Learning ESOL Can Be Easy

Learning ESOL Can Be Easy English Lessons and ESOL Courses made Simple ChaptersA Vast Number of Resources to Learn ESOLGrammar Tips: English has Fewer Word Agreement RulesExceptions Rather than RulesVerbs and Verb Usage is Easier in EnglishVocabulary Building is Easier EnglishLanguage Learning is Serious BusinessIt would seem that English would be a hard language to learn, with all of its irregular verbs and pronunciation rules.English has borrowed so many words from other languages, in order to know how to read them, you have to know which language it comes from.Formulating questions requires changing the word order. “You are learning English?” is correct syntax â€" word order in most every other language; in English you must say: “Are you learning English?”Word order has great importance in English, and not just for questions. You can say “A cute little brown dog”, but “a brown cute little dog” would not be correct (unless you add commas, like so: a brown, cute, little dog).In spite of these difficulties, English is one of the easiest languages to learn. Read on to find out why.Online English resources offer much more than text books can! (Source: Pixabay Credit: KollaKolla)culture that you cannot learn from a book.The British Council hosts a website dedicated to English learning. There, you can determine your current level of language ability and build a custom lesson plan that suits your needs. They have videos and games to help you sharpen your skills and make learning fun!BBC offers daily English learning through interactive video and quizzes, as well as language lessons targeted to specific needs such as business and exam skills. This is particularly useful if you are studying for IELTS or TOEFL.Learn about how English become the language of business  and how it can help your career.Both BBC and The British Council websites have an app you can download to your phone for learning 'on the go' â€" while you are out and about.In addition to these and other targeted websites for English learning, you can watch mo vies, and listen to podcasts and songs in English.Watching movies with English subtitles gives you a double dose of learning: you can practice your reading skills as well as your listening abilities!Find the best English lessons near you.Downloading an English dictionary to your phone or other mobile device lets you listen to how a word is spoken as well as the possibility of studying while you are on the bus or train.Many such dictionaries even offer separate British and American English pronunciation. Learning English through film and literature is a great way to improve.Grammar Tips: English has Fewer Word Agreement RulesWord agreement means matching subject to verb:The results show that people love learning English. (the subject and verb are plural).The results shows that people love learning English. (a common mistake: subject is plural but verb is singular).Another example of word agreement is matching noun and pronoun: The man walked to his car â€" not 'the man walked to him car' or ' the man walked to their car'Nearly every language has word agreement rules, but English has fewer of them than, say, French or German or Portuguese.In French, a chair is gender feminine - la chaise, but if you are talking about an armchair, it is gender masculine â€" le fauteuil. Confusing, right?German, with its three article designations, male, female and neutral, is even more complicated.English does not assign objects a gender: everything is 'the' or 'a(n)'.In other languages, you must match articles according to the object's assigned gender; in English there are only two articles to choose from.Native English speakers sometimes have trouble learning other languages because English has no gender assignments and there are no rules for what would be considered a feminine, masculine or neutral object.Get the best tutors and learn English online.Capitalizing LettersIn German, for example, every noun is capitalized â€" written with the first letter of each noun in capitals. By contrast, the rules for capital letters in English are very simple: proper names and the first letter of each sentence are capitalized.Accepting English grammar rule exceptions makes them easier to learn. (Source: Pixabay Credit: Jiaqili)adjectives also end in -ly.Adjectives as nouns“Society should do more for the homeless.”Typically, 'homeless' is an adjective describing someone who has no home but in this sentence, it is used as a noun.Nouns as adjectives“I really like my history teacher.”History is normally a noun but, in this sentence, the word describes what kind of teacher the student likes.Nouns acting as verbs“The law forbids texting while driving.”Technology often causes nouns to act as verbs, such as in the above sentence. The word text, until recently, has always been a noun.For students of English, it is sometimes easier to learn grammar rule exceptions rather than memorizing all of the rules because the exception points to the rule.Other than these five b asic exceptions, English grammar is relatively easy, following a simple subject-verb-object structure that many other languages also conform to.You can get good ESOL courses here.Verbs and Verb Usage is Easier in EnglishAlthough there are irregular verbs in the English language, listing them all could be done on a single A4 piece of paper, including all the forms (conjugation) of those verb.Compare that with Spanish, whose irregular verb list and conjugation thereof would fill sixteen pages.All English irregular verbs except for to be  and to have  are irregular in the same way. Here are three examples:Buy      bought      will buyseek     sought      will seekfight     fought      will fightDo you see the pattern to follow?Regular verb conjugation in English is easier too. A typical French verb, for instance, has more than fifty endings that you must learn.Compare that with any regular English verb, which only has four endings.Clearly, people learning English as a f oreign language benefit from the minimal changes between verb tenses.Build your English vocabulary one word block at a time. (Source: Pixabay Credit: Artsybee)Vocabulary Building is Easier EnglishThe average English speaker uses a vocabulary of approximately twelve thousand words, with a substantial percentage of them being synonyms for different, commonly used words.People who are learning English as a second language should not concern themselves with the number of words they know; rather on how they relate or connect to other words. For example:the word familiar  is rooted in family. If you have an idea of what the word 'family' represents, you can relate objects that are 'familiar' to the idea of 'something comfortable and known', such as family.Another way to boost vocabulary is to group words into families, otherwise known as rhyming words â€" words that have the same sound.This can be a fun exercise: for each step you take as you walk, you speak a word. By the time you arrive at your destination, you might have reviewed an entire sound group!English writing is easier than writing in many other languages. More than half of the words in the average English vocabulary can be correctly spelled by how they sound.Breaking words down into syllables â€" individual sound parts that make up any word is a great help in developing writing skills.Let us try this technique using the word usually. This word has four syllables, defined: u-su-al-ly.'Usually' is one of the most mispronounced words of the English language. Most English learners pronounce it 'u-shur-ly' or 'u-woo-ly', ignoring the second syllable altogether. Sounding words out is a common technique used by native speakers of English to teach proper spelling of words to their learners, a method you too can use to improve your writing and speaking abilities.Language Learning is Serious BusinessEsl students take learning English seriously. It is indeed an important subject, but it doesn't have to be difficult .Making use of the numerous resources:  online, in print and on the air â€" in the form of music or radio broadcasts can help improve your English listening skills.Incorporating the language's idioms and slang phrases into your learning can help improve your speaking skills.Using spelling hints such as sound words, or learning what language English words come from will help with writing proficiency.Making English learning fun makes this language easy to learn!Find out how mastering English can help you  access higher education and MOOCS

10 Ways to Prepare For Back to School

10 Ways to Prepare For Back to School 0SHARESShare Preparing for back to school needs some rudimentary tips for a stress free start. Plan your schedules and checkups at school. Fix pre play dates with your friends. Decide the sports activities or art club you would join. Empty your closet to weed out the unused and unwanted clothes. Check out what you miss and what to fill in Make a checklist of your supplies and start your shopping Update your check list at intervals to find you have filled with all the necessary supplies Prepare your outfits for the first week to avoid morning hurries Make your study station for hassle free concentration and set the place   with necessary materials to start learning Start refreshing your knowledge in the fresh year’s syllabus. You can jump start your knowledge with refreshers and solvers Get into Math topics in advance like  absolute value function  to be sure of your Math skills Get a  Math problem solver  to work out the difficult areas in Math to familiarize you with Math contents. Prepare a Math list to revise fundamental details of Math like what  a circle  is. Plan goals for success by scrutinizing your study gaps in the previous year and plans to overcome them in the current year. Get into the routine and make the back to school day a pleasant day. [starbox id=admin]

4 Singing Exercises to Practice Dynamics

4 Singing Exercises to Practice Dynamics Suzy S. As a singer, understanding and utilizing dynamics can turn a mediocre performance into a great one. Read on to learn some singing exercises to practice, as shared by Augustine, FL voice teacher  Heather L... Dynamics is a word that comes from the Greek word dynamo, meaning power. In the context of general music, we use it as a term for how loud or soft sounds are. Dynamics can make or break a song. Frankly, in the world of singing, sometimes the lack of or presence of dynamics can make a difference in whether a singer is regarded as great or not. Think of the best singers in the world and Ill bet that many have a tremendous sense of dynamics. The improvement of the use of dynamics in our singing voices comes right down to a word that I dont typically like to use as a voice teacher: control. The simple passing use of this word can often, maybe subconsciously, cause a singer to tense and strain. Control, however, is truly the thing that enables us to do much with our voices. Just make sure to maintain a free and open sound as you incorporate the concept of control in the following singing exercises. Learn and Practice Messa di Voce Perhaps the best singing exercise to help improve your vocal dynamics is messa di voce, an Italian phrase meaning place the voice.  To sing a messa di voce, you sustain one single pitch, getting louder, then softer.  The proper musical terms for getting louder and softer are crescendo and diminuendo, respectively.  Decrescendo is a word created in modern times to mean become softer, but it is not an Italian word or a proper musical term.  When using this exercise, be sure, as always, to use a warm, resonant sound and to stay connected to your breath. Remember, your sound begins at the bottom of the pelvic floor. Keep your shoulders floating in place; do not allow them to rise. Lip Trill Like a Revving Engine Another singing exercise to practice dynamics is singing lip trills, or lip bubbles, using messa di voce.  This is a great one that I learned from Celine Dion. Begin with a low breath, filling up your torso all the way around. Start at a comfortable low/middle position in your voice, trill up to a comfortable high point, and begin to sail down to your lowest register. As you slowly sail down in pitch, make stops along the way. On those stops, crescendo and then diminuendo. Itll sound a lot like a old drag car revving its engine! Not only does this singing exercise improve your ability to sing dynamically, but it will also help to warm up and strengthen your singing muscles. Laugh Out Loud Speaking of strengthening exercises, its essential that the muscles of your torso are strong enough for the control thats needed for great dynamics. Sing short ha, ha, ha sequences on a descending scale, making each ha very short, but warm and round. Youll notice quite a jumpy motion from your tummy as you instinctively work to produce short bursts of air. Yow-wow-wow In this exercise, youll sing a single pitch on yow-wow-wow with a loose, open jaw, as if youve just touched a hot stove. This loosens the face, especially your joints, which is vitally important in preventing tension. Lastly, remember that singing dynamics comes not only from phonationthe pitched sounds that our vocal folds producebut also from articulation. Our articulators are our teeth, our tongue, and our lips. To be clear, crisp articulation should be an inherent part of your singing voice.  You can use it, though, to sound even louder or softer than your phonation is. And as always, be yourself and sing with your own voice. Heather L. teaches singing, piano, acting, and more in Saint Augustine, FL, as well as through online lessons. She is  a graduate of the prestigious Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, and has performed with the New York and Royal Philharmonics, the New Jersey and Virginia Symphonies, the American Boy Choir, and the internationally renowned opera star Andrea Bocelli. Learn more about Heather here! Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher Photo  by  whartonds

Why Students Struggle With History Classes

Why Students Struggle With History Classes Who was North Koreas ally in the Korean War against American troops? No googling please. See, history isnt that easy after all. If you said China, without googling, pat yourself on the back and grumble about how uninformed your fellow Americans are. But the fact of the matter is very few high school seniors were able to correctly answer that question, and most fourth graders cannot identify why Abraham Lincoln is an important historical figure. American students are simply less proficient in their nations history than any other subject, according to an article in the New York Times. Nationally, 12 percent of high school seniors, 17 percent of eight graders and 20 percent of fourth graders scored proficient on the National Assessment of Educational Progress exam, which measures students proficiency in various academic subjects. These scores, surprisingly enough, actually marked a small increase for eighth graders since 2006, pleasing federal officials. However, fewer than a third of all eighth graders could correctly identify an important advantage American forces had over the British during the Revolution. Some history teachers and educators were appalled by these results, as the list of seemingly simple questions that students failed to answer goes on. Another: only two percent of 12th graders correctly answered what was important in the Brown vs. Board of Education case, arguably one of the most important United States Supreme Court cases in the past seven decades. Students were given the following passage, We conclude that in the field of public education, separate but equal has no place, separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Then they were asked what social problem the 1954 ruling was supposed to correct, and only two percent of them could. The answer was right in front of them, Diane Ravitch, an education historian who was invited by the national assessments governing board to review the results told the New York Times. This is alarming. In this famous case, the Supreme Court ruled that separate but equal schools for white and African American students is unconstitutional in case you didnt know. The National Assessment of Education Progress tests were given in the spring of 2010 to a representative sample of 7,000 fourth graders, 11,800 eight graders and 12,400 12th graders nationwide. The test covers eight subjects: history, math, reading, science, writing, civics, geography and economics. Many refer to the test as the Nations Report Card. The federal board established three levels of achievement for each test. Basic represents partial mastery of the subject; proficient represents solid academic performance and a demonstration of competency over challenging subject matter, and advanced means superior performance. Economics is American students best subject as 42 percent of students scored proficient in economics on the 2006 test.