Un English Language Day

Nine thousand years of history, and a present-day physical division between Greek and Turkish society guarantees an interesting place to visit. Along with this, fabulous scenery, and wonderful stretches of unspoilt coastline make this an ideal place to relax and soak up the culture. Popular with the Pheonicians, the ancient Greeks, the Romans, and the crusaders, there is an architectural treat to be found almost everywhere you look. Greek and Turkish are the official languages; however, English is quite widely spoken amongst the Greek Cypriot community. The population is 750,000, so it’s none too crowded. The local religion is 75% Greek Orthodox, with 14% Muslim. Prospects for teachers are very good. There is considerable enthusiasm for English on the Greek Cypriot side because of...  [Read more]

Deep in the heart of Europe, Germany has much to offer the visitor and the prospective resident alike. Germany’s great wealth is clearly visible in its elegant big cities, whilst out of town you can expect to find fairy-tail castles, bucolic villages, and endless forests and mountain peaks. In either rural or urban settings fine wines, and famously excellent beer can be enjoyed along side a wealth of culture and history. The official language is German, with no sub languages in use. English is widely spoken, particularly by younger people. The population of the country is a little over eighty-two million. It is a large country and climates range from the arid steppe to the peaks of the German Alps. When contemplating working in Germany it is useful to remember that unification did not...  [Read more]

mexico: What a place. You could easily spend a year in a couple of hours in this hugely diverse and vast country. Whether you prefer snow-capped volcanoes, heavily populated beaches, deserted beaches, superb diving, the hum of the big cities, or the world-class archaeological sites, you would be hard pressed to find a place offering more to the traveller. On the back of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), governing free trade between Canada, the USA, and mexico, massive investment has poured into mexico, which in turn has created huge demand for English language skills. Be choosy. For the well-qualified TESOL teacher it is a sellers’ market, and you don’t have to dive in to the first opportunity that comes your way. Indeed, TESOL teacher poaching is a popular pastime...  [Read more]

British english vs american English With English being recognised as the global language of choice, which one is considered the official language? So just how did American English diverge from British English in the first place? American English roots back to the early colonial days of the late 16th century, were a whole gamut of cultures converged into a single society. In some colonies English wasn’t even a spoken language and in those colonies that did speak English it was quite different from the English we know today. The Elizabethan English of the day consisted of many varieties of regional English dialects. All these different dialects, intermingled with a multitude of cultures formed one big boiling pot, of which over time, a new variant was produced – American English. And...  [Read more]

Problems for learners in a Country of your choice: Italy In this paper I will address the issues I face as a teacher from the context of living and working in Italy, as well as the common problems my students encounter while learning and speaking English. I also want to draw attention to the input culture and society has on language, and look at how these factors influence dynamics within the classroom. Of course, it is nearly impossible to view ones self outside your own given cultural perspective, so as a result of this I will also be discussing my own assumptions on how I "imagined" people might act, compared to the reality of the situation. Often I neglect to take into account these differences, simply because I was raised in America, where I am used to a different set of cultural...  [Read more]

Phonetics and TESOL Phonetics, the study of the sounds of human speech, and in particular “Articulatory Phonetics”, are not commonly taught to native speakers of English, let alone learners of English as a second language. However if the learner is serious with their English and wish to progress to an advanced level, learning phonetics, in particular the International Phonetic Alphabet, would be of immense benefit. English spelling is often contradictory, devoid of relation to the pronunciation of a word, and lacking in clear patterns. Patterns that do exist are numerous, with a large number of exceptions, and all of this makes it very difficult for the learner of English as a second language to master pronunciation. The International Phonetic Alphabet puts all of the individual...  [Read more]