I don’t know about you but I loathe acronyms. Yes, I know they have a convenience factor but they also seem to me to be potentially sinister, redolent of George Orwell’s Newspeak. Our field has its fair share of them and woe betide anyone who uses one wrongly. Never, for example, say ESL or TESL when you mean ESOL or TESOL. Why? because you might unwittingly insult a learner by referring to ESL (English as a second language) when the learner might be a speaker of several lang…
Better Late Then Never
Whenever I talk to teachers I don’t usually have to wait long before they start listing their concerns about students. I wonder what would come top of your list of teachers complaints about student behavior. My guess is that punctuality would come pretty high. It doesnt sound too difficult on the surface to insist that students should come on time to their lessons but in practice there may be factors that make the lateness habit difficult to break.
Take country cultures,…
Break Out Of The Teaching Rut And Teach English In Hong Kong
Speaking English is a major priority for the people of Hong Kong. The business world is always moving quickly, and global communication is vitally important. In order to compete effectively, Hong Kong emphasizes English education for everyone from childhood on up.
Combine those factors with the fact that there’s currently a shortage of native English speaking teachers in the country, and it seems Hong Kong might be the ideal location if you’re considering teaching abroad.
Can You Get Teachers To Love Admin?
I recently discussed a recurring issue following this question from an employer:
My teachers do an excellent job in the classroom and feedback from students is positive. But when it comes to administrative duties, I find they are lax. Registers are sometimes forgotten, lesson records are sketchy, and reports on students are late and not very full. How can I make teachers understand that these duties are as much a part of their job as teaching?
Oh dear, I’ve heard this…
Music 101: The Key To Pronunciation And Accent Reduction
Without music life would be a mistake
These are the words of the famous German Philosopher Frederik Nietzsche, and as a specialist in pronunciation and Accent Reduction for non-native English speakers, I can attest to this regarding the English language. English is a musical language, as is Italian, Chinese, Portuguese, and many other languages. The trick to speaking English with clarity and impact, is understanding the melody and rhythm that is specific to English, but…