College Intention lets you know what Americans go through to get into university. It’s the blog of a high-school student on his journey to get into college. And it’s a good resource for how the college admissions process works, what colleges look for, tips on getting in, and reassurance that someone else is going through the same things you are.
I especially liked the post, Dear college: Please Send Sleeping Pills In Your Guidebooks, Thanks on psychiatric counseling for families to deal with the stress of university admissions. I cannot …Continue

I’ve been meaning to post on this for a bit. I read a great post on using “like” as a substitute for “said”, “thought” or “felt”.This usage is most commonly associated with teenagers and many grammarians feel that it is not correct. However as Patricia O’Connor points out in The New York Times Magazine, teenagers aren’t the only ones who use it and anyway associating it with teenagers and therefore bad language isn’t fair.In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, here are a few examples:The salesperson said …Continue

Just stumbled on TEFL Place, a blog for ESL teachers. It’s got some really good lesson plan ideas on it–I’m not sure Water Balloon Volleyball is going to work in my classroom, but it’s an interesting idea and it would be fun. I might save that one for a barbecue with friends.
I also shudder when I think about Hidden Ringtones designed not to be heard by the teacher because the pitch is too high for our old, inflexible ears. But then I discovered (googling to see if the science behind …Continue

I put up a new article on English Advantage for ESL teachers onwhy and how to plan a lesson. As I say in the article, the most important reasons to have a plan are so that you have clear goals set out for your lesson. Otherwise you are just filling up time and/or entertaining students; both of these can be important too but without a goal, you aren’t really educating. Also students don’t respect teachers who try to improvise everything or aren’t prepared to answer their basic questions about a …Continue

In light of National Library week this week (the 13th to the 19th of April), I thought I’d remind everyone what a valuable tool the library is for language learners.
One of the most basic tools for learning a language is the library. Perhaps it’s so obvious that a lot of people ignore it–or some people like to own books and look down on borrowing. Let’s face it, libraries aren’t exactly cool places to hang out. But public libraries are a free source of reading material in English.
And in America, …Continue

Another blog I found online, University Scholar, run by a student in Indiana with tips and resources for being a better student. I particularly like the post on making good PowerPoint presentations which has some videos taken from experts so you can get a good idea of what works and what doesn’t. There’s also a recent useful post on getting a regular sleep method. I really don’t recommend going for 2 hours a night as the University Scholar seems to recommend but the idea of tracking your sleep and knowing …Continue

A lot of students ask me for my recommendations on books to use to study English. Occasionally I get a supposedly interested client who just checks out my bookshelf and walks out, which is pretty rude! I hope the only reason I’m in business is not that I have access to amazon.com and a credit card!
In truth, studying with a tutor is ten times better than just studying with a book because you have someone to correct you, to ask about difficult words or grammar points you don’t understand. …Continue

An awesome post on Casting Out Nines, the blog of a math professor, about how to prepare for final exams that I have been meaning to share with you. It’s all pretty much common sense, but it’s always worth hearing common sense again. Also, while he has in mind a math exam, the advice holds for an exam in any subject. Casting Out Nines recommends:

Start studying a week or so before the exam and at first focus only on things you really don’t remember. Don’t jump right in and try …Continue

Even though I do teach English in schools, a lot of my students are young professionals who want to improve their language skills. It’s really professional training more than teaching because most business people have a set of skills they want to master. Unlike say, Plumbing Courses those skills are not to learn how to unclog a drain or solder a pipe. Instead, it’s learning to make small talk, understand numbers correctly, being able to listen and understand complicated terms.
When I teach students who want to “learn English”, I …Continue

One of the biggest mistakes you can make coming to the US is to come without health insurance. As a student you are going to need insurance anyway, because universities require students to have insurance policies before they can enroll. And you need it. Last year when I had a wart on my back, I went to my doctor for 15 minutes just for him to tell me it wasn’t serious. That 15 minutes cost me $200! Without insurance there’s no way I could have paid that.
You don’t want …Continue

Another great post from Rate Your Students on how not to write to your professors, or why good English is important for foreign students and for Americans alike:
hi mrs. thomas, i know this is irresponsible but wud it be okay if u gave me the add code number. the one that i signed up for at the end of the class
Read more to see the professor’s response.

A great article from the New York Times was just brought to my attention, To: Professor@University.edu Subject: Why It’s All About Me. Maybe because today’s 18 year olds grew up with email, chat rooms and the Internet, many professors get annoying emails from students. Students write in informal language sometimes using L33T, demand instant replies to their emails, call the professor by the first name, and even share incredibly personal information. No matter what the reason, it seems like email makes students feel that all rules of formality go out …Continue

The 1st of September is Knowledge Day in the former Soviet Union and all the schools and universities open their doors to their students with lots of ceremony and pomp and speeches and so on! The streets are full of young men in dark suits and women in long skirts and white bows in their hair! In America we don’t have a single opening day for all schools–in fact many schools are already open and new campus freshmen are already going through orientation programs, signing up for classes, and enjoying …Continue

Many foreign students from the former USSR and other nations have a complex that their country is extremely corrupt in the area of education. It is widely reported that in Kazakhstan, it is easy to bribe professors for good grades, and that relatives of powerful people use influence to get degrees without showing up to class. On the other side, professors often create opportunities to profit from their students–in one case I heard that a professor had a one-question oral final exam:
“Would you like to buy my book?”Yes, meant a …Continue