ALLENGLISH Blog

Tip for Tuesday: Transitions

Debra — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:39:05 +0000

Sometimes the simplest way to improve your writing is overlooked. Have you written sentences that are related? Will your reader be able to tell they are related? How can they tell?

Transitions.

Your readers want information fast, and they don’t really want to guess whether your essay is supposed to be persuasive or an opinion. Make it easy on them by writing transitions.

No Transitions:

Use PaintX to remove paint from your walls and floors. PaintX is the easiest product for removing paint. You don’t need to scrub or use soap and water. PaintX is safe. It doesn’t bother pets.

Transitions of Opinion:

Use PaintX to remove paint from your walls and floors. In my opinion, PaintX is the easiest product for removing paint. For example, you don’t need to scrub or use soap and water. Additionally, PaintX is safe. Therefore, it doesn’t bother pets.

Transitions of Persuasion:

Use PaintX to remove paint from your walls and floors. A consumer product magazine stated that PaintX is the easiest product for removing paint. For instance, you don’t need to scrub or use soap and water. Some say PaintX is not safe. On the contrary, PaintX is safe. With this is mind, it doesn’t bother pets.

Sense and Sentence Ability: Prepositional Phrases Test yourself: Write a sentence that begins with a prepositional...
Tip for Tuesday: Use the News Some ideas on how to use news articles in lessons...
Tip for Tuesday: Talk about the weather Even a small gesture like talking about the weather is...

Tip for Tuesday: Talk about the weather

Debra — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:56:59 +0000

Even a small gesture like talking about the weather is enough to get a conversation going. See this post for some expressions. You could also mention the current weather and add a tag question to get someone’s response…

It’s hot today, isn’t it?

…or ask a direction question:

How do you like all this ____? (heat, snow, rain)

Tip for Tuesday: Comprehension Questions Read the entire question. It might sound obvious, but I’ve...
Tip for Tuesday: Use the News Some ideas on how to use news articles in lessons...

Language & How We Think

Debra — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:40:22 +0000

Linguist and author, Guy Deutscher, in a New York Times article titled Does Your Language Shape How You Think? wrote about new research that reveals our native language’s influence on thoughts:

When your language routinely obliges you to specify certain types of information, it forces you to be attentive to certain details in the world and to certain aspects of experience that speakers of other languages may not be required to think about all the time. And since such habits of speech are cultivated from the earliest age, it is only natural that they can settle into habits of mind that go beyond language itself, affecting your experiences, perceptions, associations, feelings, memories and orientation in the world.

If you have difficulty with a certain concept in English, take some time to research a few ways your own language is shaping your thoughts. I see these problems arise most often when advanced level students revert to translation to convey meaning, but run into a wall when the meaning isn’t clear to the listener.

Maybe you’re having trouble translating. You might be trying to translate a concept that isn’t prominent in the minds of English speakers. Time (verb tenses) and space (prepositions and geographic locations) are common conceptual differences among languages. How are your perceptions similar or different to the native speakers’ perceptions? Is this affecting mutual understanding between you and your listeners?

Speech to Speech Translator Isn’t one of the biggest problems in the world today...
English Ears When you’re learning a new language, situations where you can...
Tuesday’s Tip: Tongue Twisters Tongue twisters are not ideal to use in an ESL...

Connecting in a Bilingual Class

Debra — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 09:37:45 +0000

The content in the video How do you support second-language learners in the classroom highlights some of the more important, and very easy, things that can be done to create an additive bilingual environment.

Sometimes, the easiest thing I can do with my students is ask them to share a word or phrase with me from their language, which I then try to say. Whether they laugh at my most earnest attempts or sympathize with my errors, the result is usually an instant trust, and from there, they will learn.

English Ears When you’re learning a new language, situations where you can...

Mechanical Pencils and Other Inconspicuous Time Theives

Debra — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:00:09 +0000

Observing a nervous young student whose mechanical pencil kept breaking during a test made me think of other ways that seemingly minor interruptions affect our concentration and productivity.

This boy was already nervous because of his impending test. He habitually looked at the clock to see how much time remained to finish his practice paragraph. Not only that…he was also being interrupted…

…by his pencil?

Yes! In fact, he was so nervous that he pressed down so hard while writing that the lead broke 5 times in 20 minutes. Every time it broke, he would stop, click the lead, and glance at the clock. By the time he returned to the assignment, his focus was lost. The interruptions themselves do not take that much time, but regaining concentration does!

Research here and here indicates that he would lose time in resuming his original task. Even more surprisingly, the length of time of an interruption doesn’t correlate to the length of time to refocus. In other words, even small interruptions can lead to big time wasters.

So, parents, think twice when your children do their homework in a noisy crowded room. Consider arranging a quiet study area.

Students, think about and address all the distractions that you have every day.

Remove the clock from your field of vision
Turn off your phone (beeps, buzzes, clicks, and tones are stealing your valuable study time)
Disable pop-up ads on your computer
Write in a notebook and type it later to avoid the temptation of logging onto Facebook or Twitter (at least while studying)

So, remember, it takes longer to refocus after hearing the phone than it does to just hear the phone. Prepare for and minimize the distractions while you study, and you’ll be done with your homework before you know it!

Tips for Studying Alone Click here to listen. A young person in middle school...
When Mnemonic Devices Work (and when they don’t) Test day was approaching, and I still had many lists...

Tip for Tuesday: Use the News

Debra — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 09:36:33 +0000

Some ideas on how to use news articles in lessons are:

reading aloud
contrasting phonemes
listen and repeat
vocabulary development
current events
dictation
information gap stories
finish the stories/making predictions
the beginning of a debate
following up on stories throughout a term

(re-posted, updated content from the original on Nov. 4, 2009)

Puzzling Plurals: News The noun news, like the word information, is singular. It...
Why Brainstorm? Brainstorming is a technique used not only in school, but...

Puzzling Plurals: Stairs

Debra — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 09:07:01 +0000

Upstairs and downstairs have an -s ending, but they actually refer to one location: another floor of the building. If stairs, upstairs, or downstairs is the subject, the verb should agree with a singular noun.

The upstairs has a home theater. (upstairs in this example is the subject – have agrees with upstairs)
Upstairs, there is a home theater. (upstairs in this example refers to the location only – it’s not the subject here)

If the word stair appears first in a compound word, it will not take an -s.

staircase, stairwell

If there is just one stair, call it a step (not a stair). If there is one or a few steps, use the:

up the step(s), down the step(s), up the stairs, down the stairs
These expressions imply movement rather than location.

Puzzling Plurals: More than one Click here to listen Even though more than one implies...
Puzzling Plurals: Quick Tip Click here to listen. A quick way to improve your...
Puzzling Plurals: Here and There The words here and there are not subjects, and therefore...

Main Idea of a Paragraph Video

Debra — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:03:26 +0000

If you’re not sharing these Learning Upgrade videos with your late elementary to middle school students, I recommend doing so. They’re very straightforward and explain the most important concepts in reading comprehension. This one is about the main idea and the overall organization patterns of a paragraph.

Here’s how I use the video:

I send it to a student a couple of days before we meet.
We watch it during our session and talk about the topic.
They have an assignment which is aided through viewing the video again.

The best part is the feedback I’ve heard from students when they watch the video, “Oh, this is cool!”

No related posts.

Activity: Past Simple vs. Past Progressive

Debra — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 09:00:27 +0000

Here’s an activity you can use to practice the difference between the Past Simple and the Past Progressive. Remember: use the past simple if the action happened once in the past; use the past progressive if the action happened over a period of time in the past.

Past Simple and the Past Progressive

This activity is also available in PDF.

Past Simple or Past Progressive? ESL Activity When deciding whether to use the past simple or the...
Now or Later? Activity with the Present Progressive Students learning English tend to use only will or going...
Present Perfect Progressive ESL Activity Although it’s not the most frequently studied verb tenses, the...

Tip for Tuesday: Comprehension Questions

Debra — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 09:42:58 +0000

Read the entire question.

It might sound obvious, but I’ve seen so many kids do this: start reading a question, and suddenly, about half way through reading it, rush to the choices. This technique might result in selecting the wrong answer…

…but it ALWAYS results in guessing. If you don’t read the complete question, you don’t have all the information to answer the question. Without that, you are guessing. So, take the extra couple of seconds to finish the question.

Different Questions – Same Technique Something happened to me during a tutoring session that taught...
Grammatical Accuracy Game: 20 Questions Remember the game 20 Questions? Well, you don’t have to...

Puzzling Plurals: Resident

Debra — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 09:17:31 +0000

The plural of the word resident is residents. Just add an -s. Why is it puzzling? The plural residents sounds like the word residence. If you get confused, this might help:

resident – one person who lives in a place (a resident of Virginia, the resident of this house)
residents – people (2 or more) who live in a place (residents of Virginia, the residents of this house)
residence – the place where one or more people stay or live (a college student’s permanent residence is in Florida, but their current residence is at the university).
residences* – the places where one or more people stay, live, or have lived.

*When you change residence to the plural form, remember to add a syllable /Iz/ when you pronounce it.

Puzzling Plurals: More than one Click here to listen Even though more than one implies...
Puzzling Plurals: News The noun news, like the word information, is singular. It...
Puzzling Plurals: Nouns with No Singular Form There are some nouns in English that are only plural. ...

An all around good tool for English learners

Debra — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 09:33:33 +0000

I have always interpreted this song as it might pertain to students learning English, especially the younger ones.

I am posting this song for those of us who need an uplifting start to one of the last weekends of summer as the new school year looms in the near distance. Sometimes you have a blank page before you, but you have an assignment to complete. Where does your inspiration come from?

Open up the dirty window, feel the rain on your skin…are just a few of the suggestions from Natasha Bedingfield as she explains that this upcoming year or school year is the beginning of whatever you want your life to be.

If you like studying English in non-traditional ways, I recommend going back to the lyrics of the song and listen for the variety of verb tenses presented here. How many can you hear? The song also contains the passive voice, complex sentences, and English phrases that you adopt as your own:

Can’t read my mind
I’m just beginning
Staring at the…
Open up the…
Reaching for…
in the distance
So close…
you can almost…
No one else can …
Only you can…
The rest is…

If you really want to challenge yourself, go back and read the lyrics and count the missing apostrophes!

Have a great weekend!

English Ears When you’re learning a new language, situations where you can...
7 Ways to Improve Your Listening Skills Here are some tips to follow as you work on...
Better Ways to Understand English Speakers Often, students’ first response to hearing a phrase or a...

Future Tense Activity: “will”

Debra — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:17:14 +0000

In my experience, it’s always been easier to teach the future with will after a couple of grueling semesters of drilling irregular past forms and mastering the verb to be with the present participle for the present progressive. The ease of this verb tense is a welcome change.

Learning the future with will is like a vacation! So, as summer comes to an end, and you think about your future classes, here’s an activity to help you practice changing verbs from the present simple tense to the future tense.

Future Tense Activity: will

Now or Later? Activity with the Present Progressive Students learning English tend to use only will or going...
Present Perfect Progressive ESL Activity Although it’s not the most frequently studied verb tenses, the...
Past Simple or Past Progressive? ESL Activity When deciding whether to use the past simple or the...

Tuesday’s Tip: Tongue Twisters

Debra — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 09:33:44 +0000

Tongue twisters are not ideal to use in an ESL class.

Picture yourself trying to communicate in a new language. It can be intimidating speaking with correct grammar or using the right pronunciation of a word (is it sheep or seep, or jeep?). Maybe you’ve been misunderstood or laughed at. That’s not very fun.

Then your teacher hands you a sheet with funny phrases that have only the most difficult sounds in this language. Now, the teacher wants you to say them!!!??

Any research on good teaching practices would advise against creating uncomfortable situations for students, and using tongue twisters in an ESL class qualifies. Not only can they make students distressed, they are linguistically confusing. Hearing the differences in sounds is hard because some sounds that exist in English don’t exist in other languages. Not only that, but it also provides occasions for students to involuntarily recreate errors, solidifying the very sounds they may wish to eventually correct.

Now, I’m not a total fuddy duddy, and have been known to use tongue twisters myself. They’re fun…what can I say? There is, however, a time and a place to appropriately use tongue twisters.

When you have a class who might enjoy the word play, here are a few tongue twister links.

Tip for Tuesday: Use the News Some ideas on how to use news articles in lessons...

Different Questions – Same Technique

Debra — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 18:33:28 +0000

Something happened to me during a tutoring session that taught me a lesson worth sharing. I hope this story helps you, too.

The student is in middle school. She is learning techniques on how to read to learn and to find information using headings and other special text features. I explain the technique with a script that she reads aloud first to internalize the process of thinking through the steps, which was inspired by this Scholastic article.

There are several strategies, called general reading processes, which researchers have discovered readers use every time they read anything. If your students don’t do these things, this is the place to start your think-aloud modeling since these strategies will have the greatest pay-off for them across all reading tasks.

Everything is going well. She answers all the questions correctly. At the end of our session, I say, “Can you see how this will be helpful in school?” She replies, “Yea, but in school, they ask different questions.”

Somehow, the fact that the technique can be applied to all types of questions didn’t sink in right away. I guess whatever I said didn’t help my student connect the activity to a real-life application. There could have been a flaw in my delivery or a simple misunderstanding (as will happen with students, especially ones with a preexisting language barrier).

However the gap in translating the lesson into real world application occurred, the fact that it occurred taught me some lessons of my own:

It’s important to discuss the purpose of an activity (more than once if needed).
“We’re doing this to help you in your academic classes.”
“This technique will help you read a text book more effectively.”
Review the steps to help students retain the information
“Let’s do a few more, and see how it goes.”
Use materials that resemble real-world materials.
“Do you have a text book we can practice with?”
Have the student explain how they will use the technique.
“When I’m reading a chapter in history, I can use this technique to help with the questions at the end of the chapter.”
Get parents involved.
“OK, Mom. You can help, too. Make sure she can do this independently.”

How do you bring lessons from the classroom to real life application?

Tip for Tuesday: Use the News Some ideas on how to use news articles in lessons...
“After all” & Other Transitional Phrases Click here to listen. It seems like “After all” would...
Grammatical Accuracy Game: 20 Questions Remember the game 20 Questions? Well, you don’t have to...

English Ears

Debra — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:32:09 +0000

When you’re learning a new language, situations where you can practice are all around:

joining a conversation group
running errands
going shopping
talking to other parents at the park

However, you don’t always participate in English when you have the opportunity, do you? It is really easy not to listen. Isn’t that why you use earphones? Or maybe you close your English ears and plan your day in your familiar language. Your native language is helpful when trying to understand a new concept. It’s also good for cheering up if you’re homesick.

However, if you intentionally ignore the English around you, you’re closing the part of your mind that actively learns. Then, you miss the easiest opportunities to learn, which don’t even require speaking!

If you don’t believe me, just start paying attention to how often you close your English ears. How many opportunities are you missing per week? Per day? More than one per day is too many.

You can keep your ears open in the car – listening to the radio, news, or music…or while shopping – listening to the people around you. At the grocery store, listen to how the guy in front of you orders his sliced turkey or fillet of fish.

So, why not start now? If opportunity knocks, you’re English ears should hear it!

7 Ways to Improve Your Listening Skills Here are some tips to follow as you work on...
Better Ways to Understand English Speakers Often, students’ first response to hearing a phrase or a...
Outlining: A good model Click here to listen. What you are about to hear...

4th of July Fireworks in Richmond, VA

Debra — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 18:14:46 +0000

The activities are family/child oriented, and there is usually a wide variety of things to do and see. You can show up early for the party, or you can just attend the fireworks display (which is what I usually do).

This is a good list of fireworks locations in Richmond to find a display near you. In case the link breaks:

DOGWOOD DELL: July 4th at 5 p.m. - Byrd Park Carillon area – free.
FIREWORKS AT THE DIAMOND: Fireworks: July 1st, 3rd, and July 4th. Game at 7 p.m., fireworks after. You can watch the fireworks without going to the game.
BRANDERMILL FIREWORKS: July 3rd - Fireworks – Sunday Park at the Swift Creek Mill Reservoir: 9:15 p.m. Free.
THEME PARK FIREWORKS: Kings Dominion – July 3 and July 4. Busch Gardens – July 2 through July 4.
POWHATAN FIREWORKS: Hugenot Fire Department – July 3rd. Gates open at 5 p.m.
CHESTERFIELD FIREWORKS: July 4th – Gates open at 5 p.m., fireworks after dark.
FORT LEE FIREWORKS: July 4 - Gates open at 2 p.m. Fireworks: around 9:35 p.m.
COLONIAL HEIGHTS FIREWORKS: July 4 at 9:15 p.m.
RACETRACK FIREWORKS: July 4th.

For fireworks information near Midlothian, try this link.

Richmond.com also has a detailed list which tells more of what to expect.

No related posts.

Better Ways to Understand English Speakers

Debra — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:57:31 +0000

Often, students’ first response to hearing a phrase or a sentence that they don’t understand is to ask the speaker, “Can you repeat that?” The English learner hopes that by hearing the phrase again, they will understand it. Not only is this technique ineffective (most of the time), it is also usually not the phrase that a native English speaker would use when they can’t understand another English speaker.

Usually the problem of understanding comes from speed, vocabulary knowledge, expressions and idioms knowledge, or missing a key grammar component (such as verb tense, subject, or quantity). This list of phrases identifies the origin of the error, so you can find a more appropriate phrase to use during your next conversation.

Is it a speed problem? If so, say,

“Can you speak a little slower please?”
“Would you mind speaking a little slower please?”
“A little slower, please.”
“Can you repeat that more slowly?”

Is it a loudness problem (a noisy room/party/social situation)? If so, say,

I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you. What did you say?
Can you say that again? I couldn’t hear.
I couldn’t hear what you said.

Is it a phrase problem? If so, say,

What does (___) mean?
Did you say (___)?
I’m not sure I know what (___) means.
Can you explain what a (___) is?

If it’s a key grammar component, consider using who, what, and how many in your request for more information. Put the stress on those question words when you use them:

You went to the mall with who?
Who did you go to the mall with?
You bought a what?
What did you buy?
What was it?
You bought how many pairs of shoes?

7 Ways to Improve Your Listening Skills Here are some tips to follow as you work on...
The Objects of Prepositions Click here to listen. Whether you’re learning English as a...
Puzzling Plurals: Here and There The words here and there are not subjects, and therefore...

Language Learning: What should you do in Stage II?

Debra — Tue, 18 May 2010 12:24:36 +0000

In early stages of English learning, your job is to get the basics of the grammar, learn a few phrases to get by, and pick up some everyday vocabulary. You’re not really expected to say much at first. Just listen and study. However, it’s really tempting to stay in this stage of learning.

Why not? There are so many benefits:

You don’t really have to do much work to listen
Your teachers and classmates are still speaking slowly and clearly
If there’s a word you don’t know, you always have your electronic dictionary to translate

There is a limit, though. Some people stay at this level, and never move up. If you are in the first stage for more than 3-5 months, it’s time to think about moving on to the next stage where you start producing short sentences.

Don’t worry about perfection!

Students want to produce perfect sentences with grammatical accuracy. When you do, you actually make communication worse!

Here’s a tip:

When someone asks what you did this weekend, don’t spend 5 minutes in silence creating the perfect sentence. To really communicate, have a quick, common response so your listener will know you’re engaged. Your only job is to show interest in communicating…and you do this by responding.

Tip for Tuesday: Use the News Some ideas on how to use news articles in lessons...

Puzzling Plurals: Animals

Debra — Mon, 17 May 2010 16:08:51 +0000

When you are referring to animals as food, use a non-count noun.

Example: We are having chicken tonight.

When you are referring to animals as adorable creatures, use a plural noun if there is more than one.

Example: How many chickens does your mom have?

Sheep, deer, and fish are irregular, so don’t add an -s even if there is more than one.

Puzzling Plurals: More than one Click here to listen Even though more than one implies...
Puzzling Plurals: no one, someone, everyone Listen while you read along… The subjects someone, no one,...
Puzzling Plurals: News The noun news, like the word information, is singular. It...