Tag

Asking follow up question can provide clarity and allow our conversation partners to elaborate on details. Use these simple phrases to go beyond hello and create better conversations. And? So? Where? When? How? Why? Meaning? Smiling and nodding your head also indicate...

What is your American Dream? This remains one of my favorite questions to ask new immigrants and American citizens. I asked that question, followed by, “why” in a regular column for Easy English Times this month. I gave the last words to Toni Morrison, the Nobel-Prize...

Sometimes the simplest questions create the best conversations. What does success mean? What definition are you using? How is that definition working for you?

Consider me psyched. I’m going to a huge conference of ELT, EFL, and ESL professionals today in Vietnam’s White Palace. The 4th-annual VUS-TESOL conference program is full, and I expect to hear many more teaching tips for working with Vietnamese students who want to...

Today is a good day. For the first time ever, an English teacher used Compelling Conversations for English Language Learners in Vietnam in an EFL/ESL classroom. Emily, a close friend and fine teacher, used the modified “going beyond hello” chapter with advanced...

How do you revise a conversation textbook designed for American immigrants and international students in the United States for high school English language learners in Vietnam? Carefully! Naturally, the new version of “Compelling Conversations – Vietnam: Speaking...

* Are you ready? * Are you prepared? * Aren't you nervous? * Do you have enough time to do that? * When are you going to sleep? Friends - and close relatives - ask these questions out of concern and curiosity. I appreciate their questions and enjoy our...

My TEFL.net book review outlines the Kirkpatrick's controversial thesis, his principal examples, and central arguments. It also includes my perceptions of the limits and difficulties with his...

EFL teachers continue to bring communicative techniques and direct learning methods to more and more Vietnamese students. Yet another exceptional educator working in Vietnam has also warned me that preparing for standardized testing and drill-and-kill grammar exercises remain the...

Many English teachers, especially novice ESL instructors, talk more than ideal - and allow their English students to talk too little. Ironically, many ESL instructors make this "good mistake" because they are so dedicated. What, after all, are they supposed to do while students...