ESL Teaching Tips
One of the most challenging parts of teaching ESL is lesson planning. Whether you teach in your own home or a large classroom, EnglishClub.com can save you time. There is so much to see and do on this website that you may miss some resources that fit in wonderfully with your own curriculum. The following pages are filled with tips and ideas to help save you time while planning interesting, fun and worthwhile activities for your students.

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How do I incorporate pronunciation into a beginner lesson?

Q: Dear Lucy: I have planned my first lesson teaching only seven words. I now have to teach and integrate new sounds that a foreign student may have problems with. How can I do this? The words for my first lesson are: Hello Goodbye Yes No Sit Stand Chair. Please help! Joanna

A: Dear Zoe:  I'll answer your question to the best of my ability; it's actually difficult to give you a complete answer when I have so little information to go on. The pronunciation problems encountered by learners of English depend very much on their mother tongue. For example, learners from some Asian countries have difficulty distinguishing between "l" and "r", whereas for a French learner this is not a problem. I suggest you start with the seven words you have decided to present and consider whether your students will have problems with the sounds in those words; for example, Spanish students find it difficult to pronounce words beginning with "st"...

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Talking Point: The Robin Hood Story
An interesting worksheet on a popular legendary figure. This lesson helps students explore new vocabulary through the various meanings of "hood" in modern English and provides excellent opportunities for discussion and fluency practice through questions such as: "Robin Hood's intentions were good. To what extent does this justify his actions? Does the end ever justify the means?"

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Talking Point worksheets are designed for pre-intermediate and above levels. They are printer-friendly and come with Teaching Suggestions and answers.

 

Which animal is a marsupial?

a) a gorilla
b) a dolphin
c) a kangaroo

See end of newsletter for answer.

English is a mongrel language!
Examples of Japanese words borrowed into English
by Stefan Chiarantano

English is a mongrel language. It has evolved by incorporating words from other languages. Here's a list of Japanese words borrowed in English. Many of these words have no equivalent in English:

• aikido: a type of Japanese martial arts
• anime: animated comics
• bonsai: dwarfed trees, a tree trimmed to grow in a clay pot
  
• geisha: a professional entertainer/artist
  
• haiku: a type of Japanese poetry
  
• hara-kiri: a form of ritual suicide, belly cutting, also known as seppuku
  
• ikebana: Japanese flower arranging
  
• judo: a type of Japanese martial arts
  
• ju-jitsu: a type of Japanese martial arts
  
• kamikaze: 1) divine wind; 2) Japanese WW II pilots who crashed their planes loaded with explosives onto Allied ships
  
• karaoke: singing pop songs to a recorded musical backing
  
• karate: a type of Japanese martial arts
  
• kendo: a type of Japanese martial arts
  
• kimono: an outer garment usually made of silk
  
• manga: Japanese comics
  
• matcha: powdered green tea
  
• mizo: fermented soybean paste made from soybeans, sea salt and koji
  
• ninja: Japanese warrior
  
• obi: a sash wrapped around a kimono
  
• origami: a Japanese art of folding origami paper into intricate shapes and designs
  
• sake: alcohol made from fermented rice
  
• samurai: a Japanese warrior
  
• sayonara: good-bye
  
• sumo: Japanese wrestling
  
• sushi: small balls of vinegared rice garnished with slice of raw fish or stuffed with food and wrapped in paper thin seaweed (nori)
  
• sukiyaki: a Japanese dish of meat, vegetables, and mushrooms cooked in a broth
  
• tatami: a straw mat
  
• tycoon: business leader
  
• tsunami: a giant tidal wave generated by an undersea earthquake that can reach land and cause extensive damage
  
• ukiyo-e: wood block prints (Hokusai's "The Wave")
  
• wasabi: a type of horseradish eaten with sushi and sushimi
  
• zen: one sect of Japanese Buddhist tradition
  

The above is not an exhaustive list but demonstrates how English absorbs new words as well as highlighting its dynamic quality. Now, can you think of any foreign words borrowed into English?

Penguin Readers
Various Authors
Penguin

Schindler's List (advanced)
The Amazon Rain Forest (elementary)
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (beginner)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (pre-intermediate)

Inventions That Changed The World (intermediate)
Speaking personally, I found this book quite interesting - but then I'm a regular reader of scientific magazines. Particular high points were the stories of people who broke bones and worse in failed early attempts at manned flight. I also had no idea how well balloons could fly long before the Wright brothers - crossing the English Channel in 1784. Even a science buff such as me...

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Reviewed by Alex Case

Find the latest job offers for teachers posted by schools around the world.

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• Frequently Asked Questions about ESL jobs
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• Resumes bank where you can post your resume for employers to read
• Schools can post ESL vacancies

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c) a kangaroo

This is a level 5 question and answer from Word Up, the ESL board game that's fun to play in class.