ESL Basics

1. Baseball Terminology
(ESL Blog/Basic Vocabulary)

About this video Andrea is on location at Busch Stadium in St. Louis Missouri after a Cardinals game. This video covers several vocabulary words used in baseball, including: infield, outfield, bases, ...

2. Art Gallery
(ESL Blog/General ESL Posts)

Grammatical Classification Noun Synonyms gallery, exhibit hall For more information, read the formal definition from dictionary.com. Also, you can read the Art Gallery Wikipedia page.  ...

3. Understanding Your Value
(ESL Blog/Business English)

Today, Seth Godin had an amazing post about re-thinking what you are worth. He presents an alternative to the standard "hourly" rate by viewing your input to a project or job in terms of the value that ...

4. Empower Your Students to Succeed
(TESOL Blog/General TESOL Posts)

This is a guest Business English TESOL post from Josh, Andrea's brother and co-founder of ESL Basics.

5. Motivation
(ESL Blog/Business English)

About this video This is one of the best videos I have seen in a long time about management. If you are a manager or a boss of some kind, this is a must see video. This video explains how people ...

6. What do I need to know?
(ESL Blog/General ESL Posts)

I've been thinking a lot about how much of the local language a traveller should know before travelling to that country. In the U.S., when visitors or recent immigrants don't know English, some Americans ...

7. Free Technology For Teachers
(TESOL Blog/General TESOL Posts)

... retention. Vocabulix - Tons of free tools from creating quizzes to a verb conjugation chart. Forvo - Audio wiki for word pronunciation for about 200 languages. CAPL (Culturally Authentic Pictorial ...

8. Two kinds of Schooling: Seth Godin
(TESOL Blog/General TESOL Posts)

This is a MUST READ from Seth Godin about the two prominent schools of thought surrounding education and schooling. As TESOL professionals we should be striving for the "Type 2" listed below. This was ...

9. Elevator
(ESL Blog/Basic Vocabulary)

Grammatical Classification Noun Synonyms lift, hoist For more information, read the formal definition from dictionary.com. Extras Learn more about elevators by reading the elevator Wikipedia ...

10. Douro River Valley: Portugal
(ESL Blog/Andrea Backpacks Europe)

We're surrounded by the terraced vineyards of the Douro River Valley. For about 100 kilometers, these mountains pulse up and down Portugal's northern country. Every time I discover a beauty like this ...

11. Capturing your Audience
(ESL Blog/Business English)

... that this form of advertising has been used for years, but either way, it made me think about capturing your audience's attention. In a grocery store, usually people know what they need and are focused ...

12. Use Five Senses
(TESOL Blog/In the Classroom)

About this video Please enjoy this TESOL video about using the five senses to increase your students descriptive vocabulary. Post your comments below. teachers/usefivesenses  ...

13. Eyjafjallajökull: The Volcano Changing Everything
(ESL Blog/General ESL Posts)

... of my half-glass-empty friends that we've only seen the beginning of Eyjafjallajökull's rage, and I shouldn't get my hopes up about my European honeymoon. "Maybe they'll let you change your tickets for ...

14. Use Authentic Materials
(TESOL Blog/General TESOL Posts)

About this video Please enjoy this "teacher tip" video about using authentic materials. Please comment below with your own tips to share with others. Also, feel free to leave a link to your website ...

15. Tax Day 2010
(ESL Blog/Business English)

... they adhere to. This year I finally decided to spend some extra money and have someone prepare my taxes for me. I am excited about my decision because it saves me lots of time and I can focus on the things ...

16. Improve your tutoring skills
(TESOL Blog/General TESOL Posts)

I was just reading over at EslLanguageSchools.suite101.com and thought I should share one of the articles. This is an article specifically talking about tips and tricks to improve your tutoring skills. ...

17. Paraphrasing Class Activity
(TESOL Blog/In the Classroom)

About this video Please enjoy this class activity video about paraphrasing and summarizing. Post your comments below. teachers/paraphrasingactivity  ...

18. "The Office" and ESL
(ESL Blog/General ESL Posts)

... to the writers at NBC, more Americans will find out about the world of ESL than ever before. Thanks, Michael Scott! If you want to laugh your way through tonight's episode of "The Office", check it out ...

19. Pipe Dream
(ESL Blog/Business Idioms)

This post is in response to an article from Business Spotlight about pipe dreams. This post just goes to show you that there is always more to learn about the English language. I am a native English ...

20. Change the Classroom Arrangement
(TESOL Blog/General TESOL Posts)

About this video Please enjoy this "teacher tip" video about switching things up in the classroom. Please comment below with your own tips to share with others. Also, feel free to leave a link to ...