Teaching English as a Foreign Language with Social Responsibility

Teaching English as a Foreign Language

Are you conserving and recycling water? As EFL, ESL or foreign language teaching professionals we ultimately have a responsibility to our learners, our adopted communities and ourselves as a form of social responsibility. We can quite easily, quickly and responsibly incorporate global, regional and local social issues into our class sessions to provide our language learners with an outlet for their English as a foreign language or other foreign language communicative skills. Pollution, crime, the environment, global warming and terrorism are all available topics of concern regionally and locally worldwide. Take water conservation for example.

It’s Raining But No One’s complaining

It’s raining this morning but no one’s complaining. Why? It’s because our city, Cali, is running out of water. Oh, officials aren’t really completely up in arms yet, neither are the people, however, the signs are all unmistakably there. Water outages occur each week. Water pressure is low and at times what comes out of your tap at home isn’t even fit to water the plants with. Not only is the water “unpleasant” overall, it’s discolored, smells bad and contains sediment I’m not sure I even want to have identified. A couple or so years ago, city water service was interrupted when not one but two – count ’em – two dead bodies were discovered in the city’s water service reservoir. We won’t go into that at this time though.

But back to the rain, folks. Usually the rainy season here is what most people consider to be the Winter, the months of December, January and February. During that time we’ll have moderate to heavy rainfall almost daily, mainly at night. During those months conventional wisdom causes you to constantly carry a collapsible umbrella or risk a sudden drenching at virtually any hour of the day or night. December 2009, January and February of 2010 though were very different. We go practically no rain at all for weeks on end. Gardens withered, ornamental shrubs turned brown or just plain dried up. The grass was gone for all intent and purposes. This is a tropical climate you see, and the weather is warm to hot year round. No rain, no water – a problem for everybody. So when the rains finally came this month, no one complained.

Thousands of Gallons of Water Being Wasted

Walking down the street, I consciously noticed the thousands of gallons of water being wasted. Rain ran in torrents from rooftops. It dribbled in droves from balconies and porches. It flooded gutters and pooled in small ponds where storm drains were clogged with debris. Rain ran in rivers down culverts to nowhere. What a waste, I thought. Just think, if only half or a third of the businesses, schools and institutions and private homes channeled their rain runoff into storage containers, there would hardly be any “water shortage” in this city. The same is quite likely true of many cities worldwide as well.

An Accidental Water Conservation Discovery

It was sort of by accident we truly discovered the value of water conservation and recycling. When we put a plastic barrel under a downspout to collect the rainwater for watering the plants in the yard, it was such a help we soon added a second large covered container in the back. This collected water was used to wash clothes, flush the toilets and do general house cleaning. At first I was absolutely stunned at the quantity of water used to wash, then rinse (twice) a load of clothes. We started collecting the last rinse water from the washing machine to use for cleaning, flushing toilets and mopping. As a matter of fact, the rinse water even already had a little soap still in it contributing even more to our savings. Two more large rain water collection containers were added beneath downspouts in the back of the house, mostly used as “utility” water. Our water and sewer bill plummeted by nearly 70%. Now who in the world is going to complain about that?

The water company, that’s who.

Why is Your Water Usage So Low?

A water company service truck arrived one afternoon without notice.

“Why has your water usage suddenly gotten so low?”

They wondered, then asked – and not all that politely either. After showing the two men our rain water collection, recycling and conservation measures, they nodded in agreement that we weren’t doing anything illegal, confirming that the water meter had not been “tampered with” and reluctantly congratulated us on our efforts. Naturally, I related the whole experience to my English as a foreign language learners who soon spread the word. They continue to comment in class on changes that they and their families have made – or not, and what the outcomes have been. Most are realizing some substantial savings which often get funneled into beer and aguardiente consumption. But then that’s another story.

And speaking of stories, what’s yours? Are you conserving and recycling water?

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 135 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.

The Bilingual English Teacher's Family - Left Out and Neglected?

Can Your Family Members Speak Another Language?

As yet another summer vacation season closes with the passing of the Labor Day holiday weekend, I'm again prodded by a segment of the speech President Barak Obama gave during his campaign. As English as a foreign language teachers or foreign language teaching professionals, we need to be even more conscious of the bilingualism - or lack thereof, of our own families. Too often I meet seemingly "passionate" English as a foreign language teachers at seminars and conferences whose own family members cannot even say a basic greeting in English.

Oh, they say they'd like to be able to speak English, so what happened?

Remember as teachers, we shouldn't neglect our family members. If there are so many advantages and benefits to speaking a foreign language, then why don't we make more of an effort to pass along those same benefits and advantages to our loved ones?

"Oh, my husband / wife / children don't respond well to my efforts to "teach" them", you say?

"Poppycock!"

They simply represent a type of foreign language learner with perhaps a different type of motivation. What if they were paying learners in one of your classes? Ah, I'll bet we'd see the other shoe drop then! Especially so if your job or your pride were on the line. Which, by the way, it should be.

At least, if truly need be, you can put in a class or with another teacher so they can avail themselves of the option of speaking a foreign tongue. After all, when you travel who do you travel with, your classroom learners or your family? Don't you think they'd benefit from being able to enjoy a trip to, say, Mexico, Ecuador or Panama, with some Spanish under their belt? I don't allways want to charge around Quito or Acapulco with my wife (whom I taught English to BEFORE I married her, by the way) while she shops. Although it might be one form of safeguard, come to think of it.

Then too, one of my daughters is learning Spanish at the university. No, I'm not teaching her, but I'll be delighted to hone and polish her Spanish skills with a summer, semester or two abroad. The beach in Cancun is an excellent Spanish language classroom. Then follow it up with more total immersion as you wend your way through the delights and intricacies of dealing with everyday life in a foreign language. Hey, it worked for me in learning French and Spanish during different decades. It worked for my wife too when tackling English along with me and my cattle prod. Undoubtedly, it'll work for you and your family too when combined with additional methodologies.

Think about it: are YOU an English teacher whose family can't speak any English? Are you a Spanish, French, or other foreign language teacher whose family is still typically "mono-lingual"? Do you think that just might reflect negatively on you? If you're such a good teacher, why can't you teach them? So, what are you and they, going to do about it?

In case you missed President Barak Obama's speech I referred to earlier, here it is.



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.

Are Some Certifications Overrated?

Hello, My Name is Larry ...

Let’s take Scott Ginsberg’s axiom that “Certifications are Overrated.” If we delve a bit more into this concept we find some basis for his rationale. He continues by postulating the following concepts which are well worth considering.


“A Master’s degree doesn’t mean you’ve mastered anything”, says Scott.

Do you think this is true? I certainly do. You can obtain a Master degree in many fields like Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Mathematics or even Business from a great any universities without having to actually practice the field professionally. Sure, in teaching EFL you may well have “teaching practice” of some sort, but the type, duration and quality of that teaching practice can vary widely from one institution to another. That’s even if there’s a requirement for it at all in the first place.

“You want to master something? Try DOING it.”

We’ve all heard the old axiom, “practice makes perfect”. Indeed, in some areas of human endeavor it’s the only way to develop. Think about musicians, for example. What’s more important; how much they practice their instrument or the number and kinds of degrees they may have? The more you do something, the more you practice a skill – any skill, the better you become at it. Notice that I didn’t say the more you study something. Yes, an education as a basis for any field of endeavor is important, but it is not and should not be the do all, be all and end all of anything. If you really want to master something, try doing it regularly and extensively over a substantial period of time.

You want to master something? Try READING five hundred books about it.

Ah yes, knowledge is indeed power. Say you want to learn to write well, even professionally. One of the first things you’ll need to develop is a facility with words. One great way to accomplish this is by reading. It’s true when they say “all writers read, but all readers don’t write”. Read stacks of books about writing all manner of prose and poetry and you’ll come away with more than a solid starting basis to practice your developing craft with knowledge and skill. You’ll learn to apply practical wisdom to your writing skills development. After reading 500 books about writing you won’t be a writer but you will know about writing. A writer writes. Period.

You want to master something? Try INTERVIEWING people who’ve already done it.

There’s an ancient Chinese proverb which states, “To know the road ahead, ask those who are returning”. Who better to describe the joys, twists, turns and pitfalls of what lies ahead than those who have gone before you in some way? The act of interviewing people who have already done what it is that you want to do can be crucial in preparing you for what lies ahead in your future. They say that, “forewarned is forearmed”. Use the advice and suggestions of those with experience to help blaze the way for your success.

You want to master something? Try FAILING at it a few times first.

Now failure, while an undesirable most of the time, is not always a bad thing. That is if you take the time to pull back from and learn from that failure. That is to say, to fail forward as the idea goes. If you truly learn from your failures and mistakes, you can grow and benefit from them. By using those failures and mistakes as stepping stones to improvement, you can achieve more and greater results in a shorter and lesser amount of time and experience. So don’t view failure as a negative, look for the lessons that you can extract from it – and grow wiser.

You want to master something? Try PRACTICING it every single day.

As we said before, when practicing anything, a skill, an activity, a habit, you will improve because of continually repeating that action. Your brain will begin to internalize each and every small aspect involved to “smooth out” the process both physically and mentally for you. Did you know that you don’t even have to physically practice the action to improve either? No, I didn’t just contradict myself. Let me illustrate: Say you want to improve your basketball free-throw shooting, your public speaking, your Salsa dancing or even your learning to speak Quechua. You can and should physically practice regularly, but you can also improve if you “practice” in your mind.

That is, use the power of visualization to beguile your mental faculties into processing the skills, motions, movements and other aspects of whatever you wish to improve in. Use your physical practice to help you in forming the mental images of what you’re doing. Close your eyes anywhere (not while driving on the Interstate, please) and picture yourself performing the action or skill you wish to improve in over and over and over again every opportunity that you get in addition to actual physical practice.

Do You REALLY Need to Go Back to School?


So as Scott says, you should finally ask yourself, “Do you really need to go back to school?” or can you apply the principles we’ve just discussed? So are “Certifications” truly overrated in many cases? I think by now you just might agree with me that perhaps they are.


Portions excerpted from “11 Ways to Become Brilliant”
Scott Ginsberg, Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
That Guy with the Nametag scott@hellomynameisscott.com


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 135 countries worldwide. Get your FREE, pdf format report on CD or via e-mail, "If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

Teaching English as a foreign language: A Way to Help Eliminate Stereotypes

The Stereotyped American in English Language Learning

What do your EFL learners think off when they hear the term “American”.
Unless you’re an American, in all probability many images that will come to mind will not be positive ones. Other images, like the recent election of Barack Obama as America’s first Black President will be the opposite.
During an introductory class in American History, an American instructor wanted to illustrate what stereotypes are and the prejudices that Swedes and other nationalities have about the United States. So first, her Swedish students were asked to, during one minute, write down what they though about when they heard “The U.S”. A lot of people thought of fast food, Bush, Starbucks, CSI, FBI, NRA, fat people, and according to their teacher, Swedes also think Americans have ugly hairstyles. This according to a blog post “The Stereotyped American” by The Norrlander on her blog.

What is a Stereotype?

Webster’s New World Dictionary defines stereotype as, “a fixed or conventional notion or conception, as of a person, group, idea, etc. Held by a number of people and allowing for no individuality; critical judgement of people”. In other words, it’s when you pre-judge people based solely on their nationality, race, religion, language, sex or other extraneous factors.

Concerning American stereotypes, it cuts both ways. Americans have stereotypes of many different language and ethnic or religious groups. Can you imagine the American stereotypes of Muslims, Arabs, Africans, Mexicans and Latin Americans, Russians, Scandinavians, East Indians, Eastern Europeans and the Chinese? Trust me, you don't want to know.

Not all Americans are bound by stereotypes, of course. But far too many are and it's distasteful either way. The phrase "Ugly American" is based in part on real behavior and real actions of real Americans. These “stereotypes” simply do not represent all of us. Do your learners watch “The Simpsons”, “Weed” or even “CSI”? Not just television, but Hollywood and its movies play a dramatic role in fostering some highly unwelcomed stereotypes among English as a foreign language learners. What stereotypes are fostered by these and numerous other television programs broadcast worldwide?

“We see all kinds of “crazy” things from America on TV here (in Sweden), so that is obviously an important factor of how we see Americans. Also, we don’t really like Bush here, and I think his politics also have made us distrust America”, comments The Norrlander.

In an added comment on stereotyped Americans Joyce said, “Do you think the Swedes have a bad impression of Americans? I guess I would blame the media for that. I bet some countries think that we all ride horses, have gun battles in the streets and fight Indians.” While Americans, of course, no longer all ride horses, there are, unfortunately, still “gun battles in the streets” if you believe American television.

Ask Your English as a Foreign Language Learners

Try this out on your English as a foreign language learners. Ask them what thoughts and images come to mind when they hear the term “Americans” or “The USA”. Perhaps you’ll be more than a bit surprised at their responses. Then, if YOU are an American or at least have an intimately detailed knowledge of the United States, it’s history and culture, your work will be cut out for you. You are then charged with the responsibility of altering perceived stereotypes with factual input and information. As the Norrlander comments again, “It’s quite intersting actually to think about how you view other people.”

After all I say, a great part of foreign language learning is the culture, isn’t it? So get to it then, and be sure to have some fun with it too.


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 125 countries worldwide. Get your FREE, pdf format report on CD or via e-mail, "Creative, Dynamic Ways to Motivate and Teach English as a Foreign Language to Diverse Groups of Reluctant Learners" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

Teaching English Grammar: Who That or Which?

Teaching English Grammar

When the Daily Writing Tips blog posted “Should THAT Be Allowed to Stand In for WHO?” on the use of the relative pronoun “that” instead of “who” and left the question open as to what the call on usage was, I decided to try to help shed some light on this frequently-taught, but oft-misused English grammar theme. Not only do EFL and English as a Second language learners, ESL, have problems with this on ocassion, but writers in English as well.
In teaching English as a foreign language, EFL, this English grammar theme comes up in my classes several times a year, so I make it a point to elaborate on it each semester. Generally, here’s what “the rules of English grammar” dictate on this.

The Relative Pronouns in English Grammar

There are a number of actively-used relative pronouns, but due to the number of them we will not go into the full expanse of them here. We’ll hold our focus at this time to the use of the three relative pronouns: who, that, and which to keep things fairly simple.

Basically, we can use

WHO for a person or personalization

THAT for a person, object or animal

WHICH for an object or animal

Who - The relative pronoun “who” can be used for a person or for a personalization when combining two ideas in seperate sentences into one compound sentence using a defining relative clause. (A defining relative clause provides for two ideas in a sentence.) However, the relative pronoun “that” can also be used in this case. Consider this example. First, two simple sentences, then a relative clause using “who” or “that” will be used to combine the two into one sentence.

The Pink Panther is a cartoon character. He almost never speaks.

The Pink Panther is a cartoon character who almost never speaks.
The Pink Panther is a cartoon character that almost never speaks.

Both sentences are absolutely correct in English grammar.

That – The relative pronoun “that” can be used for a person, a personalization OR an object or animal. Consider this example.

A computer is a machine. It can process data very quickly.

A computer is a machine that can process data very quickly
A computer is a machine which can process data very quickly

Again, both sentences are absolutely correct in English grammar.

Which – The relative pronoun “which” can be used for an object or animal. Again, let’s consider a brief example of this in usage.

A tiger is a wild animal. It is also extremely dangerous.

A tiger is a wild animal which is also extremely dangerous.
A tiger is a wild animal that is also extremely dangerous.

In this instance too, both sentences are absolutely correct in English grammar. You can use the relative pronouns which or that without distinction.

Finally, if a compound or complex sentence is created in which three or more ideas are expressed, this is referred to as a non-defining relative clause. In the interest of not confusing the subject any further, we will not go into that here at this time. Almost certainly, you can check with any intermediate to advanced level grammar text to delve further into the intricacies of this.

Hopefully, I’ve been able to shed some more light on the use of the relative pronouns who, that or which. Should any reader of Daily Writing Tips or my Teaching English as a Foreign Language blog have further questions or need a more in-depth view into the topic, please feel free to e-mail me at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com.


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 125 countries worldwide. Get your FREE, pdf format report on CD or via e-mail, "Creative, Dynamic Ways to Motivate and Teach English as a Foreign Language to Diverse Groups of Reluctant Learners" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

How Many Useful Words in English Do You Know That Begin With “X”?

How Many Useful Words Do You Know That Begin With “X”?


What, no dictionary? Tsk, tsk! No matter though, we’ll press on. At a recent book fair, I asked an EFL “learner”,

“How many words can you name with “M”?

This was in response to his bragging that his English was “so good”. He stumbled badly, but couldn’t come up with even ten vocabulary when pressed, and “M” is hardly a difficult letter. Frustrated, he then shot back at me,

“How many English words can you come up with that begin with “X”?

An “X” is a very difficult letter in English in fact. Nonetheless I whipped off a string of X-words for him. He and his entourage quietly slunk away. So, how many could YOU have named?

To help broaden your lexical insight a bit, let’s go through a short string of useful vocabulary in English that does indeed begin with “X”.

“Are there really ANY?” you might ask.

Of course there are, oh ye of little faith. Just feast your mind on this luscious latitude of lexical learning:

Xanadu – a beautiful, mythical place

Xeno-currency – foreign currency circulating or in use in outside its country

Xenogamy – transfer of pollen from one plant to another

Xenon – a colorless, odorless, highly unreactive gaseous element; atomic element no. 54

Xenophobe – a person who is fearful of strangers or foreigners

Xerox – photocopying trademark, process of creating a photocopy

x-mas – informal abbreviation for Christmas

x-rated – media version containing explicit sex

x-ray – a high-energy photo with a wavelength of from .05 angstroms to 100 angstroms

xylene – flammable hydrocarbon contained in wood and coal tar

xylophone – a musical percussion instrument consisting of two rows of mounted wooden or metal bars of graduating length that produce different tones

xyster – a surgical instrument used for scraping bones


A Quick, Dynamic Vocabulary Game

Why not try out a quick vocabulary game with your English as a foreign language learners?
One mine seem to like is to give members of two (or more) teams from ten seconds to one minute to name five or ten words starting with a letter of the alphabet you choose. For example, you have thirty seconds to name or write down as many words as you can that begin with the letter “Q”. No peeking now!

Be honest: how many did you get?


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 125 countries worldwide. Get your FREE, pdf format report on CD or via e-mail, "Creative, Dynamic Ways to Motivate and Teach English as a Foreign Language to Diverse Groups of Reluctant Learners" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

How to Learn Chinese in 6 Months – Reader Comment

How to Learn Chinese in 6 Months – Reader Comment

For the benefit of the readers of this blog, I’m posting a poignant comment sent in as a response to the post on learning Chinese in 6 months. It helps to provide a additional perspective on foreign language learning of Chinese:

Truett Black said...

I've studied and taught Mandarin for more than 20 years. I am a Chinese to English translator and interpreter and have done business in greater China for the past fifteen years. I live in Taiwan and Mandarin is my daily language of commerce.

I can say, with absolute certainty, that a native English speaker could achieve only marginal fluency in Mandarin in 6 months, but nothing more. You may be able to hold a very simple conversation, but you will not be able to do anything really useful with the language (e.g. conduct a business meeting, make a telephone call) until you've studied it and used it on a daily basis for about a year.

There are several problems with learning Mandarin to communicate in Mandarin fluently (e.g. grammar, tones, writing). All can be overcome, but not in six months.

If an executive wants to learn some basic Mandarin prior to coming overseas, I'm all for it, but he won't make much progress until he/she is actually living among Chinese speakers.

Sent in on October 18, 2008 at 11:41 AM

More on the difficulties and cultural aspects of learning the Chinese Lingua Franca are available at:
http://thelinguafranca.wordpress.com/

How the Global Recession is Affecting English as a Foreign Language Teachers

EFL Teachers, Have You Been Living in a Cave?

Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past couple of months, you are well aware of the recent severe fluctuations in world economic markets. Undoubtedly, this will ultimately affect us all in one way or another. This includes us as teachers of English as a foreign language. This is especially true for those who may be living and teaching English abroad as they continue to watch the value of their local-currency salaries incessantly plummet earthward like a falling Icarus with his melting wings. Others, like a mourning Daedalus, stand helplessly by, watching as potentially catastrophic events unfold all around us.

World Countries Affected

With even large corporations experiencing heavy financial losses, mid-size companies rapidly down-sizing and some major banks going bankrupt, economic shakeouts are an inevitable event. Stronger currencies like the Yen, British Pound, the US Dollar and the Euro, among other currencies, will be weakened and perhaps even be slightly devalued. In weaker economies based on currencies like the peso, the Baht, etc. may well see their standings against stronger currencies diminish greatly. The crisis may be positive or negative for you depending on your particular country and situation. See “Economic Troubles – Effect on EFL”.

Likely Repercussions to be Expected

These events are highly likely to generate repercussions and a variety of “trickle down” effects such as:

• Cuts in company staff training budgets
• Layoffs of employees
• Reduction or elimination of smaller, low-budget departments
• An increase in out-sourcing of services
• Consolidation of financial, banking and other related services

How English Language Teachers Can Prepare

This news in general is mixed, both good and bad for teachers of English as a foreign language. With an increase in out-sourcing will come a plethora of entrepreneurial opportunities for private contracts in providing still-essential business services such as teaching, training and tutoring, English included, to now cash-strapped companies looking for ways to maintain quality, remain competitive and still stay afloat financially. Staff training budgets likely will see cuts, but the need for English will continue to exist. This represents a continual need for skilled, knowledgeable English as a foreign language professionals with well-honed business and entrepreneurial skills.

A More Detailed Look into These EFL Teaching Related Events

For a more detailed, on-going look into these English as a foreign language teaching related events is available online for EFL teachers at the ESL Daily website post, “Economic Woes and the EFL Community: The Concern – Part 1". This is generally a good site for world news events relating to the teaching of English as a foreign language and is recommended.


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 125 countries worldwide. Get your FREE, pdf format report on CD or via e-mail, "Can You REALLY Learn a Foreign Language While You Sleep?" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

Teaching English as a Foreign Language: Is a Course Book Really All You Need?

Adapting Course Book Materials in ELT

Commercially available course books: Most ESL and EFL programs use a commercially available course book. This however, is truly not the “end-all” solution for providing effective EFL learning materials. Since the vast majority of course books, of marketing necessity, need to be general enough to be useful across large regions of the world, there is a need to adapt specific content for our particular groups of learners. Learner first languages vary, cultures vary, idioms and expressions vary, grammatical elements and connected speech aspects vary. There certainly is no “one size fits all” course book.

A Valuable Didactic Base

While most well-produced course books do in fact provide a needed essential didactic base for ongoing instruction in EFL (or foreign language learning), the English language teacher would do well to have an arsenal of activities and adapted EFL materials in their repertoire. A virtual myriad of possibilities exist, but I have found a number of the following exercise and activity types to be consistently useful.

English as a Foreign Language Didactic Exercise Types

These can be readily adapted from course books to provide for the specific needs of your EFL or other foreign language learners.

• COGNITIVE PAIRS – more commonly known as matching when two or more columns are related by the learner


• CLOZE EXERCISE – fill in the blanks with missing words in numerically even blanks set into the text


• FILL in the BLANKS – fill in the missing words selected for a particular grammatical aspect or part of speech


• WORD or LETTER UNSCRAMBLE – re-order letters to form a word or re-order words to form a sentence or other grammatical element


• RE-ORDERING a SEQUENCE – re-order words or phrases to form meaningful language elements


• TRUE or FALSE – decide if a phrase or sentence is correct


• GIVE a DESCRIPTION – verbally detail an object, scene or reference


• EXPOSITORY WRITING – express an opinion, tell an anecdote or story, present or respond to an argument


• COMPLETE the PHRASE or SENTENCE –complete a missing segment of a phrase or sentence


• PROBLEM-SOLVING – express a solution to a problem or scenario


• ERROR CORRECTION – find mistakes in a phrase, sentence or paragraph, then write, select or provide the proper form or information


• COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS – answer posed questions in a way which demonstrates knowledge of a theme or topic in a reading selection


• WRITE the QUESTION – a “right-brained” activity designed to exploit mechanisms of abstract thinking


• COMPLETE a CHART or GRAPH – change textual information into a graphic form without altering the original meaning


• MAKE a COMPARISON - demonstrate differences between two or more items, situations, etc.


• SELECT an ITEM FROM a GROUP – choose which word or phrase is alien to a group of words or phrases and explain your choice in rational or abstract terms


• RE-WRITE or RE-STATE – paraphrase a phrase, expression or statement using an alternative lexical set


• GIVE an OPINION – argue for or against a presented position or statement supplying necessary proofs, evidences and justifications to support your position


• DRAMATIZATION – enact a situation or scenario in a way which demonstrates the ability to manipulate language and / or grammatical structures


• COMBINE EXERCISE TYPES – two or more of the previous activity / exercise types can be combined for increased complexity, realism or language skill level demonstration


Elements EFL Activity Types

In the next part of this article post series we’ll go into further detail on the elements of these exercise and activity types. How they each function and with which types of language learners specifically, will be considered as well as incorporating adapted course book material into a course book lesson plan to enrich the learning experience.

See you then.


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 125 countries worldwide. Get your FREE, pdf format report on CD or via e-mail, "Can You REALLY Learn a Foreign Language While You Sleep?" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

Motivate Reluctant EFL Learners Using These Five Critical Approaches

Teaching English to Difficult Groups

Eventually it happens. You are assigned a certifiable “group from Hell”. The students are unmotivated, unruly, unresponsive, inattentive, lazy, don’t have (and don’t want) English language course books, attend your English language classes sporadically (or often, not at all). The EFL teacher (this means YOU) is virtually ignored, homework is “forgotten” more often than it is done. Hey, and just forget about “class participation” – unless you include throwing things at you as class participation. Yet, you still have the responsibility to “teach” the group. There’s even some expectation on the part of the school administration and hopeful parents, of these students actually learning some English.

But how?

You cringe at the very thought of walking into a “class” with “them”. Why you’d rather face a pride of lions or a pack of ravenous timber wolves, you think to yourself.

But wait, there’s hope.

Five Critical Approaches

Anytime a notorious pack of hyenas shows up in my schedule calling itself an “English class”, I don’t fret – okay, well maybe a little at first – I pull the “fantastic five” out of my bag of tricks, then, “let the games begin”. Here are my five applied didactic approaches:

• Theory of Dual Psychology

This theory, also known as “Split Brain Theory” indicates the existence of separate right and left brain dominant tendencies with insight, 3D, art, colors, imagination and music being situated primarily in the right brain hemisphere. Number skills, reasoning, written and spoken language are seated in the brain’s left hemisphere. Determining a learner’s dominant brain hemisphere can aid in providing a unique “learning pathway” into their mental capacities, helping both the teacher and the learner.

• Providing an Enriched Learning Environment (M. Diamond, 1960s)

University of California – Berkeley’s Prof. Marion Diamond demonstrated during the 1960s that the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for higher nerve functions, increases under the influence of an enriched learning environment, just as an impoverished environment decreases the size of the brain.

• Applied Multiple Intelligences Theory (H. Gardner, 1983)

Since 1983, Harvard University’s Prof. Howard Gardner has re-set educational boundaries with his theory of now nine specialized ”intelligences” inherent within each of us. The degrees of development of each of these intelligences varies from one person to another creating a unique individual. Once an individual learner’s intelligences or preferences are determined, they can be taught virtually any theme in a highly successful manner.

• Using Hermann’s Brain Dominance Model (N. Hermann – pictured above)

Ned Hermann’s Brain Dominance model classifies personality strengths and weaknesses into cerebral and limbic, then sub-divides into four color-coded categories (blue - theorist, yellow-innovator, green-organizer and red-humanistic) which combine to create a unique personality in each person.

• Identification and Use of Learner-Preferred Activities (D. Lazear)

As a kind of “offshoot” of the Multiple Intelligences, David Lazear expounds on the application of learner-preferred activities to allow leach person to learn in ways which are most “agreeable” to them, thus improving overall learning success.

A Wildly Diverse Group

Using these five approaches, singly or in combination, even the most wildly diverse EFL group can be “tamed”, motivated and actually taught, saving the sanity of even the most inexperienced teachers. But what exactly is each of these approaches? How can you effectively combine and apply these approaches? What materials and activities are effective in motivating a difficult group of EFL or foreign language students?

We’ll continue with a close examination of these approaches and detailing some useful techniques in upcoming parts of this article post series.

See you then.


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 125 countries worldwide. Get your FREE, pdf format report on CD or via e-mail, "Can You REALLY Learn a Foreign Language While You Sleep?" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

Top 10 Language Blogs from Lexiophiles

Top 10 Language Blogs

From Lexiophiles here is a list of the Top 10 language and education blogs currently on the web.

1. The English Blog:

Blog covering both old and new Internet resources for learners and teachers of English. Not only reviews and presentations, but also advice on how to get the most out of it.

2. English Experts:

Blog on studying English as a second language online for Portuguese speakers.

3. Listen to English:

Podcast and blog for learners of English. Topics include current events, items of interest and cultural quirks.

4. E|FL 2.0:

Blog with information about learning English as a foreign language in today’s online 2.0 environment. Includes tools, reviews and articles.

5. Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…:

Reviews and comments on various websites to help teach and learn ELL, ESL, & EFL.

6. Polish Blog:

Blog on the Polish language and learning it. The blog includes tips & tricks, answering readers questions and looking at different learning tools.

7. Mission to Learn:

A blog on how to be more successful in finding and benefiting from learning experiences - online and off.

8. Teach42:

Education and Technology. Looking at different tools to use and how to use them, by Steve Dembo.

9. Cuaderno Intercultural:

Blog which collects and organizes information, resources, advice, news, and everything that can be useful to intercultural teaching and foreign students.

10. Language Geek:

Tips and tricks on learning languages and language education. Views and reviews on helpful websites as well as articles on study techniques.

Feel free to check out some of these different blogs for yourself. I found most of them to be quite interesting and informative. Have fun!


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 125 countries worldwide. Get your FREE, pdf format report on CD or via e-mail, "Can You REALLY Learn a Foreign Language While You Sleep?" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

The Top Five Most Spoken Languages in the World

Most Spoken Languages

According to the Lexiophiles website, there are currently over 6,912 languages in the world, spoken by more than 6.6 billion people.

Here is a list of the five most spoken languages, with their ranking, and the actual number of people who speak it as a first language…

These figures represent approximate population numbers, complied by various agencies, and gathered through several sources, and, as most data of the sort, vary greatly from one estimate to another.

Rank Language Native speakers
1 Chinese 1,210,000,000
2 Hindi 487,000,000
3 Spanish 358,000,000
4 English 341,000,000
5 Arabic 320,000,000

Chinese is the most spoken language in the world, with more than 1.2 billion native speakers, mainly in China, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore. This includes both Mandarin and Cantonese. In addition, 178 million people speak Chinese as a second language.

Hindi is the second most spoken language, mainly in India and Fiji. However, it is estimated that over 900 million people have a significant knowledge of the language.

Spanish comes third, with native speakers, in South America: Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, Peru, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Panama, Belize, and also Spain, Andorra, Gibraltar, and the United States. According to the latest estimates, over 100 million people also speak it as a second language.

English, as a first language, is spoken by 341 million people. This comprises the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, Bermuda, and a few other countries. English is the most widely spoken second language, with over 870 million people using it worldwide.

Arabic is spoken in most of the Middle East, as well as parts of Africa: Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Iraq, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, Jordan, Mauritania, Palestinian Territories, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, and Somalia.

For a listing of the ten most spoken languages, you can visit the Lexophiles website at: http://www.lexiophiles.com/most-spoken-languages

NOTE: The entire series is available ONLY by e-mailing Prof. Lynch at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com/ with “Sleep Learning” in the e-mail title. Regretfully, when my current supply of copies of this limited, controversial, eye-opening report are exhausted, the report will go out of print.

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 125 countries worldwide. Get your FREE, pdf format report on CD or via e-mail, "Can You REALLY Learn a Foreign Language While You Sleep?" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

The Headless Horseman Rides Again

English Language Learning in October

Every year during the month of October and at times into early November, I show my English as a Foreign Language learners the Disney animated version of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. The video serves several purposes both didactic and non-didactic. It continues to be popular with the students regardless of their age, major or occupation.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Most of you are probably familiar with Washington Irving’s classic American short story, originally penned in 1819-1820, based on a German folktale. A transient schoolmaster, Icabod Crane, arrives in the tiny colonial burg of Sleepy Hollow situated near Tarrytown, in Westchester County of New York state. As he integrates into the local society, he falls for a wealthy farmer’s daughter, Katrina Van Tassel. The superstitious pedagogue battles a local rival for the fair maid’s favors. On the night of October 31st during festivities at the Van Tassel estate ghost stories told by the guests bring out the worst of Icabod’s fears. One story in particular, that of a Headless Horseman who rides one night each year in search of a new head, terrifies the schoolmaster beyond all else. The hapless schoolteacher later encounters the legendary Headless Horseman and … Well, if you don’t know the rest of the story it’s worth a read.


Setting the stage

The full-color, animated feature runs about 30 minutes, so it is short enough to fit well into a 90-minute class session. I prepare a two-page worksheet to help the students follow the story and extract key information as they watch. To set the stage overall we talk about legends in Colombia which may include:

• The Three Crosses (Las Tres Cruces)
• Chupacabra (like a “Boogeyman”)
• El Duende (similar to a Leprechaun)
• Pata Sola (like a one-legged “Bigfoot”)


Are You Superstitious?

After watching the story and working through the task sheet, we check answers and responses. We talk about their likes and dislikes which may be similar to those seen in the story. I also ask about their superstitions and reactions to situations like:

• Breaking a mirror
• A black cat or black butterfly approaching them
• Using a broom to ward off bad luck
• Walking under a ladder

The activity, in general, is useful for English language levels from beginner to upper intermediate and beyond. It serves to illustrate some aspects of history, culture and customs in the USA associated with the fall of the year.


The Worksheet is Also Available

If you have access to this particular video and would like to have a copy of the worksheet I use, e-mail your request to me at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com and Ill be glad to send you one right away.

Although I’m not a great proponent of using whole movies for their own sake in the EFL classroom, I do favor using short, 5 - 8 minute or so short video clips on occasion. Audio visuals like videos do aid in lowering the affective filter of the students and can greatly promote learning when used judiciously. This 30-minute animated film is one of but a rare few of the exceptions that I use.

By the way, are YOU superstitious?


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 125 countries worldwide. Get your FREE, pdf format report on CD or via e-mail, "Can You REALLY Learn a Foreign Language While You Sleep?" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

How to Make Yourself and Your English Language Learners Smarter

Make Yourself Smarter

It is now commonly accepted that collectively, our brain works by utilizing billions of neural inter-connections along an almost infinite variety of pathways to manage our intellectual capacities. The more inter-connections we have, the better or more efficiently our brains perform functions like solving problems or developing creative thought. Scientists know, but can’t explain exactly how the process works (yet), but if you study mathematics, your musical ability improves. If you read extensively your ability to develop new physical skills or artistic abilities is augmented. This being so, we can therefore literally make ourselves “smarter” by increasing the quantities of inter-connections in our brain.

Improving Mental Ability

But how exactly do we go about improving our mental ability? By strengthening one or more areas of our brain which are lesser developed. If you’re an avid reader, study art. If you love all things musical, increment your nature studies. Are you an athlete? Increase your music appreciation and other areas of intellectual prowess will follow. It may sound strange and illogical, but it works. Here are six of the nine strongest “intelligences” and how they influence personality, character and ability. Note how each one can be strengthened and expanded using simple activities practiced on a regular basis.


1. Verbal - Linguistic Intelligence

People whose brains are highly developed in this area are avid readers, like to write and do crosswords. They are also successful language learners. To expand your skills in this intelligence, do crosswords, word finds and other word games and puzzles. Delve into poetry or write essays and articles. (Now there's an idea) Try some verbal - linguistic types of activities online at:

Puzzle Maker website www.puzzlemaker.com

Hot Potatoes website for creating puzzles
http://web.uvis.ca/hrd/halfbaked/


2. Visual - Spatial Intelligence

If you love flashy colors, are an artist who paints, draws, creates or crafts, then your brain is highly - developed in this area. If you're not, then learn to draw, cartoon or do jigsaw puzzles and you'll increment stimulation to this part of your brain. Visit these websites for more info and to try your hand at some visual - spatial activities:

Crosswords Kit home page http://www.crosswordkit.com/

Jigsaw puzzle free downloads
http://zone.msn.com/deluxegames/

3. Musical - Rhythmic Intelligence

Musicians, singers, rappers and poets unite! You're all focused in on the musical - rhythmic intelligence. These people typically play a musical instrument, sing, whistle, and hum. They love limericks and music in all its forms. You who aspire to greater mental facility could take music lessons, learn and recite nursery rhymes to your children, take a music appreciation course or simply add more music to your everyday life. Online check out these sites to get started:

Live international music feeds http://www.live365.com

Live International music feeds http://www.radiotower.com/

4. Logical - Mathematical Intelligence

If you're into computers then your brain is lodged here. Structured and organized you revel in order and neatness. Likely you'll be at ease with numbers too. Bookkeepers, accountants, Statisticians and software programmers are strong in this intelligence. Should you wish to strengthen in this intelligence, solve mysteries, learn computer logic or programming or play strategic board games like chess, checkers, backgammon or Monopoly, anyone? Get a jump on revving up this intelligence playing games at:

Free online games http://zone.msn.com/en/root/default.htm

Free game downloads
http://www.freeworldgroup.com/game.html

5. Bodily - Kinesthetic Intelligence

This is the reign of the jocks as this intelligence features innate love of motion and movement. They dance, tap, ballet or play a sport well. Do you go hiking? Swimming? Are you a ballroom dancer, cyclist or marathoner? Any type of athletics will help serve your mental and physical development. Take up surfing, learn ballroom dancing, train for a triathlon or improve your cooking skills to make yourself smarter. At the very least, you could go to the neighborhood gym for regular workouts, or take a brisk walk everyday. Your mind (and your body) will thank you as you improve your health and fitness levels – and get smarter.


6. Naturalist Intelligence

Nature lovers snugly reside here. They love animals, gardens, flowers, sunsets and the sea. Veterinarians, animal trainers, horticulturalists, environmentalists and biologists are often strongest in this intelligence. From simply going regularly for nature walks to the formal study of biological sciences will deepen your mental strengths in this intelligence. The pleasures of orchids and roses await you. Simmer in the secrets of medicinal plants, work with or enjoy horses, bees, birds or fish. Volunteer at the zoo or involve yourself in activities that take and keep you outdoors. Ideas abound online beginning with these offerings:

Sea World online
http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/animal-bytes/index.htm

Ed Web homepage http://www.edwebproject.org/

Have Some Fun While You Make Yourself Smarter

By working regularly on activities in these areas, your collective intelligence, that is your overall ability to think, create, solve problems and execute mental processes, will grow. So have some fun while you make yourself, and your English as a foreign language learners, smarter.


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 125 countries worldwide. Get your FREE, pdf format report on CD or via e-mail, "Can You REALLY Learn a Foreign Language While You Sleep?" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

Can You Really Learn A Foreign Language While You Sleep: Theoretical Approaches

The Lure of Learning English While You Sleep

While the lure of “learning English or another foreign language while you sleep” may be highly provocative and tempting for all of us in this not-enough-time-to-do-everything world, there’s still no “easy out”. Learning a foreign language can be a life-long pursuit or a summer project. In this second installment of our quest, we’ll briefly examine some theoretical approaches to English language or foreign language learning.

Theoretical Approaches

English Language Teaching and Learning theories support a number of useful, valid approaches for foreign language or second language acquisition. Considering the major language learning theories previously or currently prevalent, let’s briefly examine any basis for “sleep learning”. The following language learning theories have all been popular or prevalent during our current or recent decades:

• Grammar / Translation method
(F. Boas and O. Jespersen)

• Direct Methods

• Audio-Lingual (Darian, 1972 et al.)

• Computer-Aided Language Learning - (CALL)

• TPR - Total Physical Response
(J. Asher, 1965)

• The Silent Way (Gattegno, 1972)

• The Communicative Approach

• Suggestopedia (Lozanov, 1978)

• The Natural Approach (Krashen-Terrell, 1983)

• Neuro-linguistic Programming - NLP
(Bandler and Grindler, 1982)

• The Lexical Approach (Willis, 1990 et al.)

• Community Language Learning
( C. Curran et al., 1972)


The Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, (H. Gardner, 1983) while not strictly a language-learning theory, nonetheless, has had considerable application to language learning and acquisition. Of these, the following have aspects which seemingly might promote or support the concept of “sleep learning”. They are: The Silent Way (Gattegno, 1972), Suggestopedia (Lozanov, 1978), and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (Bandler and Grindler, 1982).
Let’s briefly examine each of these.

The Silent Way

The Silent Way (ref. Richards and Rodgers, 2004) was developed by Caleb Gattegno (Gattegno, 1972) and is a method based on the premise that the English, or foreign language teacher, should be “silent” as much as possible and the language learner encouraged to produce as much language as possible. But while the method requires minimal external input on the part of the language teacher, it does provide for problem-solving, “discovery learning” and creation of memorable images to facilitate learner recall. Problem-solving and discovery learning certainly can not occur during the noted stages of sleep. Creation of “memorable imagery” is possible, especially during the dream state, but how many learners remember these images with any frequency?

Theory, Methodology and Didactics

Apart from theory, methodology and didactics, language is a communicative tool. It allows us, as humans, to share our knowledge, thoughts and ideas in a way and at a level that none of the other animal species ever can. But what actually constitutes good practice in English or foreign language learning? How can we identify or become a good language learner? In the third installment of this article series, “Can you really learn English or another foreign language while you sleep?”, we’ll examine some of the many aspects inherent in good language learners.

NOTE: The entire series is available ONLY by e-mailing Prof. Lynch at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com/ with “Sleep Learning” in the e-mail title. Regretfully, when my current supply of copies of this limited, controversial, eye-opening report are exhausted, the report will go out of print.

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 125 countries. Get your FREE, pdf format report" Can You Really Learn A Foreign Language While You Sleep?" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

Try This for Perfecting Past Tense Pronunciation Practice

Regular Verbs in English Past Tense

When I needed some fresh material for working in the past tense with my EFL, English as a Foreign Language, students in Barcelona, Spain I opted to create a short story. This three-paragraph narrative I wrote using only the past tense of regular verbs served not only for reading, but for grammar practice, spelling and pronunciation practice as well. For even more diversity and mileage from this narrative, I later added comprehension questions, a word search puzzle, a crossword puzzle, a re-ordering exercise, a verbs-to-meanings matching exercise, a letter unscramble and a verb chart for added practice activities. (Do you think I left anything out?)

It has worked quite well for me. To adjust for shorter practice time or other lesson planning constraints use only one paragraph for your activities and practice. It was considerably more difficult than I’d imagined to write such a highly-focused, structured piece but it continually serves to aid students even in its “artificial” language form. Writing it also flexed my creative writing muscles.

Here’s the narrative text with the regular verbs in past tense in boldface:

OUR ENCHANTED ANNIVERSARY EVENING

It happened to be our anniversary when we traveled to Barcelona, so my wife Doris and I planned a special evening out. I purchased a beautiful bouquet of red roses that smelled wonderful and a black pearl necklace that sparkled in the moonlight. I beamed as I presented them to Doris. She pinned a rose to her sequinned lapel. Her auburn hair shimmered in the sunset’s bronzed glow. I called a checkered taxi and we passed many highlighted sights before we arrived in front of the restaurant. The waiter seated us as soon as we walked into the neon-signed restaurant. I noticed a secluded table. (22 verbs in this section)

We positioned ourselves near an opened window and prepared to eat. My wife Doris looked at the selections listed on the menu and decided to have an appetizer. I picked the mushroom soup. A few minutes later the waiter returned. “What would you like to have?”, he asked. Doris ordered some steamed shrimp and broiled trout. I requested a tossed Cesar salad with a grilled steak and a baked potato. While we dined, we chatted and sipped a glass of white wine. Doris wolfed down her food but I savored the meal and chewed my steak slowly. When she finished, she munched on some pretzels. She soon gobbled up all the pretzels in the small bowl placed on the table. Later, we nibbled on a slice of decorated cheesecake as we talked. I wanted some coffee with my dessert. Doris preferred to drink iced tea. After the salted pretzels, Doris needed to drink some water. The waiter finally handed me the bill and I offered him a tip. We tipped him 15% of the totaled charges. He thanked us and smiled as we exited the restaurant.
(40 verbs in this section)

Outside the now closed restaurant, we strolled along the cobble-stoned street, stopped and laughed when we spotted a trained puppy that jumped and played with its owner. We then relaxed and watched the sunset from a padded park bench as the boats in the harbor rocked, pitched and bobbed on the water. Next, we watched a romantic movie at a new cinema that interested us. The aged couple in the movie argued and chased each other as they sailed down an unnamed river that tumbled and surged through rapids which boiled around jagged rocks. Frequently they were trapped and scared. When the colorized movie ended the two discovered that they really loved each other. Finally, at the disco, we danced, swayed to the music and hugged each other often. Whenever I kissed Doris she blushed and giggled. Both of us enjoyed our enchanted evening out together. We hope you liked our story.
(41 verbs in this section)

Using This Narrative Text

Try using this narrative, past-tense-of-regular-verbs-only text, wholly or in part to help your EFL or ESL, English as a Second Language, students with this all-important grammatical context. You can bold face or underline the targeted verb forms as done here or remove them to create a “fill-in-the-blanks exercise. Add addition reading, writing or pronunciation-based activities for getting even more usefulness form this narrative. Who knows? Your results may be even better than mine.

Grammatical Note: By the way, just to clear up doubts of any "grammarians" or "purists", also included above are past participles used as adjectives, but the verb forms are still past tense of regular verbs in English.


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.

Teaching English in Colombia Frequently Asked Questions

Teaching English as a Foreign Language in Colombia

The following comprise some of the most frequently asked questions I receive on teaching English in Colombia. While not a complete listing, the responses do provide some brief insight into EFL possibilities here. I have lived and taught in Colombia since 1995 and am currently teaching at the Santiago de Cali University in Cali pictured here.

Q: Do you have a list of EFL schools in Colombia or know where I may find one?

A: You will find some helpful information for teaching English in Colombia in an online article published by Transitions Abroad magazine at:

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0205/teachcolumbia.shtml

Q: I am particularly interested in spending time in Cartagena. I wonder if you might be able to advise me or point me in the right direction?

A: In Cartagena you can contact any schools there directly when you arrive since it's a relatively small city based solely on some tourism. Unemployment is very high there unfortunately. You should contact regular primary and secondary schools as well.

Q: I'm beginning to get the impression that perhaps Cartagena may not hold many opportunities. Does your comment about unemployment being high there imply that there's not much call for English teachers (to adults) in the town? I'm not being very successful searching for adult educational establishments in Cartagena.

A: With nearly 80 per cent unemployment, Cartagena might not be right for you. Beggars, thieves, con artists and a massive army of poor constantly surround you. You certainly can't go to the beach that the city is famous for because there they know you're a "tourist" with disposable dollars and you'll be absolutely miserable after the first 500 or so beggars have beseiged you in less than a couple of hours. Not much of a vacation spot now, I'm afraid. Sorry.

Q: I understand you have written a series of articles about teaching English in Colombia, could you point me in the right direction?

A: Your best opportunities will be in Bogota, the capitol, with more than 75 schools, universities and institutes from which to choose. Cali has about forty such options. If you'd like to be on the coast, you might try Barranquilla. The language institute at the university there is hiring EFL teachers on a continual basis and is online. It's the Universidad del Norte site in English is at:

http://www.uninorte.edu.co/english/int_relations.html

Q: What is the best time of year to go to look for work in Colombia?

A: As far as looking for work is concerned; July to August you should be pounding the pavement. The next best time frame is in early to mid January. Another critical period for job-hunting is May to June. Most importantly, choose where you want to live and work, or make a pilot trip to uncover essential facts, leads and information on a couple of cities.

Q: How much money do you think I should have before I travel to Colombia?
A: Try to have enough money to tide you over at least three months of savings to give you some breathing room, but even one month of savings might be enough if you find something fairly quickly. Just look at the exchange rate of U.S. dollars to Colombian pesos. Factor in the cost of living per month and you’ll likely find an approximate amount of savings that are necessary. You can compile a more accurate figure by checking out www.tefl.com for their Bogota city cost guide.

Q: Is there anything else you might suggest to me as a newly certified EFL / ESL teacher?

A: After a bit of tenure in Colombia you'll have other options, especially if your Spanish is passable. Also consider Spain, Mexico (my favorite), Ecuador, Chile and other Spanish-speaking countries. If you're not set on one of those, Turkey, Indonesia and China, along with other Asian countries pay very well and offer good opportunity for newbie native English speaking EFL teachers.

Q: Are your other articles available to read online?
A: Let me know what you have in mind and I might be able to offer some more specific suggestions. For even more information and readings, you might want to check out my articles online at EzineArticles.com cataloged at:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Larry_M._Lynch

These should keep you interested, busy and informed for a while. Let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

Good luck.


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, prolific writer, author and public 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.