What are the characteristics of a successful teacher of English?
Recently I was invited to give a guest lecture on the topic “Characteristics of highly effective teachers of English’.To prepare myself for the lecture I asked my students and fellow teachers to list the qualities of a good teacher of English.Those who were involved in the informal brainstorming sessions had listed a number of characteristics an English language teacher should have.My experience as an English language teacher and teacher trainer also helps me define an effective teacher of English as someone who possesses 5 I’s:<
1. Imagination
2. Innovativeness
3. Interaction
4. Independent thinking
5. Interdependence Imagination
A teacher who is imaginative can do wonders in the English class. Their new ideas break monontony and make students take lively participation in the class. Albert Einstein says thatt imagination is more important than knowledge.
“Human progress is possible only through education. Without imagination, education becomes a kind of intellectual recycling of the same knowledge passed from teacher to student and back to teacher on the test. Education should do more than simply transmit information; it should develop skills such as imagination that evolve our knowledge and move us forward as a species.”
Teachers who are imaginative can teach any language skill interestingly and effectively. They can develop students' creative self-expression. Teachers who are imaginative explore and create new things.
Students enjoy being guided by imaginative teachers.
Innovativeness
An innovative teacher dares to go off the track in order to be on the track. Students like teacher who are innovative. Innovativeness means
• Introducing changes and new ideas
• Daring to be different and being unique
• Going off the track in order to be on the track
• Experimenting new things
• Being fresh always
Interaction
A teacher who promotes interaction in the English class does justice to their profession by empowering learners and helping them develop their communication skills. They motivate their students, create opportunities for them to interact with one another through commutainment (communication through entertainment) activities such as roleplays, groups discussions, mock interviews, etc.
Independent thinking
Independent thinking is the process of being able to think on your own, without someone else guiding you. "In a world where knowledge is doubling every few years and what once was a fact can become out of date so quickly equipping young people with the mental tools to succeed in such a world is vital." Teachers can help their students develop their independent thinking only if they are independent. Independent thinking implies
• Thinking on your own
• Being critical of what you see and hear
• Questioning information and irrational assumptions
An independent thinker helps students develop the desire and ability to think on their own. An independent thinker contributes a lot to the team. Language learning tasks should aim at developing students’ thinking skills.
Interdependence
Interdependence is essential for a successful person. Taking students from dependent stage to independent stage and then to interdependent stage is very important. Man is a social animal and interpersonal relationship is the key to success in today's competitive world. The one who knows how to relate with others can climb up the ladder of success. Those who are interdependent use positive language and win people. They are polite, pleasant, practical, persuasive and powerful.
A teacher of English who is imaginative, innovative, interactive, independent and interdependent can be successful in the field and can lead the students from dependent stage to independent stage and then to interdependent stage.
Dear teachers, please let me know your comments.
Albert P'Rayan
Comments
cherrympreplied on 22 May, 2011 - 07:22 PERMALINK
INTERESTING THOUGHTS
Dear Dr Rayan
The five "Is" you've listed are very interesting and quite relevant to the teaching profession. Language classrooms cannot be like content ones and should reflect the life that is there in language through what transpires within the walls and a teacher with all these five "Is" would definitely make a step in that direction. Many teachers seldom dare to be different and go with the crowd thereby killing the spirit in them, in the learners and even in the language they teach and lose all the passion to teach in no time. I hope your thoughts inspire teachers to pause, reflect, and adapt their current practices. All the best.
Cherry.
NB: Guess the posting format needs to be redone since the first subtitle "Imagination" got attached to the previous list.
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maria spyroureplied on 22 May, 2011 - 08:45 PERMALINK
A GOOD TEACHER
Hello,
I’ve been teaching English for almost 20 yrs now and I have taught all levels, all ages and even multicultural classes I have decided that the most important value one must have as a teacher is 'passion' and love for the people you teach esp children and your profession -which also means dedication; long hours, studying, paying for further development-and this happens because teaching is not only a job for a living it is also living for the job
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hagigat_babayevareplied on 22 May, 2011 - 17:54 PERMALINK
A GOOD TEACHER
Hello, Maria. I am agree with you. You are right. I have already declared my opinions about this theme. And didn't want to repeat anymore.
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Oksana_1987replied on 30 May, 2015 - 00:33 PERMALINK
TEACHING IS NOT ONLY A JOB
teaching is not only a job for a living it is also living for the job-that's the best characteristic of teaching I've ever heard. God bless your heart, Maria. Thank you.
And to Hagigat.."I am agree". AM? R u sure, dear? =)))
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B Shuklareplied on 3 May, 2016 - 06:38 PERMALINK
VERY USEFUL
Very well written. Really, a very useful for aspirant and for all those, who wants to make teaching as a career. It displays all dimension of teaching.
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B Shuklareplied on 3 May, 2016 - 06:45 PERMALINK
HELLO MARIA
Glad to know your opinion about a teacher. I have always high respect towards teachers. I want to make a career in teaching 'Teaching English to foreign students.
Will you help me to fulfill my dream. from which institute should I pursue an online certificate course in teaching English?
4 New “Effective Teaching” Methods To WOW Your Students
Effective Teaching: Hold Your Students’ Attention So Powerfully They’llBeg You To Stay Longer In Class
(Hey Awesome educators! Don’t forget to COMMENT below and let us know which of our 4 tips you’ll use in your classrooms this week. The whole tribe would love to hear your insights!)
Imagine the following 2 scenarios:
1. It’s the first day of school. Your students walk into the classroom laughing, talking, and genuinely happy to see eachother again. They begin to take their seats and, shockingly, some even say hi to you. The noise keeps on growing and you keep on thinking, “What can I do to grab their attention so they want to listen?” Unsure, you welcome everyone in and begin the year the same way you always have. While some students do listen, you don’t get the reaction you dreamed of. You wish there was a way to start the new year so that they’re so enraptured with your presentation you could actually hear a pin drop.
2. It’s the first day of school. Your students walk into the classroom laughing, talking, and happy to see eachother again. They start to sit in their seats and some even say hi to you. The noise keeps on growing and you do 2 things that instantly grab their attention. They’re dazzled, sitting in complete silence, anxiously waiting for your next words. Your heart sings…
At the end of the post you’ll learn exactly what these 2 actions were, but I have to warn you: They’ll only work if you use these 4 quick effective teaching tips of a new method we discovered.
Click here to make a PowToon to WOW your class now »
1. The Desire Method
The reason it’s so hard for teachers to grab their students attention is because most teachers make the classic’About A Topic’ mistake. The’About A Topic’ mistake is when you teach’About A Topic’. Whether it’s American History, Chemistry, or any other topic you could possible think of, when you talk’About’ it, you lose people’s attention.
The solution is not to teach’About A Topic’ but instead to teach’For The Student’. Meaning, the Student needs to immediately feel the benefit of the content you are teaching. When you show a benefit, you create desire. And where there’s desire, you guessed it, you hold attention.
Here’s a quick start to use the Desire Method. As you know, the absolute most important part of effective teaching is how you start. If you begin the wrong way, it’s near impossible to get your student’s attention back. Never start with a typical’Welcome’ or’Here’s what we’re going to learn today’ (classic’AAT’ Mistake). Instead, begin your content with Headlines and with Hooks.
A Headline is a short sentence that boils down the core benefit of being part of the class. For example, take a look at what you’re reading right now: You’re reading this sentence now because it began with a Headline that caught your attention: 4 New “Effective Teaching” Methods To WOW Your Students.
A Headline is a Promise. What can your content promise your students? If you delve into your students minds, you’ll discover exactly how they want to learn, and, trust us, they’re hungry for wisdom. But they need to see how your content is a benefit for them. For example, learning about the American Revolution could show them how to be an effective leader, how to bring about a movement of change, the principles of starting something new (whether it’s a company or a country or an app), etc. Or, the better a student is at Mathematics (whether it’s 4th grade math or advanced geometry) the better they’ll be able to Code (which is all about math and algorithms) and create innovative businesses and technology.
2. Feel The Pain
The second best effective teaching tip is to have students feel the pain of missing this benefit. Notice also how I began this post. I clearly framed a painful situation many teachers face in terms of desperately trying to get the attention of their class. After I gave the Headline with a Hook, you were drawn closer in because of the painful scenario.
The pain is always the emphasis of lack. So if the benefit is Attention, the lack of Attention is the pain. Think about it this way: If your students are LACKING the content they’re about to learn, what impact would that have? How does NOT knowing your content ultimately hurt their future success?
The best form of pain is proof and/or giving a specific example. If Steve Jobs had mastered the leadership secrets of George Washington would he have been fired from Apple? Who are people you know who were worse off because they lacked the knowledge you’re about to gain?
3. The Preview Strategy: How To CreateAnticipation For Your Curriculum
Here’s a brilliant effective teaching strategy for you: Create anticipation for your curriculum.
Most teachers start the year by saying something general like, “This year is going to be great, you’re going to learn all about….” - classic AAT mistake. Instead, build up the benefit, value, pain, lack and top it off with a Preview: “…but you’ll only learn the 4 secrets to George Washington’s Leadership Success in a few months…”
Did you feel that? Now your students CAN’T learn something? They can’t have something they WANT right now? Super powerful, 100% attention hacker gold.
Think Hollywood. They never just release a movie, it’s against attention hacking DNA. Every movie ever released from Hollywood is first launched with a Preview. You go to see a movie and before that movie begins – you’re shown 5 movies that are’Coming Soon’. Then you see the Preview again on TV or YouTube and you can’t wait for it to come out because of all the anticipation they created for you.
4. A Wild Secret for Effective Teaching: Teach with VAK
Here’s something you already know: There are 3 main types of learners - Visual, Audio, and Kinesthetic. To really master effective teaching, notice which type your students are.
Visual is seeing the material, Audio is hearing the material, and Kinesthetic is feeling the material. Meaning, the optimal learning environment is NOT to sit passively waiting for a lecture to end. The IDEAL learning environment is when the Student sees, hears, and feels the material themselves.
That’s why making animated videos and presentations has become such a popular new medium of effective teaching recently. Animated videos hit the Audio and Visual, and when the Student creates one themselves, it hits the Kinesthetic type too.
How to add an instant WOW Factor in your Class Today
What did the teacher in the second scenario (above) do that instantly grabbed their students attention? What was their secret to effective teaching? Simple: They turned the lights OFF…and turned a PowToon ON.
Here’s why that’s smart, why it works, and how to use the 4 tips you just learned to rock your students world. When you turn off the lights it interrupts their pattern of what they expect to happen. They expect you to say hi, they expect people to be talking, and they expect not to be too excited. But they’re not expecting for the lights to go off.
Now, if the lights went off on their own without any other medium – it would feel like some childish punishment. But when you do simultaneously turn the lights off and turn a PowToon on, it feels like going to a Movie. Their mind associates lights going off and Movies going on with tons of positive emotion. Then, once the PowToon begins, if you create a PowToon with the 4 tips you just learned, congratulations, they’ll love you! And if you make it with the Preview Strategy, they’ll be glued to their seats, waiting for more.
Click here to make a PowToon to WOW your class now u00bb
If you know a colleague who would LOVE to get started with PowToon for FREE, just forward them this post : )
And let me know which of the 4 tips gave you the biggest’aha’ moment you’ll use in your classroom this week. The whole tribe would love to hear your insights!
You’re awesome,
Ari
How to Improve Your English Level
By Steven Starry
http://tx.english-ch.com/teacher/art/level-b/how-to-improve-your-english-level/
There are five points, number 1 is the most important.
5) Make English your hobby and have fun!
Study at least two or three hours per week.
Learn English through other activities:
Reading – there are graded books in English for your level.
Internet – begin with the activities on this website and on the links page.
Songs in English - take your favorite songs, download the lyrics (the words) from Google and sing them again and again until your neighbors scream: “STOP!!”.
DVDs – many films are also in English with subtitles in your language.
Magazines – there are specialized magazines for English students.
Travel – travel motivates you to improve your level because you need English for everything.
4) Be constant!
Don’t stop for long periods of time such as in the summer and don’t do too much! It is also important to study at least 3 hours every week. To progress very well, you should study at least 5 hours per week.
3) Be as disciplined and organized as possible with your classes!
Free conversation is necessary and so is more controlled speaking (in practice activities in class). However, it is better to balance conversation with other activities in your classes or outside of your classes. In a "one-to-one" class, you should do all of the homework, reading and vocabulary studying outside of your class and then comment on the homework in the class. It is very important for you to do the homework that your teacher assigns you and it is very important for you to be punctual to your classes.
2) Get a teacher or attend a class!
It’s easier to be constant, disciplined and organized if you have a teacher. It’s more difficult to study English alone. Also, it is more difficult to learn how to “speak” English if you don’t have an English teacher to speak with.
1) It is your responsibility to reach (to get) your objectives!
Learning English is your responsibility and not the responsibility of your teacher. You must have initiative in your classes! The teacher cannot learn or study English for you. For example, you often have to study and learn vocabulary alone.
With point number one, you will develop all of the other points. If you apply these five points with long-term motivation, you will learn English or any language. Put simply: if you spend more time studying, you will learn more. If you are very interested, you will continue studying.
Taking Control of the English Language
by Steven David Bloomberg
How can I speak English better? How can I communicate better in English? How can I express myself better in English? How can I listen to and understand English better? How can I improve?
You speak English at an advanced level. You speak it fluently and you use it every day, yet you aren’t satisfied with your ability. You feel like you can’t express yourself the way you want to. When you can’t say what you want to say or need to say in the manner that you would like to, it might not leave you with the best feeling you could possibly have. There is only one thing to do about it. You must take control of the English language. What does taking control of the English language mean? It does not mean taking control of the entire language. It means taking control of the English language that is yours; the English language that you have. It means using the English that you already have to get more. It means taking responsibility for your own learning.
You might tell yourself that you want to have private instruction with an English language tutor. That’s a good idea. However, there is something you should know and be well aware of. What happens during the time that you meet with an English language tutor is very important, but what happens during the time between your meetings with an English language tutor is even more important. The proactive steps that you take in order to improve have a direct effect on what it is you get out of the time and money that you spend with an English language tutor. In order to receive the maximum benefit possible for the money you spend on a tutor, you must dedicate a sufficient amount of time to studying between each lesson. Of course, the amount of time that anyone is able to dedicate to studying will vary, but nevertheless, it must be done. Furthermore, there are a number of things you should do leading up to the time that you decide to pick up the phone and make that call. So you ask, what is it that I need to do? What can I do on my own?
You need to increase your vocabulary. You need to build your lexicon. You need to learn more idiomatic expressions. Does this mean studying vocabulary lists? No. Does that mean buying books that list idiomatic expressions in English and their meanings? That may or may not be helpful. Does it mean going to the Internet and studying idiomatic expressions that are listed at websites? Perhaps, but that wouldn’t be all. Does it mean learning the word of the day that is given by online dictionaries? No! You need to build a personal lexicon. You need to maintain a lexical notebook. You need to learn words and expressions that are interesting to you and will be useful to you. You need to learn words and expressions that are part of your environment. Where can you find these words and expressions? You can find them by listening to the radio, by listening to those that you speak with on a daily basis, and by even listening to those that you don’t speak with. You don’t have to converse with someone in order to listen to someone. Of course, you can find new words and expressions by choosing challenging reading material that is interesting to you: newspaper and magazine articles, books, short stories. In order to start building your new lexicon, I suggest starting by finding something to read.
Now that you have chosen something interesting to read, here is what you need to do. You need to write down the words and expressions that you don’t understand. Take note of the page number and paragraph that the words or expressions are on as you read. After you are done reading, go back to the words and expressions that you didn’t understand and write them in your lexical notebook. Leave space to write an explanation or a definition. From the context, see if you can figure out what the words or expressions mean. After you have done this, go to a dictionary. For idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs that you are unfamiliar with, I strongly recommend taking advantage of Cambridge Dictionaries Online. It is important that you practice these new words and expressions by writing your own sentences. This is helpful in incorporating them into your daily conversations and speaking habits. Don’t be overwhelmed by thinking you have to read a lot. Read what is good for you. If you come across too many words and expressions that you don’t recognize, it might be a good idea to find some less challenging reading material. What you read should be challenging, but it should not be so challenging that it might be discouraging.
Listen to the news on the radio. Listen to talk shows. Generally speaking, radio announcers that report the news speak clearly, use good vocabulary, and also use idiomatic expressions. If you have a computer, you can listen to news reports from National Public Radio and the British Broadcasting Corporation (NPR and the BBC). You can usually find a RealPlayer link to listen to news stories from both of these resources. However, listening to the radio will suffice as well. If you can, it would be a good idea to record a ten to fifteen minute segment of a news show or any broadcast that might interest you. Take note of any words or expressions that sound unfamiliar to you. Write them down in your lexical notebook. If you were able to record what you listened to, listen to it again to see if you can figure out what the new words and expressions mean through the context that they are used in. If you are unable to figure out what something means, then by all means go to a dictionary. Once again, I suggest using Cambridge Dictionaries Online for a comprehensive overview of any single word. Cambridge Dictionaries Online is a very good resource in that it demonstrates how words are used in idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs. Cambridge Dictionaries also point out any important secondary definitions that a word might have.
Pay attention to what you hear wherever you go. If you are on a bus or a train, listen to what people say and how they say it. If you are in a supermarket, a shopping mall or any other public place where you can hear others speak, open your ears and try to listen. Take note of what you hear. Jot it down in a small pocket size notebook. Later, you can add it to your lexical notebook. If you pay attention, you are eventually bound to hear at least one word or one expression that is new to you. When you hear it, write it down. Find out what it means later. Learn it. Use it.
When learning new words and expressions, it is important to take note of whether these words and expressions are used in an informal context or a formal context. Many words and expressions are used both formally and informally. If you aren’t sure of exactly how to use a new word or expression, you can try them out with work colleagues and friends. Find people to converse with. They may not be instructive in any way, but you can try out new ways to express yourself. You should also listen as closely as possible when you converse. Listen for anything that sounds different, new, or unfamiliar. If the circumstance permits, don’t be afraid to take out your pocket notebook and write it down. If you say something that isn't quite right, the person you are speaking with might take note of it and let you know. If you aren’t sure of something you said or would like to say, then ask about it. If you hear something and you don’t know what it means, ask about that as well. Some, or even many people, may not view themselves as “teachers” per se, but most native speakers of English should be able to assist you in this manner. I believe most people would be glad to help. It is of the utmost importance to not be afraid to ask questions. That’s part of taking control of the English language. That’s part of making the English language your language. English is not your first language, but there is no reason why it cannot be your language. Get a notebook. Get something to read. Find something to listen to on the radio. Take control of the English language now.
An English Language Article by David Bloomberg Copyrighted 2003 Steven
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/
If you've gone to some sites on the internet that have audio links and could not connect, it could be because you need this version of RealPlayer. It is RealOne player. I found it to be the case with me. I now have access to some audio links that I did not have before.
Listening On the Internet
http://www.npr.org/archives/ http://eslbears.homestead.com/Blank.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/http://www.theenglishprofessor.com/alphal.htmhttp://eslbears.homestead.com/Basic.html
http://www.englishlistening.com/
http://www.esl-lab.com/index.htm
You can use the online dictionary in order to hear how a word is pronounced.
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?search=alphabet
Newspapers and Magazines on the Internet
http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/index.htmhttp://www.actualidad.com/
http://www.time.com/time/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/home/main100.shtml
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/
http://www.economist.com/
http://www.oneworldmagazine.org/cover.htm
http://www.refdesk.com/
ESL/EFL Reading Resources on the Internet
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/reference/articles.html
http://www.englishclub.com/reading/
http://ofcn.org/cyber.serv/resource/bookshelf/
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/reading/index.htm
http://www.eslgold.com/reading/exercises.html
http://literacynet.org/cnnsf/week.htmlhttp://eslbears.homestead.com/Map_and_Directions~ns4.html
Basics For Improving English Writing
By Deborah Brooks
Good writing starts with good ideas. If you write about things that you care about, you will write better. If you write about things that you don’t care about, you’ll be bored and your paper is likely to have few strong ideas. Even if you are writing from a prompt, a given topic, you can find some part of the topic that is interesting or important to you.
Once you have a good idea, the next step is organization. Think through your paper before you start. Write an outline. You need to know what your main points are before you can write a good introductory paragraph. Use 2-4 main points, one paragraph each. Make sure they fit together and all relate to your topic. In the introduction, you can explain how they all relate and why they are important.
Steps to Good Writing
1. Good idea
2. Good organization
3. Clear examples
4. Review Structure
5. Review Grammar
In your central paragraphs, be concise and specific. Give examples with details, not just general ideas. If you can say the same thing with fewer words, do it! Many writers think that using lots of big words and starting every sentence with a complicated clause makes their writing seem better. Actually, it often just makes it harder to read.
When you finish writing, look at your outline again. Did you really follow it or did it change as you wrote? Many times you find different ideas as you write. Look at your central paragraphs. What are their main ideas now? Are these ideas in the Introduction? I often rewrite the introduction to fit the paper after I finish writing.
About Deborah Brooks
Deborah teaches English writing by Internet. She has been teaching ESL writing in Oakland, California for over 10 years. She is now teaching on the Internet so that she can work with students from all over the world by Email.
If you become her student, you write a short composition and send it by email. The teacher corrects your writing with many comments and sends it back to you with grammar or structure lessons as needed. You rewrite the paper and do the exercises. Your next assignment will be designed to address your individual writing problems. Each assignment is personalized to meet your needs. Many comments and corrections with long explanations will help you to improve your writing very quickly!
Students can be high beginning to very advanced. Writing can be academic, personal or for business. Send her an email to see if she can help you!
To learn more about Deborah's writing class, go to www.yourpersonaltutor.com
So You Want to Speak Great English?
Suggestions for Making It Happen
By Sheri Summers
Attending classes is only part of your English education. To become proficient in English you have to take responsibilityand be active in acquiring it. You have to live and breathe English. How well you succeed is really up to you. Here are some suggestions for making English your own.
Think of English as more like an art than a science- Many people study English as if it were a math or science. They often feel they are trying to solve a problem. Yes, you can study rules, but there are often more exceptions to the rules than there are rules. This doesn't mean you should study them, but language is living. It breathes, it moves, it grows, it changes. You have to learn to live it, to feel it in your soul. You have to make it your own. It has to become a part of you. It has to feel natural.
Don't hold on to your dictionary so tightly- Your top priority in learning English should be to think in English. Our brains slow down when we are constantly translating English to and from our language. The first thing you should do is stop translating new words you hear directly into your native language. Most people immediately go to their electronic dictionaries when they come across something new. Don't do it! Try this instead:
1. Try to understand the new word or phrase from context. The words and ideas around them should help you make a good guess. If you still don't understand...
2. Ask someone to explain what it means in English. If you still don't understand...
3. Consult an English-English dictionary*. If you still don't understand...
4. Consult a dictionary in your own language.
* I recommend using a paper English-English dictionary. Many teachers have noticed that their students remember words much longer when they are forced to search for them in the dictionary. Also, dictionaries in book form generally give more detailed examples than electronic dictionaries.
Keep a list of new words and phrases in your own notes- Make your own vocabulary lists and review them often. Write sentences to help you remember what they mean. Use these new words and phrases in conversations and writings whenever you have a chance. The more you use the words, the more they become your own.
Surround yourself in English- Listen to radio in English; watch TV and movies in English; read newspapers, magazines, books, and the internet in English; join a class, club, or any gathering that is conducted in English. The important thing is that you are around English as much as possible. When you spend time living a language, it comes to you more naturally like it does for a child.
More ESL Articles
Bilingual vs. ESL
Bilingual vs. ESL
ESL vs bilingual education—many people believe that both mean the same thing and can be used interchangeably. This is not the case. It is good to know what the differences are between bilingual vs ESL; knowing how they differ can help one choose the proper education for what they need. This article will help explain some of the differences so you can make an informed decision.
In an ESL classroom, students who teach many different languages are all taught by the same teacher. The teacher only speaks English and is not required to speak the native language of any members of the class. In ESL classes in elementary school, non English speaking students are generally taken out of their regular classroom for a period of time to learn English. In middle and high school, students take an ESL class in place of an elective. All teaching is done in English. Students sometimes feel singled out and awkward when pulled out of regular classes to go to their ESL class.
In a bilingual education classroom, all the students in the class speak the same language. The teacher also speaks the language. The way that a bilingual education class generally works is that the teacher teaches in both English and the students' native language, eventually switching over to teaching only in English. The switch over is done gradually to give the students time to adjust. Bilingual classes also are geared more toward having the students eventually speak both languages fluently and to hold on to their culture.
Both ESL and bilingual education classes are a good way to learn English. Students from both do well learning the English language. In public schools, which class you take will most likely depend on which resources are available in your school. For adults, the class that you you will feel most comfortable in is the one you should choose. While some like having a teacher who can speak to them in their native language, others find being totally immersed in their new language helps them learn faster. It is an individual decision.
Business English Resources
Business English Resources
Business English is one of the forms of the language used for a Specific Purpose, such as Aviation English, Technical English, or Scientific English. These various uses fall under the title of English for Specific Purposes, or as it is more commonly known, ESP. In the case of Business English, it is used largely in international trade by many whose primary spoken or written language is not English. In this article, we will discuss the uses of Business English and what courses are available to learn the language.
The English for Specific Purposes sphere details the criteria that must be met for the use of English in a particular field. It must meet the needs of the learners, in this case largely professional adults studying the language in a Business English Language Course as a second language. It must also have an organized system of teaching and learning that imparts the appropriate grammar, expressions and terminology that the student will encounter in the use of the language. The ultimate goal of any Business English Course is to allow its users to effectively communicate with others in a business environment, whether that communication is in correspondence, face to face meetings, or other methods. Therefore a Business English Language Course may include topics such as business English reading, letters and resumes, business phrases, or terms in sales and marketing. While the study of Business English largely serves students of English as a Second Language, many secondary schools in English speaking countries offer courses in the field to prepare its students for entry into the workforce.
Numerous schools and universities throughout the world offer courses in Business English, such as England’s Cambridge University, which offers an on-line course entitled Professional English On-Line. A Google search for the term Business English Courses yields over twelve million results. Publishers offer hundreds of textbooks, dictionaries, handbooks, and self-help guides to serve the field. In addition, several organizations serve the topic, and publish journals addressed to the field, such as Elsevier’s English for Specific Purposes, An International Research Journal and Asian-esp-journal.com’s Asian English for Specific Purposes Journal.
English Around the World
English Around the World
Approximately 375 million people speak English around the world and there are more than 50 English speaking countries, where English is either the official or the primary language. It is the third most common primary language in the world (behind Mandarin Chinese and Spanish). The English language, which evolved from a combination of Old English and the German Anglo-Saxon tongue, began to be commonly used around the 5th century.
English Speaking Countries in North America
The largest English speaking countries are located in North America--the United States and Canada. Although English and French are both the official languages in Canada, fully 85 percent of that country's population speaks English. In addition to the US and Canada, several Caribbean countries speak English. These are primarily the countries that were colonized by England, and include Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, Grenada, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Bermuda, still a part of Great Britain, speaks primarily English as does the tiny, Central American country of Belize.
English Speaking Countries in Europe
The English language has its roots in northern Europe and so it is fitting that it is widely spoken there. More than 98 percent of the residents of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales) speak English. In addition, English is the official language in the Republic of Ireland and the Isle of Man.
English Speaking Countries in the Rest of the World
The British Empire of the 19th and early 20th centuries as well as the popularity of American culture since World War II has brought the English language to all corners of the globe. It is rare spot where the population doesn't have at least a working understanding of the language. Major English speaking countries outside of Europe and North America include Australia, Nigeria, New Zealand, and South Africa. English is also the primary language in such diverse locales as Guam, Singapore, and the Philippines. Though only a minority of the people (12 percent) in India speak English, that still amounts to more than 125 millions persons in that densely-populated country.
History of the English Language
History of the English Language
English is one of the most dominant languages in the world, with 375 million native speakers. But where did it all start? If you want to learn the history of the English language, here is a basic outline of the language's origins and growth over the centuries.
Before the 5th century AD, natives of the British Isle spoke a Celtic language but in the 5th century three Germanic tribes - the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes - invaded Britain. The Angles were the most culturally dominant, and their language, Englisc, is where the word 'English' originated.
The English language's development can be divided into 3 eras - Old English, Middle English, and Modern English.
The period known as 'Old English' dates from 450 - 1100 AD). This English is difficult for modern English speakers to understand. The language is a mix of the Germanic languages brought to Britain by the 3 tribes.
The 'Middle English' period dates from 1100 - 1500. During this time England was conquered by France and French became the language of the nobility in Britain. By the 14th century many French words had been adopted or adapted into the 'Old English' language. This English is still a far cry from what a native English speaker uses today. 'The Canterbury Tales' by Geoffrey Chaucer is written in Middle English and is difficult for modern English speakers to comprehend and pronounce.
Modern English separates into two eras, Early and Late Modern English. During the Early Modern English period (1500 - 1800) the Great Vowel Shift occurred. Vowel pronunciation became shorter and more words from around the world entered everyday English. The invention of the printing press also meant that written English became standardized. English became more like the English we know now and the first English dictionary was published in1604. Shakespeare wrote in Modern Early English.
From the 1800s the English entered the Late Modern English period. The language was solid by this point, but it became more refined. English is an ever evolving language, and advances in technology often lead to changes in English. An example of this is how English evolved into 'Textlish' when cellular phone messaging became a common means of communication.
Learn English Verb Tenses
Learn English Verb Tenses
A verb expresses action (the man rose, the man wrote, the man cried). It tells you what the subject does. And, it expresses the state of being (the man is, the man was, I am the man). If a picture is worth a thousand words, verbs in English create a thousand pictures. Without verbs, everything would look the same.It would be like alphabet soup with all the the letters floating around not making any sense.When a sentence is created, it is like building a house. There are several elements that a house must have. One of the most important elements that every sentence must have is a verb. It is part of the foundation. You do not have to have an adjective. But you must have a subject, and a verb. The verb tells the story. For example, if the sentence starts with "the man," a verb will tell you something about the man.
The man drove
The man ran
The man cooked
The verb is a distinct part of speech that tells the reader something exclusive about action of the subject. To say, "the man" would not be a sentence.However, add a verb, and the reader is told something about the mans action. You may add an adjective that describes the man, but would be incomplete. . If someone said, "the short man," this would not be a sentence. The adjective "short" would not tell you what the man did. There has to be an action. Everyone must know something about grammar in order to be able to communicate. Speech would be like the alphabet soup. Books would be more like a dictionary without meaning.
Verbs tell you the action, and they provide the English verb tenses of the action. The "man will drive" would tell you what he would do in the future. "The man drove" tells you what he has already done. Using the wrong tense of the verb can be confusing. There are many types of verbs, and the architect of the sentence must know how , and when to use each one. Is the verb active, or passive? When do you use an adverb. Understanding verb usage can create a world with great communication of ideas. Write a story about the man using these verbs. Decide what tense you will use. This is a great exercise to test your skill of using verbs.
English list of verbs:
arises arose arisen
come came
do did done
rise rose risen
forgive forgive forgiven
forsake forsook forsaken
build built
deal, dealt
sow sowed sew sowed sown
stink stank stunk
take took taken
foretell foretold
throw threw thrown
write wrote written
pay paid
eat ate eaten
forget forgot forgotten
sing sang sung
Find English Tutors & Tutoring Services
Find English Tutors & Tutoring Services
Finding an online English tutor is probably one of the easiest things to do. Many students do not speak English as a first language. These students are from other countries where English is a second language to them. If this is the case they can always choose other ways to learn the English Dialect. For instance, there are many English tutoring classes online. These classes teach students all of the benefits of properly pronoucing their words.
The English language is only foreign to those individuals who do not speak English. Some individuals find that they can learn best from the internet. There are many websites that offer anyone the opportunity to find their own English tutor. Good English tutoring does not always have to come from a person, it can come from software programs, as long as it is effective. Many people have learned how to speak another language from the use of software, and the results have been staggering.
There are some really good programs on the web that does everything a classroom teacher will do. This is an excellent way for students who may be shy or imobile to participate in online learning sessions. Some software is interactive, and allows students to engage in active learning activities on the screen. This is how many people learn how to speak English. Like children who learn through repetition and redirection, adults also learn by repetition. The more a person hears a word of a phrase the more familiar they become with pronunciation.
There are so many parts that makes up the English language, and words are not enough. A person will need to know not only how to pronounce the word, they must also know how to place the word in a sentence. Structuring a sentence using the correct words and phrases is all part of the English dialect. For instance, some people, even native Americans, confuse their words. They will say, "I will be their soon" , instead of saying, "I will be (there) soon". The improper use of words can make an entire sentence incorrect. That is why finding a English tutor is so important.
List of English Idiomatic Expressions
List of English Idiomatic Expressions
English idioms confuse learners of English as a second language because they usually convey meanings entirely different from the definitions of the words used in those phrases. The list of English idioms stems from many sources including Shakespeare, sailors, and movies. The following is a list of English idiomatic expressions that one might hear in every day speech:
“A piece of cake” means that something is very easy: “Designing that web site was a piece of cake”
“A chip on your shoulder” means that you are still upset about something that happened in the past: “She still has a chip on her shoulder about Fred being late for their date.”
“A drop in the bucket” refers to a very small part of something much bigger: “Saving honeybees may seem like a drop in the bucket compared with other environmental issues, but bees play a huge role in the planet’s health.”
“Sick and tired” means that you are fed up with something: “I am sick and tired of getting stuck in traffic every day.”
“Broke” means to have no money: “I had to borrow money from my dad because I’m broke.”
“Can of worms” refers to a difficult, complicated situation: “Achieving peace in the Middle East is a real can of worms.”
“Keep your chin up” means to stay optimistic and brave: “I know things are difficult, but keep your chin up!”
“Sharp” means to be exactly punctual: “We need to be there at 7:30 sharp, or we’ll miss the train!”
“An arm and a leg” means exorbitantly expensive: “That dress is going to cost an arm and a leg!”
“Chill out” means to relax: “Chill out. Everything is going to be fine.”
“Kill two birds with one stone” means to accomplish two goals at once: “Jane kills two birds with one stone by studying as she rides the train home.”
“Herding cats” points to the difficulty of trying to organize a group of people who want to act independently. “Getting all of the 3-year-olds to sit down for story time is like herding cats.”
Free English Videos
Free English Videos
You can find free English videos and learn the language online. If you do not have a lot of time, but you need to learn to speak English - using a free video will help you succeed. Before you try other products check out the English free video and learn English online in a short amount of time. Most programs will include basic everyday vocabulary, proper sentence structure and eventually more advanced reading activities.
To begin speaking English and improve your vocabulary you will want to work on your skills every day. Many videos will begin with basic grammar lessons and move up through intermediate and into advanced activities. Sometimes it is easier to watch someone help you with your English speaking and you can improve with a free video for English grammar. The videos will outline the steps you need to take to acquire the language and begin to build on the words you already know. Once you understand the vocabulary and the word definitions your reading comprehension will improve quickly.
Another great aspect of using free films for learning English is watching the information more than once. It is easier to rewind a video and watch a more difficult concept several times before moving on to the next step. Free English videos will help with repetition and mastering grammar and sentence structure. When you are working on verb tense or even common idioms you may have to review the information many times before you really understand the information. Remember - the more you practice the more confident you will become in your conversation situations.
Finally, you can use a learn English video to begin understanding the language and enjoy the convenience of viewing the facial expressions and pronunciations of native English speakers in your own home. There is more to learning how to speak English than just learning the vocabulary and grammar. Creating a natural conversational feel to your speaking will be important. You need to enjoy English speaking. Improve free video series will help all age groups of learners become great English speakers.
Tips for Teaching English as a Foreign Language
Tips for Teaching English as a Foreign Language
Have you ever wondered what it would take to start teaching English as a foreign language? For native English speakers, there are often many opportunities for traveling overseas and teaching English language arts to students in another country. You may be wondering if you have to already know another language when teaching English to others, but some of the best English lessons are often the result of a teacher who only knows English and therefore forces the students to speak in English to communicate. This method of teaching where you force your students to only speak English is known as the direct method or the natural methodof teaching a foreign language, and focuses heavily on correct pronunciation and gaining conversational skills.
The first skill you will need to master to start successfully teaching English as a foreign language is the ability to use body gestures and signs effectively. Many students find that they learn a new language better when they are forced to speak only English in the classroom. By refusing to use your student's native language, you force them to learn English by first using your body language and gestures to teach them new words, and then using what they've learned to build even more knowledge. This pattern of learning closely mimics the way babies and infants learn a language, and therefore this method of teaching often 'sticks' better than using rote memorization of English words.
Another important strategy when teaching English is to have your students practice common phrases until they feel completely comfortable with those phrases. This technique is often used with diplomats and allows the student to focus heavily on correct pronunciation and accent. For example, teaching the English equivalent of common greetings, questions, and idioms can go a far way towards teaching English language arts. It's important when teaching any language to focus on the most useful and common phrases first, so your students are able to start conversing right away. There are hundreds of English teaching guides that will help you choose what sorts of phrases and words to focus on first.
English Grammar Lesson Plans
English Grammar Lesson Plans
ESL lesson plans are easy to find when searching online. Whether you are a licensed teacher or you are just trying to help your friends and family learn the English language—locating reliable English grammar lesson plans has never been easier. You will probably be looking for reading comprehension plans, writing and grammar activities and vocabulary lessons that will appeal to all types of English learners. When searching for adult ESL lesson plans make sure you target the interests of the student as well as the reading level.
To begin your study of the English language you will need to find ESL lesson plans that outline basic everyday words and grammar activities. Before you can begin a comprehensive lesson on reading—the student will need to understand English words and begin to associate meanings to the words. It is usually helpful to keep a picture dictionary in the student’s primary language handy. Remember—even adult ESL lesson plans will need some basic background information before you can move on to more difficult activities.
Once you are familiar with basic English grammar you will be ready to move on to reading comprehension ESL lesson plans. Again you will want to begin looking for lesson plans that target the reader’s interest level. You do not want to give adult learners stories about childish subjects when you can easily find adult ESL lesson plans that will cover topics relevant to older learners. Once the student is comfortable working with English grammar and reading comprehension you can begin to work on writing skills. Make sure to find excellent English grammar lesson plans to help the student create sentences that are grammatically correct and cover correct verb tenses.
Once you have covered beginning reading, writing, grammar and vocabulary ESL lesson plans you will be ready to move on to an intermediate level. The more you practice the easier it will be to acquire the language. Use all of the wonderful ESL lesson plans available and you will be on your way to success.
Learn English with English Audio Books
Learn English with English Audio Books
English audio books are a great resource for ESL students. As you are beginning to acquire and build your language and reading comprehension skills it will be important to also learn pronunciation and to understand the language as it is spoken. You can find a variety of English audiobooks online for free or for a small fee. Depending on the type of stories you are interested in—you will need to search for topics or authors that will provide you with an engaging experience.
When you listen to books you are able to follow along with the text and hear how an English speaker will pronounce different words you are unfamiliar with. This is the best way to learn new vocabulary and how to use specific grammar skills when speaking, reading and writing. English audio books provide an easy way to listen to a variety of action packed stories and then practice your reading comprehension skills. Once you have listened to the English audio book—you should be able to answer questions about the story that will reflect your understanding of the material. Once you are able to do this accurately—you should be able to move up to the next level.
Another benefit to English audio books is listening to the language spoken at different speeds. Since many people do not speak slowly with many pauses in between words—you will need to increase the speed that you understand the English language. The easiest way to do this is to find English audiobooks that offer one to three different speeds that you can listen to. As you gain confidence in your reading skills—you will be able to move up to a normal speed and still be able to understand the stories being read.
Overall, an English audio book is the perfect solution when you are learning the English language. Not only will you be able to practice your comprehension, but you will also learn the correct pronunciation of many everyday words. Get started today.
Books in English for ESL Students
Books in English for ESL Students
There are so many books available for those who want to learn the English language. Your local library is the perfect place to start. Most libraries are free to join and you can check out books for a certain time period. Depending on the size of your library, it should have thousands of books available to you. You can also borrow books in English for your reading pleasure to practice everything you are learning. You can find books written by Marvin Terban who specializes in English. His English books tend to teach you all about one part of the English language in each book. Some of his books include Punctuation Power: Punctuation and How to Use It; Checking Your Grammar: Scholastic Guides; and Verbs! Verbs! Verbs! which you can find at Amazon.com.
You can also find many computer software and audio programs like Rosetta Stone. Although you may spend a pretty penny to acquire these programs, they are said to help you learn foreign languages faster. Rosetta Stone is considered the number one language learning system offered and you can master the English language quickly. By simply Googeling “English learning programs”, “free books English,” or any other variant, you can find good software at a decent price. It would be wise to ask others which programs they have used and how well it worked for them.
Aside from books and software, there are a slew of online resources for anyone wanting to learn English. These days, learning is no further than a click of your mouse. All you need to do is Google “learning English” to find many websites offering classes and lessons. BBC.co.uk has a very extensive digital library in order to help you learn English. Not only can you learn or brush up on your English skills in the comfort of your home, many of the websites are free of charge. 1-language.com is a great resource with an audio course available. The website also offers different quizzes and flash games to help you along.
English Literature Books
English Literature Books
As you are beginning to learn English literature you will need to become familiar with several different well known authors and classic English literature books. Finding easy versions of every day classics will help you read and understand the book and the related literature English grammar. Once you begin reading these interesting stories it will help you gain a better understanding of how English grammar is used in both every day life and literature.
One of the first authors that a new English speaker will learn about is Charles Dickens. Even if you have not read the story A Christmas Carol – you probably know the plot line from television or movies. Other English literature books you may want to read include Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll and even Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell. Once you have accomplished reading these types of English literature books you are well on your way to becoming fluent in the English language.
Another great skill you can practice with related literature and English grammar is oral reading. Listening to yourself read out loud these classic English literature stories will help not only your grammar reading skills but also pronunciation and vocabulary. Learning to read and write English grammar through related literature will help with reading comprehension and benefit the student overall.
Reading English literature will help you understand the language and grammar people use every day. You will probably want to begin by reading short stories like Jack London's Call of the Wild or Edgar Allan Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum. These are easy to read stories that also have a high level of interest and suspense. To develop a love for reading English literature books – you will need to find an area of interest and then find stories that will make you excited to practice your reading. You can find many lists specifically for ESL readers that may give you some choices to consider. Most of all – just have fun with English literature and learning grammar with real stories.
English for Kids
English for Kids
Many parents are frustrated when it comes to finding material their children can use to help them excel in English. English is the most widely spoken language in the world to today. This language can be traced back to its origin, which is German. For many people who are foreign to the language they are taught English as a second language. In schools around the world, English for kids is popular. Teachers implement their skills along with the English alphabet for kid’s activities to help children learn this basic dialect.
There are so many kids learning English vocabulary websites that really help children to understand what they are learning. Children can visit these sites as often as they choose, or parents can use it as a supervised activity. This way they can monitor their child's progress. Kids building English vocabulary skills is important for their comprehension of how things are run. In almost every aspect of business, whether it is stock trading, or school, English is the universal language.
There are thousand of kids learning English in schools, at home, and in preschool settings. Even though some children may already know some English, they must still get the basics down. English is complicated for some children. This is due to vowels, constant blends, and words that do not sound like they look. Teachers and parents alike have access to a large amount of resources, and websites, which will help children in their learning process. These sites offer simple starter English, intermediate English, and up to advanced English lessons.
Kids are tested on their knowledge and can progress to the next level after they have shown efficiency in their previous lessons. The internet has lots of information and activities that children can print or download. Whichever method of learning that kids feel comfortable with is the one that will help them achieve their goal. While speaking English may seem easy to native speaking children, it is a difficult task for those children who are just now embarking on this old, but new dialect.
Longest Word in the English Language
How Can I Learn English?
How Can I Learn English?
You may be wondering, “How can I learn English?” Well learning English really is an easy task. Everybody has a method or an idea on how to learn English language. There can be so many ideas of how to study or how to memorize that it blows your mind. Here are some tips on how to learn the English language. The important thing to remember is to find a method that works for you and stick to it.
The very first place to start is with the alphabet. If you don’t have a basic understanding of the alphabet learning the words will be tough. Learn how to pronounce each sound that each letter makes. Then learn how to combine several letters together and how the sounds work.
Once you have a solid understanding of the alphabet it is time to move on to vocabulary words. Learning vocabulary words
and what each word means is the easiest part of learning the English language. Start off with just words and five to ten words daily. It is important to carry the words with you wherever you go and study them when you have free time.
After you have learned some words it is time to start in on the grammar of the English language. Grammar takes time to learn, so do not rush it. Start off by learning what types of words there are and what they do. For instance it will be important to learn what nouns, verbs, and adverbs are. You will also learn about subjects and other parts of speech that make the English language fun to learn.
To answer the question of how to learn English; one idea is to play a game that is written in English. This begins to program your mind to think in English. Another thing to do is speak the language whenever you can. The best way to speak it is to speak it with someone who knows the language. Or find someone who is learning English too and speak it with them. Whatever method you use or the path you take to learn English stick with it to the end.
Why Learn English: 10 Reasons to Learn English
Why Learn English: 10 Reasons to Learn English
There are many reasons to learn English, but because it is one of the most difficult languages to learn it is important to focus on exactly why it is you want to learn English. Here we will look at ten great reasons why English is so important. Post this list somewhere you can see it and it will montivate you to keep going even when you are tired of trying to figure out which witch is which!
1. English is the most commonly used language among foreign language speakers. Throughout the world, when people with different languages come together they commonly use English to communicate.
2. Why learn English when it is so difficult? Well, knowing English will make you bilingual and more employable in every country in the world.
3. Despite China, the United States is still a leader in technical innovation and economic development. English is used in the United States and in each of these fields.
4. English is commonly spoken throughout much of the world due to Great Britian’s expansion during the colonial age. People in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, parts of Africa, India, and many smaller island nations speak English. English is the commonly adopted second language in Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands. Speaking English opens these countries and cultures up to you.
5. Another reason why English is so important is that it is the language of science. To excel in science you need to know English.
6. English is based on an alphabet and, compared to Chinese, it can be learned fairly quickly.
7. English is also the language of the Film Industry and English means you no longer have to rely on subtitles.
8. In the United States, speaking English immediately opens up opportunities regardless of your ethnicity, color, or background.
9. Learn English and you can then teach your children English -- or if they are already learning, you can now communicate with them in English.
10. English speakers in the United States earn more money than non-English speakers. Learning English will open your job prospects and increase your standard of living.
Phonetic Alphabet for English Pronunciation
Phonetic Alphabet for English Pronunciation
The English language has a rich history. The language traces it history back to the Germanic people. As the German people spread around the region the language began to pick up on other sounds from Latin and Greek which influenced pronunciation. In 1755 what is considered as modern English started to come about. New words were added to the vocabulary on a regular basis. The industrial revolution and technology were a key factor in the growth in vocabulary. The language itself began to spread all over the world due to the expansion of the British Empire. Also in 1755 Samuel Johnson was the first person to publish the first real dictionary of the day.
English phonology is the study of the sounds of the English language. The English alphabet has a wide range of pronunciation of sounds to it. English also varies from place to place. For example, England varies from the United States in the way words are pronounced. However, the English alphabet is essential for learning how to spell and how to speak the English language. Every day there are people who struggle with pronunciation of the letters of the alphabet. Below is an English phonetic alphabet chart that should help with learning how to pronounce the letters of the alphabet.
Phonetic Alphabet for English Pronunciation Chart:
A a – a H h – aitch O o – o V v - vee
B b – bee I i – I P p – pee W w – double-u
C c – cee J j – jay Q q – cue X x - ex
D d – dee K k – kay R r – ar Y y – wy(e)
E e – e L l – el S s – ess Z z - zee
F f – ef M m – em T t – tee Source - www.omniglot.com
G g – gee N n – en U u - u
By using the phonetic alphabet chart for English pronunciation sounding out words will be much easier. Each letter is followed by a phonetic way of saying each sound. For instance, the letter B b is pronounced as bee. The letter Z z would be pronounced as zee.
English Conversation Practice
English Conversation Practice
One of the best ways to practice your English Conversation is by using English as a Second Language (ESL) questions. A good ESL conversation question is one that you would use everyday while speaking, or a question that you would have to use in an emergency.
Common ESL question topics include: food and eating, directions, money and shopping, family, and medical questions. The list of topics is endless and you can tailor your ESL questions to topics that are most important to you. For ESL questions to be effective in improving your English conversation it’s important to use your ESL questions in real world settings with native speakers as well as to practice your ESL questions in the classroom. Repetition, practice, and use are the keys to making your English conversation fluent and natural.
Here are some useful ESL questions for food and eating:
• Did you eat breakfast today?
• Are you hungry?
• What would you like to drink?
• Do you like to cook?
• What kinds of foods do you like to cook?
• What are your favorite foods?
• Would you like to come with me to eat lunch?
• Where would you like to eat lunch?
• What would you like for dinner?
• Do you drink coffee?
These are some examples of common directions, money and shopping ESL questions:
• Excuse me, how do I get to the park?
• Which way is the museum?
• Where is the bus stop?
• How much is this?
• Excuse me, can you tell me how much this costs?
• Where can I find the clothing department?
• Is this the checkout line?
• Do you take credit cards?
• Where is the bank?
Here are some examples of useful ESL questions you should know in case of a medical emergency.
• Where is the hospital?
• How do I get to the Emergency room?
• Would you please call 911?
• Help, I have an emergency. Is anyone here a doctor?
• Do you feel sick?
• What symptoms do you have?
• Where can I buy over the counter medicines?
• Which way is the pharmacy?
• Can the pharmacist please help me?
English Spelling Practice
English Spelling Practice
Learning English spelling words is not always an easy task. English spelling can be especially challenging for those learning English as a second language. One reason spelling Engilsh words is so complicated is that many words are not spelled as they sound when they are spoken. Another issue is that some words sound the same, but depending on the meaning, they can be spelled completely differently.
An example of a word that is pronounced the same but spelled differently would be the words to, too, and two. You could say, "I am going to the store, do you want to come too, we can buy two cokes." Two is referencing the number "2," and too is when you mean "also." Another example is the word there--you could also mean their, or they're. Their is a possessive word, as in that is their car. They're would be used for they are, and finally there, as in, I want to walk over there.
A letter combination that is difficult for both native English speakers and those learning English as a second launguage is "ough." These letters look the same but can be pronounded differently depending on the word. Tough, is pronounced tuf, bought sounds like bawt, and dough is doe. The same letters, but completely different sounds.
The reason English is so difficult is because the English language has taken words from many different languages, some spellings were changed and some were not. The rules to spell and learn them will do much to help one learn to spell, just be aware that most English spelling rules do have exceptions and many words have silent letters. When learning spelling, it's a good idea to write down spelling rules and also write down hard to spell words. As they say, practice makes perfect and that is very true in spelling. Many native English speakers learn spelling as children by writing down a particular word over and over. While spelling English words can be difficult, it's not impossible, it just takes some help and some practice.
Full Lists of English Words of Foreign Origin
Full Lists of English Words of Foreign Origin
English is a Germanic language that has borrowed freely from other languages over its long and storied history. Long lists of English words of foreign origin abound, and with English being a major language spoken across the world, words of foreign origin are adopted into English frequently. The bulk of the English language, however, stems from the following languages: Latin (29%), French (29%), Germanic (26%), Greek (6%) and a combination of other languages and words created from proper names (10%). Enjoy getting to know just a few of the English words of foreign origin on the following list:
• Abandon: (French) means to give up control or leave something behind: “Many cats and dogs are abandoned when their owners move to a new location.”
• Agile: (French) means having the ability to move quickly and gracefully: “He was as agile as a monkey in a tree.”
• Embarrassment: (French) refers to the state of discomfort that comes from being shy or violating a social rule: “Fred’s rude behavior was an embarrassment to the whole family.”
• Frugal: (Latin) means thrifty, avoiding unnecessary expenditures and waste: “Using coupons, growing your own food, and mending your own clothes are great ways to be frugal.”
• Lunar: (Latin) refers to the moon: “Many cultures still use a lunar calendar to mark special holidays.”
• Nocturnal: (Latin) refers to a creature, activity or person more active during the night: “Owls are nocturnal, doing most of their hunting at night.”
• Kindergarten: (German) refers to a pre-school for young children: “My son loves taking his Spiderman backpack to Kindergarten.”
• Schadenfreude: (German) means to take delight in the misfortunes of others: “Lori watched with thinly-veiled Schadenfreude as Fred forgot the lines to his speech.”
• Anthology: (Greek) means a collection of literary works such as short stories, poems, or songs: “Isabella reads a poem from her favorite poetry anthology before going to sleep every night.”
• Plethora: (Greek) means an abundance of something: “Sonja has a plethora of brightly colored beads she uses to make jewelry.”
• Saga: (Old Norse) is a long, sweeping tale or legend: “The Star Wars saga is a classic tale of good vs. evil stretching across generations and galaxies.”
• Gung-ho: (adapted from Chinese) describes someone working enthusiastically: “Ray is really gung-ho about building his tree house.”
List of English Words
List of English Words
Learning English as a second language is time consuming. The word or list of words you use in the lessons should build communication skills with the student. The words should help the student learn to communicate in ordinary situations like school, shopping, banking, travel, and eating out. These are activities that most people engage in on a regular basis. So the list of english words you use should be practical and useful. Pick a list of all english words that have the power to teach the student how to speak, write, and listen.
Teachers can come up with words that are applicable to their specific students. For example, if students are in the high school level, words about school subjects and activites can be used to help the student. Word lists can be tailored to individual grades and lessons. Some lists can deal with eating in the school cafeteria or spending a research period in the library. The list of words for these two activities will differ because the activiity and process is different. What about a list of words for recess and what children do during this period. Art class and music certainly deserve a list of their own. Each class has its own unique tempo and procedures.
Whether a teacher teaches elementary, middle school, high school, or adults different words will apply. Where do your students do their grocery shopping ? This certainly can generate a unique list of words about this common activitty . It teaches writing skills and gives students conversation skills as well. Some words might be shopping cart, frozen food, seafood, fresh fruit and vegetables, cash registers, money, scanners, manager, and more. What kind of sports does your school feature you can design a list of words on each sport. Often sports is the focal point of the school. Even weather is often a good general topic that everyone can relate to. Build vocabulary lists that relate to everyone so learning English is fun and educational. Vocbulary lists are just one aspect of ESL but an interesting and important part of the process.
ESL Worksheets
ESL Worksheets
If you are in the process of learning English, or if you teach students who are learning English, you may need some new tools to practice English skills. There are a variety of websites that cater to ESL students and offer materials such as ESL worksheets for free. No matter where you are in your mastery of English, there is something for everyone, from spelling practice, english grammar worksheets, to basic review of language vocabulary.
ESL printables is a good place to start your search for free english worksheets. This website offers a host of Englsih worksheets in the categories of grammar and vocabulary. The site also provides a search engine that allows you to look for specific worksheets by level, age, content and keywords.
ESL Galaxy is another site that provides a variety of english worksheet printables geared more toward younger students. In addition to grammar and vocabulary, there are board game worksheets, writing templates, and holiday activities. Again, all of these worksheets and english activities are available for free.
Englishclub.com is a more thorough site that offers resources in addition to free worksheets english. It offers the same type of materials as the other two sites, but seems to be geared toward a more mature or adult audience learning English. In addition to worksheets, you can also listen to English online. There is also a portion of the site specific to teachers providing lesson plans and the english grammar worksheets and activities to go with those plans.
ESLhandouts.com is a site for teachers where worksheets of all kinds can be found. Worksheets here are provided by teachers who use the site. You have the option of browsing the worksheets and choosing ones that work for you and for your class. In addition, if you have a great worksheet printable you can submit it and share with other teachers. The benefits of this site are that these english worksheets have been created and tested out by other teachers before being submitted and chosen by you.
Whatever English worksheets you are looking for are only a click away with these worksheet sites.
Find ESL Activities & English Exercises Online
Find ESL Activities & English Exercises Online
There are a number of ways for a person to learn to speak the English language. Some people go to class at a college to learn the language. Others still, like to study things out on their own form the privacy of their home. One area that people seem to forget about is English language games. Games are fun and they help people learn things as well. Read on to discover different ways that games help with learning English.
English games are games specifically designed to engage the learner with English concepts and words. One website that offers games for different aspects of English is http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/interactive/literacy.html, here a learner picks what concept of English they want to learn about and simply play the game. The games are simply English exercises made into a game. For many people long lesson seem to drag on and on, but games seem to go much quicker and has the same results as a long lesson.
ESL activities are another channel for people to learn English. These are not so much games as they are lessons waiting to be learned. c is a website that offers such activities. Not only can Spanish speaking people learn English, but people who speak other languages like Dutch, Finnish, and Arabic have the opportunities to learn English. If you have a child that is interested in learning English try the website http://www.eslkidstuff.com/OnlineGamesMain.htm that offers a bunch of ESL games geared for young children. They will have fun learning the language and will walk away speaking new sounds and new words.
No matter what motivation you have to learn English it is a rewarding task to undertake. Keep in mind that there are a host of games and activities that are geared for your learning style. All you have to do is be willing to try and keep at it. If you do not have access to the internet to learn the language, check around in your community or schools to see if ESL courses or activities are available for you to attend and learn English. Most of the time there are course available.
English Placement Test Practice
English Placement Test Practice
An English practice test is often administered to those that speak English as a second language as well as others that are applying for admittance to a college or other learning institution that requires a certain level of proficiency in the English language. It may be given to measure ability or to determine if the student needs to work on their mastery of the language.
English placement test practice is given in all 50 states. Each state has their own specific tests and within each state, there are various versions with different English test questions. Universities may have their own English practice test and so may high schools or even some employers that require excellent English to perform the job.
Most tests are fairly similar in the areas they cover and the questions they ask. Typical English placement test practice might include proper construction of a sentence, reading comprehension, and the correct use of nouns, verbs, and other basic grammar.
Following is a representative sample of the type of English test questions you might see on an English practice test.
1 - Usage - Choose the Best Answer
Mr. Smith ___________ to the store, bought some milk, gave the clerk $5.00 and _________ back $2.25 in change.
a) gone / got b) went / had c) went / got d) gone / had
2 - Usage - Which sentence is punctuated properly?
a) The suspect broke, free ran through the street, turned the corner and escaped.
b) The suspect broke free, ran through the street, turned the corner and escaped
c) The suspect broke free, ran through the street, turned the corner and escaped.
d) The suspect broke, free ran through the street, turned the corner and, escaped.
3 - Comprehension - Read the Short Paragraph and Choose the Answer That Must Be True
Jack had 3 sisters and 3 brothers. He was not the oldest and not the youngest. All of the girls had red hair. Jack had red hair. Everyone else had brown hair.
a) Jack had 3 older brothers and 3 younger sisters.
b) Jack's brothers all had brown hair.
c) Jack was one of 6 children.
d) Jack liked his oldest sister more than any other sibling.
Answers: 1) c 2) c 3) b
Free English Tests & ESL Quizzes
Free English Tests & ESL Quizzes
Here, you will discover some answers to your questions concerning with finding material to assist you with English language test. Something better for your pocket book is where free english tests can be found. And, you will find some ideas where you can find information on preliminary English tests, and esl quizzes.It is helpful to know that you can gather information where good resources can be found for yourself and others who are learning English. While English is an easy language to learn compared to other languages that work with pictures and symbols in their alphabet, it has its learning curb. It is interesting how that 26 letters form thousands of words that people use to communicate on a world of topics.
The internet is a place where most information can be found at a reasonable cost if not free. This includes English tests. And, with the billions of websites on the net, many who specialize in a variety of topics offer the information because they want to share their expertise to be helpful, and to display their skill. Other organizations put together websites specifically for their group that becomes a good resource that is open to the public. Your favorite search engine can help with finding websites where these tools can be found. Visit local college websites, and school websites to find referral links to free helpful sites.
There is no reason a lot of money needs to be spent. Schools are a good place to find old resource books that are no longer used in class. While text books written about history may be obsolete in a few years, or science books may change over the decades. The principles of English stay the same. This is why you do not need to invest in brand new material to help you with the information to help you learn English. Libraries are a great resource of finding tests and quizzes to test your skill, or those of your students. These forms of study a great way to build your skill and exercise your brain. Develop your vocabulary, build a strong sentence structure, and write more effectively.
Online English Help
Online English Help
Speaking and writing grammatically correct sentences adds authority to your communications. Online English help is available to help you write and speak English clearly and concisely. You can obtain help for your essays for school, your professional writing or simply to help you communicate effectively.
English Help for Homework Assignments
Get help with English classes and learn to write grammatically sound essays for your classes or even for everyday life. You speak English daily without issue, but sometimes you may need English homework help. Perhaps you must submit an essay or research paper to your English professor, and you want to ensure that all of your commas are in the right place and your verbs agree with your subject. Online English help is available to assist you with grammatical mechanics, including how to avoid comma splices.
English Help for ESL Individuals
You have mastered the basics, but the rules of English can sometimes be contradictory and confusing. The way in which you speak in an informal setting is very different to speech in a formal setting. That’s where online English help comes in. Get English help for assistance with understanding the rules of English. Learn when it is okay to use informal speech and when you must use formal speech, and identify areas in your writing or speech that lacks clarity. One issue for ESL learners is correct tense. With online English help you can learn the appropriate use of verb tenses.
English Help for the Professional
As a professional, you may believe that your English is beyond reproach. Think of the many times you were required to share complex information and noted the glaze in your audience’s eyes. You probably ensured that you separated the information into bite-size chunks that the audience can understand. Yet, your audience did not respond as you expected. It is imperative that you limit your use of the passive voice and opt for an active voice. While grammatically sound, using the passive voice presents stylistic issues and may prevent the reader from comprehending your message. You can get help with English to fine-tune your writing, adding clarity and polish to your professional presentation.
Where Can I Test My Knowledge of English Grammar?
Where Can I Test My Knowledge of English Grammar?
Are you new to America and just learning the English language? Or maybe you are trying to learn English before immigrating to an English speaking country. You might even be learning English to further your success with your business pursuits. Some people might even wan to take an English grammar test in order to prepare for a particular job or career. Whatever your reasons may be, you might find yourself wondering "where can I test my knowledge of English grammar?" and, fortunately, the answer to that question is not as hard as it might seem.
One place to start is to check online for free English and grammar tests. There are many available websites designed specifically for testing such knowledge. These websites are also able to offer tips on how to improve upon the skills that you already possess. There are even websites designed for every competency level so do not be deterred if you are a beginner. Instead, look for websites that test you at what is called the elementary or beginners level.
If you are wanting to test your knowledge of English grammar for something job related such as a writing career then you might sign up for some freelance writing websites. They do an English grammar check to mark your knowledge of such things so that the client can better assess their writers, but also it is a good idea to sign up for one or more of these websites for the sheer experience of it. Freelance writing on a small skill gives you an opportunity to fine tune your writing skills and even to broaden your writing horizans. The more you do it, the better you will become.
Lastly, you can always take an English couse at a local university or community college. You can even do so online if you are abroad or simply do not have the time to attend regular classes. These classes are usually cost effective and do not necessarily have to be taken in conjunction with a degree program. Many colleges even offer something called an ESL class for people needing to learn English as a second language. Alternatively, checking with the community resource offices is a good place to start for obtaining information on ESL classes.
English Grammar Tenses: Past Continuous Tense, Past Progressive Tense
English Grammar Tenses: Past Continuous Tense, Past Progressive Tense
English grammer tenses are used to express at what point in time an action took place. When talking about a continuous action, that is still taking place and began at a particular time in the past, you will use past continuous tense. It is important to understand how verbs are used together to properly express your ideas and get your point across in a way that is properly executed and understandable to the reader.
In most cases when using past continuous tense, also known as past progressive tense, you are going to be using the combination of a helping "to be" verb, in the past tense, along with the present participle of the verb, with the -ing ending. Using "WAS/WERE," along with the present participle in your sentence, as in the example; "I was cooking dinner, when the phone rang," would be the proper way to write in past continuous tense. In comparison, a past perfect progressive tense is used to express a continuous action that has been completed at some point in the past. The past perfect progressive tense is formed using "HAD" plus "BEEN," along with the present participle of the verb with the -ing ending. Such as,"I had been gardening before it started to rain."
There are variances to the past continuous tense form that can be used depending on how many actions are taking place and what type of interferences happened during those actions. You can use past continuous when talking about a longer action in the past being interrupted by a shorter action, such as; "I was reading a book when the doorbell rang". An action can also be interrupted by a specific time; " This morning at 5 AM, it was raining." Finally, this tense can be used when two actions are happening simultaneously, at the same time in the past. It is important to emphasize that both of the actions are happening at the same time, as if parallel. "I was eating, while John was studying."
When using past continuous tense you will be emphasizing that the activity is a continuing process. If the activity happened in the past and has already come to an end, then you would use past perfect progressive tense. It is important to use the right English grammer tense, and use it properly to get your point across in a clear and concise manner.
What are the Basic English Grammar Rules?
What are the Basic English Grammar Rules?
In any language there are basic rules the speaker or would be learner needs to understand before moving on to harder skills. English itself has basic rules that people need to follow for it to make sense to hearers and readers. Here are some basic English grammar rules that are easy to understand and easy to learn.
• Only use capital letters for proper nouns and at the beginning of a sentence.
• For every sentence there should be one noun and one verb. A sentence with more than one noun or verb is confusing to understand.
• When a sentence is complete use appropriate punctuation. There is no need to have dual punctuation when ending a sentence.
• If an apostrophe is needed make sure to use it to show ownership. An apostrophe is also used when words are abbreviated.
• Whenever writing multiple sentences about the same subject or line of thought, use paragraphs to divide long segments of writing.
• Should a line of thought require a list make sure to separate each article by a comma.
• Make sure case and number of the subject and the verb match. It the noun is singular the verb should be singular as well.
• When connecting two lines of thought in a sentence, use a conjunction to make things make better sense.
• If you have two lines of thought that are similar feel free to use a semicolon to combine them.
• Make sure to use the correct tense when writing or speaking English.
• Try not to end a sentence with a preposition.
• A conjunction word should not be used to start a sentence.
• Sentences should be complete thoughts and not fragments.
• Try not to use double negatives. Such as no not never.
• Make sure to use words correctly.
• Avoid repeating lines of thought in sentences.
• Make sure paragraphs are complete, having three to five sentences each.
Rules of English grammar can be hard to understand, but not impossible. By following English grammar rules you will be proficient in writing and speech. Just stick to the basics, don’t try to fake your way through things.
Online English Grammar Lessons
Online English Grammar Lessons
Get Online English Grammar Lessons
It would be wise for a person to ask himself or herself for what purpose they are seeking English grammar lessons. Why? You may be aware that there are “rules” for usage of the English language. Therefore, to better yourself, you seek grammar English lessons. That is commendable. There are rules for speech and for writing. However, the rules differ, or bend significantly, depending on the purpose you desire to master using English grammar.
First, consider your audience. Do you simply seek to correspond informally with an English-speaking person? Then you need know only the basics of punctuation and conversational English (which will include slang). Informal English will not require extensive English Grammar lessons. If you are writing or speaking for a business audience then you will need a larger vocabulary, refrain from using slang, and a professional knowledge of English grammar.
Business English Grammar lessons abound in colleges and online classes. Conversely, if you are a student, you may seek English grammar lessons for academic writers or speakers and probably business as well.
Are you writing fiction or non-fiction? Then readers are your audience. Generally, non-fiction requires more adherences to the “rules” of English grammar lessons. Are you writing fiction? General, modern fiction adheres moderately to the hard and fast rules of the English Language. If you are seeking to write fiction then seek English grammar lessons in the genre that interests you and read, read, read! If you have taken scholarly, English grammar lessons, you will see many of the rules you learned in English grammar lessons bent and broken in fiction writing. It depends on the genre, and often to whom you are talking, or with whom you are corresponding. Everyone has an opinion!
You must research English Grammar lessons that may be available near you, and if possible create, or join, a study group. Get a firm understanding of punctuation and the eight parts of English grammar or speech: nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, conjunctions and interjections and prepositions; also past, present and future tenses. If you persevere, you will not fail.
English Grammar Reference and Exercises
English Grammar Reference and Exercises
You can find English grammar reference and exercises in many locations on the internet. When you first begin to learn the English language you will quickly realize that you need to practice what you are learning often. Locating great English grammar exercises is easy and most activities will give you instant feedback about how you are doing. Once you become more comfortable working on these types of lessons - you will quickly move through the various levels.
English grammar games are one of the easiest ways to practice using your English skills. Whether you are an adult or a child - many of the games are interesting to all age levels. English grammar reference and exercises will help you acquire the language quickly by giving you everyday situations and asking you to respond in a correct manner. As you move through the grammar exercises you will become more comfortable speaking the English language which will help encourage more conversations with native English speakers.
Working on English grammar exercises on a daily basis will help you improve your skills quickly. Not only will you need to be able to speak the language correctly but you will also need to practice your English reading comprehension skills and vocabulary. The English grammar games will be the perfect resource to gain new vocabulary and have fun at the same time. Don’t worry if you do not make perfect scores right away. The more you work on your English grammar reference and exercises the more accurate you will become.
Beginning to learn another language is never easy, but with fun English grammar games and different types of grammar exercises you will gain confidence quickly. The key is to practice as often as you can and spend time each day speaking English with others. The more you use the language in your everyday life, the more natural your conversations will sound. Begin by locating English grammar lessons online and work through the exercises at your own pace in the convenience of your own home. You will be glad you took the first step.
Free English Translation Online
Free English Translation Online
What kinds of tools are available for people to translate to English from another language? There are several things people can do to translate to English. Here are some things to help in translating other languages to English.
The first place to look for help in translating to English is the internet. There are many websites that offer free English translation. One website to check out is http://translation2.paralink.com. On this website simply select what language you are translating from and type the text into the dialog box. Once the translation has happened the website gives you the option of emailing, editing, printing, or typing changes into the text. A second source to check into is the site http://www.free-translator.com. This site is easy to use. Simply type what you want translated into the dialog box, select the way you want it translated and hit enter. If you need a website translated, copy the browser address and copy it in the web browser dialogue box and within a few seconds the page is translated into the language you have selected.
Another option for English translation available online is software downloads. There is software available online that people can download and use on their computers. One such site that offers a free download is found at http://www.translationsoftware.org. Simply download the software and begin the translation process. Another website that offers a free translation download is http://www.babylon.com. The website boasts of a one click download and translation process.
One final way to translate a text or work into English for free is to have someone you know assist in the translation process. Usually a family member or a friend is a likely candidate to help. This process may take more time to complete than a computer or website but you may even become closer by spending time together. One thing to remember in a translation process is to proof read the results. Sometimes a word may have been translated wrong or misspelled. If you can’t read it yourself have someone else proof read it for you to check for consistency.
Best Free Online English Dictionary
Best Free Online English Dictionary
Dictionaries are intended to provide users with definitions for words that they may be unfamiliar with. Words may be defined differently in each language, which is a main reason why we need English dictionaries. Due to the constant and high demand for word definitions, free online English dictionaries have been made available for everyone to use. These dictionaries are accessible to anyone who has a working computer and internet connection.
Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary serves as one of the best free online English dictionaries today. This online dictionary is able to provide its users with a variety of different features. Some of these features include clear definitions that are accompanied by example sentences. These example sentences make it easier for people of all backgrounds to understand the words in the dictionary. This dictionary also includes usage notes that are extremely helpful. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary is kept up to date which is important. Lastly, the word of the day feature serves as a nice little addition.
Another good online english dictionary is the Cambridge Learner’s Dictionary. This dictionary is very similar to the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary which is why they both share a similar name. The language is what really separates the two dictionaries. This dictionary is changed in order to accommodate intermediate level learners. So some of the words that may be included in the dictionary may be familiar to other learners that find themselves at an entirely different level than what the dictionary is intended for.
Lastly, the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary and Thesaurus serve as another one of the best free online English dictionaries. This dictionary has an array of features that are hard to find in another english dictionary on line. Some of these features include up-to-date English words. The dictionary also includes audio files that you can use to listen to the way the word is pronounced. In addition, the dictionary gives users access to a thesaurus that gives you the synonyms and antonyms of the words that are included in the online English dictionary.
Learn English Free Online
Learn English Free Online
Have you ever wondered where a person could go and learn English for free? If you are like most people money is usually an issue when it comes to education. There are places and things a person can do to learn English through provided lessons. Free learning english websites are all over the place. Here are some places a person can go to learn English for free.
There are a number of websites that offer free courses for people to learn English free online. For instance, www.learnamericanenglishonline.com is a site that takes a person from the basics to more advanced learning. The courses are done one at a time and are color coded to help people choose the appropriate level. Another site to take free English courses is www.englishlearner.com. This site offers more than just lessons. It offers tests to check what a person has learned or still needs to learn. Go at your own pace and take your time learning.
Studying English online is quickly becoming a quick and effective way of learning the language. www.studyblue.com is a website that allows the viewer to make flashcards that are geared for their own learning needs. Use the flash cards while standing in line or waiting for someone. This gives the person the chance to immerse themselves in the language to learn it more effectively. Another website that offers tools to learn English online is www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/interactive/literacy.html; here the user gets to play games to help them learn the English language. The games are geared for each aspect of the English language such as plurals and compounds. This site is geared more for young kids, but another site found at http://www.thunderbay.org/article/esl-activities-for-adults-137.asp has activities that are geared for adults. Here adults can engage in a number of activities to challenge their level of thinking. They can study Englsih online free.
No matter what your level of learning or your age there are things found online to help study english online free. All you have to do is explore each site to find what will work for you the best. One thing to remember with language studies is that effort is the key to learning. The more you put into it the more you will learn.
How to Learn to Speak English Online
How to Learn to Speak English Online
If you desire to learn English online you must decide if you are able to afford numerous programs that are available online at a cost. If you decide to learn to speak English online at little to no cost, you must be willing to be creative and persevere.
Another key point in learning English online is that the student understands that English spoken in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia have verbal expressions and arrangement of words that make it difficult for English speaking natives to understand the other without effort.
Learn to speak English online by visiting the site YouTube. Many private citizens and groups have videos that are aimed at helping non-English speaking persons. Some of these people create videos to get you to come to their website and buy their products that teach people to speak English. Still, the YouTube videos that are free often teach enough English that by watching them repeatedly, you will begin to speak and understand the English language.
Another inexpensive way to learn to speak English online is to rent movies with subtitles in your language. Subtitles are words that appear on the screen in written language. If you play a small scene, stop and practice speaking what the movie characters are saying in English. You will know what the characters are saying by the subtitles in your language. This can also be helpful to master the nuances of modern day English.
Please, be aware that some of the words used in the movie character’s dialogue may be considered foul language, curse words, or words that are slang to a particular culture and may be offensive. Practice the speech repeatedly, paying close attention to the subtitles, which often are delayed and just past what has just been spoken in English.
Notice what the characters in the movies are doing. Does it match what the subtitles are saying? Again, you may have to pay for the movie, but you have a couple of hours to learn English online. A suggestion to consider is to order online movies rated “G” or “PG” to avoid learning words that might be offensive.
Best English Language Resources
Best English Language Resources
In our ever-shrinking world, where everyone can now converse with, well everyone else, learning English is important today more than ever before.
It is imperative to learn English as it is the predominant language spoken more than any other in the entire world and even some areas of the world require the need to learn the English language just to be able to talk to the locals.
Learning of English language is, one of the hardest, if not the hardest, language to learn. But once you do, you will be able to expand your horizons like never before.
ESL or English as a second language is when someone avails themselves of the unique opportunity to learn English as a second language while retaining the rich culture and heritage of their own native tongue.
ESL is something that is immensely useful for those who travel extensively, be it for personal or business, as there are still areas of the world where English is not spoken and other languages prevail.
Approximately 400 million people around the globe use English as their first language as well as over 1.4 billion speak English as second language.
To date, English is spoken in 53 countries around the world as well as the United Nations, the EU, NATO and NAFTA among many other areas around the globe.
English language learning can also be most rewarding, just knowing that you will be armed with a new language that will open up many more opportunities will be the best source of pride and accomplishment you will ever know.
In order to learn English there are many and varied ways in which you can learn this culturally rich language, you can, of course, go to a local college or university to learn the language.
You can order audio tapes and CDs that will help you to learn English also another method of learning English is by way of the Internet. you can learn the English language by way of various web sites such as YouTube and schools online now offer such language learning.
English learning is as easy to endow yourself of as never before, take advantage of the opportunity.
Free Learn to Speak English Lessons
Free Learn to Speak English Lessons
Learning to speak English might take some time, but it doesn’t have to take a lot of money. In fact, it doesn’t have to take any money at all. You can learn to speak English free, right in your own home and at your own leisure.
Just hop on your computer and go for it.
Several different websites offer free online learning to speak English, whether you already have a small grasp of the language or are still struggling with the English alphabet.
Lessons start as simply as learning to write and pronounce the letters, for those of you who might have grown up with a totally different alphabet. They move on to lessons that contain the different parts of speech, verb tenses and other grammatical lessons that even native English speakers can sometimes struggle with. Conversational English can be part of the lessons, as can English idioms, colloquial phrases, and even jokes.
In addition to being free, online learning to speak English can be fun. English learning sites can offer animation, videos, interactive games and quizzes to keep you on your toes and test how well you are absorbing the lessons. A few use puns and wordplay to sharpen your wits and give you a sense of the cultural sense of humor. Radio broadcasts, transcripts and other media can be part of the lessons, giving you a way to combine your knowledge of the language with the knowledge of world or local events.
Once you’ve gotten the basics down, several sites offer articles on helpful usage tips and hints, like how to tell the difference between words that sound the same yet have different meanings and how to improve your memory to remember specific words and phrases. All of it is free. Learn to speak English from sites that specialize in English as a second language or those that cater to more advanced levels. Learning English online is fully private, which means you don’t have to be shy about speaking in public until you’re ready. Being on your computer can be a lot less stressful than standing in front of a class full of strangers. It’s also a lot cheaper when it costs absolutely nothing at all.
How to Speak English Fluently
How to Speak English Fluently
Many have said that the English language is one of the hardest to learn. However, with the right training, learning English as a second language can be a fun and positive experience. In this article you will better understand how to tackle the English language and how to speak English fluently.
One mistake that people often make is putting in effort to study grammar rather than conversational English. In order to become a good English speaker, remember to focus on actually conversing rather than just memorizing grammatical rules. To speak good English you need to focus on conversing!
Also remember to LISTEN! Sometimes, you can begin to understand other people before actually being able to speak fluently yourself. This is a step in the right direction. Being able to understand others will help in forming conversation yourself. Be sure to completely immerse yourself in the language. If you continue to limit yourself to social circles that do not speak English, it will make fluency that much more difficult. By submerging yourself in the language you will be forced to learn and use the English language.
Another tip is to not translate each and every word or phrase that you hear. Often you will misunderstand the topic of conversation by taking the most literal translation of each phrase. As in every language, English speakers often revert to slang and cliches. Don't be afraid to ask what these mean, by understanding these phrases you will be that much closer to fluency and on your way to being able to speak correct English.
Most importantly, remember that all the listening and reading in the world will not make you a better speaker. Many people are intimidated at first when they try to jump into conversation, but it is the only way to improve your fluency and speak fluent English. Don't be afraid! People will be more impressed at your ability to speak a second language than your accent or mispronunciation of words.
Use any resources you can to better your English language skills. Doing research online and in your local library will help to strengthen your fluency, but nothing is better than getting out into the world and putting all you have learned to good use!
How to Speak English
How to Speak English
Have you ever wanted to learn how to speak English? Maybe you just started speaking English or want to improve your spoken English. You may have heard that it is hard to learn to speak English, or that the English language is somehow more difficult than other languages. However, learning how to speak English and developing a good English speaking voice doesn't have to be hard. In fact, there are many proven techniques that will help you speak English more naturally, without all the boring memorization.
While there are millions of paid resources that claim to teach you how to speak English, there are also numerous free language learning resources available. Starting with free learning resources when learning how to speak English will allow you to gauge your interest and dedication before you spend any money.
First, before you even begin, you should try to gain some mastery over your native language. By understanding the basic parts of speech and how sentences are formed in your natural language, you will be better prepared to understand how different words fit together when learning to speak a new language.
Your next step is to obtain lots of exposure to spoken English, such as watching English-based television shows or videos. Pay close attention to what is going on and try to understand what the English speakers are saying. After you have learned a little bit of English, continuing to get regular exposure to the language and practicing your spoken English will help you refine your speaking skills and improve your overall accent.
The last and biggest resource that will help you learn how to speak English is the internet. The internet contains thousands of websites (both paid and free) which claim to help you learn spoken English. You should use search engines like Google.com and Yahoo.com to help you get started. You will find that some resources are much more helpful than others so don't forget to bookmark your favorites.
By taking these steps, you will be well on your way to speaking English like a native!
English for Beginners
English for Beginners
There are many individuals who are not native english speakers, however modern education and technology have made it easier for people to learn english as a second language. Many colleges and universities offer beginner level english lessons. Some of them are even offered online, which allows a person to study conveniently from his or her home. ABA english is a school that teaches english as a second language for beginners. This school has a proven track record; it has 12,000 students, 50 native teachers, and 30 years of experience.
Before enrolling in the course, prospective students take a test that sets a baseline and determines where they will be starting from. Once a person enrolls in an ABA english course, he or she will be assigned an instructor. The instructor will assist the student by providing him or her with exercises and correcting mistakes. Once a person has completed the english course at ABA english, he or she will be awarded an English Diploma or Academy and Britain.
Embassy is another school that teaches english for beginners. Before a student takes the course, he or she takes a test that provides the instructor with a baseline. After that, the student joins the class with other students who will be learning english as a second language. This school conveniently has campuses in the USA, London, and Australia. Upon completion of the beginner level courses, a person will have a consultation with the director of studies. After the consulation, a student will be eligible to move up and take an intermediate english course. At Embassy, a person can become proficient in english. Students also have the option of working towards either a degree or a diploma in english.
Attending one of these schools will make learning english at a beginner's level fun, fast, and easy. It is important for a person's success that he or she have access to qualified instructors. Both Embassy and ABA English have instructors that are ready, willing, and able to assist students in learning english as a second language.
Tips for Learning & Improving English
Tips for Learning & Improving English
Whether you are a foreign student or a native speaker, English skills can always be improved. There are many tried and true tips for learning English. These are five English tips that are often taught to the foreign language speakers coming into English. These tips not only help learn English, but they are also tips on improving English skills.
1.) Read a book, newspaper or journal in English that is just above your current level of reading with a dictionary. This will help to learn new vocabulary words in a fun way. This is also a great tip for improving English in a technical field. Even by spending a mere 15 minutes a day, your skills can improve drastically.
2.) Listen to speeches or watch movies or documentaries in areas you aren't familiar with are fun tips on improving English. This activity will help improve listening and vocabulary at the same time. At first you can use subtitles, then turn the subtitles off when the listening part of this activity becomes easier.
3.) Although less fun, learning grammar is an essential tool for English. Knowing English grammar inside and out is one of the top tips on learning English. This should be tackled at the same time as both reading and listening exercises so that you understand how the sentence is constructed, and can manipulate it later to suit your needs.
4.) Keeping a diary allows you to utilize all of your English skills that you've been practicing with reading, listening and grammar. As a bonus, you can go back over your entries and grade yourself, noting where you can improve more. This is one of the greatest tips on improving English at any stage of learning the language.
5.) When you feel you are ready, go for total immersion. This means surrounding yourself by English speakers. Of all English tips, this one will test all of your skills.
After all your hard work, don't forget to reward yourself. Learning English is hard, but with these tips on learning English, you will get better.
Study Tips for English Students
Study Tips for English Students
There are many helpful tips for studying English. English study can be especially difficult for anyone that has a native language other than English. This is why so many companies try to capitalize on offering products and services to help non-English speakers learn the language. It is important to find the places that can give you the most useful information. Telling the difference between a good and bad website for information isn’t all about how much you have to pay. This is because you can waste tons of valuable time sifting through useless information on free websites that can really hinder your learning.
Checking online for study tips for English students is one of the best ways to help you learn. But, be sure that if you’re going to pay for tips that you get what you pay for. A good way to do this is to compare what you can get from a free site compared to the sites that require you to pay. This is a good precautionary step to take before spending any of your hard earned money
The real way to tell the difference between good and bad study materials is in the information they provide. Simple explanations are often times not enough to help someone learn a language. One of the most important things you will want to look for is dialogues that can help you learn useful information. Learning idioms and useful conversational expressions can help you learn a language in no time. This is because often times if you know some basic conversational points you can figure out words and expressions by context until you are able to research them thoroughly.
There are many reasons that someone would want to learn another language. This can help you out in business as well as personal matters. Many employers want their employees to know multiple languages. English has become a standard as many children in other countries are required to learn it in school. If you know someone that is considering learning English as a second language they should not hesitate as there are so many good resources online to help out any eager student.
Best English Speaking Course
Best English Speaking Course
People study English as a Second Language for different reasons. Some are students trying to get ahead and improve their grades. Others are employees that need to improve communications skills to advance in the company. Some students are trying to learn the language for an internship and others to travel abroad. The important point to look for when taking ESL lessons, English lessons, and English speaking course is lessons that focus on English profiencienty for the student.
A good ESL Lesson Plan will teach students listening skills, speaking, pronunciation, and vocabulary. It will include learning how to read and write sentences properly. Students should spend time learning everyday conversation and practicing it. They should learn to write sentences, paragraphs and complete documents that are easy to understand. Many programs have computer assisted technology that allows students to practice language skills with computer software program and instructors. Many computers can play DVD's that assist with the learning process.
When you look for general English course look for all the elements you would in an advanced Couse. The same elements but at a simplified level. If you are seeking a course that addresses a specific test look for an intensive course that covers the basic of the test and reviews extensively. A course that covers the written portion of the exam. Some of the tests are TEOFL , GMAT, or GRE. Look for the most up to date courses that use current technology and techniques. Courses should include language practice, listening, writing and speaking.
ELS program are offered for a variety of learners and different situations. Be sure to research the course and talk with instructors and students before taking one. You will want to make sure the course offers you the necessary elements that you need to succeed at what you are trying to accomplish. This is an important part of a successful ESL program.
Remember a ESL program should offer a variety of learning options for students. It is important to talk to a ESL teacher before enrolling to find out the process of getting started. Once you do this you are on the way to success.
Best Free English Language Course
Best Free English Language Course
Have you ever wondered where a person could go and take free English language courses? If you are like most people money is usually an issue when it comes to education. There are places you can go to take free English lessons. Here are some places a person can go to learn English for free.
There are a number of websites that offer free courses for people to learn English. For instance, www.learn-english-online.org is a site that takes a person from the basics through more advanced learning. The courses are done one at a time and at the pace of the learner. Another site to take free English courses is www.englishlearner.com. This site offers more than just lessons; it offers tests to check what a person has learned or still needs to learn. Go at your own pace and take your time learning. If learning online is not your cup of tea then check out esl.about.com where people can sign up and receive lessons by email.
Another option most people overlook is the library. Most libraries carry books that give detailed lessons on learning English. Simply go to the library and search for books that are geared for you. Once you have the right books head up to the checkout counter and check out the books. Just make sure to either renew or turn in the books on the due dates. Another option for people to learn English for free is to watch television in English. When learning a new language, you should spend time around people who speak it fluently. This gives you the chance to use and hear words in their native tongue. Eventually the brain begins to recognize words and enables you to understand the language. One last idea is to have a friend tutor you for free. Many people are more than willing to help someone who is struggling. Just remember to return the favor if given the chance to help out another person in need. No matter where you live there are always opportunities to learn English.
Learn How to Speak American English
Learn How to Speak American English
Living in America can be unduly difficult and unpleasant if you don't know how to speak English. The biggest reason people in America don't learn how to speak English has nothing to do with ignorance or the complexity of the language, it is for lack of resources and the misconception that it costs a lot of money to learn how to speak English. From this article, readers should hope to learn how to speak American English for free using resources easily available to any person.
On the Internet, there are hundreds - if not thousands - of free resources to help you learn American English, improve your American English skills, and read and write American English better. There are many different types of learning methods and resources, so it's important to find what works best for you and helps you learn easier.
There are vocabulary websites that only focus on expanding your American English vocabulary and word recognition, complete with videos, quizzes, and instructions from American English speakers. There are flashcard sites that let you create free flashcards to study and learn from for free. Some of the better flashcard websites for learning American English track your progress, give you advice, and offer custom learning packages. There are even applications you can install on your computer that send you a pop-up American English language question or lesson, so you can constantly be learning and studying while surfing the web or working on something else. You might not know it, but online dictionaries often offer comprehensive American English learning packages and lessons, providing a great, authoritative resource to learn from. Many Internet search engines like Google, offer a free translating service to help you quickly look up troublesome American words and phrases. Even websites like Hulu, which offers free television and movie streaming, can be handy tools to help you learn the language by full immersion.
For a more advanced learning plan, and for those almost or completely unfamiliar with American English, one of the many websites with videos and comprehensive course studies is your best option.
Learn English as a Second Language (ESL)
Learn English as a Second Language (ESL)
If you check around online you can find a lot of resources that really give you the opportunity to practice your English skills. There are many resources available for beginners to strengthen their vocabulary. From a lot of these resources you can hear, see, and even say new words in English and expand your working knowledge of the language in no time. There are many helpful pages of examples, exercises and explanations of English grammar, including common grammar mistakes, which can really help and English as a Second language students.
There are even separate resources that can help one's Business English writing and speaking skills. You can learn some helpful pronunciation and idioms that will help to further your career in no time. The best way to learn a new language is through learning useful expressions and phrases for conversation. This can be done through practicing specific situations and topics that can be useful to you.
If you are on the other side of things and are wanting to teach English as a second language there are some good tools for you online as well. You can find thousands of new ideas and materials that can help your students and classes. The resources range from handouts to lesson plans, and other helpful ideas. You can save yourself tons of hours of preparation time by getting useful information that has proved to be successful for any english second language teachers and english as second language students.
There is no sense wasting all of your time trying to create tools that can help you to teach English as a second language when there are so many good ones out there. There are even several sites that offer these resources to teachers for free. The internet is a gold mine of information that can really help save you a lot of time and frustration and more importantly help you to teach English as a second language with the greatest of ease. Whether you are looking for handouts that you can print for your students or just other helpful tips and tricks to help you teach, the internet is a very useful tool for any esl teachers.
Learn Standard English
Learn Standard English
The English language holds a unique place in the world's languages. That is why so many strive to learn English. Since it is the language of international business, learning English can lead to many new job and business opportunities. In addition, the online world is dominated by the English language. Most internet websites are in basic English, so knowing English allows for better use of the world wide web. Any computer training or website building aspirations will definitely require good skills in basic English. And it also opens up the world of entertainment and media from English-speaking countries.
When undertaking this new adventure, there are many ways to go about it. The first step is understanding a few key terms. What is the difference in basic English and Standard English?
Basic English is also called Simple English and was created by British writer and linguist Charles Kay Ogden as an international auxiliary language intended to serve as a means of communication between people whose native languages differed. Ogden felt that with a controlled English learning experience would be easier to achieve. Ogden's Basic English list of 850 core words is still used prevalently today as a beginner vocabulary. While other versions of Basic English or Simplified English exist today, the foundations are the same. These include a basic working vocabulary along with a simplified set of grammar rules.
Standard English is the accepted form of the language in any given English-speaking country. It encompasses the spelling, grammar, vocabulary, and word usage practices of the region. Sometimes called Standard Written English (SWE), Standard English is often considered the more formal version of the language. The news media, publishing world, and educators generally use Standard English, as it steers clear of regional dialects, colloquialisms and pronunciation.
If the goal is to learn English, beginning with Basic English may be the best place to start. After developing a basic vocabulary along with a few specialized words and simple grammar and usage rules, advancing to mastering Standard English will be much easier. Though English may not be the simplest language to learn, the benefits are many and will last a lifetime.
LLearning English - Grammar Online
Good writing skills are important because they help people share their ideas in a way that other people understand. It is easier to understand a piece of writing when everything is spelled correctly and the writer avoids common grammar mistakes. The World Wide Web is a great resource for learning how to improve writing, grammar, and spelling skills, as there are millions of pages dedicated to helping people learn English. Using the learning activities and practice quizzes available online can help students improve their skills.
Writing
Students of any age can improve their writing by using online activities and writing prompts. Writing prompts are short pieces of text that help students come up with ideas for essays and stories. These prompts can also help students learn about important events, as there are writing prompts available for holidays, historic events, famous inventors, and other important topics. It is important to practice writing every day, as practice really does help students improve their skills. One way to practice writing is to set a timer and keep writing until the timer goes off. This not only helps improve writing skills, it also prepares older students for timed grammar and writing tests.
Free writing is another fun way for students to improve their writing skills. Free writing is when someone writes about any topic instead of using writing prompts or assigned topics. Free writing helps students understand the importance of writing every day. These assignments can also help students develop their creativity and may even help some kids learn to love writing. Just a short session of free writing each day is enough to improve writing skills and reinforce recent English lessons.
Spelling
Online activities make it easy and fun to learn new words and improve spelling skills. One of the easiest ways to practice spelling online is by playing games or taking quizzes. Some games are designed just for middle school students, so they allow kids to have fun while learning. There are even online quiz makers that allow parents and kids to create custom spelling tests. This is a great way to practice a weekly spelling list and prepare for a quiz. Some students improve their spelling skills by looking at lists of common spelling mistakes. This makes it easy to come up with tricks for remembering difficult words. Parents and kids should work together on practicing spelling words and using them in sentences. Practicing helps reinforce the correct spellings and can help students earn better grades on their spelling tests and quizzes.
Punctuation
It would be hard to understand most writing if it did not have any punctuation. Punctuation marks – periods, commas, colons, semicolons, and other marks – separate different parts of a sentence from each other. They also make it easier to understand someone’s writing. A period indicates the end of a sentence, while a comma indicates a pause. Exclamation points can indicate danger or excitement. Question marks appear when a character asks a question. Online games and activities make it fun to learn about punctuation marks and how they are used. Online guides explain all of the different punctuation marks and help kids understand why they are so important.
Grammar
Grammar is simply the structure of language. When someone uses the wrong structure when writing a story, the readers have a hard time understanding the characters and events of that story. Some websites have dozens of grammar quizzes to help students understand grammar topics such as present tense, past tense, use of capital and lowercase letters, passive voice, clauses, and verb tenses. Taking these quizzes regularly helps students better understand grammar and how to use it properly. A solid understanding of sentence structure and style can even help students earn better grades on their tests and writing assignments.
Parts of Speech
Every word is classified as a part of speech, which is something that tells how a word is used. The eight basic parts of speech are prepositions, interjections, verbs, nouns, pronouns, adverbs, conjunctions, and adjectives. Every sentence must contain a subject or a verb, but a sentence can also contain an adjective – which is a word that describes a noun – or a preposition, which is a short word that links nouns, pronouns, and phrases. Trying to learn the parts of speech by reading is not always effective. Online games and quizzes help middle school, junior high, and high school students identify the parts of speech in sample sentences. This can help students improve their writing skills and increase their English grades.
The following resources offer plenty of opportunities for students to practice spelling, grammar, and writing.
• Tips on Grammar, Punctuation, and Style
• Purdue Online Writing Lab
• Interactive Grammar Quizzes
• Commonly Misspelled Words
• All About Conjunctions
• Parts of Speech Overview
• Punctuation Made Simple
• Creative Ways to Practice Your Spelling Words
• Writing and Grammar Tips
• Improving Your Writing Style
• Self-Study Grammar Quizzes
learning English - Grammar Online
Learning English - Grammar Online
Good writing skills are important because they help people share their ideas in a way that other people understand. It is easier to understand a piece of writing when everything is spelled correctly and the writer avoids common grammar mistakes. The World Wide Web is a great resource for learning how to improve writing, grammar, and spelling skills, as there are millions of pages dedicated to helping people learn English. Using the learning activities and practice quizzes available online can help students improve their skills.
Writing
Students of any age can improve their writing by using online activities and writing prompts. Writing prompts are short pieces of text that help students come up with ideas for essays and stories. These prompts can also help students learn about important events, as there are writing prompts available for holidays, historic events, famous inventors, and other important topics. It is important to practice writing every day, as practice really does help students improve their skills. One way to practice writing is to set a timer and keep writing until the timer goes off. This not only helps improve writing skills, it also prepares older students for timed grammar and writing tests.
Free writing is another fun way for students to improve their writing skills. Free writing is when someone writes about any topic instead of using writing prompts or assigned topics. Free writing helps students understand the importance of writing every day. These assignments can also help students develop their creativity and may even help some kids learn to love writing. Just a short session of free writing each day is enough to improve writing skills and reinforce recent English lessons.
Spelling
Online activities make it easy and fun to learn new words and improve spelling skills. One of the easiest ways to practice spelling online is by playing games or taking quizzes. Some games are designed just for middle school students, so they allow kids to have fun while learning. There are even online quiz makers that allow parents and kids to create custom spelling tests. This is a great way to practice a weekly spelling list and prepare for a quiz. Some students improve their spelling skills by looking at lists of common spelling mistakes. This makes it easy to come up with tricks for remembering difficult words. Parents and kids should work together on practicing spelling words and using them in sentences. Practicing helps reinforce the correct spellings and can help students earn better grades on their spelling tests and quizzes.
Punctuation
It would be hard to understand most writing if it did not have any punctuation. Punctuation marks – periods, commas, colons, semicolons, and other marks – separate different parts of a sentence from each other. They also make it easier to understand someone’s writing. A period indicates the end of a sentence, while a comma indicates a pause. Exclamation points can indicate danger or excitement. Question marks appear when a character asks a question. Online games and activities make it fun to learn about punctuation marks and how they are used. Online guides explain all of the different punctuation marks and help kids understand why they are so important.
Grammar
Grammar is simply the structure of language. When someone uses the wrong structure when writing a story, the readers have a hard time understanding the characters and events of that story. Some websites have dozens of grammar quizzes to help students understand grammar topics such as present tense, past tense, use of capital and lowercase letters, passive voice, clauses, and verb tenses. Taking these quizzes regularly helps students better understand grammar and how to use it properly. A solid understanding of sentence structure and style can even help students earn better grades on their tests and writing assignments.
Parts of Speech
Every word is classified as a part of speech, which is something that tells how a word is used. The eight basic parts of speech are prepositions, interjections, verbs, nouns, pronouns, adverbs, conjunctions, and adjectives. Every sentence must contain a subject or a verb, but a sentence can also contain an adjective – which is a word that describes a noun – or a preposition, which is a short word that links nouns, pronouns, and phrases. Trying to learn the parts of speech by reading is not always effective. Online games and quizzes help middle school, junior high, and high school students identify the parts of speech in sample sentences. This can help students improve their writing skills and increase their English grades.
The following resources offer plenty of opportunities for students to practice spelling, grammar, and writing.
• Tips on Grammar, Punctuation, and Style
• Purdue Online Writing Lab
• Interactive Grammar Quizzes
• Commonly Misspelled Words
• All About Conjunctions
• Parts of Speech Overview
• Punctuation Made Simple
• Creative Ways to Practice Your Spelling Words
• Writing and Grammar Tips
• Improving Your Writing Style
• Self-Study Grammar Quizzes
The Fun of Learning English! ESL Resources for Students and Teachers
The Fun of Learning English! ESL Resources for Students and Teachers
In the United States, it’s estimated that 43 percent of all schools provide ESL programs and 46 percent of all schools have ESL students. The number of ESL students in some states is very high, especially in Arizona, California, and Hawaii where more than 85 percent of the schools have ESL students. For ESL students and teachers, it can be quite challenging to learn and teach English. To get the student interested, teachers have to incorporate fun activities and games into the lesson plans. When the ESL lessons are fun, students will be excited to learn, making it much easier for teachers to teach. Students who learn English through fun activities will retain the lessons in their memory and they may be inspired to learn more about the topics. Fun ESL activities and games can be effective tools for ESL students and teachers. Here are some great ESL resources for students and teachers.
English Grammar Activities
It’s very important for ESL students to master English grammar because it lays the foundation for writing and speaking. Learning all about adverbs, verbs, punctuation, plurals, tenses, and adjectives can be daunting but ESL teachers can use fun activities and games to make the lessons more interesting. Here are some resources on English grammar activities.
• Grammar & Punctuation: A number of games and activities on full stops, capital letters, pronouns, and more.
• Grammar Quizzes: Many quizzes on functions, plurals, prepositions, contradictions, verbs, articles, and so on.
• English Learning Games: Some of the games include “The Grammar of Doom”, “Word Building”, “The Article Wolf”, and “Super Similes”.
• Grammar Blast: Here, you will find many games on nouns, verbs, adjectives, and others.
• Grammar Exercises: A great collection of grammar games by the British Council.
• Grammar Gold: Go for the gold with these fun games for Grades 1 to 5.
• Interactive Exercises: Try these grammar exercises to improve your nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, prepositions, and so on.
• Grammar Page: A useful resource page with exercises on grammar stuff, and more.
• Grammar Bytes: The webpage provides a lot of resources for ESL teachers and students.
• Daily Grammar: Online lessons and quizzes designed to improve English grammar skills.
Vocabulary Games
To boost the power of their language, ESL students should spend some time to improve their vocabulary. With knowledge of more words, students will be able to understand more of the language. There are many ways to learn more words but one of the most effective ways is through vocabulary games and activities.
• Vocabulary Games: Some of the popular games include “ESL Homophones”, “Unscramble”, and “Letter Blocks”.
• Vocabulary Word Lists: Complete resource page for ESL teachers with lists, games, quizzes, puzzles, and more.
• Online Quiz: Regardless of your level, here’s a great place to improve your vocabulary.
• Fun Games: A wide directory of English grammar and vocabulary games.
• Classroom Games: ESL teachers can try “Team Spelling”, “The Hot Seat”, “Spin the Coin”, and other fun vocabulary games.
• Crossword Puzzle: Solving crossword puzzles is an excellent way to improve your vocabulary.
• More Crossword Puzzles: Here’s another place to find daily online crossword puzzles.
• Paint by Idioms: Play this game to learn some English idioms.
• Idiom Resources: Many resources on idioms for ESL teachers.
• Similes: Try this exercise to test your knowledge of English similes.
Reading, Writing, & Spelling Games
Reading, writing, and spelling are essential skills for ESL students. It takes time to learn to read, write, and spell, and it may a lifetime to perfect these skills. Nevertheless, it’s good to build a good foundation because it will serve you well in the long run. With reading, writing, and spelling games, you will be surprised to find out how much you can improve.
• Reading: The BBC provides some games to help improve your reading skills.
• Reading & Writing: Here, you will find a number of games and activities on these skills.
• Clifford The Big Red Dog: A collection of interactive storybooks for early readers.
• Castaway: Interesting reading game for intermediate ESL students.
• Writing Exercises: The webpage offers mini writing lessons, and other writing activities.
• Paraphrasing: Try these exercises to learn the art of paraphrasing.
• Photographs: A module on using photographs for writing.
• Spelling Games: The games include “Against the Clock”, “Word Search”, and “Which Witch”.
• Word Wizard: Play this fun game to improve your spelling.
• Spelling Bee: Beginning ESL students will love to play this game.
Speaking, Pronunciation & Listening Activities
A great task for ESL students in the United States is to lose their accent, and adapt to American English. This is true for Asian students from some countries like India, Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia, and Singapore who learn English as a second language. Their spoken English will sound quite different from American English. In this sense, the ESL students have to work on their speaking, pronunciation, and listening. Here are some activities on these ESL skills.
• ESL Games & Activities: A series of fun classroom activities for ESL students.
• Oral Activities: Great resources for ESL teachers.
• Speaking in Academic Contexts: Some exercises on presentation, pronunciation, and more.
• Sounds of English: A number of pronunciation activities for ESL teachers.
• Phonetics Focus: Many games to help you with pronunciation.
• Pronunciation Exercises: Interactive lessons and activities on pronunciation.
• American English: Interactive module on American English pronunciation.
• Listening Lab: Check out these fun listening exercises.
• Listening & Speaking: The PDF outlines some activities for adult ESL learners.
• Listening: A directory of great resources on listening.
