esl english
11 Good Reasons Why Teachers Skip Certain Exercises in the Textbook
Many students sign up for classes at an ESL school and expect to work through their textbooks without missing anything. It could be because they want to make sure they are investing their money wisely or because they trust the textbook more than the teacher. However, most teachers won’t follow the textbook literally, and there are 11 good reasons they don’t do so:
1.Too easy
Textbooks are designed to be used by a range of students with somewhat different levels, strengths, weaknesses, and backgrounds, thus, some exercises may be too easy for a certain class and the teacher may decide to use time more productively in other ways.
2.Too difficult
In the same way, some exercises may be too hard for a specific class, and thus, it is not constructive to complete them at the moment.
3.Complex instructions
Some exercises just take too much time to understand and thus, you are not able to concentrate on what you should really be learning.
4.Repetition
Some exercises are very similar to the current lesson, the homework, or the previous lesson, making them less effective than learning the same thing but in a different way or through a new activity.
5.Incorrect
It may be that the exercise is plain incorrect in the grammar explanation, the information it provides, or the stereotypes in regards to nationality or other groups of people.
6.Not accepted
Maybe previous students have not liked the exercise, thus, the teacher knows it won’t work.
7.Best for homework
Many exercises are better done as homework in order to use class time to reinforce speaking, pronunciation, and grammar theory.
8.Timing
Sometimes, time won’t allow for every exercise to be done if the teacher wants to finish the lesson or course fully.
9.Sticking to the program
The course’s program may differ from the book’s content.
10.Changes
The English information, language, or format may have changed since the textbook was first published.
11.Bad staging
The exercise may be right, but by using it, the teacher could be stopping the next stages of the class from running smoothly.
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The 4 Techniques That Will Perfect Your Reading Skills
Think about it! When you are reading a book, a summary, a paper, or an article in English, most certainly you don’t read every word and understand it in your main language, right?
This is because reading in English is no different from reading in your mother tongue. You know it is not necessary to read and understand all the words to grasp the meaning of what you are reading. The skills you require to read English are exactly the same as the ones you need to read in your native language.
There are four main techniques that will enhance your reading skills no matter the language. Use them and practice them extensively and before you know it, you will be reading in English, or any other language, like a native. Here they are:
1. Skimming
You use skimming to quickly grasp the main idea of the text. What you do is basically run your eyes down the text gathering the important information. This is a great practice when you need to rapidly understand what’s going on at a business meeting, since skimming does not require that you understand every single word that is written. Normally, skimming is a practice that is widely used while reading the newspaper, to get the news fast; magazines, to identify articles that may interest you; or brochures, to grasp the main information quickly.
2. Scanning
You scan a text to find a specific piece of information. The same as when skimming, you must run your eyes down the text to find what specifically interests you. People normally scan schedules and meeting plans, among others, to identify specific information they need. Scanning is also common when watching TV, and train or plane schedules, as well as convention handbooks. While scanning, forget about words or phrases that you don’t get; these don’t matter right away.
3. Broad reading
This aspect of reading is practiced for pleasure and general understanding of the text. You immerse yourself in the extensive reading of long texts as a leisure activity or for professional reasons. Broad reading increases your knowledge on a subject. Business people and students apply this practice when reading books related to their field, interesting novels, or specialized magazines.
4. Thorough reading
This is the concentrated aspect of reading, the one that allows you to understand something in detail. Thorough reading is used in short texts to comprehend very specific information. It requires lots of attention to be able to understand it completely. To grasp every detail, you must understand every single word, phrase, and number, like when reading reports, insurance claims or contracts.
As in any other skill, fast and effective reading is developed with practice. The more you read, the faster and more perceptive you get; words start to become familiar, phrases start to make sense, and you start to feel you are finally mastering the English language, with the help of your ESL program and your determination to make it to the top!
If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.englishlci.com as the original source).
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5 Interesting Tips for What to Do in Your English Club
So, you have started your successful English Club and need some ideas to keep it interesting, dynamic and welcoming? Read on to find 5 tips to make your English Club excel and be a great complement to your ESL lessons:
1. Define a warm-up time
It’s the same as what teachers do. You begin class with a funny conversation or activity. It is the time you establish to wake everyone up and help them focus on what is coming. The activities will depend on your club’s focus, whether it is more academic or social. If you focus on the attendees, think of what will keep them interested and motivated for the activities that will come next. The warm-up should serve as an introduction to the main activity or the reason you’re meeting on that particular day.
2. Organize the meetings
The club can be organized in many ways. You can center your activities on one area, like conversation or reading, or devote each week to a different one, sorting out topics and skills. Each member can plan an activity related to the week’s topic or each one can be in charge of a week’s session. There should always be a meeting leader, who will guide the activities and will have the opportunity to practice his or her leadership and creative skills.
3. Have a back-up plan
In case the leader cannot make it, you must have a back-up plan. The leader should call someone in case he or she cannot attend, and should give instructions as to what to do, but if this doesn’t happen, be prepared! You can have discussion questions prepared, or learn 15 new words from the dictionary and use them in sentences, or play a game of cards, or any other game, in English. For example, you can have a game of Monopoly, Life, or any other board game in English on hand, in case you have a last minute change of plans.
4. Create a suggestion box
Encourage members to leave suggestions every week. It will enrich the meetings and people will feel very comfortable and motivated if they are heard.
5. Plan excursions
So much fun! Once a month is a good parameter. Excursions are a joyful and interesting way to bond. Go watch a movie, play a sport, volunteer, do a back yard sale, have a picnic, go dancing, have dinner together, or visit a tourist attraction. No matter what you do, always speak in English
No matter what it is you do, the important thing is to keep your club’s goal in mind: you are getting together to have a good time AND to put everything you’re learning in your ESL lessons to good use in real life settings.
If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.englishlci.com as the original source.
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Want to Practice Your English? Start an English Club
An English Club is a gathering where ESL students can practice English in a casual atmosphere. Practicing during ESL classes is vital; however, it is not real life. During class, you focus on something specific, like vocabulary or pronunciation, you have papers and books to help you and everything is fresh in your mind. In an English Club, you can practice all the skills in a real life environment. You will have to really speak clearly and listen carefully to understand others. At an English Club, you can make really good friends who will increase your confidence, and you will feel more comfortable speaking the language among people you trust.
Here we offer some tips on how to start a successful and fun English Club:
1. Post a sign-up ad at your school’s bulletin board. Give your email so that the students can contact you and offer interesting ideas. Ask them to write down phone number and email so that you can contact them about time and place for the meetings.
2. Ask for help. Every member should contribute to the club, and you can ask a native English speaker to join the meetings, maybe a teacher, who will find the experience interesting as a curriculum enhancer.
3. Plan an introductory meeting to meet each other and to talk about expectations and ideas. To make it worthy, the meetings should have around 6 to 10 students. These can be organized in many ways, maybe each participant can lead during one week, and you can plan based on topics or skills.
4. Define the rules and routines beforehand so that everyone knows what to expect and how to behave. You should have an ‘English only’ policy, decide whether food and drinks are allowed or not, and what topics and behaviors are off limits.
5. Define the schedule for the meetings. Will you be meeting once a week for about two hours, or more? Think about the best time of day; it may vary every week depending on the place and activity planned. Take breaks during holiday season and invite new people about every three months, but always maintain the club’s identity intact.
6. Define who can attend the English Club. Virtually anyone can be a part of an English Club, it depends on your preference, but if we follow the belief that variety brings richness, you should try to allow all kinds of people with all kinds of experiences in. The club must have members with varied language abilities so that everyone can learn something from each other.
7. Vary the meeting places to make the club even more dynamic and to change the atmosphere. You can meet at school one week and later plan to meet at members’ homes to make it more casual; you can play music, watch a movie and feel at ease. From time to time you can meet at a restaurant or café, to experience a new and challenging environment, or in the outdoors, where you can match your topics to nature characteristics like the weather, kinds of vegetation, types of fauna around, picnics or fun outdoor activities.
An English Club is the perfect complement to your ESL classes, a great way to not only practice your English skills, but also meet new people and hang out with your friends.
If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.englishlci.com as the original source.
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