Monday, June 17, 2013

My personal view of ESL and the Arogance of America

This is my commentary on what I think. Its not meant to offend anyone. I simply stating things as I see it after spending a year in Korea, and meeting many different English teachers who all speak English, just different forms. What is English? English isn't just one language. Its many. 

This is what I have to say. 

It never ceases to amaze me how people can demand in America that we speak English. Honestly, after getting involved in ESL, that statment "Your in America, learn to speak English!" Pisses me off anymore. 

We must have forgotten, we were settled by the French, Spanish, Germans, Dutch, and Chinese. Check your rail road history if you forgot about the Chinese. Then the Irish and Italiians came over in the early 1900's and saw Mother liberty. Don't forget the languages of the Native Americans either, that added to the American version of English.  Then we bought Alaska, who was settled by the Russians, and English and Hawaii. Settled by? oh yah ever body and don't forget the Samoans. OH YES! and Puerto Rico that speaks Spanish and is an American Territory or Gaum. 

American English, isn't even English. Just ask the Brittish. But then again, they were invaded by the Romans, Vikings, and the French speaking normans. Thier English isn't pure English either. 

There is no such thing as pure English. English is a mutable changing language. thousands of words are added to the English language every day. 

Yet people as Americans, demand, that everyone speak English because well its the language of America. 

If this had been the attitude of the Native Americans who outnumbered the colonists, we would be speaking may dialects of Native American or would we? If the Chinese did not become xenophobic in the 1500's, they could have settled the west side of North America. 

If the Russians, hadn't given up Alaska, Alaska would be speaking Russian, as it is, there are many words in the Alaskans dialect of English, that are Russian and Native Alaskan. 

You may not like what I have to say - but I think demanding that everyone speak English in America, is arrogant. 

And this is why: 

We are a first world nation. Yet, we are not bilingual. However, most other first world nations are and here's a few. 

To name a few;
Canadians speak French & English, French speak French & English, Japanese speak Japanese & English, Koreans speak Korean & English, INDIA speaks several dialects of Indi & English & their not even considered a 1st world nation! South Africa speaks Afrikans and English, and China speaks 2 dialects of Chinese and English. 

Does anyone see a pattern? I do. The U.S. is a melting pot of cultures, languages and people. With the exception of Alaska and Hawaii, the U.S. is between two other nations. We should be learning at least the current dominant immigrant language of Spanish. By the way, Spain, Portugal, and Mexico are not the only ones who speak spanish.

The Chinese out number America in population, and it is said to be the next language coming to dominate the world working market.

so - hmmm - I think there needs to be some reconsideration as to whom should be speaking what language. English may be the current language of choice, but it won't always be. Wouldn't we all be better off atleast speaking 2 languages instead of one?

If teaching in Korea has taught me anything, its that learning more than one language is necesseary in this world. I can now add Korean as my seventh language. Thats right. I said seventh. Thank god for opera that gave me the ground work for four latin languages and one germanic one. I'm not perfect at any of them, but if I need to, I can atleast read 6 out of the 7, and speak broken sentences to get me through enough to communicate. Then I learned Japanese in college and now I am learning Korean. Count English and I have 8 languages. 

For now, English is the worlds current language of Employment and diplomats. But at one point it was French.

So think carefully before arrogantly and ignorantly demanding that everyone speak English, because I know what the other person is thinking. Why don't you learn to speak another language aside from English.  
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My Long list of websites for teaching ESL









































































http://www.pppst.com/ (Petes powerpoints - on every subject - ) 

http://www.elcivics.com/  (history and civics) 








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Music in ESL

Music is a part of all cultures and, for many, is a very important part of their lives. For this reason, music is an exceptional tool for teaching ESL when used in combination with your lesson plan for the day. Using music in the classroom can offer a creative and beneficial break from the normal classroom routine and can assist your students in developing for 4 main language skills - listening, speaking, reading and writing. The fact that music provides enjoyment and assists in the development of language skills has been documented by a myriad of researchers.
What makes using music in the classroom helpful?
One of the most important attributes of songs is that they are often repetitive and, if you’ve been an ESL teacher for more than 3 days, you know that importance of repetition in the ESL classroom. This allows for reinforcement throughout the song.
As with most things, language evolves and common language or colloquial English undergoes this evolution at the highest rate. Another benefit of modern music is that it reflects the language of the time and often includes a considerable amount of colloquial English and idioms. Most ESL instruction is focused on conversational English and having a resource that allows you to exploit this is extremely helpful.
The most important thing to remember when using music in the classroom is something that is important across the board with ESL – KEEP IT RELATIVE! Using ‘Old McDonald’ in a class of 12 year olds is likely not going to go over too well but Jessica Simpson or Outkast probably will. Taking the time to learn what type of music your students are interested in and using that in the classroom will encourage them to seek out the music outside the classroom and thus continue their learning.  
So music is good…how can you use it in the classroom? There are a variety of ways to incorporate music and songs into your classroom but for most of these activities you will need to acquire a copy of the song (obviously) and a copy of the lyrics. Luckily we are in the time of the World Wide Web and have access to the lyrics for almost every song imaginable.
Check out these websites for lyrics:
For your younger students being able to sing along to the song and practice pronunciation will probably suffice. For older students you can use the songs and lyrics to put together activities such as:
  • Fill in the gaps - This can be geared to your specific lesson. If your lesson is focused on verbs and nouns, have the students fill those in.
  • Comprehension exercises – Have your students listen to a song and answer questions about the story in the song.
  • Writing a new verse – Have your students listen to the song and write a verse in the same style.
  • Transcription – Have your students listen to the song and write down the lyrics.
The following websites may give you some additional ideas for using song in your classroom:
When you find yourself with 10 extra minutes left before the class ends and you are strapped for ideas on how to fill the gap play one of these games:
Alphabet Memory Game:
If you have a deck of alphabet cards in the classroom lay them out on a desk in the classic memory game style – break the students up into groups (perhaps boys vs. girls) and get them to match the cards up accordingly. Your students will get into the game quickly and it’s sneaky way to
If you find yourself with out the resource of alphabet cards…
X ‘n O Game:
On the chalk board or white board set up the classic lay out for tic-tac-toe – break your class up into two teams and designate one side as ‘x’ and one side as ‘o’ – explain the rules of the game and the concept
Then using the textbook as a resource ask one student from the ‘x’ group a question related to the current or recent lesson (ie: how do you spell ‘elephant’) if the student gets the question right, they then can choose where to put their ‘x’ – then do the same with the ‘o’ group .. if the first student asked cannot answer correctly, you may give the ‘o’ group one chance, if no one can get it, then drop the question and move to the next student.
These are great ways to fill those extra 5-10mins at the end of a lesson and the perfect way to review in a fun way. Enjoy.
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