Where This EFL Teaching and Learning Blog is Read : The Final Top Ten Countries

Here is a Countdown of the Final Top Ten Countries by Number of Readers

6. Spain
Some of my post-graduate studies and research were done in Barcelona, so I’m not too surprised that there is a distinctive readership from there. EFL programs, the vast majority of which also follow the Common European Framework standard, are of very high quality too. Madrid and Barcelona lead a list of 29 cities reporting readers from Spain. Other cities include Pamplona, Leon, Malaga, Cordoba, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Coslada, Hopitalet de Llobrigat, Alicante and Seville.

5. Colombia
Since I live and teach EFL in Colombia, there’s no surprise that a relatively large number of readers are from here. In my Santiago de Cali University classes, both under-graduate and post-graduate, I promote reading my blog and articles online at other sites, such as ESLbase as well. Represented thus far are Cali, Bogota, Pereira, Cartagena, Bucaramanga, Manizales and Medellin.

4. Turkey
The high number of readers from Turkey, home of the Topkapi Dagger (pictured above) was somewhat of a surprise. EFL programs at all levels are held in high esteem there according to peers with whom I’ve had contact. Without a doubt, I’ll have to visit Turkey and Istanbul – and my former classmates Kees and Shebnem. Other of the twenty cities reporting readers from Turkey include Ankara, Samsun, Adana, Bursa, Icel, Canakkele, Gebze, Trabzon, Izmir and Izmit... We'd love to hear from you.

3. South Korea
A relatively high number of readers from South Korea however, took me completely by surprise. Some of my articles and published work has been translated into Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese and Spanish, but so far none exists in Korean that I know of. Perhaps a reader or two from Seoul, Kwanqui, Taejon, Wonju, Songnam, Anyang, Masan or Cheongqui in South Korea would care to enlighten me?

2. United Kingdom
No surprise either, as the UK now also boasts a heavy non-English-speaking immigrant status from Eastern Europe, Africa and South America. EFL programs, obviously featuring British English elements, the vast majority of which follow the Common European Framework standard, are of very high quality. Comments, questions and topic suggestions from EFL professionals based in the UK are also highly encouraged.

1. United States of America
No surprise to me actually, with the huge number of immigrants annually from non-English speaking countries, ESL is now a vast industry in the USA. Still in its fledgling stages when I started teaching ESL nearly two decades ago, the growth and need for on-going research, investigation and forums for information and expression are continually on the rise. Comments, questions and topic suggestions from EFL professionals based in the USA are cheerfully encouraged. So far 45 states have checked in.

Questions, Ideas and Comments from Readers Always Welcome

Your questions, ideas and comments are always welcome, so please feel free to post comment or e-mil me with a question or topic of interest. The blog is now moderated to block spam, malicious and obscene content, but all constructive comments which reflect reader viewpoints and opinions are posted and made available for all. Suggestions for relevant websites, blogs and ELT products are also welcomed from all readers.


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 100 countries. Get your FREE E-book,"If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.

English as a Foreign Language: Reading is FUN-Damental

English as a Foreign Language Teachers and Learners:
Did you know that today, Wednesday, April 23, 2008 is a national day for books and reading? Some places also call it “Language Day” or give tribute to England’s William Shakespeare and Spain’s Miguel Cervantes. Both writers, while born in different years, reputedly died on this same day in the year 1616.

In conjunction with a day for honoring, or at least remembering, two of literature’s most auspicious contributors, I thought I’d take the opportunity to divulge some recent statistics on reading published in Colombia. Some of them I found to be quite appalling. What is it like in the country where YOU live and teach?

Reading In Colombia
In a study done in 2005, Colombians read an average of only 1.5 (one point five) books per year! When polled as to why so few, technology and the internet were primarily cited as reasons most never cracked open a book. Television also bore a brunt of the blame for non-readers.

Back in the year 2000 however, the average number of books read was “up” to 2.4 (two point four) books per year in Colombia. This is still far below anything I read about before. Incredulous, I polled hundreds of my EFL learners and fellow ELT teachers.

“How many books did you have to read during your college or university years? I asked.

For me in the USA, most college majors required somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 or more books to be read and / or referenced during a four-year sojourn. Many Colombian colleagues and students cited approximately 20 – that’s right, twenty, books to be read during a five-year undergraduate program!

A Five-Year Periodic Study
Here are some more interesting statistics from the “Study of Reading Habits, Library Attendance Book Consumption in Colombia” (2005) which is conducted every five years. The next scheduled study is set for the year 2010.

22% of Colombians say they have NO books in their home in contrast with

4.1% of Mexicans who say they have NO books in their home

7.7% of Colombians said they have more than 100 books at home in contrast with

24.6% of Mexicans who said that they have more than 100 books at home

41% of Colombians older than 12 prefer reading books

26% prefer reading magazines and

32% prefer to read newspapers and other periodicals

79.7% of children and youths said that they read despite of the accessibility of technology and television

Colombian Cities Hosting Special Celebrations
There are 27 Colombian cities and municipalities reportedly hosting celebrations and special events today or during this week. These include the following as reported in “El Tiempo” newspaper, April 20, 2008.

The cities are: Armenia, Rio Hacha, Barranquilla, Buenaventura, Bogota, Bucaramanga, Ipiales, Leticia, Cali, San Andres,Cartagena, Santa Marta, Cucuta, Sincelejo, Ibagué, Valledupar, Manizales, Florencia, Medellín, Girardot, Neiva, Monteria, Pereira, Villavicencio, Popayán, Tunja and Pasto.

If your area has any recognition of this day why not encourage your EFL learners to participate. If not, then why not prepare some activities for your English language learners?
English language teachers and Parents: If YOU don’t read, then your learners and children won’t see the value in developing this habit and skill. You need to set the example as well as helping them to develop reading for pleasure and reading comprehension skills .

And me? I read ten non-academic books over the end-of-the-year holiday break last December to January. But then, I like to read.

By the way, how many books do YOU read each year?


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 80 countries. Get your FREE E-books,"If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.

A Truly Romantic Tip on Learning a Foreign Language

Meet Nick Morley

Foreign language learning veteran Nick Morley from the UK, now lives and teaches English in Bangkok, Thailand after a several-year stint in South Vietnam. With degrees of fluency in Vietnamese, English and now Thai, he briefly comments,

“What has worked for me is meeting a girl who doesn't speak much English and seeing a lot of her, which of course means I have to pick up some language to keep things going.”

That sounds like a winning strategy that worked successfully for me too.

Key Point: Talking on a personal level with the locals, especially those with limited or no English language speaking skills, is an excellent way to ramp your new foreign language skills up to the next levels.

This way you can have dozens, scores, yea – even hundreds of “foreign language teachers” of your new language all ready, willing, able and even eager in their own way, to help you with and teach you, their mother tongue. So nearly everyone you meet can become your foreign language “teacher”.

And actually, it’s not too far off from the way you learned your first language.
No matter which foreign language you might wish to tackle, these “front line trenches” tips can be useful tools in your English or other foreign language learning arsenal.


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on entering or advancing in the fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language send for his no-cost pdf Ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know”, by sending an e-mail with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

A Fearless Fellow Polyglot Ex-pat Gives Tips on Learning a Foreign Language

When it comes to foreign language learning, be it English or any one of the other 6912 spoken languages in the world, we could all use any help we can get. I invited several native English speakers now living and working abroad; to share their tips and experiences in picking up a foreign lingo once you’ve been planted on foreign soil. Here are some segments from their extensive comments excerpted from my e-book, “You CAN Learn a Foreign Language: Tested Techniques Anyone Can Use to Learn ANY Foreign Language”.

Meet Lindsay Clanfield

Canadian Lindsay Clanfield now residing in the south of Spain says, “I speak English, French, Spanish and now a little German.”

“When I was learning Spanish, one of the most useful things that helped me gain fluency was learning "little" words that helped fill pauses or give me time to think while sounding more Spanish. In Mexico, these were words like "este" and "pues" which could conveniently be stretched out too ("pueeeeesss"). In Spain I've used "bueno" quite a lot."

"I've since learned that these words are called discourse markers.”


He clarifies the term discourse markers by adding, “In English, I suppose the most useful discourse marker is "OK", but things like "right" and "well" can also perform a similar function.”

Lindsay also believes that “…one of the successes of learning a foreign language is patience and letting go of perfectionism. My advances in language have been largely due to practice without panicking if everything I was saying was 100% correct or not.”

He notes that “correction, delivered in the right way and at the right time”, is definitely helpful, but cautions, “I don't think I would have progressed as much as I have if I made a point of not communicating unless I thought it was perfect.”

Key Point: Don’t worry about being “perfect”, improvement comes with practice not perfectionism.

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on entering or advancing in the fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language send for his no-cost pdf Ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know”, by sending an e-mail with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com