ESL Expat

Eight Ways It Pays To Learn A Second Language [Infographic]

Image: iStock<p>Learning a second language is something most of us aspire to, but never get around to. This is unfortunate, as it's one of the most …

Monitor Classroom Noise - Bouncyballs.org

• Use this website as a fun way to monitor classroom noise levels!<br>• Show this website with the use of a projector to your students as they are …

The 15 best language apps

Teaching English in Japan: Blog Story by Ryan Weatherston

● <b>Teaching Location:</b> Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, Chiba Prefecture, and Kagawa Prefecture, Japan<br>● <b>Type of Teaching Job:</b> English conversation schools, …

43 Embarrassing Grammar Mistakes Even Smart People Make

Like it or not, words, spelling, and punctuation can leave a lasting impression on others. But even the most educated people often unknowingly make these common flubs.<p>When someone uses grammar incorrectly do you make an assumption about his or her intelligence or education? Like it or not, words, …

8 Tips For Teachers Frustrated With Technology

<b>8 Tips For Teachers Frustrated With Technology</b><p>by <b>Terry Heick</b><p>I’m not crazy about writing this post, mainly because “integrating technology” into …

Taiwanese Prodigy, 13, Sets New Record for Youngest Admitted to New York University

A Taipei high school student was recently accepted to two prestigious U.S. universities: New York University and University of California, Santa Cruz.<p>At the age of 13, Chiang Ching-liang (江璟亮), a student of Taipei Municipal Ming Sheng High School, has become the youngest to be admitted by NYU and …

Ten Ways to Use Google Earth In Your Classroom

During the ISTE conference at the end of June Google announced that Google Earth can now be added into your G Suite for Education domain. This means …

Jeopardy - ESL Board Games for Kids & Adults

Here is an alternative method for using Jeopardy in your language classroom. This classic Jeopardy ESL board game actually encourages your students …

Want to Raise Successful Kids? Research Says They Should Study 1 of These Foreign Languages

Researchers love studying what happens to kids who study languages. Here are some of the most interesting recent results.<p>Like a majority of Americans, I speak only one language fluently. <i>C'est la vie</i>.<p>Sometimes I pretend to be able to muddle along in <i>franais</i> (middle school and high school), or <i>espaol</i> …

The ‘i before e, except after c’ rule is a giant lie

via GIPHY<p>“I before E, except after C.”<p>The familiar grade school mnemonic is a “supreme, and for many people solitary, spelling rule,” linguist Edward Carney wrote in “A survey of English spelling.” Its primacy has been acknowledged in English grammar textbooks from 1866 (James Stuart Laurie's …

How Do You Use Projects Within The Classroom? via @TeacherToolkit

Reading Time: 2 minutes.<p>How do you use projects within the classroom?<p>Projects can enhance the curriculum that you teach, encourage logical thinking …

5 Fun Reading Activities for ESL Students

“Sometimes I don’t like the books that I’m reading.”<p>— Charlie Kaufman<p>Creating reading lessons for your class doesn’t always have to be a chore like …

Teaching English in Vietnam: Blog Story by Georgie

● <b>Teaching Location:</b> Vietnam (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh)<br>● <b>Type of Teaching Job:</b> Language centre<br>● <b>Student Age Group:</b> 3-17 years and adults<br>● <b>Monthly Salary:</b> …

Using Digital Games — And Empathy — As Teaching Tools

Why Grades Are Not Paramount to Achievement

The intrinsic love of learning supplants the drive for high marks in the long run.<p>At the beginning of this school year, my colleagues and I decided to avoid giving the sophomores in our English classes any grades for six weeks. Research shows that providing students with a number or letter in …

How Do Our Students Learn? An Outline of a Cognitive Psychological Model for Information Literacy Instruction

Dani Brecher Cook (dani_cook@cuc.claremont.edu) Information Literacy and Learning Technologies Coordinator, The Claremont Colleges Library, Claremont …

The Top 10 Grammar Mistakes, According To Microsoft

Even smart people make stupid mistakes in their writing. Sometimes it’s laziness or impatience; sometimes they’re genuinely confused. Using data from …

3 Advanced Ways to Craft Better Sentences

While the goal of “improving your content writing” may seem complex, it’s not necessarily more complicated than improving each sentence you …

When the Words Won't Come: Word Explorer

Do you love your thesaurus and your dictionary? Do your online thesaurus and dictionary of choice get plenty of daily use?<p>If you've formed a deep and …

Quick Guide on the Most Important Commas

Did you know that some commas could be more “important” than others? Ok, that’s not strictly true. A properly placed comma is usually essential for …

This tool will catch your grammar mistakes (and harass you about Oxford commas)

Did you spell that word right? Is that an independent clause? That's not a dangling participle, is it? This week, we explore a tool that can help you …

Here are 100 PowerPoint shortcuts that'll make your life a lot easier

So you think you’re fancy, huh? Just because you know how to copy and paste without the click of the mouse in PowerPoint.<p>Well, get ready to be even fancier (and more productive) because we've curated 100 of the best PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts.<p><i>Courtesy of GoSkills.</i>

A neuroscientist explains how being bilingual makes your brain more robust

Marian Sigman, a neuroscientist and author of "The Secret Life of the Mind: How Your Brain Thinks, Feels, and Decides," explains how babies that grow up bilingual will have brain functions that might be superior to those children that only speak one language. Following is a transcript of the</i> …

Teaching English in Japan: Blog Story by Matt Laycock

● <b>Teaching Location:</b> Yokohama, Japan<br>● <b>Type of Teaching Job:</b> English Conversation School (IB Japan)<br>● <b>Student Age Group:</b> Kids, Teens<br>● <b>Monthly Salary:</b> …

How to Empower Students with One Simple Phrase (that can boost student effort by 40%)

Daniel Coyle, the author of The Talent Code, recently looked at a study on feedback from teachers. This study showed that one simple phrase could …

5 Ways to Learn Faster

To become a high performer, you have to learn faster. How do you do that?<p>Let me tell you first what <i>not</i> to do, because a lot of people just jump in …

Student-Driven Differentiation: Putting Student Voice Behind The Wheel

Asking different questions isn't enough if teachers aren't listening to the answers students provide. Here are 3 ways to have authentic …

Deeper Learning Is By Discovery, Not Delivery

We've been talking about Bloom's Taxonomy and critical thinking for as long as I've been an educator. And yet we still have work to do to get kids …

Lost Dictionary of A Clockwork Orange Slang Discovered

If you’ve read Anthony Burgess’ 1962 dystopian masterpiece <i>A Clockwork Orange</i>, then you’re probably familiar with Nadsat: a futuristic fictional slang …