"Dear Ai, my children came her in grade 5. The school ESL doesn't give any homeworks and rarely bring any worksheet they did during class. There is no contact from ESL teacher unless parents specially ask for meeting, and even though, we are just told such as "It takes time. Don't pressure the children. Give them fun and mingle with English speaking friends. Join sports club."
Well, my child cannot mingle with other English speaking children. Parents cannot set playdate at their age. They are no longer lower grade children. They have long time English speaking friends, so they never want to invite my child, and my child is too intimidate to ask.
Also, my child is not good at sports, so he cannot get friends through sports activities.His speaking has improved little after more than a year.
What a good way to improve his pronunciation, intonation, speaking besides joining team sports, music lessons, arts or play English speaking friends after school?
My child has plenty time after school. But he usually read books in his first language. Homeworks are usually peer selected type group projects. He cannot be in any group, so he does them alone and you know, in poor quality, so it also doesn't take much time, too.
I'm wondering what is a good way to improve him English, especially his speaking? Natural way the school recommends just doesn't work for him.
Also, though the teachers don't like that children spend their time to learn English after school, saying it gives them too much stress, But I also hear conflicting messsages from other parents or English tutors that it is better to improve English as soon as possible, so they won't lose regular curriculum and better to catch up as quick as possible.
What do you think of those conflicting advices? Which is likely to suit my child case? And if I change the way he spends after school, and put him in learning English much more intensely, is it a good way for him?" from ESL Mom
"Dear ESL Mom,thank you for your question and I hear your frustration of getting conflicted messages from school. I understand both you and your school's opinion about your child.
You've already discussed with your child's teacher about your concern. I would only suggest that some group project should be formed by the teacher. As you said, if all the projects are the peer-selected type, then students are working with the same people all the time. It is a teacher's job to make sure students can work with different students.
As your child's teacher suggested, your child can improve his English skills through activities like music, arts, or sport. These activities are not focused on learning the academic side of English, rather focusing on making friends. Right now, your child is afraid of speaking English because his/her pronunciation/intonation/speaking pattern is different from other children. This is because he/she doesn't have a safe place to practice.
If he likes reading, why not joining a reading club that is held in local libraries. For example, Vancouver Public Library offers Kids Reading Club that children can read either English or their native tongue and write essays. Does he like swimming/drumming/horse riding?? Try not to label that your child is not good at sports. He might like them, but he needs more practice. Important thing for him/her is that he/she enjoys what he/she does. Once your child feels safe to speak English, then he/she will make English-speaking friends.
You need to be patient with his/hers progress. As you have experienced, learning English takes time. The best thing you can do for your child is giving him/her the best environment.
Do you know any moms whose children are also ESL students? Form a group and ask them for advice. Maybe your child can play with their children. Are you friends with other moms? Even though their children speak English as a first language, their mothers have similar concerns.
Thank you again for your question. If anybody else has advice, please share your experiences!"
I am a new ESL tutor, looking for adult ESL books for my students. Do you have any recommendations? Paul – Vancouver
“HiPaul, thank you for your e-mail. Because we have many ESL students intown, you can find ESL sections in any bookstore! However, it isdifficult to choose the best one. Before I go to a bookstore, I visitKenneth’s website and esl-lounge to see what books they recommend.Kenneth’s “Top 5 Teaching Adults English Materials”(http://esl.about.com/od/esleflteachingtechnique/tp/teach_adults.htm)is an excellent place to start. Esl-lounge(http://www.esl-lounge.com/eslbooks.shtml) divides ESL books todifferent categories and I am sure you can find books you need for yourstudents.
If you have time, visit unique local bookstores for ESL books.
SofiaBooks (http://www.sophiabooks.com/) specializes in language. You canfind books from Japanese to German. They also have an excellentcollection of adult ESL materials. Vancouver Community CollegeBookstore (http://www.vcc.ca/bookstore/) has both new and used ESLtextbooks.”
Rightnow I'm going to a college in a beginner English class with localAmerican people. I have learned how to read and find the main idea. Itwas good, I have learned a lot. I wonder, what is the best way to readand understand the text. Should I open a dictionary for every wordmeaning that I don't know while I read? Or should I use the meaning inEnglish or in my own language? Do you have any good suggestions? Thankyou, Roy"
"Hi Roy, thank you for your question. I am gladto hear that you have learned a lot and enjoy studying English. It isvery important for beginners to have some fun in order to continuingwhat they do. Readings usually takes time to improve.
There aretwo different approaches for improving reading skills. For beginners,it is better to use a dictionary each time you come across unknownwords. This is because beginner students do not have enough vocabularyto guess the context. If you do not understand what is written, thenthere is no reason for studying the language. Some students have aneasier time understanding words if they approach them from their nativelanguage.
If students are an intermediate or advanced level, Iwould suggest them to use an English-English dictionary to check thewords. They might check fewer words in order to guess the meanings fromthe sentences they read.
It also depends on what you read.Either you are reading for fun (probably you will be checking lesswords) or a textbook for college, you will be approaching thisdifferently.
Never assume that you can absorb new words afterlooking them up for the first time. You need to write, read, and say itas many times as you can to make them into your own words. Good luck!"
Igo to an ESL school in Vancouver. I arrived two months ago. One of myKorean classmates seems to like me. He was very kind and I appreciatehis help since I didn't have any friends when I got here. Otherclassmates think we are boyfriend and girlfriend. Because of this, manypeople in my class do not invite me to their parties. How can I tellhim that I’m not interested in a relationship without offending him?"Masako – Japan
"Hi, Masako. Thank you for your e-mail.Misunderstandings happen quite often in relationships, especially whenyou and your friend are from different cultures. Since he hasn’t toldyou what he thinks about you yet, you cannot really reject him. Youcannot assume anything, but I know many women can detect romanticfeelings instantly! At this point, it is a good idea to tell him bydescribing your relationship towards him. Make sure you thank him firstfor helping you when you didn’t know anybody in Vancouver. Then gentlyremind him that you are not interested in a relationship, but you doappreciate his friendship.
You also told me that otherclassmates hesitate in inviting you for parties. Why don't you ask themfirst?? You can check a very good website about current Vancouverevents at http://www.canadafootprints.com/calendar/month.php. Summerhas just started, enjoy the rest of the beautiful beach season."
"Hi Kenny, thank youfor your e-mail. I am happy to hear that you are interested in readingCanadian books! You need to be patient with yourself because readingskills do not improve dramatically. As your teacher said, I recommendyou to read as many books as possible. Also read a variety of books(Science Fiction, Novels, Mystery…etc) and different reading materials(Newspaper, Magazine, Cooking books). You will be surprised to see howmuch vocabulary you can build. Have fun reading!!"
Excellent Canadian Authors
Atwood, Margaret – “The Edible Woman”
Cohen, Leonard – “Beautiful Losers”, “Suzanne”
Coupland, Douglas – “Girlfriend in a Coma”, “Hey Nostradamus!”
Davies, Robertson
Findley, Timothy
Montgomery, Lucy Maude – “Anne of Green Gables”
Munro, Alice
Ondaatje, Michael – “The English Patient”
Canadian Magazines
Canadian Geographic
Macleans (http://www.macleans.ca/)
Geist (http://www.geist.com/)
Walrus (http://www.walrusmagazine.com/)