T.E.A.C.H.E.R.S.H.O.U.S.E

IS TIME REALLY PASSING FASTER THAN USUAL???

2008-05-15T23:15:00.005-03:00

A year... just unbelievable. Last time I posted something here was over a year ago... it sounds really bizarre! If you also feel time is flying (more like a rocket, though) you might want to read this discussion forum about the topic: IS TIME REALLY PASSING FASTER THAN USUAL???

(...)

So, it's about time I post something now... it's been a while, which is a good sign: in a country of thousands and thousands of unemployed, I've got WAY TOO MUCH WORK!!!
A good link of quizzes to practise English can be found here.

Certificates

2007-03-05T16:52:00.003-03:00

Willing to take the IELTS examination? So check the dates on the British Council page (if you live in Brazil) or the IELTS international/official page is you live anywhere else!
But if you don't even know what the IELS is, I'll give you a hand: The IELTS is an internationally recognised certificate, which is good for:

- proving one's English skills

- allowing students to join certain universities in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, etc.

- allowing students to obtain a visa by Australian, NZ and Canadian governments.

Other important certificates for learners of English around the globe are the Cambridge, the TOEIC (Business English) and the TOEFL, for which you can practise here.

In the ETS page you can find a whole lot more of information concerning these tests, amongst others.

Listening resources

2007-03-05T15:47:00.002-03:00

I've previously discussed about the importance of pronunciation when teaching/learning a language, and now it's time to provide you with some resources to practise listening - which, for sure, helps improving one's pronunciation once they've internalized the sounds of English language. What I'll provide here:

If you're a student: great resources for "studying Listening" systematically.

If you're a teacher: great resources for preparing amazing classes, especially if your student is going abroad and needs guidance and practise in topics such as: immigration/customs, airport talk, restaurant conversations, etc.

This is the page where you can find it all, for all levels! Another great page is the famous ELLLO, in which you can find great listening exercises (covering many kinds of accents) and games. You might also try this page, which brings "comprehension quizzes for listening skill improvement for beginner, intermediate and advanced ESL EFL English levels".
Off you go!

Brazilian Body language

2007-02-23T18:37:00.000-02:00

If you're interested in learning a little about BRAZILIAN BODY LANGUAGE, check out this very interesting page. It brings pictures and explanations about what Brazilian gestures mean. It's really curious!
Check a few examples below:

And there's a lot more about Brazilian culture here and also here.

Some more on pronunciation

2007-02-23T16:37:00.000-02:00

Having "native-like" spoken English is not a must. But being able to differenciate specific sounds is, though. The other day, a student of mine said he'll never /shit/ on his girlfriend. Well... I really hope not!
In the very same class another guy said it would be hard for him if he had to /shoes/ between his girlfriend and his carreer.
Yet another one said he was late because he had to /chop/ with his mom. I suppose she needed some help in the kitchen...

For that reason, being familiar with phonetics can help. A lot. Actually, more than students imagine. For you guys that don't have a clue of what I'm saying this page here is a good start.

However, the most amazing of all, in my humble opinion (I'm saying that as an English teacher and a former speech therapist) is this page, produced at the University of Iowa. I say amazing because it's instructive, clear and - overall - complete.
There are also pronunciation tips at this BBC page and a free phonetics course (for Portuguese speakers) here. It's really handy!

And if you feel like studying some more about pronunciation, there's pretty much everything in here, as well as all around the net. Just google around!

English around the world

2007-02-23T00:42:00.000-02:00

Page with hundreds of links for students to explore and teachers to get lesson ideas from. Nicely divided into pages from different English Speaking countries as Canada, U.K, Australia or The U.S, this site provides from the American National Anthem, weather information, recipes and articles on science to books online and travel information.

No ideas for classes?

2007-01-23T23:45:00.003-02:00

Have you ever felt so tired that you just had no creativity to prepare your next lesson? Huh huh. After all, we're mere earthlings, and sometimes we just can't help it, right? For those moments of total lack of imagination, you can count on OneStopEnglish's teachers support team. Suggestions from 9 especialists about teaching methodologies, teaching with minimal resources and others. You will come up with a brand new lesson after reading it, believe me.

"The EFL surgery for busy English teachers! Kick back, relax, and allow our panel of expert authors and teachers to help solve your teaching-related dilemmas! Either send us your questions or search our existing database of useful reference materials to help solve your problems."

To have a taste of specialist's ideas of teaching with minimum resources, click here.

Working with pronunciation

2007-01-23T21:55:00.000-02:00

Nice and complete article on ESL teaching pronunciation. Read about the importance of teaching pronunciation, how to teach it and not to teach it and different approaches to do so. Still on pronunciation, Antimoon presents lists of phonetic symbols with printable version and recordings of American and British pronunciation in MP3 format.
ESLGold offers pronunciation exercises and pratising using audio resources. Here you can have a good idea of the different sounds in English, listen and repeat the sounds of vowels, consonants, etc. It also presents a list of other links on pronunciation. The site - that is visually very clear and uses easy language to understand - also presents Speaking, Listening, Reading, Writing, Grammar, Vocabulary, Business and Idioms sections.

Top 1

2007-01-23T21:31:00.001-02:00

TESl journal is just a must for English teachers. All the information you can get about teaching techniques, ideas for zero classes, free reading, writing and conversation lessons (really great ones by the way), culture, games, videos, articles, etc. The list just goes on and on. It's my "top 1" page when searching for information to increment my classes.

Breathe books!

2006-09-20T15:53:00.003-03:00

We're living the technology era. Computers, cell phones, dvds, Ipods and so on. I hardly hear of students that actually read books anymore. "Oh, yeah, I read some stuff on the net". "I read newspapers and magazines", they say.
To me, they don't know what they're missing. Is there anything greater than the feeling we get from being in a book store? Uuuhh... okay, okay, sleeping, eating chocolate, kissing, Sunday morning lie-in... whatever, you know what I mean!

It's a reality we face. What can we do as teachers? Not letting their reading habit vanish! If students don't pay a visit to the book shops anymore, let's take the books to them!
This amazing site brings interviews with renown authors, as you can check here. Students can listen to poems online, and if they're just way too lazy, they can listen to whole literature books. Wanna listen to Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" online? Here you go! All you need is real audio for that.

Yep, it's true. Have fun!

Your post

2006-08-20T21:42:00.003-03:00

I never meant to make a personal blog out of this. Actually, I promised myself I never would. But taking the circumstances under consideration, I just jave to say it's well-deserved.

I've been listening to Elton John more than ever lately and it was quite odd to find out that you, a guy who'd never liked him much, was doing the same. Call it a coincidence, I call it sintonia, which cannot be expressed in English in the same intensity by any word, as well as saudade. You know we have sintonia, and you know that what we had can never be taken away from us.

"It's a little bit funny this feeling inside. I'm not one of those who can easily hide. I don't have much money but boy if I did, I'd buy a big house where we both could live. If I was a sculptor, but then again, no, or a man who makes potions in a travelling show, I know it's not much but it's the best I can do. My gift is my song and this one's for you. And you can tell everybody this is your song. It may be quite simple but now that it's done. I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind that I put down in words... how wonderful life is while you're in the world" Elton John

--------

Buy a trumpet. Keep on jazzin'. Open the windows and paint the walls yellow. Good day sunshine. Do it for no one. Here comes the sun and soon there'll be dear Prudence, Martha, Michelle, Anna, Carol, Clarabella, Julia... and I'll have to act naturally... you'll get a taste of a different honey. Because of another girl I will cry, baby, cry. In spite of all the danger I'll carry that weight and drive my car. I'll follow the sun and maybe get some rain on the way. Free as a bird! I miss the old days when we'd say "Why don't we do it in the road?". It hurts to think back of the "We can work it out" moments. We should have fixed the hole earlier. We should have made a revolution because we knew it was real love. And now here we are, the two of us. Trying to let it be. Getting better, finding our ways along the long and winding road of life with a little help from our friends. I can no longer say "Don't let me down". In fact, I think you never did. Feel not guilty. All you need is love and I'm just too aquarian to provide you that. I've got a ticket to ride, you won't see me no more. The end. Tell me why? Don't know, I've just gotta find my inner light... like dreamers do.

P.S: I love you

Maria Elisa

Spelling

2006-07-15T15:12:00.000-03:00

Can you raed tihs? Olny srmat poelpe can.
Hhu, not rlaely... alutlcay eodervyby can. It wlil olny dneped if you can raed Einlsgh, ousbvoily.

"I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.
The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!"

Of couse spelling is important. Indeed it is. But for other purposes, let's not mess things up.

Make for learning!

2006-05-24T13:29:00.000-03:00

Phrasal verbs (also known as "multi word-verbs" or "verb phrases") seem to be a problem for many students as well as teachers. If you're sick of using the same phrasal verbs books over and over of if you're a teacher looking for resources to prepare classes on this topic, here is the place. Explanation of what a phrasal verb is and much more here.
Now Phrasal verb page presents them alphabetically ordered. Neat!
If you need even more examples you'll find them in Portuguese-English page.
Also, British Council offers free grammar games. There are some on phrasal verbs, check them out here.
... and the greatest of all: Cambridge Phrasal Verbs Dictionary online, and totally free!

QUIZZES! QUIZZES! QUIZZES!

2006-05-24T12:14:00.000-03:00

Have you ever heard of a "pub quiz" (which is not a"pop quiz") ? Also called "trivia quizzes", they're a craze all over Europe and the USA. Basically general knowledge quizzes, a selection of questions about arts, history, mathematics, geography, films, music, science, etc.
Is that great to practise your English or what?!?
Check some samples right now (just enter your e-mail address and it will lead you to a free quiz page)!
If you're willing to get addicted, check this out: Quizzing.co.uk!

F R I E N D S

2006-04-10T22:31:00.000-03:00

If you're a FRIENDS fan you can't miss this! Wanna know what Joey told Rachel? Never understand Chandler's jokes? So check it out, all scrips of all episodes!

Like movies?

2006-04-10T22:15:00.000-03:00

Here you can watch trailers, get movie plots, read reviews and quotes. Great site for the film addicteds!
Also, this site provides a list of films specially selected for English learners. All selected because they present use of colloquial English and have hit the big time in Hollywood. Synopses, memorable quotes, expressions found in the films and much more!
Learning English with films provides some tips for people to learn the language by doing some activities before, during and after the film! Check it out!
Now Lingual.net and Learning English through movies are the very best ones! If you are really into movies and you've got some time to dedicate to learning something here, you must check this out!

Study and work abroad!

2006-04-09T00:09:00.000-03:00

Finding reliable links on the internet on "exchange student programs" is hard job. There are schools and centers that provide this kind of service, but sometimes they promise a lot and offer little or almost no assistence at all once you are abroad.
Always read a lot, ask a lot and have reccomendations before you board a trip that might be the worst nightmare of your life!
On the British Council page you can find trustworthy information about studying abroad, with a wide list of high schools, universities and language schools you can study at. Also, places you can work at. Best of all, here you know you're surfing in safe waters...

If you're from BH - Brazil you can also pay a visit to Central de Intercâmbio, where they can give you orientation on studing and working abroad.

Kids rule!

2006-04-08T23:23:00.000-03:00

Do you teach kids? If the answer is "yes" you should enter discoverykids homepage right now! Interesting information and lesson plans you can develop with your little bra... I mean, angels.

And here you will learn how to create customized lesson plans, puzzles, quizzes, etc. It feels like Vera Menezes' online discipline!
(sorry folks, in joke, hehe)

Wanna improve your writing skills?

2006-04-08T22:31:00.000-03:00

So Online ESL Writing Worksheets is the place for it!
Teachers can use it in classes. Students can practise by printing the worksheets, writing a composition and giving it to a teacher to correct.
Nice interesting themes as you can check in this example.
But if you're out of ideas, you can also find tips for writing well and ideas for essays here.

The drama room

2006-03-19T22:11:00.000-03:00

"englishteaching.co.uk provides and publishes printable and editable teaching resources, worksheets, lesson plans and schemes of work for teachers of English Language and Literature @ secondary level."

Serious site about English Language and Literature for all levels. Here you can get in touch with a wide range of drama plays, get printable worksheets, teaching resources and lesson plans. Drama, poetry, prose, schemes of work and other texts can be downloaded here. Not everything is free, though.
If you want to go deeper into arts (by studying fiction and non-fiction literature) you can also enter Literacy page and rehearse one of Shakespeare's plays!

Garfield

2006-03-19T21:50:00.000-03:00

Check Garfield's comic strips since the early days. Here you can read the very first one published in 1978. Just awesome!

Yummy!

2006-03-19T21:25:00.000-03:00

Deliciously interesting ready-to-use lessons for all ages.
English to go offers worksheets about really nice topics, such as of a German family that kept an eel in the bathtub, the risk we all run with Earth's temperature increase or the story of chocolate! Also, self-study lesson for children and adults, online sample exercises, worksheets with grammar exercises and preparation for the exams IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC and FCE. It's worth checking!

Virtual class and business tips

2006-03-19T20:35:00.000-03:00

Tired of using just marker and blackboard (even worse if it's chalk)? Learn how to teach using modern resources as data show in the virtual classroom.

If you need to deliver a presentation in your company and want to cause good impression, click HERE and get useful tips for oral and poster presentations, how to use visual aids effectively as well as correct language to use and examples of presentation disasters. If you are shy and have already started panicking before preparing your presentation, calm down... here you can also find tips to overcome anxiety. Sit back and enjoy it.

For more business presentation tips, also visit this link. According to them "Selling yourself is a key part of commercial life."

Orkut communities

2006-03-19T20:33:00.000-03:00

Have you joined Orkut already? You should.
This revolutionary social network service was created in 2004 by the Google employee Orkut Büyükköten and it is designed to help users from all over the world to meet new friends and maintain existing relationships. The cool thing about Orkut is that it allows users to enter "communities" and apart from regular stupidities that can be found there, it also offers some great things. Each community has something similar to a discussion forum and for this reason some communities came really handy for English teachers and students. Check some out and participate discussions about vocabulary, culture curiosities, grammar, english schools and on and on. Help yourself.

- English language teachers

- English language games
- ELT - English Language Teaching
- Natural language processing
- como dizer tudo em inglês
- phonetics and phonology
- grammar nazis
- tecla sap - dicas de inglês
- English as a second language

At last but not least, visit the pages of the schools where I work:
- Inglês & Cia idiomas
- Literarius Language center

There's only one detail: "it is invitation-only: users must be invited to join the community by someone already there". If you'd like to join orkut, feel free to leave your e-mail address in the heading "comments" below and I'll be glad to send you an invitation.

You can also read some more about Orkut history in Wikipedia and check a picture of its creator relaxing a bit...

Let's care

2006-03-19T19:32:00.000-03:00

Wonderful site with articles on teaching and learning. Ideas for exploring and discussing with your students. Learn to teach "world-consciously", to organize your time and classroom space and grab the chance to read loads of articles about teaching all over the world, from teacher's experiences in Somalia, Kenia, Nigeria, Morocco, India, etc. Enter UNICEF's page and you'll see how priviledged you are to be sitting right there right now...

All you can imagine is here!

2006-03-19T18:27:00.000-03:00

This page, written in Portuguese, provides all you can imagine concerning education. Here you can find Vygotsky, Chomsky and others' biographies, teaching approaches and methodologies, articles on translation, interlanguage, history of English Language, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, etc. Great source of information for those who like browsing a good site and learn autonomously. Huge ammount of information for students that want to learn about the English language in itself, need travel information, want to upgrade reading, writing and speaking skills and, best of all, want to count on teacher's help to answer doubts. For teachers, a great opportunity to talk to professionals all over Brazil in its Discussion Forum. Have a blast!

Free lesson plans

2006-03-19T18:13:00.000-03:00

EnglishLearner.com offers free English lessons for students and free lesson plans for teachers. Interactive tests, quizzes, puzzles and an online forum where tachers from all over the world can trade info. All you have to do is subscribe!

Games and fun for teaching kids!

2006-03-18T22:30:00.000-03:00

edHelper is a very interesting site about ideas for games and fun for teaching kids and adults!
It counts with small articles and short stories for children of all ages. Learn a little yourself about tales of ancient india, how to save our trees or even Vincent Van Gogh.
Printable worksheets with full stories, puzzles and lots of fun for your kids! Wanna subscribe for edHelper? Click here.

Everyday references

2006-03-18T10:15:00.000-03:00

Free online dictionaries:
- Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - the best there is!
- Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary
- Picture Dictionary - nice one for elementary and pre-intermediate students to just browse!

Want to know a synonym for "detest"? Check it here - Free online Thesaurus (synonym dictionary)!

What is mostly used: "in need of cash" or "in need for cash"? - enter Sara Corpora Search and find it out!