Education Instead of Bullets

One of the challenges in teaching English as a second language is to make learning as effortless as possible. By making learning easy and fun, the instructor can ensure that the material imparted is received, understood and retained. Language is all about meaning and context. The best way for students to find meaning and context in what they are learning is if they experience it. Is it possible then to teach the English language by allowing the participants to experience it? Yes it is possible, through games.

According to Lee Su Kim, author of Creative Games for Learning Class, using games in the classroom help students to sustain the effort of learning. More to the point, it fosters interaction. What is language but a means to communicate? Through these fun activities, instructors will be able to promote the practice of English.

Real-learning is when even outside the learning place, the student will still be able to apply the subject matter. Instructors have to understand that the more relaxed the learning environment is, the less anxious the students will be. Hence, the easier the students will be able to assimilate what is being taught.

However, the use of games in ESL instruction requires careful planning, design and execution. Games should not be used as ice breakers or time fillers only. They should be used as part of the instructional design. Games should be seen and used as a motivational tool. Below are a couple of suggested games and their application.

1. Charades – The class can be divided into mini-groups. The white or black board should accordingly be divided depending on the number of groups there are. Each group should have an assigned person who will draw the given phrase and an assigned person who will shout the answer. The other members will act as coaches. The instructor will show a phrase to the representatives and the first group to guess the answer wins the round. The time allocated for each round should not be too long because this activity should foster information retrieval and information relaying. This activity should best be used as a review for idiomatic expressions.

2. Guessing game – The instructor will write a word on a piece of paper and tape the piece of paper on the back of a student. The instructor should do the same for all the participants. The students should not know what word is posted on their backs. The instructor should then tell everyone that they can each ask three closed-ended questions (answerable by yes or no) from each of their peers in order to guess what the word is. This game is best used for students who already have a working knowledge of sentence structure. The game can serve as an introduction to question formulations, which essentially reverses word orders.

Module 4, Advanced, of our ESL Curriculum is now available.

Module 4 follows the same format as Module 1, 2 and 3.

Workers may soon see a major change in the length of their working lives. An American expert on society and work said yesterday that the age at which people retire might one day be 85 instead of 65. This means the idea of early retirement may disappear completely. Stanford University biologist Shripad Tuljapurkar told scientists at a convention in the USA that modern medicine and technology will mean people will live to be much older than now. He said this would greatly reshape our image and reality of work. He added economies would not be able to support so many retired people.

Professor Tuljapurkar believes that most people living in today's industrialized societies will live to be 100. He said once scientists unlock the key to the gene that makes us age, society will change dramatically. "Some people believe we are on the brink of being able to extend human lifespan significantly.We have doubled human life span in the last century", he said. He has warned that many workers will discover their pension companies do not have enough money to fund their retirement. He added that dreams of early retirement will remain just dreams.

1. RETIREMENT: In pairs / groups, talk about what life would be like to be retired. Write down five differences of retiring at 65 and 85 years old. Share these with your partners. What are the benefits of each retirement age? Change partners often.

Bingo is one of the most effective and most fun games for teaching ESL to any level. Once students get going -- the don't want to stop!

Includes 15 unique bingo cards and complete instructions for the teacher.

2 Levels of Play.

Level 1 -- Students start off by matching the spoken work to the pictures on their cards.

Level 2 -- Once students have learned some of the vocabulary and learned to play, they graduate to Level 2 - Vocabulary Enrichment. In Level 2, students match the picture on their cards with a sentence. (i.e. she is sitting, he is eating a hamburger).

Learn More >>>

ESL JobFeed

• English Teaching Position -- Amsterdam, Holland
  published on Wed, 5 Apr 2006 16:50:32 -0600
  English Teachers are wanted for our new school, (Opening in August) in Amsterdam. We are looking for qualified staff, with 1 year experience. The owner is Hungarian, Australian and expanding all over Europe.
• Native English Speakers -- Japan
  published on Wed, 5 Apr 2006 16:50:31 -0600
  ALTIA CENTRAL is accepting applications from native English speaking individuals for full-time ALT positions in the AICHI, GIFU and MIE areas, starting immediately. Minimum, BA/BS and basic Japanese ability required. Teaching experience also highly preferred.
• Teaching at Berlitz in the Czech Republic
  published on Wed, 5 Apr 2006 16:50:31 -0600
  Brno: Full-time, part-time and freelance English instructors. Kids instructors for English. Minimum one year.
• English Teacher -- Shanghai, China
  published on Wed, 5 Apr 2006 16:50:30 -0600
  Distinguished International school in Shanghai seeks qualified native English speaker for 1 year contract. The school is host to the children of international government and business employees; you will teach English to a large variety of nationalities.
• Literacy & ESL -- Belize
  published on Wed, 5 Apr 2006 16:50:30 -0600
  Although English is the country's official language, most Belizeans grow up speaking Kriol, Spanish, Maya, Garifuna or another language instead. Cornerstone's Literacy and ESL classes improve people's ability to participate more fully in Belizean society and the economy. Our volunteers teach (we have some useful resources), recruit and train other teachers, organize classes and teachers for new locations.
• Teach English in Borneo
  published on Wed, 5 Apr 2006 16:50:30 -0600
  Become one of CfBT's 200 English teachers in government schools in the peaceful Sultanate of Brunei on the shores of the South China Sea.
• Business English Teacher -- Santiago, Chile
  published on Wed, 5 Apr 2006 16:50:29 -0600
  Experienced Business Teacher to teach Intermediate to Advanced Business classes to groups and one to ones. Immediate need is for a teacher to teach on an Intermediate and Upper Intermediate Business English diploma we are to start in conjunction with the university of Chile in the evenings using Market Leader.
• Full-time English Teacher -- China
  published on Wed, 5 Apr 2006 16:50:29 -0600
  Only English International is seeking full time teachers to join our rapidly growing team. We provide professional English training for adult students in both general and business English.
• English Language & Literature Teacher -- Thailand
  published on Wed, 5 Apr 2006 16:50:29 -0600
  The successful applicant will join a small team working with 25 students in small mixed-ability groups on a 14-month course. The position is challenging as students come from deprived educational backgrounds.
• Urgent Volunteer English Teacher -- Brazil
  published on Wed, 5 Apr 2006 16:50:29 -0600
  AEC-TEA Associação and Volunteer Center seeks Volunteer English teachers to work in Capim Grosso starting APRIL 1, 2006. AEC-TEA provides affordable courses of small groups with native speakers, as well as individual tutoring for language teachers.
• Teaching at Berlitz in the United Arab Emirates
  published on Tue, 4 Apr 2006 23:22:14 -0600
  We are looking for Native English Speaker, preferable Berlitz trained Qualifications required: university degree (if not an English major, then we would need TEFL or CELTA or any Teaching English as a Foreign language degree Age: between 28 and 50 Salary: Good package depending on qualifications.
• English Teachers Needed -- Ecuador
  published on Tue, 4 Apr 2006 23:22:14 -0600
  Native Speaker teachers with a teaching certificate or experience working with the inlingua method to teach the APP program (Business English) to executives from multinational companies.
• Assistant Professor in TEFL -- Japan
  published on Tue, 4 Apr 2006 23:22:13 -0600
  Kansai Gaidai University has several openings for assistant professors in ESL, starting September 2006.
• Native English Teachers -- China
  published on Tue, 4 Apr 2006 23:22:13 -0600
  Kid Castle Pre-Teenagers English Training Schools are currently hiring ESL Teachers for their Xi'an and Baoji branches.
• Teaching English in Taiwan
  published on Tue, 4 Apr 2006 23:22:13 -0600
  British Council Taipei is assisting the Ministry of Education to recruit qualified, committed and enthusiastic British teachers. Salary: from NT$60,000/month (approx £1,000 per month, exempt from local tax) based on qualifications and prior years' teaching experience, plus benefits including free accommodation

ESL Bingo

• Better English Grammar - designed for ESL - exercises and rules
• Between the Lions - an elementary reading curriculum support system from PBS is suitable for younger ESL students
• Daily Dose : English - many of these activities can be used to spark an ESL classroom - have sounds, words, grammar topics delivered to you (or your students) daily
• ELLIS(English Language Learning System) is a program to assist both native and new speakers in a vast array of languages
• el Remumbio - new, interactive activities for ESL - teacher and student sections
• English as a Second Language - for instructors, lesson plans and resources - for students, important resources relating to citizenship, testing, life in the US, language practice (links to top sites, other than those you find here) - links to pen pal and bulletin boards for ESL students
• English-Zone - huge collection of materials for teaching and learning English - things like Idioms and Vocabulary lists set it apart - with membership, a forum and chat room are available
• ESL go - resources for the ESL teacher, including a year of lesson plans - from an experienced teacher - you can also purchase materials
• ESLBears - portal site created by an ESL teacher
• ESL Independent Study - activities are grouped by skill and knowledge level as well as by topic - this is a portal site with links (short annotation) to other, selected ESL sites
• ESL Study Zone (for English) from the University of Victoria (Canada) - there are 6 levels of study for Grammar, Reading, Vocabulary, and Puzzles (fun)
• Interesting Things for ESL students - may appeal more to older students and adults - activities, puzzles, readings, lessons
• The Internet Test Journal - for teachers of ESL - includes a small number of teaching tips, articles and lessons
• HelpRead - this FREE app allows emerging English language readers to have document files or web pages "read" to them as they read silently - some support - enthusiastically recommended by ESL teachers - Windows - use along with e-texts!
• KinderSite - registration required - this site is currently still in demo mode, but it works - search for an early grade, story or song, to develop English language skills - math may be the medium
• Learning Vocabulary Can Be Fun - four Java-based activities to reinforce basic vocabulary - activities are grouped by content word groups
• Literacy Center - Early Childhood activities can be used with younger students
• Ohio ESL - Grammar Activities - available for all levels
• PBS - Get Wild About Reading - part of the PBS Kids site, not specifically for ESL, but interactive and fun
• Rosetta Stone - this is a software package, recommended as the best by practicing ESL teachers

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