ESL Christmas Songs, Stories and Videos

I know that many of you have started your holidays, but that doesn't mean you should stop
practicing your English. In  fact, this is the perfect time to practice as much as you can out of class.
 We have now officially entered the Christmas season, so I am compiling a list of fun Christmas readings, listening, videos and music. I hope you will enjoy these activities and share them with your families. I am even including some games and vocabulary for children, so this can be a family affair.

Reading and vocabulary activities will be in the Reading Page.Listening activities and children and adult games will go into the Listening Pages. Songs will go into the Music Page. Children's gamesWatch for different items during the next few weeks.

 Some specific things to look for: 

• Charlie's Brown's Christmas - a famous Christmas video 
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas - another famous video of the Dr. Seuss Story.  
• Videos about many aspects of Christmas , Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa.
• Listening/reading activities about the day before Christmas, Christmas, Boxing
  Day, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, the 6th of January  and Kwanzaa. 
• Christmas vocabulary
• Christmas around the world 
• The Gift of the Magi and more.                                           
• Start with this wonderful advent  calendar. Make sure that you only open one window each day as you count down to Christmas. Don't peek!  December Advent Calendar

Feel free to answer questions from the calendar as comments on the postings. If If you have any suggestions about things I should add, please let me know in the comment box below.  

Michelle

How to Join a Conversation

Have you ever stood on the edge of a conversation not quite knowing how to join in? Here are a few useful steps that can help you, particularly at work where people often gather in groups of two or three during coffee and lunch breaks. Joining conversations takes practice, so don't give up if your first attempt is not successful.    

Steps                                                           

1. Move as close to the group as you can.   Listen until you know what people are talking about.

2.  Listen to what specific people are saying about the topic and use body language to  show that

     you are interested. Nod a few times. Put some expression on your face.

3.  When there is a suitable pause in the conversation, give your opinion, or make a comment on 
      what someone else in the group has said. Ex. "Yeah, I loved that movie  too. It really kept my
      attention right up to the end. I didn't know what was going to  happen."
                                       
4.   Continue the conversation as if you were already in it. If you show that you are interested , the          other members probably won't have any problems with you joining in.

5    If you don't know what the group is talking about, but it sounds interesting, ask them what 
       they're talking about. Then, listen to what different people have to say about it and continue      
       step two  Ex. " I heard you guys laughing. It sounds like you're have an interesting conversation.
      What are you talking about?" .

6.   If you join a conversation, but have absolutely no idea what people are talking about, donèt  say
      anything until you have figured out just what they are talking about.  Do not simply rely on the 
      last sentence you heard. 

7.   If you know the people,, they are likely to let you into the conversation. If they hint that
      you should go away, you should.                          

SPECIAL NOTE: The biggest conversation killer self-consciousness. If you act  as if you don't belong, you will make others uncomfortable, particularly if you don't speak at all. The WORST thing you can do is NOT speak up when there is an obvious opportunity.  

How to Make it Easy for Someone to Join Your Conversation 

1.    Pay attention to what is going on around you. Is there someone hovering around the edge of 
       your of your group who looks interested?
 
2.   Use body language to let the person know they are welcome. Signal with your head, or open
       up a space in the group so that the other person can actually move in. 

3.    Make the newcomer feel welcome. Physically include him or her in the group, and make others
       in the group aware that someone else has joined in. Do NOT exclude the newcomer unless your 
       conversation is private.


4.    Give the newcomer time to get comfortable with the topic. Then if the person seems a little shy 
        about saying something, give him or her a helping hand. Ex. So, how do YOU feel about the 
        hockey riots, Michelle


5.    If the newcomer makes a comment, or offers an opinion, respond to it, just as you would to any
        would to any other person in the group.  

6.    You have now made someone else comfortable about joining in to your conversation. Keep 
       doing it,  and you will have acquired an important social skill.  Maybe someone will be as 
       helpful to you in another situation.

Sounds Right: Pronunciation Made Easy

Do any of you have iPads?  You can now have the sounds of English right at your fingertips. The British Council has come up with a pronunciation chart that you can now download on your iPad. Sounds Right is the British Council's first pronunciation chart for learners and teachers worldwide. This app is for the iPad.

Features:

• Pure vowels are arranged the same way as in the IPA chart: according to mouth shape (left to right, lips wide / round - top to bottom, jaw closed / open).
• Diphthongs are grouped in rows according to their second sound.

 You can read more about the app and read reviews on the iTunes Preview Page.

To get an idea of the benefits this particular app can have for you click on:  iPhone and iPad 

How to download on to your iPad

You must have an iPad.

1. Browse via the App Store on your device, search for "Sounds Right" or "British Council". Or connect your device to your computer with iTunes and go to the App Store.
2. Click on it and install.
3.  It will appear in your menu.

Vancouver Grey Cup 2011: 16 Facts Immigrants Should Know About Canadian Football

Although many of you still think the word football refers to the game most  Canadians call soccer,  football is another game entirely here. Today our beautiful city - Vancouver - is playing host to the 2011 Grey Cup, Canada's final football championship game.  Although it may not be as highly promoted as the American football championship, the Super Bowl, today's Grey Cup is one of the country's biggest parties. The two teams facing off against each other are the BC Lions and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.  

 
You may never become big football fans, but it never hurts to know a little about a game that many of your co-workers  enjoy talking about, especially  if you want to practice making small talk.  

Useful Facts

1.  Canada has its own professional football league called the Canadian Football League (CFL) — with a total of eight teams: B.C. Lions, Calgary Stampeders, Edmonton Eskimos, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Toronto Argonauts, Hamilton Tiger Cats and Montreal Alouettes.

2. The Grey Cup is both the name of the Canadian Football League (CFL ) championship and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4

million people. Last year year more than six million people watched the game.  

3. A football is brown and spherical-shaped with pointed ends. It’s also called a  “pigskin” because it’s made from leather.

4. Canadian footballl rules are different than in U.S. football rules. (e.g. the field in Canada  is bigger).

5. In football, 12 players, try to get the football into their opponents  end zone,  either through running or passing,defensive players try to block, or stop offensive players by tackling them. 

6   Unlike soccer players, football players  wear a lot of equipment that helps to protect players who get tackled and jumped on a lot.

7.  A football game has two 45 minute periods. The break between the two periods is called half-time. During the Grey Cup there is usually a big half-time show. 

 8.   A regulation size Canadian football field is 110 yards (100 m) long from goal line to goal line, and 65 yards (60 m) wide. The end zones are 20 yards (18 m) deep. A series of lines called "hashmarks" are marked on the field 24 yards (*22 m) in from each sideline and go the length of the field from goal line to goal line. 

 
9. At each goal line is a set of 40-foot-high (12 m) goal posts, which look like an “H” or a tuning fork.
 
10.   White lines are drawn laterally across the field every 5 yards (4.6 m) from the goal line  (these are called “yard lines”).
 
11.   Play begins with a backwards pass through the legs (the snap) to the quarterback or 

punter. He can then run with the ball, pass it, throw it, kick it, etc.

 
12.  There are three different types of kicks: a “place kick” is when a ball is held on the ground by a teammate or on a kickoff placed on a tee; a “drop kick” is kicking a ball after bouncing it on the ground; a “punt” is kicking the ball after it has been released from the kicker’s hand and before it hits the ground
 
13.  What’s a “down”? Each play constitutes a “down.” The offence must advance the ball at least 10 yards towards the opponents’ goal line within three downs (four downs in U.S. football) or the ball goes to their opponents. Once 10 yards have been gained  the offence gains a new set of three downs.

14.  In football a goal is called a touchdown and is worth 6 points, whereas a goal is soccer

is ONE point. Fields goals are worth 3 points, and safeties are worth 2 points.

15.  Games are played outside in some parts of Canada, even in the snow.
 
16.  Our yearly championship is called the Grey Cup, named for Lord Albert Henry Earl Grey, Governor General of Canada, who donated the trophy in 1909.Each year, it’s held in a different city across Canada.

If you want to know more about Canadian football, click on the following links.   

CFL Grey Cup

Diagram of a Canadian Football Field

Proofreading Under Pressure

Are you failing your in-class writing tests because of your grammar and mechanics  mistakes? Is it your own fault because you didn't leave yourself enough time to proofread -  even once. You CAN help yourself. Here are some tips to help you learn how proofread quickly and efficiently even when you are under pressure. If you follow this advice, you will definitely improve your writing scores.   
1. Get To Know Your Own Errors

Knowledge is power. Get to know the mistakes YOU make most frequently. Analyze all your previous in-class writing tests and read your instructor's  comments  Look for the type of mistakes you usually make and count the number of times you make them. Make a list of errors starting with the most serious and the most frequent and moving to less serious and less frequent.

2. Make sure you understand why you made your errors 

Determine whether your errors are careless mistakes ordue to lack of knowledge. It is easy to edit ( correct) carless mistakes when you proofread, but you need to learn more about the ones you make because you didnd't understand the rule. If you don't know or understand the rule, talk to your instructor or a tutor the learning centre. Get some direction about where you can learn more and practice. Using your list of most important errors, write rules and sample sentences in your notebook or in the back of your dictionary.

3. Focus on your most frequent errors  

Know your list of frequent errors so that you know what to took for when you are proofreading . For example, your list might consist of the following: verb tenses, modals, subject-verb agreement, plurals, word order, sentence fragments and run on sentences. 

4. Get ready even before you write  

Place your list of most frequent errors on a post-it note on your desk while your are writing. This will remind you to proofread for these ererors,and may even help you  to avoid making some of them  as you write. 

5. Be disciplined. Don't overwrite

Be disciplined. Create a time line for your writing and proofreading and stick to it. Leave yourself at least 20 minutes to proofread if you have a 90 minute writing period. If you tend  to overwrite, force yourself  to keep it simple.  Remember LONGER IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER. The more you write, the more errors you will make and the less time you will have to correct them.
  

6. Make sure you leave time to proofread
Check the time often. Make sure you are sticking to your timeline. If you see that you only have 20 minutes left, start wrapping things up.

7.7. Proofread four or five times.  

You cannot check everything in one reading. You are too familiar with the material and you will end up reading for meaning. You wonèt know where to focus your efforts, and will miss obvious errors. 

8. Proofread for one type of error at a time. 

Proofread for ONE type of error at a time. Start with the errors you make most frequently. If you try to look for too many hings at once, you risk losing focus. It's easier to locate grammar mistakes if you aren't trying to catch punctuation or spelling errors at the same time. Besides, some of the techniques that work well for one type of mistake don't work as well for another type error.   

9. Proofread out loud - or at least loudly enough so that you can hear.     

Your ears often catch mistakes your eyes will not. Reading out loud forces you to actually say each word and lets you ear how the words sound together. Listening to your words and sentences will allow you to notice missing words such as subjects, or “be”verbs. It will help you realize that you should be using a gerund instead of an infinitive. Hearing how the words sound together will also help you realize your word order is wrong, or that  you are writing a Chinglish, or Spanglish phrase or sentence rather than an English one.

10.Read each word and sentence as slowly as you can  
Try to s-l-o-w-d-o-w- n  as you read.  If you read silently, or at normal speed, you may skip over errors, make unconscious corrections, or simply overlook them bedcause you are too familiar with the content. You won't give your eyes, or your ears enough time to spot, or hear the errors. Reading s-l-o-w-l-y forces you to concentrate on the task of proofreading.
 
 11. Read you paper backward

 Read from the last sentence to the first sentence, one word, or one sentence at a time. This helps you concentrate on sentences and words rather than on meaning, or on the paper as a whole.It is a helpful strategy to check for both sentence fragments and  spelling.

12. Cover all but one one sentence 
Use a piece of white paper to cover every thing except for the sentence you are reading. This helps reduce visual noise  (all the other surrounding words), and helps you from being distracted by other sentences. As you read each word and sentence separately, it is much easier to find individual grammar, punctuation or spelling errors. 

13. Circle every puncutation mark                                   This forces you to look at each one. As you circle, ask yourself if the punctuation is correct. "Should this be a period? Is there a complete idea, or it it only half an idea?" Ask yourself if this should be a comma, a period, or a connecting word?  Do you see several ideas that only seem to be connected with a comma?  Are you using commas where they don't belong? 

14. Don't get discouraged                                                      Learing how to proofread effectively is a learning process. It takes time to get good at it. You won't find every mistake, but if you follow these strategies, you will locdate and be able to correct many of your careless mistakes. That alone will make an enormous difference in your marks. It will also show your instructor that you care about cleaning up your paper before you hand it in.

Proofreading can make the difference between passing or failing. Isn't it worth making the effort?

My next post will focus on the most common ESL errors to proofread for and correct.

Can you add any tips I may have missed?  Let me know in the comment box.

Practice Grammar Quizzes for Final Exams

So...You've reached the end of the term and all you have left is final exams. Don't despair.  I have added a batch of multiple choice quizzes on the Grammar Page to help you review for your final exam, but don't forget to look at your own notes. I will be adding some additional material to the Reading and Listening Pages as well. Check the Homework page tomorrow as I will probably add one or two useful activities - particularly news practice and extra advice.  Read my March 23rd post to get some tips for multiple choice tests. Read all the way to the bottom for tips on Listening Tests. Tips and Stategioes for Multiple Choice Tests

    

How Do We Solve the Cheating Problem?

I'm continuing the discussion on cheating because I can't reply to the responses in a a short paragraph. I have too much to say. 

Rickey, I agree that some students will always cheat because they don't want to put in the effort it takes to pass a course. Unfortunately, we also have good, but not "brilliant" students who cheat  because one high stakes exam determines their future. In this situation, even students who have worked extremely hard, but who can't compete with the top 2%  often feel they have nothing to lose by cheating. The high stakes create the problem. Anyone with any suggestions about how to solve this particular dilemma, please write a comment. 

Yini, I agree that some people cheat because they only want the piece of paper, not the knowledge it states they have acquired. In your comment, you assume that students actually care about what their instructor can offer them, or about the content of the course itself. Many students genuinely do want to learn, and don't cheat because they recognize that a test simply determines what they know and what they still need to learn. Unfortunately, some students are only interested in the ultimate goal - success at any price.  To these people, success and honesty don't belong in the same sentence. In fact, the concept of honesty is for "losers".

Sally, I can see that you are a true learner. However, you also bring up another reason people cheat: Cheating is the only way they can meet the high expectations of their parents or teachers. I will respond as a teacher first. I do have high expectations, but often these expectations challenge students who don't believe in themselves to put more effort into their work than they normally would. Often, these students surpass even their own expectations. However, I only place these expectations on students who are capable of achieving. Some of my students shouldn't be in my class for a variety of reasons. They were misplaced. Their previous instructor has been "too kind." Some of them have even cheated and not been caught. These students will ultimately not succeed because a gate- keeping teacher will eventually refuse to pass them on to another level.

I know that some parents have expecta- tions their children will never be able to meet, particularly parents with only one child. I've often taught hard working students whose parents expect them to accomplish miracles. They've placed all their hopes and dreams on the back of one poor 19 year old who may never have what it takes to become the scholar they want him or her to be. Unfortunately, parents living thousands of miles away have no idea how difficult it is to learn a language, or how long it takes to master it well enough to perform at the college or university level. As a result, they accuse their children of being lazy and accuse them of not working hard enough if they don't pass every English class, regardless of whether they've learned anything. Is it any wonder their children are under so much pressure that they cheat in order to  please their parents, and to avoid their strong recriminations for failing. 

Enrique, students who are caught cheating at the university level do suffer consequences. But, we are now living in an electronic world where catching the cheaters has become the issue. We're allso living in a world where stuidents help each other cheat.  As a result, no matter how much an instructor would like to trust her students, she is forced to assume that at least a few of them will cheat. This lack of trust is certainly one reason all my students must put their electronic devices on myh desk before an exam.  A few weeks ago, one of my former homestay students told me about electronic pens that have now been designed for cheaters. Of course, we North Americans haven't even heard of them yet. Some schools and universities are getting very tough, but the question remains are they tough enough. Should students get a slap on the wrist, or should the penalties be more severe?  Check out the  following article.It's an  interesting read. 10 Greatest Cheating Scandals in College History
. 

Do have you anything to say about the issue?  Tell me what YOU think in the comment box. 

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