Teacher Discussion Forums

Do your local school districts, municipalities, colleges or church groups offer adult ESL classes? Do they charge a fee? How often do they meet? Are teachers paid or volunteer?

English as a second language seems to be offered everywhere. For you located overseas, is the language of those countries offered in a "second language" setting?

I'd love to help my adult ESL students practice their English outside of the classroom. Any ideas? I'm looking for ways to get them to interact with fluent English speakers in the community.

Children seem to learn so readily at such young ages! My son had Spanish once a week from K through 5th grade and now in middle school has it as a 40 minute class daily. He'll have to take 2 years in high school. He hates it and knows no more Spanish now than he ever did. What a shame. And here's hi...

Our adult ESL class is held once a week for 1 and a half hours and we too try to have an "English Only" policy. I can't wait to try "interpereting" what they say in Spanish at the beginning of class as they converse, in hopes to get them to explain to me in English what they're talking about. They k...

I wonder what older students would say, the children in middle school or better yet, high school. A middle school student may just want to "fit in" as quickly as possible, but a high school student may see keeping both their L1 and L2 as a valuable tool for the future.

With my adult ELL's I've played BINGO. I don't think BINGO was a part of their culture, but they enjoyed it! We'd go over simple words, animal names, friuts and vegetables, whatever the topic was. Then next week I'd have photos of the words, printed from my computer of course. I used a website calle...

I was in a second grade classroom on the Chinese New Year this week and we read "The Lion Dance". It was a great opportunity to talk with the students about the customs, languages, foods and ideas thay've brought from their native countries. The ELL's in the class finally had something to say!

Do your ELL parents come to PTO meetings? Are they active in your school community? Do they attend class trips and school parties? Do you have ways to encourage participation?

Hi, My adult ELL's have the same problem with practcing and reviewing at home. They are busy with work and families, just like we are. I always urge my ELL's to watch TV in English, listen to the radio in English, read the newspaper in English, etc., and then if they have questions bring them to cla...

Are you easily able to communicate with your ELL parents? How do you accomplish this? As a teacher of adult ELLs I often bring to class lunch menus, report cards, school notices, study guides, etc. to "practice" reading and vocabulary. I am a substitute teacher in our district so I have access to th...

In your opinion, is it the school's responsibility, or the family's responsibility to preserve the ELL's L1? I think that it would be a shame to lose the L1, but I know families who actually seem to want to lose it, maybe to make them seem more "American". What do your families want?

How do cultural differences affect the ELL's ability to succeed in school? I teach adult ELL's and their educational background really affects how they respond and react in class. Their cultural differences, what they bring from their home country, also affects how they act in class. Does this happe...

My elementary school aoofers BE in Spanish because of our Spanish speaking population. A neighboring district may also offer Russian/Ukrainian because of their popluation. What about the few Korean students? Or those from aother langauges? Is it fair that Spanish or Russian speakers get BE but not a...