Happy New Year 2013

With every new day come new beginnings. Yes, a new year is quickly approaching, and it can allow us to rethink and make new commitments, but if we falter (which as humans we do), then we should see the coming of every new moment an opportunity to better ourselves and help those around us.

Happy New Year! --- Randall

English Slang

One of the greatest challenges facing English students is the ability to understand, interpret, and, where appropriate, use idiomatic expressions and slang. This is often due to the face that slang usage is so dependent on the content, your relationship with your conversation partner, and other social cues. Because you can't avoid encountering such language, I created a Web site to help students understand slang more. Give EZSlang.com a try.

Randall
http://www.ezslang.com

The Christmas Season

Over the past 14 years of creating online listening activities, there have only been a couple of times when I had all of my children appear in the same recording. Here is an example that goes along with the Christmas season and the meaning that it has in our family and many others like ours.

http://esl-lab.com/tradition/traditionrd1.htm

For us, most activities center on our family and on those in need around us. When I speaking of certain needs, these could be financial, emotional, or even spiritual. We have been the recipient of  so much kindness over the years, and I feel in a privilege to do what I can to help others.

Randall

College Scholarships

Getting a college scholarship requires patience, hard work, and the qualifications for any financial aid that be available to you. However, a student needs to take responsibility for their actions that might put their future in jeopardy. Listen to my latest listening activity, called College Scholarships, that illustrates the affect that positive and negative affects of students' choices. Give it a try:

- http://esl-lab.com/scholarship/scholarshiprd1.htm

 Randall

ESL Courses: Bonus Points or Not?

So, what is the real value (or not) of teachers giving students bonus points or extra credit for their work in class? All too often, teachers give bonus points to students who do extra work, but the negative outcome can be that students' overall grade can be inflated, giving a distorted view of their real ability. For example, if students have to write an essay worth 100 points, and the teacher gives 10 bonus points simply because the students added a photo, the bonus points given would have absolutely nothing to do with the students' writing ability, especially if that wasn't an objective of the writing assignment.

Yes, it might help students psychologically, but it can give students the impression that they are doing better than they really are. Furthermore, if the content of one class builds on the other (e.g., going from beginning to intermediate writing), then advancing students from one class to the next will set the student up for failure because they aren't ready.

Being judiciously in awarding points will only benefit students in the long run.

Randall

Honesty in Relationships

Perhaps, one of the greatest secrets in promoting healthy relationships is being completely honest in all you do. Making up stories about your life, your interests, and your abilities will only lead problems when your lies are discovered. In my listening activity called, "Running Shoes" (http://esl-lab.com/runningshoes/runningshoesrd1.htm) describes one similar situation and the best ways to build long-lasting friendship.

Feel free to share your thoughts on this topic.

Randall

Language Learning and Discipline

Discipline and care are really necessary to learn good habits. In our garden, my wife has apple trees, and you have to shape and prune (cut) the branches carefully so you can enjoy a great harvest. If you don't do this when the tree is young, it will become unmanageable. The same goes with learning. If you don't form good habits early, you won't see the rewards of hard work.

All too often, students procrastinate and don't stay on top of their studies. The same could be said of any aspect of life. But like a tree, it is almost impossible to move or bend the trunk of a tree after a few years unless you pull it out. Forming good habits early in life can help point you in the right direction toward future goals.