A ESL Teacher's Poem....

Funny Poem for ESL Teachers!

I found this poem while working as an ESL teacher in Asia, and it pretty much encompasses all the frustrations of my students in their endevours to understand English. In any case, I found it pretty amusing...



English Is a Stupid Language
Anonymous

There is no egg in eggplant,
No ham in the hamburger,
And neither pine, nor apple,
In our dear pineapple

English Muffins were not invented in England,
And French Fries do not hail from France.
And while quicksand takes you down slowly,
Why do boxers, in boxing rings, dance?

If writers write, how come fingers don’t fing?
If the plural of tooth is teeth,
Why aren’t phone booths called phone beeth?
If a teacher taught, why didn’t the preacher praught?

If a Vegetarian eats vegetables,
What does a humanitarian eat?
And why do we recite at a play,
When a play has a recital?

And why do we park on our driveways,
and drive on our Parkways?
And, in being of the human race,
we find that it isn’t even a race at all.

You have to marvel, that a house burns up,
while it actually burns down.
And when the stars are out they are visible
While when the lights are out they are invisible,

Yes, English is a stupid language,
Which makes not much sense at all,
And that is why, when I wind up my watch, it starts.
But when I wind up this poem, it ends.

The End

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Utilizing Skype to Learn Languages

Hello Readers!

So, it seems that Skype has a wealth of different resources to access on-line tutors and language exchanges to help with one-to-one coaching while learning languages. It offers different profiles, lets you search a data base for speakers of specific languages/regions for a verbal "pen pal", and gives you access to other such websites that offer similar programs, such as:

~Worldia
~1-2-3 PAEN Language Learning
~BitWine
~Osnavi
~CTSS Translating Services
~VerbalPlanet
~Unize.

Most, if not all, of these sites offer real world conversation practice, translation, and interperative services. Some of them require small fees, but some of them are also FREE!! Check it out with the link below!


Skype Language Forum

Hope you find some other fun usages for it as well, and if you do, post a comment about what you found helpful working with all these sites!

Interesting Ideas for using Skype in a Language Classroom

This article provides some interesting uses for Skype in language classrooms, and give some different uses for how to go about intergrating it into lesson plans.


Some of the ones I liked were:

~Bringing in a guest lecturer from a distance to teach the class in a group
~Users can share files and discuss them interactively using advanced features
~While chatting, users can utilize screen sharing with features such as"conference call" when they have multiples users-so you can link several classrooms together at the same time!!
~Utilize instant messaging during a Skype call session to share textual information, or augment a point.


But there are lots of other ways, which just goes to show that with a little creativity, teachers can take this simple tool and make it fun and interactive for their students in the classroom!!! Click on the link to see for yourself:


SKYPE FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS

Happy Language hunting!!

Educational Video

This is an interesting news report on Spanish Immersion Dual Language Schools in the US. It discusses the importance of bilingual education, the benefits for students attending these schools, and the possible changes of viewpoint about these programs from the Public Education System standpoint.