How well do ESL Extras travel?
How well do learning materials travel? One of the reasons I love using Australian materials is their relevance to learners’ lives. At beginner levels especially, it’s much easier to show where Melbourne is on a map than to have to explain references to London landmarks, or British history. Is that a problem in reverse, though? I write with adult and … Continue reading
Maybe Next Year: from ‘ESL reader’ to ‘today’s lesson’?
“I’ve got a Social English class, so how can I use Maybe Next Year as the key material? (Oh, and I have prelim learners in with beginners, and the volunteer is going to be away…)” Sometimes we see reading materials as simply ‘reading’ – students read the story, answer the questions, do the worksheets, and we’re finished. On to the … Continue reading
Which ESL Extras book do you read first?
I got a lovely comment recently from a teacher asking which book follows Six Stories from Hope Street, so I thought I’d list the ESL Extras reading books in order of difficulty, starting from the easiest… Prelim and literacy Welcome to Hope Street (Prelim) is a ‘prequel’ to the Hope Street stories, specifically for preliminary or literacy learners who are … Continue reading
New ESL Extras title: ‘Welcome to Hope Street’
The new title in the ESL Extras series is out: Welcome to Hope Street. This introductory reader, at sentence level only, is designed for migrant learners still gaining literacy skills in English. So if you have learners who aren’t quite ready for Maybe Next Year or My Job is the Best, this might work for them. The challenge of the ‘prelim’ class … Continue reading