Author Archives: commonsenseesl

• Short, High-Interest Articles for Extensive Reading: #15: “Wanting To Stop Unhealthy Habits”

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(This posting includes a handout LINK AT THE END OF THIS POST which you are welcome to use with your students.) *

                                      Wanting To Stop Unhealthy Habits

Jena and Daniel had similar problems. They both had habits that were bad for their health, and they couldn’t stop. Jena ate too much junk food, like chips, candy, and cupcakes. Daniel smoked cigarettes. They both had cravings, which means they wanted something very much and couldn’t stop thinking about it. They tried different ways to quit for many years, but they finally found a new method. Research shows that this method is more effective than others, and thousands of people have used it to stop their unhealthy habits.

Other methods didn’t work.                (See complete article below.)

For background information about these articles and for suggestions for how to use them with your students, see  • Introducing “Short, High-Interest Readings”  Also, I’ll be adding more of these articles in the right-hand column: ESL Reading> Short, High Interest Articles for Extensive Readings

Here is the 15th article. You can download the article for your students by clicking on the link at the end. Also included are three optional exercises: True-False Questions; Paraphrasing Exercise; Reflection Exercise.

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Pronunciation Class? Really?

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Earlier in my career, I was assigned a pronunciation course with 12 students representing five distinct language groups: Arabic, French, Japanese, Spanish, and Vietnamese. The program administrator had provided a standard pronunciation textbook, and my first challenge was deciding where to begin.

The textbook followed a traditional linear path, starting with 75 pages (nearly 30% of the book) dedicated to vowel sounds—beginning with the high-front vowels in words like eat versus it. However, before allowing the syllabus to be dictated by the authors, I researched which sounds these specific 12 students actually needed to master to avoid communication breakdown. This is what I found:

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• Great Whole-Class Game for ESL Listening Skills (Revisited)

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Cover Team A shot

This game has it all:

  • Motivates listening skills.
  • All students focused.
  • Students are up and out of their seats.
  • Easily customized to the interests and level of a specific class of students.
  • Organized with minimal teacher work.
  • Stimulating with a lot of laughing.

Here is how it works.

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• Short, High-Interest Articles for Extensive Reading: # 14: “Why It’s Hard to Apologize”

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(This posting includes a handout LINK AT THE END OF THIS POST which you are welcome to use with your students.) *

Last week, Emily took her driver’s test but failed. At dinner, she told her family but asked them all to promise not to tell anyone because she felt embarrassed. Yesterday, a friend, Jay, said to her, “Your sister, Kara, told me that you failed your driver’s test. Are you going to take it again?” That afternoon at home, Emily was upset and told Kara, “Kara, I asked you not to tell anyone one about my test, but Jay said that you told him.” At that moment, Kara knew she should say sorry, but she didn’t want to. There is a common saying, “Three of the most difficult words for people to say are, ‘I am sorry.’”

(See complete article below.)

For background information about these articles and for suggestions for how to use them with your students, see  • Introducing “Short, High-Interest Readings”  Also, I’ll be adding more of these articles in the right-hand column: ESL Reading> Short, High Interest Articles for Extensive Readings

Here is the 13th article. You can download the article for your students by clicking on the link at the end. Also included are three optional exercises: True-False Questions; Paraphrasing Exercise; Reflection Exercise.

Continue reading →