now I'm not sure...

 

[cheshire]

You convinced me! I'm sorry, Pearl Buck, for my unsubstantiated doubt!