Teaching ESL to Adults

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Using CL to Teach Vocabulary
2007-12-22 02:17:00
Craigslist.org is very popular in the area in which I live and teach. In fact, I do all my advertising for new ESL students there (it's free!). You can find anything you want there.For an ESL teacher/tutor in an area in which Craigslist.org is popular, it's also a great resource to teach life skills (how to find a job or an apartment) and especially useful for teaching acronyms and abbreviations and other vocabulary. I stumbled across this fact last week when a student asked me what "420" meant. He was looking for an apartment and found the phrase "420 friendly" in several advertisements. This isn't the sort of thing taught in most ESL classes!In addition to developing lesson plans to deliver in class, ESL teachers and tutors can also ask students to bring back new words or expressions they find in some of the ads. However, you need to be careful that all students have internet access before giving such an assignment.--end--
More About: Vocabulary

Improving ESL Speaking Skills
2007-12-18 03:28:00
One of my advanced ESL students told me today that she attended a professional conference last week. This was the third year of her attending this particular conference. She was very pleased to report to me that this was the first year that she spoke a lot to new people. She told me about the self-confidence she felt about speaking English and she attributed her comfort with English to our sessions.ESL tutoring sessions are often without a specific way to assess student progress. I can often "see" or "hear" progress over several sessions, but it's not so easy for English language learners to notice this progress since it is so gradual. It's wonderful to have an event, such as a conference, for students to notice their progress. It's wonderful for them and it's wonderful for me to hear!--end--
More About: Skills , Speaking

ESL Teachers Using Students' First Language
2007-12-17 06:40:00
Generally, ESL teachers are now trained to speak only English to their ESL students, regardless of the level of the English language learner (this usually requires using TPR for beginners). Since ESL students are from all over the world, this is fairly easy to do since the ESL teacher usually doesn't know all of the languages of his or her students. However, it's not uncommon for an ESL teacher to speak at least one other language at least to some extent.When I have students whose first language is Spanish, I refrain from using my Spanish speaking skills. When a student has trouble expressing himself or herself because he or she does not know a particular word or phrase, then I encourage the student to use other words. And when I use a new word or expression that the student does not know, I also try to explain with other words.Occasionally, I find myself "cheating" and using the Spanish word for a new English vocabulary word, but I do it rarely and only if I feel it's necessary ...
More About: Students , Language , Teachers

ESL Students Taking Notes
2007-12-13 05:26:00
As a private ESL tutor, the majority of my students are advanced English language learners who primarily want to work on their speaking skills. And as a teacher and a human, I like to think that some things I say are noteworthy! So it pleases me when my students take notes about corrections I make or new vocabulary (words, phrases, idioms, etc.) I offer.In fact, although there are all different types of learners (auditory, visual, kinesthetic, etc.), I tend to have a lot of faith in the technique of writing things down to help you remember them in the future, no matter what the student's preferred method of learning. I will occasionally recommend to a student that he or she take notes; not extensive notes, just reminder notes, at least. The majority of students follow my suggestion, but not all students do.I think that it's important to remember that learning really is about the student more than about the teacher. So the compromise I make (with myself) is that I take notes during...
More About: Students , Notes , Taking

Nouns, Adjectives, Adverbs and ESL
2007-12-11 04:19:00
Many of my ESL students tell me that they want to improve their vocabulary. One of the tricks I teach my students is how learning/knowing one word can often lead to two or three other words.For example, if I start with the word "thought" and I know that it is a noun, I can guess that adding "ful" to the end of the word may give me an adjective, "thoughtful." In this case, adding "ful" works to make another word. Adverbs can often be formed by adding "ly" to the end of the adjective, "thoughtfully."Another example is the word "care"." "Careful" and "carefully" follow the same rules as above and form two new words.Of course, there are many exceptions and this doesn't always work. This just one more tidbit to teach ESL students to help increase their vocabulary.--end--

ESL Students During Winter Holidays
2007-12-07 20:35:00
You would think that the ESL tutoring world would slow down in December. At least I used to think so. However, since my first year of private ESL tutoring, I have consistently had many inquiries from new students. I have three appointments with potential students already set up for next week.Of course, it's holiday time and most "working stiffs" usually get a little time off for the winter holidays. The life and schedule of self-employed people is certainly flexible, but there is always the offset of no income.So, just a note for self-employed ESL tutor working in the U.S., December is actually a good month to develop your ESL student base.--end--
More About: Holidays , Winter , Students

ESL Student Cancellation Policy
2007-12-01 04:40:00
As a self-employed ESL tutor, I have a 24-hour notice cancellation policy. I require that all my students either email or call me at least 24 hours in advance if they are going to miss one of our regularly scheduled ESL lessons. If they don't give me the required notice, they are required to pay for the scheduled lesson.The way I enforce this policy is by having ESL students pay a deposit at our first lesson. I hold the deposit until our very last class together, or I use it if a student misses a lesson without giving me notice.In all the years I've been teaching, I think there have only been one or two students who I've had to enforce this policy with. One of my students actually gave very short notice several times and he was aware of what he was doing and paid for the missed classes. I think it was easier for him since his company paid for his lessons. I actually can't remember any other ESL students missing classes without notice who didn't have a really good reason for mis...
More About: Student , Policy

ESL Website Deception?
2007-11-30 06:25:00
I referred to an ESL site yesterday that has games. After trying to figure out the Magic Gopher game, I explored the site a little more. On the front page of www.learnenglish.org.uk, there's a "Test Your Level" section. It tests ESL speakers on grammar and vocabulary, etc.I took a couple of the tests and I know I got everything right (they were simple tests for native English speakers). Interestingly, for every test I took, my result showed that I'm at an "upper intermediate" level. Well, I know that everything was right. They don't let you go back and check your answers; you just have to keep taking more tests to see how you do.I thought it's a bit unfair to test ESL speakers and then give them results that show that they are at a lower level than they truly are. The results page tells you to practice your grammar by looking at the materials on the website. I just think it's not very honest to give you inaccurate results just to get you to look further into their site. Aside f...
More About: Website , Deception

Game on An ESL Site
2007-11-29 03:06:00
I don't know how this is specifically related to teaching English as a Second Language, but it's on an ESL site and it's quite fantastic.If you know how it works, please let me know.Here's the link to an "ESL game."--end--
More About: Site , Game

Teaching ESL During the Holidays
2007-11-25 22:08:00
Things sometimes slow down in the ESL tutoring world during the Thanksgiving holiday. Sometimes I wonder if it's because of the teachers and tutors or because of the ESL students. The American Thanksgiving holiday is not something that's celebrated by many of my ESL adult students. For a few, it's a time to take a four-day weekend and head to Vegas.Although, I do have one student who has a kindergarten-aged child who insists on all the traditional trimmings. Since he's only five or six years old and has only learned about the basics of the trimmings in class, his mom takes certain liberties in preparing the meal. They have a traditional American Thanksgiving with some Chinese flavor.Another thing I've noticed over the last few years of tutoring ESL students privately is that I've traditionally gotten several new students in the month of December. I assumed when I started out that December would be a really slow month. I expected January to be a bigger month, but it's never wo...
More About: Holidays , Teaching , The Holidays

Teaching ESL with a Spanish Surname
2007-11-20 19:48:00
I have a few ESL students whose first language is Spanish . I also happen to have a Spanish last name. I don't put my full name in my ads on craigslist, but I usually do use my last name when signing my first email responding to an inquiry from a potential student. Occasionally, Spanish-speaking students are concerned that I may not be a native English speaker. When they meet me, they discover that I am a native English speaker and we then have a small discussion about how the southwestern part of the United States actually used to belong to Mexico and that there are many, many people in this part of the country whose families have been here for generations.Just as a tip to other ESL tutors doing advertising, if you have a distinctly "ethnic" name, it may be useful to emphasize in your ads that you are a native-English speaker (although, I include this in my ad and people still have questions) and/or initially do not use your last name.--end--
More About: Teaching , Nish

Americans Saying Thank You
2007-11-19 05:15:00
A couple of ESL students with whom I've worked over the years have mentioned to me the fact that Americans say "thank you" a lot. Since I've heard this from English language learners from more than one part of the world, I tend to think that this could be a true generalization about us.I'm reminded about this as I'm watching my all-time favorite reality show, "Amazing Race." Every one of the teams consistently says thank you to the cabbies (taxi cab drivers) and other people who help them.I think that it's true that "thank you" does go a long way in the U.S., as well as "please." So these are two expressions I always be sure to teach the use of to my ESL students. They are useful "survival words."--end--

List of Reduction Sentences for ESL
2007-11-18 03:14:00
"Reduction s" are those reduced forms of words that native English speakers use when speaking. They are a major reason that non-native speakers say that American English is so difficult to understand, or that we talk too fast.I try to help help my students become familiar with common reductions. I have a list I found online called, "WEINSTEIN'S (1982) HIGH-FREQUENCY REDUCED FORMS." Even though it's from 1982, it's still the same way native American English speakers speak. In addition to the list that we go over, I also write some sentences in this "nonsense" language (how American English is really spoken) and ask them to tell me how they would be said in Standard American English. Here's a list of sentences I use for one of my exercises.Yer gonna wanna give ‘er ‘er medicine before ya leave.Didja wanna hava glassa wine with dinner? (this is also useful for teaching the concept of "distancing" by using a past tense for a present situation)I dunno.I hafta go-ta work tomorrow.Wi...
More About: List , Sentences , Sentence

ESL Students and Leaving Voicemails
2007-11-15 00:46:00
I've had a few ESL students who are reluctant to leave voicemails. They think that their English isn't good enough. For some of us who are old enough, we can probably remember back to when it was just plain awkward to leave telephone messages on answering machines. So maybe we can appreciate our students', or other ESL speakers', reluctance to leave voicemails.The only time that I insist that students call me (and possible have to leave a voicemail) is when they are potential new students who I haven't met or who haven't been referred to me. This is just for the sake of safety. It helps me to get a little bit of a feel for the person I may be meeting. I meet my students in a public space, so I have less of a safety issue than someone who meets new students in a private location.This is just one of those safety tips I want to mention for private ESL tutors.--end--
More About: Students , Leaving

Using Upper Case Letters in Emails
2007-11-14 05:42:00
Many of my adult ESL students want to improve their business ESL skills. This includes speaking and writing skills for a specific purpose. Writing effective emails is one of top priorities for most of my students. As I've mentioned before, we often review emails they've written in the past week and make corrections. I don't only look at grammar issues, but just as important, we review the "tone" of the emails.One of the things I rarely have had to mention to my ESL students is how WRITING IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS (OR UPPER CASE LETTERS) is equivalent to shouting or yelling at someone. If you're teaching business ESL for emails, I'd recommend mentioning this to students just in case.--end--
More About: Letters , Case , Emails

ESL 099 on Yahoo Answers
2007-11-12 07:46:00
I got another "Best Answer" on Yahoo ! Answers . The question wasn't too tough, but I guess most things aren't tough when you're familiar with them.The question was, "Does anyone know what does ESL 099 mean?" Written correctly, the question would be, "Does anyone know what ESL 099 means?"My answer was, "Usually, something like 'ESL 099' is the name of an English as a Second Language course at a community college or university (in the U.S.).Depending on the school, a level '099' course is probably one of the beginning level courses for the school. That does not mean that it is a beginning level ESL course (for absolute beginner English Language Learners), but that it is one of the school's courses for ESL students to help bring them up to speed to succeed in other college courses."--end--
More About: Yahoo Answers , Yahoo!

Enjoying ESL Lessons
2007-11-11 03:53:00
One of the really cool things that happens for me (and I think my ESL students) is when we are at the end of a lesson and I start to use language to indicate that the lesson is coming to a close (for example, "Do you have any plans for the weekend?") and my student says, "Are we finished already?"My adult ESL students are often surprised at how quickly our one-and-a-half hour lessons go by. (Here's another teaching opportunity for expressions like, "Time flies when you're having fun.") It makes me feel good that my students enjoy our lessons together and that they go by so quickly for us both. These are also the lesson I really enjoy.--end--
More About: Lessons

New Intermediate Student and Grammar
2007-11-09 01:17:00
I'm excited to have a new adult ESL student who is at an intermediate level. Most of my students lately have been very advanced ESL students. While this is enjoyable in a lot of ways, having more to teach is even more exciting.With my advanced ESL students, mostly we practice conversation skills and sometimes pronunciation. Only occasionally do we need to review grammar points.With most intermediate ESL students, grammar review is also a part of our lessons, although the review is more extensive than for advanced students. I actually like grammar and enjoy teaching it. I look forward to refreshing my English grammar teaching skills.--end--
More About: Student , Intermediate , Grammar , Intermedi

Using Craigslist to Advertise for ESL Students
2007-11-05 03:45:00
As a private ESL tutor, I continue to find my students through posting free advertisements on craigslist.org. My postings have allowed me to earn a living teaching ESL to adults for quite a while now.The effectiveness of craigslist.org depends on the area of the U.S. you are in, or even the area of the world--as it is now available in many cities around the world. I'm fortunate to live and work in an area where a huge percentage of the population, including English language learners, knows about craigslist.org.I would love hear about other options ESL tutors use to find students. Please send me any ideas you have and I will be sure to post them so that they may be useful to other tutors.--end--
More About: Students , Craigslist , Advertise , Vert

ESL and Tone of Voice
2007-11-04 02:40:00
One of the things I bring up with my adult ESL students is "tone." The words that we actually use when we communicate with someone in person only make up a small percentage of what we communicate. Body language and the tone of voice we use can be much more revealing. In fact, I believe I've read that body language actually makes up something like 90% of what we communicate (I think the percentage is smaller, but it is something near this).Our tone can also convey what we truly mean. If I scream, "I'll do it," to someone who asks a favor, the listener probably will think that I am angry and don't really want to do "it." Or "I'll do it," in the proper tone can convey a true willingness to do something.The same goes for questions. The tone of a question can convey many different feelings or thoughts. For example, if I yell, "Who did this?," probably no one will want to "take credit." If I say it in a very appreciative tone, the doer will probably get the impression that the thing h...
More About: Voice , Tone

My Favorite ESL Books
2007-11-03 01:06:00
If you're a new ESL teacher or tutor, you may be wondering about the best ESL reference books and ESL textbooks out there. If you work for a school, hopefully they will have a library of books you can use for your students and ESL reference books for yourself. The type of ESL library you can expect will often depend on the budget of the school and whether it's a private language school or a public school.If you're a private ESL tutor, then you will have to build your own library. I've added to my ESL blog photos and links to the ESL books I highly recommend and have in my personal library.If you click on the photos of the books, you will go over to Amazon. They have used copies of most of these books. I highly recommend used copies and hitting your local used bookstores to save money. However, although I've found some really great reference books, I've never found the ESL books I've listed here at used bookstores. I think that once an ESL teacher gets a hold of these books, h...
More About: Books , Favorite

Correct Spelling and ESL Students
2007-11-02 03:15:00
During private ESL lessons with my adult students, I usually take any opportunity I can to provide "real life" learning. I think I've already written about helping my students to write checks properly and safely.Another thing that often comes up when my students write checks for ESL tutoring fees is the spelling of the word "forty." More than half of my ESL students over the years have written "fourty." That makes perfect sense, since "four" is spelled with a "u."This unnecessary change is just part of the English language.Today, as I deposited some checks at my bank, I found it interesting that the bank teller (a native-born American and native English speaker) commented that whenever she sees "forty" she immediately thinks to herself that the checkwriter doesn't know how to spell. Then her next thought reminds her that it is correctly spelled without a "u."Just another way that English is not logical, even to native English speakers.--end--
More About: Students , Spelling , Spell , Rect

Halloween Jokes for ESL Students
2007-10-31 21:11:00
I have a list of silly Halloween jokes. Since I teach ESL to adults, this list of Halloween jokes is not usually an integral part of any of my lessons. However, if we have time during our lesson, and if the moment seems right, I pull out the list.The great thing about some jokes is that they provide an opportunity to introduce new vocabulary, idioms and slang. For example, one of the jokes is:Q. Why shouldn't witches lose their tempers?A. Because they will fly off the handle.Here's an opportunity to teach my ESL students two new ways to talk about someone becoming very angry:(1) to lose one's temper,(2) to fly off the handleAnother joke:Q. What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?A. Frostbite.This allowed me to teach two new vocabulary words to most of my ESL students: (1) frost, and (2) frostbite.Humor is one of the more difficult things for English language learners to understand. So much of our humor is based on cultural references and wordplay. It's a great wa...
More About: Jokes , Students , Allo

The True Difference Between "Lay" and "Lie"
2007-10-31 02:38:00
A couple of days ago, I wrote Lay, Lie, ESL and TV Shows. "DC" took the time to post a wonderful comment explaining the difference between "lay" and "lie." While this may be lost on me, I wanted to post it for my ESL readers, and others, so that it may be of assistance to you. Here 'tis."Dogs lay? People lie? But that's not right. Dogs lie (for example, on a bed or on the ground) just as people lie (on a bed or on the ground). I'm not an ESL teacher, but my professional life is based on a good working knowledge of the language. (I'm a writer, editor and publisher.)When is "lay" appropriate? It's correct to say a person lays a book on a table. But after he does that, then the book is *lying* on the table. Same with a dog. A dog could lay a book on the table. Then the book lies on the table.When a dog or a person is asleep in his bed, he is lying in bed. When a book is reclining on a shelf, the book is lying on the shelf. (When a person, or even a dog, places a book on the shelf,...
More About: True , Difference , Diff

Just Another Ethnocentric American
2007-10-30 07:11:00
I was helping to prepare one of my ESL students for the Cambridge Advanced English exam today. We were practicing for the speaking part. One of my American ethnocentricities came out when I commented about things being more safe in the world prior to 9/11.She reminded me of all the wars and other difficulties occurring in the world pre-9/11. She commented that she hears the idea that the world is now less safe from many Americans. One of the great things I get from working with ESL students from around the world is a reminder that even though I think my ideas are not "typically American," I am still a product of my culture and its influences.--end--

Lay, Lie, ESL and TV Shows
2007-10-29 04:06:00
I was watching a rerun of "Cold Case" last night. One of the suspects in a murder was an ESL teacher. He taught adults. At the beginning of the episode, we saw the detectives interview the ESL teacher/suspect in his classroom. On the chalkboard was written "Dogs lay. People lie." The TV audience may or may not have caught this background scene. I did.Later in the episode, another suspect corrected himself in an interrogation when he said a sentence that included these words. This tipped off the detectives that there was a connection between this ESL speaker and the ESL teacher.As it turned out, both the ESL teacher and his student were accomplices to the murder. It was actually the ESL teacher who turned out to be the mastermind behind the murder, and ultimately the murderer. The ESL student was supposed to do the actual dirty work, but the teacher committed the murder before the student could get around to it.So it was interesting to me that there was actually an ESL teacher as one...

"Small Talks" and ESL Learners
2007-10-28 02:02:00
One of the most common errors I hear my adult ESL students make is referring to small talk as "small talks," with an "s". Small talk never takes an "s" at the end. It's already a plural (compound) noun.This is probably the easiest thing that I can offer my ESL students about small talk. I can also offer some basic topics for small talk (weather, traffic, food, sports, etc.). For more advanced ESL learners, the topic can get a little more complicated.After English language learners master the simple small talk topics, they often want to go beyond the basics. I feel that this is often where cultural differences and even political correctness can come into play.Thanks to my previous lengthy work and life experiences, helping students to maneuver the topic of small talk through these more complex pathways is one of the things that I feel I'm able to offer my students.--end--

Defining Words for ESL Students
2007-10-27 04:28:00
A good English-only dictionary is essential for intermediate to advanced ESL students. I highly recommend Longman Advanced American Dictionaryto all my students.However, during my ESL conversation lessons, it's not always convenient for my student or me to look up a word he or she doesn't know. Also, dictionaries don't always give the feeling or "flavor" of the word. While the definition may be correct and, sort of, work, it may not be the absolute best word. This is where a native-English speaking teacher can help to communicate the "feeling" of the word.The other day, one of my students was using the word "territory" to describe a district or area of a large nearby city. I was able to communicate primarily through intonation and body language how "territory" is usually used by native speakers for a lot bigger area than the one he was talking about.Although not entirely universal, body language and intonation can be very helpful in teaching vocabulary definitions.--end--
More About: Students , Words

Teaching Small Talk to ESL Students
2007-10-26 04:03:00
I've mentioned before that some of my advanced ESL students have asked me about making "small talk." Most want to learn about it so that they can use it at work, especially. Every now and then, I take it upon myself to bring up the issue to my students even if they haven't asked me about it.I always greet my students with the typical, "How are you?" Every now and then, I get a student who gives a very long answer. Well, as most Americans (and others) know, this question is really a form of greeting. The typical response should be something like, "Fine, thank you. And you?"This doesn't necessarily mean that Americans are insincere. It's just that the initial "How are you?" should be thought of more as a traditional greeting, rather then a real request for information, or even genuine concern. We may follow up with a more genuine question like, "How are you, really?" if we are closer to the person.If my ESL students aren't aware of this social skill, then they may turn off others...
More About: Students , Teaching , Talk , Small

200th Posting to "Teaching ESL to Adults"
2007-10-25 05:32:00
This is my 200th post to my blog about teaching ESL to adults. An average of over 250 visitors see my blog every day. I don't know if you actually read everything, but it's really great to know that some people are finding it useful. I've received a lot of great emails from ESL students and teachers alike.If you would like to have your own blog about ESL, EFL, or any other topic, you can always start your own blog for free. As I've written before, sometimes blogger isn't the best free "blog-ware" out there because of the "Next blog" option. You can also check out Wordpress to start a free blog.In any case, I'll continue to write about my experiences teaching ESL to adults. For more ESL grammar tips, you can see my regular website at Teaching ESL to Adults.--end--