Thursday December 24, 2009
Taking quizzes is a popular way to check your knowledge of English grammar. One of the most important grammar concepts is the use of tenses. Tenses indicate whether something happens in the past, present or future. To use the right tense in English, it is important to know the proper conjugation of a verb. The following quizzes check your knowledge about the basic differences between tenses:
Present Simple vs Present Continuous
Past Simple or Present Perfect
Future with 'will' or 'going to'
Advanced Past Tense Forms Review
Advanced Future Tenses Review
Tuesday December 22, 2009
That's a great question! Many students find it much more difficult to write at an intermediate or advanced level than to speak at these levels. There are a number of reasons for this which are explored in this English teaching article: Why Is Writing More Difficult Than Speaking? These questions are especially important for business English classes. Here are two business English writing lessons that can help with this challenge:
Business Letter Writing Lesson Outline
Using the Internet to Teach ESP
Monday December 21, 2009
Studying Zodiac signs and the personality traits is a great way to quickly improve your vocabulary related to personality. This upper level visual dictionary contains adjective rich descriptions of each Zodiac sign as well as a follow-up quiz to help you learn the new vocabulary. Does your sign reflect your true self?
This lesson plan builds on the Zodiac sign resource at the site. Whether students believe in the Zodiac or not, working with Zodiac sign descriptions provides a great opportunity to widen their vocabulary knowledge about personality and characteristic adjectives. Use this Zodiac signs lesson plan to get students talking about themselves and their friends. You'll all have a good laugh, and students will improve their active vocabulary beyond the standard happy, funny, sad, and lucky.
Friday December 18, 2009
Short dictations are helpful for both listening and writing practice. Each of these beginning level dictations focuses on a specific learning point such as 'at the restaurant' or 'comparisons'. The dictations include five sentences. Each sentence is read twice with time to write down the answer.
There is also a section for intermediate to advanced level learners focusing on Business English dictations. Each dictation is full of appropriate pauses to write things down, and is repeated twice.