ESL Lesson Plan

'Let's eat Grandma!' or, 'Let's eat, Grandma!' Punctuation saves lives!

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:05:48 -0500

Yes, grammar - and punctuation - can completely change whatever it was you intended to say.

'Let's eat Grandma!' or, 'Let's eat, Grandma!', to put it mildly, have quite different meanings. The first sentence use Grandma as the object (both of the sentence - and of the menu) while the second sentences addresses Grandam and invites her to join the eating - not to be eaten. That little comma makes all...

How Do You Learn Best?

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:16:51 -0500

Do you have times of day when you think better and find it easier to learn new things? Do you have places where, for some unknown reason, things just sink into your mind...

And The Winner Is....Oscars 2010

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:11:46 -0500

People around the world seem to love movies. One way or another, most of my students, no matter where they live or what their budget allows, always seem to to know about....

TESOL’s 44th Annual Convention & Exhibit - Boston

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:03:47 -0500

Yes, it's that time of year again - if you can get yourself to Boston later this month.

TESOL’s 44th Annual Convention & Exhibit will be held March 24-27, 2010 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center
in Boston, MA, USA.

No matter what level of learners you work with....

Another Film About Food: FRESH

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:18:50 -0500

Every one of us eats - and some of us are beginning to care more about where our food has been before it reaches us. And many of us are taking steps to learn about or even change how we think about food.

When it comes to learning a language, I like to use something we can all relate to. Food is an ideal subject.

A great class or group project would be to work together to buy, prepare, or even....

Read a Good Book Lately?

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 19:28:05 -0500

I love books. In fact I have more books than anyone should have in any one place.

I give books away, trade them in at book stores, but I seem to have more every time I look around around my house.

My main problem is, I know that the next book has someone's wonderful solution or brilliant insight that I need. And the great thing about book is that you never know...

What Do Teachers Make?

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:32:06 -0500

Ever get frustrated with a teacher?

Ever get frustrated being a teacher?

Just as being student can be frustrating and difficult being a teacher can be worse - or some times wonderful.

Taylor Mali, a former eighth grade teacher has some interesting insights on the frustrating and wonderful world of teaching. You can see some of his thoughts and observations...

Let The Games Begin - Olympics 2010

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:47:51 -0500

The Winter Olympics are upon us again. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is hosting the 2010 Olympics.

In spite of warmer than usual weather, the ancient sports tradition carries on.

The Olympics, of course, originate in Greece. According to legend, the ancient Olympic Games were founded by Heracles (the Roman diety), a son of Zeus. The first Olympic Games for which we still have written records were held in 776 BCE...

Got A Story to Tell? Here's a writing Contest

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:34:01 -0500

It doesn't take long, in a foreign country, for a traveler to encounter (or create) ridiculous, impossible and even life changing events.
Don't forget them - share them!

Yes, share these experiences with friends and family, but don't forget to share your experiences with the world...

Language Lovers and Word Nerds

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:40:46 -0500

If you are intrigued by word histories and the sometimes contradictory usage of common words, do I have a treat for you.

Check out A Way With Words. You can find them at...

English Vagueness

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:36:23 -0500

Every language has its trips and traps. English, for a variety of reasons, seems to have more than its share. Consider, for example, some extremely common words, phrases and areas of miscommunication. When you are at a meal, for example and you say that something is "hot" do you mean hot as in spicy or hot as in...

Anguish Languish - English language

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:34:04 -0500

Yes, I love the English language. This language is like a persistent linguistic weed - it seem to flourish the more you mangle and mess with it. Thanks to the sheer number of words in the language, we can take words far beyond their intended meanings. In fact we can distort perfectly good words and yank them from their contexts to make entirely new stories, songs and...

Words of the Decade

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:16:17 -0500

One of my favorite characteristics of the English language is how we create, mangle, adapt, distort and just plain make up words. Many of these come from popular movies, celebrities, political figures or economic or cultural changes. "Truthiness" for example, was a word that had to happen. It originally came from...

Fictional Languages - Avatar Style

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:41:26 -0500

If you think learning a standard language is difficult, try a fictional language. JRR Tolkien created several in his Lord of the Rings series, we heard Klingon in the Star Trek TV and film series, and now there's Avatar...

Are 90% of Languages Doomed to Die?

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 01:41:36 -0500

The English language (American-style) is my native tongue and I am thankful for many reasons to be born into what has become the world language across businesses, cultures and ethnicities. But sometimes I worry about the damage done to the isolated language groups. Perhaps, just perhaps, we have some nuances of meaning and depth which might be lost forever as the English language barges across the linguistic landscape. As always, John McWhorter has something to say....