General notices post with open thread for suggestions, questions and requests

This morning I made one of my increasingly rare visits to the StudyCom Help Board and found a new question. Questions are even rarer than my visits. I still check in though -- and post notices telling visitors to come here instead.

The Help Board does not have an automatic notice system that lets me know when someone posts but the blog does. I get an email whenever someone posts a comment because comments are set for moderation --not just to prevent spam but also to know when someone posts a comment so I can reply.

I apologize for not posting more often  and will try to do better. This is not a high traffic blog, but it does have regular followers who probably get email or rss notices. I can tell because the numbers spike whenever I post. 

How to teach the past perfect tense

 It is easier to teach the past perfect than to teach the present perfect. The past perfect is clearly situated in the past. This can even be represented without any ambiguity through a timeline or a diagram. what is more, an example with a past perfect tense may give a clear picture of the tense. 



In this lesson plan we will give ideas and hints on how to teach the past perfect. 



 Start with contextualized examples
It is of paramount importance to introduce grammatical constructions in clear contexts, relating them to the real world. The past perfect tense is undoubtedly well understood if it is used in contextualized examples because learners need to have a clear picture of not only the “how” but also the “why.”



Read the rest at How to teach the past perfect tense | My English Pages:

ESL to young learners online: lessons learned

…maybe some will work for you too. Maybe want to help your children learn English too. Young learners can teach us all a lot about how to learn.





Over the last two years I’ve had the pleasure of teaching a variety of young learners online. When I mention this to other teachers I often get looks of amazement. I would like to share some thoughts on my experiences and lessons I’ve learned over the last two years of teaching ESL to young learners online.



ESL to young learners online: lessons learned | Off2Class

ESL - Real English Videos & Lessons

…are back and completely Free! Real English is a Registered Trademark of The Marzio School



Welcome to Real English^®, a completely free site for learning English: original videos & interactive lessons, an English teacher always present to help you, and a Community of teachers & students learning together. Extra activities on Facebook.

«REAL ENGLISH^® LESSONS»
«ALL THE VIDEOS (WITH & WITHOUT LESSONS)»
«REAL ENGLISH MOBILE»

The video below provides one example of the new 2014 Real English^® "South Beach" series of clips. When finished, there will be ten new HD clips from Miami Beach, all with their lessons. The video below includes subtitles, but as you will see in the exercises, we insist that learners watch short sections of each main video, one section at a time, without subtitles. It is extremely important for students to train their ears before reading. The varied exercises exploit the videos in many interesting ways, also paving the way for intensive listening without frustration! 

ESL - Real English Videos & Lessons. Completely Free! Real English is a Registered Trademark of The Marzio School.

Aesop's moral stories - let's talk about fables using digital tools

Aesop was an ancient Greek fabulist. He is presumed to have been born in 620 B.C. Unfortunately not much is certain about his life but some agree that June, 4th was his birthday. It's an opportunity for us to talk about fables. Aesop's fables's characters are animals, often with a humorous twist, and his tales always have a moral and a lesson to teach.

• Aesop's fables summaries

• YouTube cartoons about Aesop's fables with subtitles

• Aesops's fables audio files with a printable transcript

• Aesop Fables ~ large online collection, many with audio files

Read the rest of the lesson and more about digital tools at The Travelling Teachers: Aesop's moral stories - let's talk about fables using digital tools

About.com ESL Newsletter

…do you have a favorite ESL newsletter? Please share it with us

ESL: From Kenneth Beare, your Guide to ESL

This week's newsletter helps you understand phrasal verbs, as well as learn new phrasal verb vocabulary with a focus on verbs relating to 'turn on / off'. There's also a challenging gap fill for advanced students. Finally, there's a look at the difference between 'then' and 'than', two words that are often confused.

Shaping the Way We Teach English, 1: The Landscape of English Language Teaching | Coursera

 Learn effective approaches to English language teaching. This is the
first of two teacher training courses based on the
internationally-recognized Shaping the Way We Teach English videos and
resources and sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the
University of Oregon.



Shaping the Way We Teach English, 1: The Landscape of English Language Teaching | Coursera