Silence is NOT golden.

Courtesy of Sandy Millin and Unshelved...

Ever wonder what teachers think when students refuse to talk in class? This is one thing. Among others.

It's over for another year...

A confession: I am really glad Eurovision is over for this year. I thought Spain richly deserved the third-to-last place because the song was bland, boring and uninteresting. (See? Why use the word "bad" when you've got so many other adjectives?)

A debate has started up on The Guardian's Eurovision blog. Do you have a better chance of winning the Eurovision Song Contest if your song is in English?

One other thought: I'm not sure why the British always expect to have good results in Eurovision, since they're always talking about how they're not European....

Looking for listening practice?

Since next week is going to be a little quieter, I thought I'd start looking for different websites for different....well, stuff. And in the course of researching information about Moodle, I found ELLLO, where you can practise with recordings of people from all over the world, speaking in English.

Very cool. Plus it's a Creative Commons website, which means you're free to download and practise however you want.

A cool (and cheap) new study tool

TIGER stores, that chain of bargain shops that combines Ikea designs and Todo-a-100 prices, has started stocking these fun sticky notes in the shape of speech balloons. They cost €1 a package and are a great way to organize new vocabulary and new collocations.

Best Five Websites for Intelligent Reading

Since Ana's not continuing her classes this semester, I sent her a list of websites where she could practice her reading (advanced level.) I thought I'd share them with you, too.

The New Yorker - The website also features a number of very interesting podcasts - the monthly fiction/short story podcast is especially good.

The Independent - Good, in-depth reporting.

The Atlantic Monthly - A wide variety of different subjects, but especially strong on economy, American history, politics and urban planning.

Parents Monthly - A favourite magazine and website for my friends who have kids.

The New Internationalist - A British magazine dedicated to topics about global development. If you enjoy thought-provoking articles about the world at large, you'll probably enjoy NI. It's also an exceptionally good source of vocabulary for people who need vocabulary that focuses on international relations and economics.

Some of you will ask why I didn't include "The New York Times". Unfortunately, the "Times" has adopted a new policy that only gives you twenty free articles per month, and while most students won't read more than twenty articles, I think it's a good reason to start looking elsewhere for things to read.

Practice, not study: Mar's ideas

Mar and I were having class yesterday in the Parque del Oeste, and the topic came up about study versus practice. Here's what she does when she wants to work on her English, but doesn't have time to get study in....

- Washing dishes: What are these things called? What adjectives can you use to describe utensils, pots and pans?

- Cleaning around the house: What prepositions and adverbs do you need to describe location and movement? What are the machines called? How do you spell the names of the machines?

- Grocery shopping: What are the English words that describe the groceries that you usually buy every week? Which ones are countable, and which ones are uncountable?

Remember: Study is fine as long as you're disciplined enough to do it. Most of us benefit from regular, steady consistent practice. Five minutes, twice a day, every day will help you more than one hour of staring at a grammar book!

Communication isn't just about talking.

Me: What do you want to focus on? Where do you need the most help?"
Student: "I really need to improve my spoken English."

This is a common request, but in my experience, it's only half the problem. Yes, it's important to know that you have to make people understand you. Communicating your message is only 50% of what communication is.

When you speak with people in English, how much do you listen? Do you try to listen actively and show the other person that you're mentally connected to what they're saying?

When you speak in English, do you practice your listening with the other person (or people) you're talking to? Or do you focus on how you're going to say the next thing you want to say?

To be a good speaker, it's fundamental to be a good listener.

Bad teacher!

This ad is so...bad...on so many levels, it almost doesn't bear thinking about:

http://tinyurl.com/5uhuzbr

If you're not sure what I mean, take a look at the various meanings of "oral" in an English-only dictionary.

Somehow I don't think this guy's ad has anything to do with language.

Thought for the day:

I haven't failed. I've just found ten thousand ways that won't work.

-- Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor.

Thanks to: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison

If you only consult one web page to help you learn English...

...consult this one. Over the past ten years, Kenneth Beare has worked his tail off to create one of the best general English-learning sites on the Internet:

http://esl.about.com/

Be sure to sign up for the English learning tip of the day!