Becoming Qualified to Teach ESL

Gail from the U.S. writes: How do I go about becoming qualified to teach ESL to adults? I have taught English for 30 years to junior high school students. I am looking for something rewarding to do. I've always enjoyed working with ESL students in my public school.

Dear Gail:

Teaching ESL to adults is certainly rewarding. And it sounds like you have a great start. As for "becoming qualified to teach ESL," it will depend upon where you want to teach. Will it be as a private ESL tutor such as myself, in an adult school, in a non-profit? The qualifications required will vary depending upon where you want to teach.

Please take a look at my page How to Start Teaching ESL for a more extensive answer.

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AU Coupon Code: 879122

Should I Start Another ESL Forum?

Does the Internet need yet another ESL forum? Here's why I ask. I receive tons of emails every week asking all sorts of ESL-related questions. Apparently, people aren't getting all the answers they need on the web.

Here are just two questions that I received today:

"Hi! I am a student who will be teaching English abroad for the next year and am interested in purchasing some of the books you describe on your blog. Do you know any place where I might find them cheaper than on Amazon? Please let me know if you have any suggestions. Thank you!"

"I am an American living in New York. Is it better for me to take my teaching certification here in N.Y or to go overseas and study over there? I am confused as to which is a better option in regards to being prepared to start initially in the country I want to teach in (does this give me a better head start?) or to start here and find a job through the internet once the course is through. Please help. Thanks."

While I love hearing from readers, I find that answering these questions takes A LOT of time. Plus, I just don't always know the answers.

So here are my questions to my readers:

1. Do you think it would be useful for me to set up a forum on my main website Teaching ESL to Adults so that readers can ask me AND other readers ESL-related questions?

2. Or are there already enough ESL forums out there?

3. Would you visit and participate in a new forum on my website Teaching ESL to Adults?

Please use the "contact me" link to your right to get back to me.

Thank you for taking the time to tell me your thoughts.

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ESL Students and Superbowl Sunday

In addition to learning English, many of my ESL students are interested in learning about American culture. Well, today is one of those days that I (previously) wouldn't have thought about as "culture." But when you have nearly one out of three Americans watching the game, I guess you can't say this is not a part of our culture.

For some reason, native English speakers who otherwise don't care at all about football are suddenly transformed into hard-partying-fans on this special day. Is it really about the game? Or is it simply a day that brings us all together and gives us some sense of "oneness" and belonging? And how does it do that?

Whatever this day is to us as Americans, it is definitely a part of our culture. And as such, the customs around this day can be shared with our ESL students. It also serves as a starting point to ask our students about similar events in their home countries and we can encourage them to practice their English by telling us about such events.

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Mr., Ms., Miss, Mrs. for ESL Students

The titles Mr., Ms., Miss, and Mrs. are often difficult for English language learners. And it's something so basic to native English speakers that ESL tutors and ESL teachers often take this for granted. Perhaps, I should speak for myself. I often take it for granted.

I usually notice that these titles are difficult for ESL students when they are reading aloud. This leads to an impromptu discussion about the pronunciation of each of these titles, as well as how to appropriately use them. (There's also an opportunity for a small reinforcement of the s/z distinction and voiced and unvoiced sounds.)

These titles can also lead to a mini-history lesson about the title "Ms." And even in how to address letters.

The two main points here are that for the ESL teacher or tutor, there are lots of ideas for lesson plans, and flexibility is important during a class.

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Gung Hay Fat Choy! 2009

Happy New Year! The celebrations never end! This year is The Year of the Ox. We're just leaving my year, The Year of the Rat.

As I mentioned last year (I don't expect you to remember!), Spring Festival is one of the more (if not the most) important traditional Chinese holidays. It's also celebrated by other East Asian cultures and countries.

Holidays celebrated by ESL students, and in their home countries, provide great ESL conversation topics. Anything about which ESL students have a lot of knowledge are great conversation topics. People like to talk about things they know about. And there's an added pleasure, sometimes, in teaching another.

The task of the ESL teacher or tutor in a conversation class is to encourage the English language learner to talk by asking questions and showing their interest in what the speaker has to say.

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Inauguration of Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama became the 44th president of the U.S.A. today. For this ESL tutor, last night and this morning was like Christmas-time for a child. I could hardly sleep and then I woke up at 5 a.m. I was too excited to go back to sleep. This is a day I never thought I'd see. The challenges are great, but it feels like there is hope in the air.

I'll be meeting with an ESL student later today. Although we're supposed to focus on job interview preparation, it will be hard not to include some discussion of today's events. Of course, as a private ESL tutor, the student's requests and needs are primary, so we will be sure to continue with our planned class, for the most part.

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The Best MLK Day Ever, So Far

As the author of this ESL blog, I really try to keep the topics somehow related to ESL, EFL, or English Language Learners and I especially try to be helpful to other ESL tutors and ESL teachers.

And yes, Martin Luther King Jr. Day could be used as a conversation topic for ESL classes. This could lead to other ESL conversation topics such as race relations, racism, dreams, homogeneous and heterogeneous nations, American history and culture, "mutts," etc. In short, this day can be the starting point for many conversation and speaking topics in the ESL class. It's up to the imagination of the teacher.

However, since this is my ESL blog, I want to take the liberty just to write my own thoughts about this time in my life and in American history. In short, I'm stoked. The inauguration of our country's first African American president is something I never thought I'd see in my lifetime. And for it to follow the day that we celebrate the man who had "a dream" is awesome.

While my nation still suffers from inequality in many ways, we have achieved a part of Rev. King's dream. He said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

We are on the eve of the day when our future president was judged by the content of his character, rather than the color of his skin.

To repeat, I'm stoked!

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