Thank You To My Fellow ESL Instructors

As 2016 comes to an end, I say "Thank You" "ありがとうございました", "Gracias", "Merci", "고맙습니다" to my colleagues, who I also call my friends. All my excellent qualities as an ESL instructor come from all of you.

Business English: " Here's The Thing.." - A Guide To Giving Negative Feedback

Do you have to saying something to a colleague or employee about their awful fashion choices, the terrible quality of their work, their body odor, their smelly feet? This post will show you how to soften the impact of your words when giving negative feedback.

To My Students Past & Present - THANK YOU!

What do I like most about teaching?

Everything vs Anything - What's The Difference?

Today's post answers one of the many questions that many ESL learners have asked me.

What's the difference between everything and anything?

Idioms & Phrasal Verbs - What's The Difference?

We're back with more phrasal verbs, but, this time, we're adding idioms to the mix😆!

Phrasal Verbs: Put

 I'm not putting you on when I tell you that learning phrasal verbs is essential for ESL learners. Today's post will focus on phrasal verbs using "put".

All/Most/Many/Some/Few: Quantifiers

Today's post will be about quantifiers like all, most, many, some, few, very few, hardly, etc.

CAN vs BE ABLE TO

I hope I can show you how to to use can and  be able to with this post.

Boring ESL Teachers - What To Do

You've got an ESL teacher that you feel is boring. What are you going to do? In today's post, we'll look at the different ways ESL students can make their classes more interesting even though their instructor is boring.

More English Teachers On YouTube

Besides excellent self :-), there are many talented, creative ESL teachers on YouTube. In today's post we'll look at four.

Review: Past Tenses

Back in February, we looked at different verb tenses. Today, we'll focus on past simple, past continuous, past perfect simple, and past perfect continuous.

ESL Games: Talking Boards

Today's post is about one of my favourite ESL activities: talking board games.

Noun, Verb, Adverb, Adjective: Parts Of Speech & Suffixes

We briefly covered parts of speech last year during our series on the TOEIC test. Today, we're going to go into more detail. We'll look at a few helpful infographics,  and do a few exercises to practice.

Business Presentations - Part 4: Dealing With Difficult Questions

You've have reached the end of your presentation and are now going to take questions from your audience. This can be the most challenging, and  it's the most important part of your talk. People's final impression of you will likely be made at this point. 

In today's post we'll cover the following types of situations:

a) You Don't The Answer

b) Question Machine Guns

c) Emotional Questions

d)  Hijackers

A Brief Look At Idioms

Idioms are tough because they are from English pop culture, history, and folklore. It's hard to really get their meaning by just looking at them. The best way to get the meaning is to look at the situations they are used in, and the "image" they put in your mind.

Grammatical Correctness VS Conversational English

First, let's me just say: having good grammar is important, but, in the goal in learning and using any language is communication. So, today, we're going to look at examples of where conversational English isn't always grammatically correct but is still okay.

Business Presentations - Part 3: Infographics & Technical Problems

We'll now look at business presentations focusing on:

• directing the audience's eye to infographics (charts and graphs) and audio-visuals (videos, images, etc)
• dealing with technical problems (e.g.,projector doesn't work)

Business Presentations - Part 2: Transitional Language & Summary

Welcome back to part two of our series on business presentations. Today, we're going to cover transitional language (moving from one point to the next), and summarizing your talk.

Business Presentations - Part 1: Introducing The Topic & The Outline

This is part one of a series of posts on doing business presentations. Today, we'll look at:

a) Introducing the topic

b) outlining your presentation

There will be useful phrases and vocabulary for business presentations, a short paragraph on your voice, and a few videos for further study and information.

A, An, & The - A Review Of Articles

Time for a review of indefinite and definite articles (a, an, and the). Articles are on the most difficult parts of the English language to teach. An ESL learner can spend years learning how to use them. In this post we'll look at how and when to use articles. There will also be exercises to help you practice and there will be a video or two as well.

Business English: Customer Service - Face To Face

Today's post will be on using English for face-to-face customer service. We'll cover general, everyday language for greeting customers/clients, explaining services/goods, saying "no", inviting repeat business.

Future Tenses

In January, we discussed the difference between going to" and "will". Today, we'll look at other future tenses: future continuous, future perfect, and the future perfect continuous (plus review the future simple). By the end of this post, you will have learned how to use these tenses. :-)!

Comparatives: Review

(copyright: Marvel Comics, 2016)

Today's post is a review of comparatives using "er", "more", "less", and "as___as". Using the chart above, let's look at some examples.

Business English: Disagreeing Politely

Study the picture above, then read the short dialogue.

Aya, Brent, and Mos are having a sales managers' meeting.

Aya: Our sales people aren't meeting their targets. I think we should offer start offering higher commissions for-

Brent: What!? Are you crazy? That's a terrible idea. More training is what sales needs.

Mos: You don't know what you're talking about, Brent. Training seminars take too much time.

Aya: That's right. Higher commissions will make the sales team work harder. Also, training seminars are so boring.

Brent: Okay, let's go with higher commissions. But, I think you're both wrong. 

Mos: Thank you, Brent, for your opinion. 

Object Pronouns: You, Us, Me, Her, Him, Them, It

Today, I'm going to explain object pronouns to you. A lot of ESL learners have a hard time understanding them. Students have often told me how difficult it is to use object pronouns. So, I hope this post will give you a better understanding of them.

Business English: Reported Speech

Please read the short dialogue below.

April 1st, 2016

Jiro: So, did Ms Rashid tell you what she needed for the conference next month?

Kim: Yes, I spoke with her yesterday evening. She asked if we could book a hotel conference hall in 
          the city center. I told her it would be more expensive, but she said location was more      
           important than price

Jiro: Good. Has she confirmed how many people will be attending the conference?

Kim: She said there would be 250 people attending.  Have you found a suitable hotel to book?

Jiro: Yes, I have. The Meridian Hotel. The manager said there were two conference halls available. But, he asked if we could confirm the booking by tomorrow morning.

An 8-Ounce Steak: A Look At Compound Adjectives

Would you like an 8-ounce steak?

Well, you won't get it here, but, you'll learn how to use phrases like "an 8-ounce steak". We call these compound adjectives.

ESL On Twitter

Social media is an excellent resource for ESL learners. You can join groups, get advice, meet fellow students, and even take lessons online. Today, we'll look briefly at a few outstanding ESL feeds on Twitter.

Business English: Receiving Complaints

Last week, we looked at making complaints. Today's post is all about the opposite: receiving complaints. In this post, we'll go over the language tools and expressions to help you deal with a complaint. 

Business English: Making Complaints

Unhappy with a service or product? Do you have a customer or compliant complaint? Today's post will be about how to make complaints, both politely and strongly.

Small, Tiny, Short, Petite, Little: Learn Your Synonyms

English has many words that have similar meanings or the exact same meaning.  Look at  the infographic above. Big and huge have similar meaning, but we use them to describe very different things. We call these words synonyms.

In this post, we'll discuss synonyms and how to choose between words that have similar meanings.

Review: Comparatives & Superlatives

Time for a quick review. In December, we look at comparatives and superlatives. I'm a big fan of using graphics to explain grammar points and expressions. You could say I'm the biggest fan. Check out the infographic by Grammar.net.

Really, A Bit, Absolutely: How To Use Modifiers

Mmm...This fried chicken is so good! It's absolutely delicious!

Today's post is on modifiers: words we use to add make adjectives and verbs sound stronger or weaker

For example, for the young woman above, the fried chicken isn't just delicious - it's more than delicious (for her). Using "absolutely" makes the adjective stronger.

I'll Have The Steak, Please: Restaurant English

One of the best things about overseas travel is trying new and different restaurants. Today's post is on restaurant English. We'll cover:

• how order food and drinks
• how to ask questions about the menu
• how to make special requests
• tipping

The Man Wearing Glasses: Relative Clauses Explained

To talk about people, places, and things we often use words called adjectives (smart, tall, nice, etc).
 Today, we're going to look at another way of describing people, places, and things: relative clauses . Look at the photo and passage below.

Miki: Wow! Great photo. Who are these people, Ami?

Ami: My classmates from English school, and my new boyfriend, Francois.

Miki: Really? Is Francois the man with the big, funny hat?

Ami: Ha! Ha! No, he's the one wearing glasses and a red t-shirt. Fiona introduced  us last month. The guy wearing a sombero is Gilberto.

Miki: I think I remember her: Fiona is the girl in front of Francois holding  a yellow smartphone.

Ami: Yes, that's right.

Miki: It  looks like you were all at a house party.

Ami: Yeah. We wanted to go to a place that wasn't smoky, where we could relax.

Learning English In Japan: Thoughts & Advice

99.9999% of my teaching experience was in Japan. So, I thought it was time to write a post on learning (and teaching) English in Japan.

We'll look at the options available and the good/bad points of each of them.

"have gone" vs "have been": What's The Difference?

A short, simple graphic explaining the difference between "have gone" and "have been" by FingerTips English. 

 

Please continue for a grammar review and a short exercise.

What Could It Be? The Language of Speculation

Look at the photo above. What is it?

It could be a DVD player.

It might be back of a new sports car.

It can't be a DVD player. 

It may be a radio.

It must be a smartphone. 

Please continue for the answer.

The Sound of English

 Ever have to be part of a conversation in your second language?

The video below is more for new ESL instructors and native-English speakers. The next time you're trying to communicate with a non-native speaker of English, remember what you learn from the video below.

Business English: Talking About Work Experience

 In today's post, we'll be looking at the language and grammar tools needed to talk about your work experiences (past and present). We'll discuss what to do, and not do, at job interviews.

Read the short passage  below:

James' Work Experience

I've had many jobs in my working life. In high school, I worked as a kitchen assistant in an Italian restaurant.  I was a customer service representative at medium-sized retail finance company for three years. Now, I teach English. I've been teaching English since April 2000. 

Question: When did James start teaching English?

Tenses: Time Lines & Examples

A graphic on past, present, and future tenses. Pictures can make language and grammar very clear, especially when we're talking about time. 

Please study the timelines and examples below.

Passive Verbs & Explaining Processes

Today we're going to look at passive verbs, (or passive voice) for example:

Coffee is grown in countries like Ethiopia and Brazil. 

Why not use, "Countries like Ethiopia and Brazil grow coffee"? 

Answer: coffee is the main topic. So, "coffee" the first word in the sentences even though (grammatically) it is the object of a sentence.

Please read on to learn how about the function and grammar of passive verbs.

Storytelling: Past Continuous vs Past Simple

 Today's post will show you the basic grammar commonly used for telling stories. Storytelling skills are very useful even in business situations where you may have to write reports or explain actions.

Let's look at the two-panel comic below.

Match the correct sentence to the first two panels of the comic.


1/ Yan read a book when the phone rang.

 
2/ Yan was reading a book when the phone rang.

 Click on "read more" to see the answer.

Going To/Present Continuous & Will: What's The Difference

The young man clearly needs help. What do you say in this situation?

a) I'm going to give you a hand with those boxes.

b) I'll give you a hand with those boxes.

c) I'm giving you a hand with those boxes.

The correct answer is....

Giving Instructions: Sequencing, Imperatives, and Phrasal Verbs

Today's post is all about giving people instructions: teaching them how to do or use things. We'll also be looking at  phrasal verbs (again).

Your Routine: Adverbs of Frequency

I never have business lunches. In my job. I'm always on my way to work at lunchtime. I sometimes have coffee with my students though, usually on a Saturday after the lesson.


To talk about our routines and schedules we  often use adverbs of frequency. Study the graphics below.

 We use these words and expressions to talk about how many times we do something in a day, a year, etc, or in our daily lives.

Business English: Explaining Your Business Culture

Are you going to do business overseas? International business is challenging because you have to know the culture of the country (and company) you are going to visit. You should also be familiar with the culture and customs of any overseas visitors to your office.

In today's post, we're going to look at language to explain rules, customs, and guidelines to people from other countries using modal verbs of obligation 

 must, mustn't (must not)

can't (cannot)

 have/has to
need to

ought to/ought not to

should/shouldn't (should not)

can

don't/doesn't have to (do not/does not)

                                 don't/doesn't need to (do not/does not)


 Let's look at an example of how to use these words.

Business English: Negotiation Language

Today's post is all about the language of negotiation. We'll go over the English expressions and grammar for agreeing/disagreeing, making a proposal/counter-proposal, and presenting options.