Clik here to view.
Conversation Tip #9: Ask Clarifying Questions!
What is a clarifying question? What do you mean? Can you be more specific? Can you give us some examples? What do you exactly mean? Sometimes our English students need help asking questions, especially...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Conversation Tip #10: What brings you here?
Sometimes a simple, flexible question can create compelling conversations. “What brings you here?” remains one of my personal favorites. Many job interview experts like this question because it allows...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Discussing the New Year And Making Resolutions to Change in English Class
“Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud.” Hermann Hesse (1877-1962), Nobel Prize winner for Literature Holidays and anniversaries often prompt personal reflections. As...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fluency Requires Practice
“To know and not do is to not know.” The Talmud Fluency requires practice. Our students also know that speaking English can be both satisfying and stressful. Therefore, we require speaking activities...
View ArticleClik here to view.
English Teachers Confront the Billion-Person Question
“How can rural Chinese students develop their listening and speaking skills with very limited opportunities to speak with actual native speakers in person?” This question remains the billion person...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ask Your English Students to Review TED.Com videos – and Create Compelling...
How can you encourage your advanced ESL students to develop their speaking skills and tap their interest in our rapidly changing world? Create compelling classroom assignments that respect their...
View ArticleClik here to view.
More Links for ESL Teachers About Informational Interviews
Informational interviews have become a common practice among American professionals, but many English language learners remain unfamiliar with this type of networking and job search activity. ESL...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Do Informational Interviews Have a Place in Business English Programs?
Speaking skills – especially in stressful situations – matter. Most quality Business English and VESL (Vocational English as a Second Language) programs provide extensive training and practice in both...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Don’t Let Perfectionism Silence You!
Some English students make learning English even more difficult by expecting themselves to speak “perfect”, with “no accent” just like ” a real native English speaker.” May I suggest that this noble...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Homophones Can Haunt: A Minor Mistake in Miner Valley
English remains an often confusing and difficult language to learn (and teach!) for many reasons. The common “gap” between how a word is spelled and how it sounds is one challenge. Another source of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Savvy Tips to Score Higher on the TOEFL iBT Speaking Section
What do you do with a problem like the TOEFL iBT test? For worse or for better, the TOEFL test remains the standard assessment of English for international students planning to attend American colleges...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Paraphrasing is an Essential Conversation Skill!
Why English teachers should not overlook the importance of paraphrasing “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” ―Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German physicist Paraphrasing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
English language learners should beware of saying ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah’
Yeah Yeah Yeahs is a popular indie band, but “Yeah, yeah, yeah” is a problematic response to job interview questions. “In common use almost every word has many shades of meaning, and therefore needs to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Infinite English App supplements ESL speaking, listening skills
Photo source: iTunes screenshot Using Infinite English to practice reading text, passages aloud “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” -Aristotle (384...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Conversation Tip #3: React appropriately
Jessica Lu, a first-year student at the University of Chicago, interned for Chimayo Press and the Compelling Conversations blog through the summer of 2014. Over the months, she has perused ESL...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Conversation Tip #4: Carry a respectful tone
Jessica Lu, a first-year student at the University of Chicago, interned for Chimayo Press and the Compelling Conversations blog through the summer of 2014. Over the months, she has perused ESL...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How do you flip your English class? What homework activities do you use to...
How do you create lively small group discussions in your English class? What homework do you find most likely to spark student-led conversations? Are you interested in flipping your ESL class so...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Search and Share Speaking Activities Can Flip English Classrooms and Become...
Speaking Exercise Can Easily Be Repeated to Improve Speaking Skills “Education is a kind of continuing dialogue and a dialogue assumes, in the nature of the case, different points of view.” ~Robert...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Using 5W/H Filter & Creating Longer, Better Conversations
What is the 5W/H filter? Who can use this technique? Where can English students use the 5W/H filter in daily conversations? When can they use this method? Why do many journalists and managers use...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Discussing the New Year And Making Resolutions to Change in English Class
“To modernize is to adopt and to adapt, but it is also to recreate.” Octavio Paz, (1914-1998), Mexican writer and diplomat. Holidays and anniversaries often prompt personal reflections. As a new...
View Article
