English Toolbox Tips

Enter E-mails Correctly!

2010-03-17T23:11:00.001Z

When registering with English Toolbox for the first time, please be sure to enter your e-mail address correctly. The system automatically generates a password and sends it to your e-mail address, but if the address is wrong it will be rejected, and then you can't log on because you don't have your password! Thank you.

We Get Letters!

2010-03-01T11:02:00.000Z

Thanks to all those who have written us over the past three years to offer suggestions, make comments, or just to thank us for the high quality of materials in the English Toolbox library. Usually the theme of the e-mail is something like, "I needed something very specific for a class, and you had it!" Our aim, as always, is to please, and it pleases us that we fill a niche in the ESL training market. We pledge to continue meeting your needs as we enter our fourth year in business!

Happy Birthday to Us!

2010-02-17T21:09:00.001Z

English Toolbox is three years old today, and we're giving all of you a chance to share in the celebration. Just send an e-mail to info@englishtoolbox.com and write "Happy Birthday" in the subject line, and we'll give you five free credits! Current subscribers can get the credits added to their accounts. This promotion expires on 28 February, so don't delay (it sure beats birthday cake!).

So, Too, Either & Neither

2010-01-29T16:23:00.000Z

Changes to Packs of Credits

2010-01-27T14:26:00.000Z

Due to an increase in processing charges, the Gift Pack and 5- and 10-credit add-on packs are being discontinued until further notice. All those customers who have purchased these in the past month will, of course, retain their credits until they are used up by the customer (English Toolbox credits never expire). We thank you for your understanding.

ET Videos on YouTube

2010-01-24T23:44:00.002Z

The videos being posted on this blog are also available for viewing on YouTube. Just enter "TheEnglishToolbox" in their search box to see the complete collection.

Using Screen-capture Software in TEFL

2010-01-11T14:51:00.000Z

An interesting article with multi-media samples shows how to use software that records what's on a computer screen (including mouse commands) as an EFL teaching tool. Includes links to specific screen-capture software sites.

Great EFL Blog

2010-01-03T00:03:00.000Z

EFL materials author Mark Pennington writes a blog that expands on his published works. Great stuff for teachers working with beginner through advanced students.

What English Sounds Like to Non-Native Speakers

2009-12-29T22:16:00.000Z

This is an Italian comic performing a rock video song using only gibberish English. Sure sounds like the real thing, even though there is barely an English word in it!

http://music.todaysbigthing.com/2009/11/03

Happy holidays everyone. As English Toolbox prepares to begin its fourth year in business, we thank all our present and past customers for their support and encouragement. See you in 2010!

Adverbs of Frequency Video

2009-12-23T13:28:00.000Z

Modals Video

2009-12-14T17:36:00.000Z

China Bans Older Teachers

2009-12-11T15:19:00.000Z

The Chinese government has apparently decided to no longer renew visas or extend contracts to English teachers over the age of 60. Dumping experienced teachers isn’t usually the best policy for countries trying to jump-start their language training, but maybe there’s some inscrutable rationale behind this decision... .

A TEFL FAQ

2009-12-01T18:29:00.001Z

A very nice, brief description of how and why to become a TEFL trainer. It’s a bit Anglo-centric, but at least it stipulates that training is essential to a neophyte teacher.

Quoted Speech Video

2009-11-26T17:32:00.001Z

We will be adding videos periodically to this blog (not to the library). Here's one to start with:

Win Free Admission to 2010 TESOL Conference

2009-11-18T21:22:00.002Z

TESOL is having a monthly contest, the winner of which is given a complimentary registration to the 2010 convention in Boston, or the grand prize of 3 nights hotel at the convention. Details here.

Obama Becomes Japan’s English Teacher

2009-11-02T00:34:00.000Z

The U.S. president is a big hit with Japanese learning English:

Publishers have since flooded the market with over a dozen language-learning titles, including “Speech Training: Learning to Deliver English Speech, Obama Style”; “Learn English Grammar From Obama”; and “Yes, I Can With Obama: 40 Magical English Phrases From Presidential E-mails.”

“Mr. Obama’s English is easy to understand because he pronounces words clearly and speaks at a relatively slow clip,” said Professor Tadaharu Nikaido, a communication specialist here.

When Japanese is Like French

2009-11-02T00:29:00.000Z

One of our favorite journalists is James Fallows of The Atlantic. Fallows has spent years living in Japan and China, among other places, and has become reasonably fluent in both countries’ languages. So we found this comparison interesting:

With allowances for obvious differences, it's useful (as I've mentioned before) to think of Japan's attitude toward its national language as being similar to France's, and China's attitude as being similar to America's.
That is: in France and Japan, the deep-down assumption is that the language is pure and difficult, that foreigners can't really learn it, and that one's attitude toward their attempts is either French hauteur or the elaborately over-polite and therefore inevitably patronizing Japanese response to even a word or two in their language. "Nihongo jouzu! Your Japanese is so good!" Correspondingly… Japanese people (to generalize) often seem self-conscious about potential errors in English. Of course, French speakers of English are marvelously non-self-conscious, even jauntily willful, about retaining their French accents, especially the trademark "z' sound for "th." " 'Zees ees what I mean..." (Yes, I am aware that the fricative th phoneme is the most difficult sound in English for non-native speakers, our counterpart to r's in French.)
The American attitude towards English is: everyone should get with the program, there are a million variants and accents of the language, all that really matters is whether you can somehow get your meaning across. Because there are so many versions of Chinese in use within China, my impression is that the everyday attitude of Chinese people toward language is similar: You're expected to try to learn it, no one will spend that much time mocking your mistakes, mainly they are trying to figure out what you're trying to say. Probably both the U.S. and Chinese attitudes reflect the outlook of big, continental nations that encompass lots of internal diversity -- and in America's case, absorb huge numbers of immigrants.

Language Show Fair in London

2009-10-27T05:26:00.000Z

The Language Show Fair in London bills itself as “the UK’s biggest event for language learners, language teachers, linguists and everyone who loves language.” This year’s fair starts 30 October, runs for two days, and features 185 exhibitors; details here.

Teach English for $2.37 Per Hour!

2009-10-18T10:33:00.000+01:00

Does that sound like an attractive offer to you? We didn't think so. Yet that's the price you are putting on your time when you spend 20 minutes searching for or writing a new exercise for your classes, compared to buying one for 79 cents from English Toolbox! With our detailed search engine, you can find exercises on any grammar or business skills topic in about ten seconds. Then select and download, and it's yours to use and keep forever! You're a hardworking teaching professional: isn't it time you started working smart instead of working hard?

Step Right Up!

2009-09-30T12:52:00.004+01:00

Yet another article on the new Land of Opportunity, China, where 23-year-old Americans can leave behind $7/hour jobs in drugstores to inflict, er, teach English right out of college:

Reasbeck said it took her two months to find the drugstore job after she graduated from Boston's Emerson College with a degree in writing, literature and publishing. She said she applied to as many as 50 employers nationwide.

Today, on top of her teaching job, she works part-time recruiting other native English-speaking teachers. She makes 14,000 to 16,000 yuan ($2,000 to $2,300) a month.

"I could have a pretty comfortable life here on not a very high salary. English teachers are in high demand," she said.

Reasbeck said most of her college classmates are in part-time jobs or unemployed.

"People are sleeping on their mom's couches, as far as I know," she said.

Last-minute Job Cancelations for EFL Teachers Going to Korea

2009-09-19T12:02:00.002+01:00

Over 50 English teachers who were due to fly to Seoul to start new jobs were informed just 24 hours beforehand that they were not needed after all. Here’s the explanation:

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) Tuesday, it hired too many foreign English teachers to fill the 560 positions planned at elementary and secondary schools. It said it hired more applicants than necessary as some tend to fail to come to Seoul.
"About 100 applicants more than necessary were picked. Of them, we had to withdraw employment notices for about 56 applicants, and the rest voluntarily quit," an SMOE official said.
The sudden cancelation has frustrated prospective teachers, leaving many with complaints that they are now stuck without a job and demanding that the employer compensate for costs such as airline tickets and work visa applications.

Comments from a sympathetic blogger here, and a less-sympathetic columnist here.

Why Free Isn't Always Better

2009-09-12T15:22:00.000+01:00

Some people have asked us why they should pay money for English Toolbox Co. exercises when there are so many free exercises on the internet. We agree that there are many good free exercises on the web: we used many of them ourselves when we started teaching many years ago. The problem is trying to find something specific among the dozens of sites out there. For example, if you had an advanced level class of businessmen and wanted to review conjunctions, how would you find it? These sites rarely have a search engine, and what you do find may not be really at an advanced level, or may not use business language, or both: our site has a search engine that narrows the search down to very specific parameters. How many questions will be contained within the exercise (ours always have at least 12)? What is the format (all of our exercises are available in both Word and interactive HTML format so the student can practice after class on his/her own PC).

In the area of Business English, our site offers more exercises on skills like meetings, negotiations and presentations--for both intermediate and advanced levels--than any other sites we've seen over the years. In addition, we have specific exercises devoted to finance, logistics, medical English, etc. Again, someone could search for and perhaps even find free exercises on these topics if they had an abundance of free time, but it takes only seconds to locate them on our site.

Finally, when a teacher gets an exercise from a free site, it’s usually a PDF with logos from the publisher splashed all over it… it is clearly something they downloaded from the internet. Our exercises are clean: the teacher can modify, re-brand with a name or logo, or do whatever he/she wants with it (except re-sell it). We believe this has a value that sets it apart from something photocopied from a book or grabbed off the internet.

What we're selling is meant to be used in conjunction with, not as a replacement for, what's already available on other sites. What we offer is convenience, specificity and speed in searching for materials. We think that it’s worth the 79 cents we charge for an exercise to save 20, 30 or whatever number of minutes searching for something that may end up being inadequate for the teacher's needs. Those who disagree can, of course, continue to avail themselves of the free resources; however, our customers have told us they appreciate the quality, quantity and variety of the exercises they’ve found on English Toolbox, and that they save a great deal of time by using it (not just “work time,” but evening and weekend time as well). Some people think that is worth paying for.

New Job-Search Exercises

2009-09-06T19:48:00.000+01:00

We’ve added some exercises for writing a CV and a cover letter to the ever-growing English Toolbox collection of business English worksheets. Enter "CV" or "cover letter" in the “exercise name” field on the Search page to check them out.

British Council Lists Top 75 English Words

2009-08-31T13:59:00.002+01:00

The top ten are:

1. Love 2. God 3. Peace 4. Awesome 5. Hello 6. Freedom 7. Gorgeous 8. Sunshine 9. Health 10. Happiness

The complete list is here.

And You Thought You'd Been Hired to Teach English

2009-08-25T02:46:00.005+01:00

From a TESOL.org press release:

As the global association for English language educators, TESOL values individual language rights, collaboration in a global community, and respect for diversity and multiculturalism. TESOL strongly opposes bullying, harassment, and hate crimes... TESOL supports:

• Development of educational practices by TESOL professionals to assist students and scholars experiencing bullying, harassment, and hate crimes;

• Development of educational practices by TESOL professionals to teach majority-group members the value of diversity and of the human and civil rights of minorities;

• Creation of opportunities by TESOL professionals for members of minority groups to educate their peers;

• Encouragement by TESOL professionals of appreciation and respect for those who do not look/behave like the majority.