Wherever I conduct writing seminars, I usually find the most captive audience members those who are relatively new to the English language—people who are nonnative speakers. Whether they are from China, Egypt, India, Japan, Latin America, Nigeria, Russia, or any one of the hundred or so nations that have been represented in my programs, they enjoy the seminar experience and find the teaching points useful.
I am impressed with their world knowledge, technical skills, and intellectual curiosity. In fact, getting to know them makes me uncomfortable about using the inaccurate term “ESL” (English as a Second Language) because so many of them speak English as a third, fourth, or fifth language.
Many of them approach me for ideas on improving their writing and speaking skills as a follow-up to the course. I usually send them to one or more of the many outstanding online resources available. Below are just a few. Of course, more instructive websites are available just by searching for “ESL Resources” at any search engine. (Is there one better than Google?) If you have a friend or family member who would benefit from this information, please pass it along.
WEBSITES: ESL RESOURCES
Using the Internet to Teach English for Special Purposes
http://esl.about.com/library/weekly/aa080200a.htm
Wayne Magnuson English Idioms Sayings and Slang
home.t-online.de/home/toni.goeller/idiom_wm/index.html
English Language Practice in Listening, Grammar, Conversation
http://members.aol.com/eslkathy/esl.htm#mix
ESL Resources for Students
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslstudent.html
LinguaCenter Grammar Safari
http://deil.lang.uiuc.edu/web.pages/grammarsafari.html
Activities for ESL Students
http://a4esl.org/
Tongue Twisters for the ESL/EFL Classroom
http://members.tripod.com/~ESL4Kids/tongue.html
