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English is a crazy language. Luckily, the Internet can help!
Read my reviews of new (or newly discovered) resources below or click on Resources or Archive to see these links categorized by skill.

What's new in ESL? What's new in EdTech?

A History of the English Language I think I can safely say that every ESL student or teacher will agree that English Is Not Normal. In this article, John McWhorter explains why (invasions, migrations, conquests, and a desire to sound fancy).
Teaching Thanksgiving
Are you getting ready to teach a lesson on Thanksgiving in the United States? These resources from VOA (Voice of America) and American Experience can help you make your lessons richer.
Thanksgiving, a Traditional American Holiday from VOA
Do your students like to talk about food? Get the conversation started by showing this video first! I used 0:00-6:00 and did a cloze (fill-in-the-blank) exercise on the side dishes.
Traditional Thanksgiving Meal, with Modern Shortcuts from VOA
The first half of this video (0:00-1:01) gives a nice overview of Thanksgiving using language that is appropriate for intermediate-level students.
AMERICAN MOSAIC - Thanksgiving in America / Native American Music / National Museum of the American Indian in Washington - 2003-11-26 from VOA
This transcript has several segments - I used the one titled “Thanksgiving." I really like the level of this script. There are a few words that will likely be new to intermediate students, but it isn’t overwhelmingly difficult (it would be, however, for many beginning learners). The final paragraph provides a brief look at the ways that the dynamics between the Native Americans and colonists quickly began to become more hostile. Given the events that followed as a result of expanding colonization, I think it is helpful to make students aware of this shift.
The First Thanksgiving from American Experience via PBS
This video will be tough for all but the most advanced students, but teachers can get a more complete look at the events of the 1621 Thanksgiving in preparation for questions that students may ask!
Business English
This summer I taught business English to advanced students. Here are five great resources:
One: The Business of English
This Australian Youtube series was recommended to me by a former classmate/coworker. It is made specifically for ESL students. Each video starts with a common business scenario. After the scene, one of the actors analyzes the language and gives alternative phrases that business people can use. Students can take notes on the language used and then write and act out new scenarios. I highly recommend this series.
Two: Rachel’s English - How to Interview for a Job in American English
Rachel has several playlists for ESL learners, including a five videos that show what a typical job interview looks like in the United States. Not only are these videos useful for teaching relevant language, they also show more subtle aspects of American culture that come into play in the interview process.
Three: The UC Berkeley Career Center
The UC Berkeley Career Center provides practical advice for college students and new alumni who are entering the workforce in the United States. Foreign professionals can also benefit from learning about these do’s and don’ts.
Four: Forbes
Forbes is better known for their magazine, but they also have a series of short videos that address career issues. The videos move quickly and the text doesn’t always match what the speaker is saying, so be sure to provide scaffolding.
Five: Ask a Manager
In a previous post, I wrote about Evil HR Lady. Allison Green of Ask a Manager is also a workplace advice columnist, responding to employers and employees who are dealing with uncomfortable workplace situations. The columns address similar themes, but the questions and answers on Ask a Manager tend to be shorter. Students can read the problems letters, write a response, and then compare their answers to the professionals’ advice columns. There is also sometimes an interesting contrast between the two writers’ points of view!
Different Countries and Different Languages
How do Germans say Germany? This map shows different endonyms (the name that the inhabitants of a given place use for their homeland).
When I was working in France, I learned that French cats don't purr, they ron-ron. How do other languages describe animal sounds? Here is a delightful (if not terribly academic) infographic. The artist, James Chapman, has created many other cartoons that illustrate sounds and proverbs from a variety of languages.
What on Earth Is Common Core?
I teach adults, but I like to know about K-12 educational trends. Additionally, I have taught college courses, and it is important to know what incoming freshman experienced in high school. So how are the Common Core State Standards different from previous standards? The presenter in this video gives a nice explanation of what is changing and goes on to give clear examples of those changes. In junior high and high school English classes, the emphasis shifts dramatically from fiction to nonfiction; this is illustrated neatly in this chart. I recently took a class on Common Core State Standards. I have included my final project (with a model assessment). This project focuses on California standards, but it is easy to find the standards for another state and then download the PDF from the state's education website.
Workplace English
What are workplaces like in the United States? What topics are taboo? What can you say and how should you say it? LinguaTec has a nice list of suggestions specifically for ESL students.
The author of Evil HR Lady answers tricky HR (human resources) questions; this is a good website for advanced learners who want to understand workplace culture in the US.
OTAN
I've recently rediscovered OTAN! What is it? It's a resource for adult education teachers who want to make their classes richer in technology. This particular page has an excellent list of links for teachers.
Conference Resources
I went to an education technology conference this weekend and learned about some awesome resources! Flippity is probably my favorite; teachers and students can make online flashcards that can be converted into games.
Students can tell the class about their lives, other people's lives, or events in history using Timeline JS. This website makes it easy for students (or teachers) to add exciting media to their presentations.
If you are teaching or taking a creative writing class, try Storybird. You can illustrate a story, or if you have writer's block, start with some cool pictures and then add the story.
Reading Resources
Books That Grow has classic short stories that have been simplified. Each story has several levels. You must sign up to access them.
Trends
The blog edcetera tracks and comments on trends in higher education.
What's Worth My Time?
Teachers want to use media to make their classes more engaging, but what materials are actually effective? Use Common Sense Media's reviews to sift through games, movies, books, and more.
Suitcase with Notebooks inside
Suitcase of Memories by Elizabeth M from Flickr