Category Archives: ESL
Reasons To Work In China
In the belief that such things are very Western, my school encourages me to wear jeans, sneakers and t-shirts to work. Subscribe to Violet Eclipse by Email
My Sister The Pirate
My sister Bethie just returned from three months of sailing the high seas, so naturally when I got to talk to her tonight, I asked her all about her pirate life. “Did you call your friends, ‘me hearties’? Do you … Continue reading
English Assignment
Subscribe to Violet Eclipse by Email
Universal Behavior
I did some Mad Libs with my new teenage class. This is secretly a test to sort out English speakers from nodders. I can’t even fault them for faking it… I spent most of my high school chem class pretending … Continue reading
Yes
I’ve already talked about using “Yes” as a synonym for “I have no idea what you’re saying”. This entry from Tim Johnson’s blog quotes a letter from a 1920s missionary in China, and shows that the ubiquitous Chinese yes is … Continue reading
Meanderthal
Meanderthal — 1) n. A dull-witted student moving through his workbook at his own special pace. 2) v. The behavior of such a student. Usage: John’s parents were so wealthy and well-connected that he meanderthaled through three years of English … Continue reading
Test Scores
I hate state-required testing, and I don’t think it measures anything, and I think it’s a waste of my students’ time… except when works in my favor. I got my students’ test scores back today and they were awesome! The … Continue reading
Expendability
Sometimes my ESL lessons don’t go every well, and when that happens, they fail spectacularly. My freewrite today was a journal entry about one day in childhood, which I thought would lead neatly into a review of irregular past tense … Continue reading
Portuguese Igloos
I gave my students a writing warm-up exercise today. A lot of my students come straight from work, or from picking up their kids, etc. and I thought it would make a good transition into English class. And it rewards … Continue reading
2 3/4 Classroom Hours Until April Vacation
I think no matter how much you like your job, there are going to be days when you’d rather stay home and sleep off yesterday’s chardonnay and jelly beans. And remember that when I say “you”, I actually mean “me”. … Continue reading
