Simplify, Simplify

Here's something I've noticed about the books used to teach English: the difficulty is incredibly wonky. Even within lessons, it is not uncommon to see the language employed go from absolutely basic to bizarrely specific and advanced. I've wondered if this might at least partially explain the phenomenon of seventh-year English students who can't speak a word of English. Many of the local teachers tell me about the difficulty of the books, and how I should use my own plans as often as possible (a bit confusing given that the company is telling me to adhere tightly to the books, but that's a complaint for another time)

This really hit an acme of absurdity for me when I received books for a series of vocational class. Although they are college-aged, many of these students have proficiency more in line with my middle schoolers. Keeping that in mind, here are some of the words which appeared in a dialogue in a chapter I was teaching:

-amnesia
-asthenia
-panacea
-malnutrition
-anemia

I almost choked on some of these sentences when I read them the first time in class. Afterward, I told them that I wouldn't make them try to recite this.