Daily ESL: Learning English for Everyday Use

Students often complain that the English they're learning in their classrooms has little value outside in the real world . . . at least for everyday use. In other words, although some textbooks have topics on undersea creatures in the Arctic region or the life of a rare butterfly in the rain forest, students rarely feel that this information is useful to them to order a burger at a restaurant or meet new people ("So, nice party, isn't it? How about talking about the life of the Wawu Butterfly in the rain forest?") Now, honestly speaking, all topics have value, and I'm not saying that ecology isn't valuable to all of us. I'm just saying that students often want language that is very practical . . . the kind that can be quickly used once you step off the airplane in New York City.

For these reasons, I created my site, Daily ESL (http://www.dailyesl.com) to help students learn common expressions, dialogues, and vocabulary for everyday use. Give this site a try. Here is one example:

http://www.dailyesl.com/apartment.htm

I'm still developing the site, but this page should give you an idea on the types of activities and lessons I'm working on. There is a listening activity, discussion questions, a vocabulary quiz, and even an Internet Exercise.

Best,

Randall