About Us

Hi. My name is Karen Slikas Barber. I’m an ESL teacher (of too many years to count) in the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP). I’m also a researcher and writer of ESL materials and language learner literature.

For years I’ve been dreaming of libraries with books my literacy and English as an additional language (ESOL) students can read. Books they know will be interesting and will be able to read. That’s what extensive reading is all about. Reading for information and pleasure while improving reading and language fluency at the same time. Reading that is easy, quick and fun.

As well as dreaming, I’ve been writing language learner literature so that learners at an elementary, pre-intermediate and intermediate level have opportunities to read for pleasure. Through reading books at or below their level of reading proficiency, learners just might develop a
reading for pleasure habit.

The ‘Carly and Kumar’ short stories have been written at three levels so that every student in a class can enjoy reading a story at the appropriate level. ‘New words’ are defined at the bottom of each page to allow for ‘effortless’ reading. An audio CD also comes with the Level 1 book, to support less confident readers.

My students are the inspiration for my writing and their recounts of everyday life situations are reflected in the short stories including:
grammar headaches, redback spiders, the driving test, flatmate issues, and being late.

See BOOK DETAILS for more information and availability.

The author would love to hear from students and teachers and can be CONTACTED HERE.