Forum: General Chat 
Nov 17th, 2009, 04:20 am
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Replies: 23
Views: 18,079  Re: How to Better yourself as a teacher?
Thanks, Kisito!
I definitely agree about how great the Internet is. I mean, there's a ton out here. But, I've reached a point where I'm willing to start paying money for a book that organizes a...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
Nov 17th, 2009, 04:18 am
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Replies: 12
Views: 6,835 Re: Frustrated Adult Learner
Thanks, Alawton. . .
This is what I tell msot of my students. Practice, practice, practice. But this guy--and he's probably my most serious student--is a real case of 'I just don't have the time.'...
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Forum: General Chat
Nov 14th, 2009, 07:52 am
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Replies: 23
Views: 18,079 Re: How to Better yourself as a teacher?
I like the idea of learning more:
1) unusual activities for students who don't like to talk
2) ways to combine students at different levels
3) explanation of the 'unusual' grammar questions (when do...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
Nov 14th, 2009, 07:21 am
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Replies: 12
Views: 6,835 Frustrated Adult Learner
Hello, all!
I'm coming to you again with a bit of difficulty I don't really know how to address. I have a student who's been 'with me' for a long time. . . and now his English is quite good in a...
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Forum: English Questions
Nov 14th, 2009, 07:16 am
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Replies: 3
Views: 6,104 Re: Present perfect
Hey, my advice is this: you can use the past simple almost always. At least, in American English. . . I teach a lot of Germans, and they want to use the present perfect way too often.
But, why do...
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Forum: General Chat
Nov 14th, 2009, 07:14 am
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Replies: 23
Views: 18,079 Re: How to Better yourself as a teacher?
@teaching made easy: You make it sound easy (it's in your name, eh?) but two questions. First, do you have a source you recommend for 'practical articles'? And second, how often do you really go...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
Nov 14th, 2009, 07:12 am
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Replies: 5
Views: 8,812 Re: One to One Adult 3 hour Private lessons
Maybe this is too late, but my advice is to just start talking. . . start really simple with "where are you from" and "what's your name" and make notes to yourself about the mistakes you hear him...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
Oct 31st, 2009, 04:43 pm
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Replies: 14
Views: 8,664 Re: Teaching teenagers
Hey,
I agree with the folks who say you can't be their friend. Sounds mean, because I really hated school and thought I'd have loved to have a teacher who was genuinely trying to help me. . . but,...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
Oct 31st, 2009, 04:38 pm
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Replies: 3
Views: 5,880 Re: Teaching prepositions
This is an empty post. I don't have any help to offer.
This is something I struggle with, too. Every so often, my students and I will brainstorm phrasal verbs and I'll try to 'fill in the gaps'...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
Oct 24th, 2009, 05:05 am
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Replies: 22
Views: 33,556 |
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Forum: Teaching ESL
Oct 18th, 2009, 03:54 am
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Replies: 8
Views: 3,605 Re: Going Independent. . . Or not?
Chris:
I've thought about teaching online, and gone as far as creating an EduFire account and teaching a private student over Skype after he moved away. . . But I don't like EduFire (again, they...
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Forum: English Questions
Oct 15th, 2009, 09:05 am
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Replies: 2
Views: 4,556 Re: Reported Speech
Wow!! Thanks for the great answer. Now I hope that a student will ask me someday so that I can use the word 'backshift' in class. :-)
I think I'll start posting more grammar questions here. ...
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Forum: English Questions
Oct 14th, 2009, 02:22 pm
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Replies: 2
Views: 4,556 Reported Speech
I like to think that I come here mainly to answer questions, but, well. . . I've stumped myself. I understand reported speech normally (I'm really a native speaker), but I had a question about using...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
Oct 12th, 2009, 08:22 am
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Replies: 8
Views: 3,605 Re: Going Independent. . . Or not?
Wow. . . That's a lot of good advice and resources. I'll be back after I have time to check it out and I'll have more questions. I'll throw this into the discussion though: because I'm earning okay...
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Forum: English Questions
Oct 11th, 2009, 10:16 am
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Replies: 3
Views: 6,262 Re: Trash talk
Normally, I use "Trash Talk" to mean 'abusive' talk during a game, that's not meant to be taken seriously. If I'm playing a game, I'll make fun of an opponents mistakes, but in a friendly way. . ....
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Forum: Teaching ESL
Oct 11th, 2009, 10:11 am
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Replies: 8
Views: 3,605 Re: Going Independent. . . Or not?
Wow. . . You did a bit of fast research on me. Yes, I live in Dresden, Germany. And, more or less, for good. (My wife also lives here. . . and I don't think I could do ESL in the States. And I...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
Oct 9th, 2009, 11:20 am
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Replies: 8
Views: 3,605 Going Independent. . . Or not?
I don't want to start a thread of let's-complain-about-our-jobs, but, well. . . I'm not crazy about the atmosphere at the language school where I work. And, I keep toying with the idea of just...
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Forum: English Questions
Oct 6th, 2009, 12:27 pm
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Replies: 1
Views: 2,915 Re: Answers of Uncertainty
You forgot one of my favorites: "Beats me."
And I don't know if "Search me" counts as good and easy.
That's all I can think of without getting into more. . . 'advanced' lines like "What do I look...
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Forum: English Questions
Oct 6th, 2009, 12:25 pm
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Replies: 1
Views: 2,917 Re: also / as well as
Hmm. You've got me thinking.
"I speak German as well as English."
"I speak English, and also German."
To my mind--and this is off-the-proverbial-cuff--the only difference I see is the emphasis. ...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
Oct 2nd, 2009, 04:17 am
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Replies: 1
Views: 3,175 Speaking and Books and Self-Improvement
Hey, all. . .
I just got into the book "How to Teach Speaking" and I have to admit that it's re-excited me about my job and about my chances to do it even better.
Now, I want to know if you all...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
Oct 2nd, 2009, 04:15 am
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Replies: 6
Views: 16,612 Re: Ideas for 'my home town'
Don't forget maybe planning a tour of their hometown. Maybe students from a city city in . . . I don't know, Timbuktu, are coming to visit for a week. What are the things that they 'have to' see,...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
Oct 2nd, 2009, 04:14 am
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Replies: 3
Views: 4,156 Re: Ideas for a mid-term
Wow. First, let me say that sucks. I hate doing stuff like that. Grading is the thing I like least about the class. If they're adults, I'd say ask them what they think is fair. . . they might...
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Forum: General Chat
Aug 9th, 2009, 09:07 am
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Replies: 12
Views: 7,239 Re: The Next Lingua Franca
Neil: You illustrate pretty well a point that I think will work against Esperato, eventually, it's not how much work you have to do to learn it, it's what you can do with the language once you know...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
Aug 9th, 2009, 07:27 am
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Replies: 4
Views: 3,627 Re: Ideas for Book Content, please.
I don't know how to say this, but I guess that's the book author's problem. My advice is to cover different 'types' of students, and how to interact with them. I think that's my biggest secret as...
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Forum: General Chat
Aug 9th, 2009, 12:12 am
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Replies: 12
Views: 7,239 Re: The Next Lingua Franca
I dunno about Esperanto. A while back, I wrote a long entry before my internet connection got all hinky (that's not a word I teach students--I'm afraid they'd spend half an hour discussing the...
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