If you are a business professional it is important that you be able to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing. Often email, memorandums, reports and other materials are a requirement of the job making it imperative that you utilize whatever means are available to learn the correct spelling and punctuation that is needed.

There are many online resources available for proofreading and editing services that will make it easier for you to have someone else ensure it is correct. However, often memos or emails or reports cannot wait for someone to take the time to do this. You must learn it yourself and there are many tools available to assist you.

You can access glossaries of English terms and phrases that might be used in various situations. You can learn about rules of punctuation and how to write your reports. You can find professionals who understand technical terms or medical terms, scientific words or phrases so that you will be ensured that you use the right terms.

Another way to ensure that your correspondence is grammatically correct or that the message is what you want to say is to have a colleague, an assistant or a co-worker or friend help you by reading it over before it is sent. That way you can know that your communication is not sending the wrong message. This will also help you to learn to correct any mistakes that you may have made and continue to improve.

Learning a new language is stressful enough without having the added pressure of needing to understand it while conducting business. It is therefore imperative that basic skills are learned quickly so that staff members are able to effectively communicate both verbally and in writing. With the power of the internet making everything easier today, it is no longer an impossible task to be able to accomplish this.

The key for these global companies is that their employees are able to improve their business English communication skills so that they are able to communicate in person, on the phone or by email. Any English training must include measurement of progress and the ability to have support through the process that will ensure success. With good translation support and business situations or scenarios that might be encountered as a study form, the employees will learn quickly.

Learning English also requires learning cultural differences and rules of etiquette that will be encountered in a new and different environment than their native country. Total learning includes all of these things so that when a professional is presented in a business situation, the common courtesies and protocols will be part of their learning as it would be when learning any language. Businesses today face a world that is much closer because of all our technological advances making it imperative that learning business English requires learning a lot about the customs of the country that businessmen and women travel to.

Online ESL grammar quizzes are fun and interactive and provide you with the chance to practice – and probably make mistakes but no one will know! And – you can take it over and over until you have mastered a topic. You can study pronouns, adverbs and adjectives – what they mean; when to use them; when not to use them.

You can learn parts of speech that include verbs, nouns, and other information like personal pronouns and relative pronouns. It sounds very confusing doesn’t it? But we use it every day and don’t think anything of it. You can learn when to use a question mark or an exclamation point. You will learn sentence structure and plurals of words that can sometimes be perplexing.

You can access quizzes that test your skills on telling time in English, common words used in any number of situations such as going to the beach, going to the grocery store or a drug store. Going to the doctor or to see a dentist or a lawyer are all common situations that can be encountered and they all have their set of words that you need knowledge of.

Taking quizzes regularly will improve your ability to communicate effectively wherever you are and whatever you are doing. It will boost your confidence and make you more readily able to start a conversation on your own without being intimidated. Thus your English skills will improve tremendously without you even being aware of it. All it takes is the willingness to take quizzes and make them fun!

Unfortunately – if listening skills are not fine tuned while you are in school, you will not fare well in business either as listening is a key component in being successful. A good listener doesn’t miss the nuances of things implied or important points referenced that can easily be a key factor of passing or failing a subject – or later on missing out on business transaction.

Listening skills can be improved by using online sources that will also help you with your English understanding. With a variety of modules that are often free of charge, you can learn about topics like being out on a boat or different types of music. Modules about what to eat, favorite pets or flowers or riding a bus can all be accessed and be a learning tool about a topic you are interested in – but that will also be giving you needed English lessons while improving your listening skills.

Good listening techniques will be important for your future ability to communicate effectively with your friends, your lover or your business associates and will make it easier to carry on conversations both in business and pleasure. Oftentimes mistakes are made or the wrong answer is given because we were not listening to what a person was saying or misunderstood a question – thereby making your answer or response the wrong one. You can practice with everyone you meet – just listen!

You can access news articles online and even find ones that provide you with interactive questions to help you clearly understand what all the words mean so you will be able to effectively communicate with someone else about the articles. Not only will this keep you current on events but it will provide you with common ground to discuss with friends or co-workers thus giving you more practice that is needed.

Many articles can be incorporated with streaming audio that will increase your learning experience. That is why television is a good way to learn because there are generally pictures that are being streamed while the newscaster is speaking thus providing dialogue to connect with the events. Newspapers often have pictures as well that correspond with the written article. Any of these types of materials can increase your ability to learn.

Often teachers will use real life events as examples of whatever topic they are teaching so if you are a student that is studying in the United States your language skills will improve with being up to date with world and community events. The tendency is often to revert to your native language when you go online and read the news, but that is defeating the whole purpose – isn’t it? The best way to learn is to plunge in and just keep trying so give the news a try as a tool to learn.

Relaxation seems like a funny word to use when talking about public speaking, doesn’t it? They don’t seem to go together – do they? Well you certainly aren’t going to be as relaxed as you would be at the beach or taking a bath – but you can use some techniques to calm yourself and make yourself more serene so that your nervousness is held at bay and under control.

Many people advise you to just think about the fact that the audience is just filled with human beings like you. So try to picture them without their clothes or in comical situation so that you bring them down to your own level.  Most of the people there have come because they want to hear what you have to say so concentrate on your ability to get your message across and think of the audience as your friends so that you can loosen up and not be too stiff and formal – that will relax the audience as well.

Use little techniques to calm you when you first are introduced by taking time to thank your host and take a drink of water if necessary before you start off. Many people have a dry mouth so lubricate it and then begin talking. Look at the audience and move your body in different directions so that you include the whole audience – not just a few in front of you. Once you take control you will find that most of the fear goes away and you being to relax more and more – until you are finished – and everyone is clapping!

Like everything else there is plenty of information on the internet about just this sort of thing. And, in fact you can even find translations of idioms from English to say Chinese or Italian so that you can know exactly what is meant. It’s actually funny when you think about things that we say every day that if you translate it literally into another language it would be a totally different topic many times….for instance if you say one of the following, your ESL student might have difficulty understanding the meaning:

à Put it on the back burner – this might be said often in business but the reality is there is no stove in sight so it makes no sense.

à The best thing since sliced bread – what does bread have to do with it? Why is that so important?

à In inverted commas – this one would be really difficult to know because you really mean parentheses but who knows what that is??!!

à Off the cuff – this would be difficult to understand because there is no connection to a cuff that would make sense.

As you can see, some of these phrases that we use every day would really confuse an ESL student because most of the time, the words have little connection to what is really meant by the comment. It is therefore important for ESL students to ensure that they get some additional schooling in these idiomatic words or phrases that might trip them up and cause embarrassment unnecessarily.

Students in every country of the world have ideas and beliefs about the way things should be done. They enjoy expressing their thoughts with their friends in a restaurant, with their family at home or at an outdoor game in a field or inside an arena. In those venues they would be speaking their own language. Let’s talk about boosting their self confidence and fluency with the English language.

At what Level of English are the students ready for debating?
As a general rule it’s likely that the class would need to be at a high intermediate or advanced level, but there are factors that can alter that.
All groups of students are different as are the expectations of different cultures. Another factor to consider is the subject of the debate. Have the students had exposure to any of the required vocabulary in previous lessons?
If the teacher feels that the subject is of particular interest, then he or she can introduce the background information in one session and have the debate in the next. The students can be encouraged to consider their point of view outside of class or some time can be provided during the English session.

Who will profit from debating experiences?
The discussions and arguments that debates promote are well suited to students over sixteen. The younger ones often feel strongly about athletics; the rules of a game, the way the referee calls it and any inequities that exist between the opposing teams. The more mature students are likely to have a strong bias for one side. They might want to discuss the details of how their favorite team played. Who is the best player? Why their team won or lost.

How does it help their English?
When the content of the English lessons deals with subjects of high interest, the students become engrossed in the discussion. They think of things that they want to add to the discussion and are motivated to look in their dictionaries for the words they need to explain their idea. Although they may tend to discuss the topic with their friends in their own language, they will also help each other with the way to express their thoughts in English. Cheerful reminders are usually enough to keep the English flowing.

Debating is an exciting activity that requires students to think in English. They laugh among themselves, they feel a sense of success when they express an idea that is new the group, and they leave the class talking about the classroom events or arguing about the topic. A teacher can judge the effectiveness of a lesson by the students’ level of enthusiasm as they leave.
Debating is a great way to get students talking. You’ll enjoy your debating classes. Perhaps you’ll wish you were a participant rather than a supporter and cheer leader!

Most ESL materials are prepared to meet the needs of a diversity of cultures. It is a financial necessity for companies that are publishing printed books and selling them worldwide to include a wide variety of content. Due to the differences in cultures not all content can be appropriate for all countries. Many children in some Asian countries begin English classes at the age of three. The emphasis is on learning facts and producing perfect work. Alternatively, in the South American countries the children start learning English between the ages of seven and ten if it is offered at all. The emphasis is on building positive social relationships through language, music and art.

How can you adapt a curriculum to make it reflect your culture?
When you download ESL material online, you can print the entire book. Usually if you download a book, there aren’t any restrictions on how many you can print for your school. This gives you an opportunity to review each page and decide whether its content is appropriate for your children. There will be some limitations – you will need to see that the storyline in maintained and the necessary phonics and grammar is intact. Considering these basics as you work, you will likely find some pages that aren’t necessary or relevant for your students. Remove these from your printed copy. You now have a children’s ESL textbook that is shorter, consequently cheaper to photocopy and more appropriate for your children. Your book will have some page numbers missing. You can ignore this, you can print the numbers by hand or you can type them on a label(s), cut them and place them over the originals.

What about the time required to make these changes?
Your administrative staff and / or teachers will need to take time to decide which pages are to be omitted. Volunteers, parents or older students can save your time and your money. They can adjust the page numbers as needed, photocopy the books – printing on both sides of the paper – and bind the books. Staples will be the easiest, cheapest and the most efficient.

How can colorful activities be used many times?
Although laminating is quick, efficient and durable it is also very expensive. We were surprised to find that the equivalent dollar price was the same in Canada and Mexico! We suggest that you try using transparent sheet protectors for full page activities such as Picture Bingo. These are clear plastic envelopes that are open at the top and usually have loose-leaf binder holes at the side. Print the colorful page on one side of the paper only, insert it into the clear envelope and seal the top with scotch tape.
To further cut costs, it is possible to insert two consecutive full page games back to back. If you have a set of Bingo 1 and another set of Bingo 2 then place Card 1 of Bingo 1 back to back with Card 1 of Bingo 2. This allows you to use one envelope for two cards without any conflict as you wouldn’t be playing two different games at one time.

What about games that require a number of small cards?
Rather than going to the expense of laminating these, try to find an outlet that sells clear contact paper – it is available by the roll, by the meter or in large sheets. The small cards can be placed face down on the contact paper and cut.

All of these suggestions will be facilitated by using volunteers or older students. Asking parents to help not only saves you time and money, it has the added benefit of enhancing your community relationships.

We hope that you will be able to adapt these suggestions in a way that will assist your school and the families of your community through these difficult economic times. Consider these ideas and then – Do It Your Way.

Textbooks for Adults or Teen-agers
Some programs suitable for teen-agers and or adults offer a separate student reader, student workbook and teacher’s guide. Although many organizations print a student book and workbook for every student, some schools cut their costs by printing the lessons onto transparencies and using an overhead projector. The students make notes and complete the written exercises in an exercise book. There may, however, be some assignments such as crossword puzzles that need to be printed. The conversational activities can be followed with the same efficiency as if they were provided in a printed book.
Only one teacher’s guide is needed for each teacher. It can, of course, be used many times. Activities provided in the guide can be printed once and laminated, allowing teachers to use them again and again.

Textbooks for Young Children
Young children need to have a book for writing and drawing. Depending on their age the use of the overhead projector might prove to be too abstract. A teacher’s guide for a children’s program, however, usually provides many colorful pictures for games and activities. These can be printed once and laminated in order to preserve them for many uses. This simple adaptation allows for savings in both time and money.

English Second Language Storybooks
Storybooks are an important part of any English second language program. Many of those that are written for children of seven to twelve years provide a separate storybook, workbook and teacher’s guide. Children of that age will enjoy reading the story on a screen but may have some difficulty doing the workbook exercises in an exercise book. Assignments such as crossword puzzles would need to be printed. The student’s ability to adapt to the use of an overhead projector will vary from group to group.
Some storybooks videos are available. They also provide the written story and a workbook. These can be a refreshing change for young students.

These suggestions for cutting costs can save a considerable amount of money. Every organization, school or teacher will need to assess the needs of their classes before adopting any of these cost cutting adaptations. The necessity of following through with these suggestions will change with the ups and downs of each country’s economic prosperity.