Forum: Teaching ESL 
Jun 1st, 2007, 02:29 am
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Replies: 4
Views: 3,625 |
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Forum: Teaching ESL
Jun 1st, 2007, 02:26 am
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Replies: 23
Views: 19,271  Re: Reading - a great way to improve your English
Hi Jeremy,
Well, I can't help you there. I just arrived here 5 months ago, and am far from any city that would have publishing resources. The market over here seems like it would be very difficult...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
May 28th, 2007, 02:06 am
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Replies: 23
Views: 19,271 Re: Reading - a great way to improve your English
While I certainly believe that reading is a great way to learn a language, I find the cost of readers to be prohibitive. I teach at a college in China and there's no way that we could purchase...
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Forum: English Questions
May 28th, 2007, 01:56 am
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Replies: 8
Views: 4,015 Re: "in a word"
Both of you raise good points. I bet there is something in Chinese that mirrors it, but (off the top of my head) I can't think of what it would be. And you're absolutely right that students don't...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
May 25th, 2007, 02:00 am
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Replies: 6
Views: 3,149 Re: Summer's coming
No summer school for me! To be honest, one of the main reasons I did my MA degree was to get summer vacations.
My girlfriend and I are planning to spend the summer in Qinghai, a mountainous region...
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Forum: English Questions
May 22nd, 2007, 01:04 am
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Replies: 8
Views: 4,015 Re: "in a word"
OK. Thanks again! I'll have to go to my students next week with hat in hand. :)
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Forum: English Questions
May 21st, 2007, 05:43 pm
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Replies: 8
Views: 4,015 Re: "in a word"
Thanks Sue!
What do you think about the inclusion of the word "briefly" in the Cambridge definition? Does that mean that following "in a word" with a complex sentence (like the "software" example")...
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Forum: General Chat
May 21st, 2007, 06:50 am
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Replies: 3
Views: 4,128 Re: Country life
Well, it's very different here in China. My girlfriend and I spend about half of our weekends camping and hiking in the countryside around Zhangjiajie. There are beautiful mountains, traditional...
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Forum: English Questions
May 21st, 2007, 06:43 am
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Replies: 8
Views: 4,015 "in a word"
Here is China, my students use the phrase "in a word" to mean "in conclusion" or "to sum up". And they use it very, very frequently. In my opinion (but not in theirs) it should only be followed by...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
May 19th, 2007, 11:44 pm
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Replies: 5
Views: 3,207 Re: Help
There a good list of minimal pairs here: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/wordscape/wordlist/
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Forum: Teaching ESL
May 19th, 2007, 11:42 pm
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Replies: 26
Views: 13,045 Re: How long do you expect to stay in TESL?
I've been thinking about this a lot. I recently did an MA degree, but I still wouldn't say that I plan on teaching forever. I like teaching, though, and don't have much interest in running an...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
May 19th, 2007, 11:34 pm
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Replies: 12
Views: 3,859 Re: Diversity in English
Interesting point. I wonder if voice will ever replace text as the primarily means of communication via the internet. Even if it doesn't, it will undoubtedly become more widely used than it is now....
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Forum: Teaching ESL
May 12th, 2007, 01:47 am
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Replies: 12
Views: 3,859 Re: Diversity in English
I'm certainly no expert on Chinese dialects, but I'd agree that there are probably a lot fewer now (with improved communication / transportation).
I guess I still expect to see an increase in the...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
May 10th, 2007, 01:29 am
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Replies: 12
Views: 3,859 Re: Diversity in English
I guess what I'm saying is that just because there is a lingua franca (international English) that doesn't mean that local varieties will disappear. Looking at China, there is a definite dominant...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
May 10th, 2007, 01:26 am
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Replies: 2
Views: 4,316 Re: Credible TEFL Programs?
I don't know much about certificate programs, but I can tell you a bit about MA programs. MA programs in the US usually take 2-3 years to complete. There are a bunch of different titles (MA in...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
May 6th, 2007, 01:25 am
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Replies: 12
Views: 3,859 Re: Diversity in English
I'd say more in English, in terms of local variations. At the same time, though, I imagine there will be a pretty standard "international English". But, unfortunately, a lot less diversity in terms...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
May 6th, 2007, 01:23 am
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Replies: 6
Views: 3,990 Re: Pronunciation Lessons at Uni
Well, the connection between pronunciation and comprehension makes me think about how changes in intonation / stress can change meaning. For example, the difference between "that's YOUR pencil?" and...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
May 6th, 2007, 01:16 am
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Replies: 4
Views: 3,689 |
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Forum: Teaching ESL
May 6th, 2007, 01:08 am
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Replies: 12
Views: 4,232 Re: Native Speaker Errors
Good question! I find that after years living in Taiwan and China, there are certain ungrammatical things I say (outside of the classroom, of course) because I know that I am more likely to be...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
Apr 25th, 2007, 07:39 am
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Replies: 5
Views: 6,780 |
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Forum: Teaching ESL
Apr 25th, 2007, 07:37 am
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Replies: 3
Views: 5,345 Re: Anyone doing anything for Earth Day?
They actually went really well! I'm going to put a page up (with materials and pictures) on my website one of these days.
The bike ride was cool. We must have talked to over 500 people. And I'd...
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Forum: Teaching ESL
Apr 25th, 2007, 07:31 am
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Replies: 6
Views: 3,990 Re: Pronunciation Lessons at Uni
A friend of mine taught a 2 week pronunciation course in Japan last summer and had a lot of success having them do a rap as a final project. You can find a recording (along with student lyrics) here:...
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Forum: General Chat
Apr 21st, 2007, 03:20 am
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Replies: 3
Views: 3,933 |
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Forum: ESL Games and Activities
Apr 19th, 2007, 10:52 pm
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Replies: 3
Views: 19,683 Re: English Day
Tea, digestive biscuits and a Red Dwarf DVD.
(Sounds like a good English day to me.)
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Forum: ESL Games and Activities
Apr 19th, 2007, 10:49 pm
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Replies: 2
Views: 13,260 Re: Culture Class
One problem that I've had with culture classes is that I like to look at culture kind of critically. Students here in China don't have a lot of experience with critical thinking, so I sometimes get...
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