Five Creative Methods of Teaching English to TEFL Learners

As English teachers, we’re almost always on the lookout for new and interesting ways to stimulate our language learners. It was ELT author and researcher Stephen D. Krashen who gave us his Affective Filter hypothesis of Second or Foreign language acquisition. (Krashen – Terrell, 1983) His hypothesis states, that conditions which promote low anxiety levels in class allow improved learning on the part of students. When learners enjoy class activities their Affective Filter is low and they learn more. New and different activities “out of the norm” also lower learner affective filters.

Here are some not-so-commonly-used techniques for adding that “new twist” to your English or foreign language classes. Giving learners something new does wonders in relieving boredom, spiking interest and lowering the Affective Filter of learners on whom you may have “tried everything”.

1. Using an iPod

Five Creative Methods of Teaching English to TEFL Learners

Do you learners carry iPods or cellular phones? Don’t curse and swear at them for using technology in their lives. Turn it to your advantage! A number of good websites now exist that can get you and your learners up and running using this latest new technology for language learning and practice. Here are useful website for more podcasting information:

• Morning Stories
[http://www.wgbh.org/schedules/program-info?program_id=143912]

• Podcast Pickle http://www.podcastpickle.com

• Internet TESL Journal http://iteslj.org/links/ESL/Listening/Podcasts/

2. Let Mr. Bean Help You

You all know him and love his humorous twists on daily living. So don’t just sit there nodding, grab a CD or VHS full of episodes and try a few out on your learners. Let them do the talking. They can offer suggestions, write to Mr. Bean and his other characters, express opinions and do comparisons of his world vs. their own. By the way, is he REALLY an alien? Follow his antics, get video clips, program guides and more at:

• [http://www.rowanatkinson.org/mr_bean.htm]

• [http://www.dsv.su.se/~mats-bjo/bean/bean.html]

3. Ask Walt Disney for Advice

Although I’m old enough to remember his presence and passing, Walt Disney can still make us laugh, smile, cry and cheer with the antics of scores of his characters and their families. Take some short “clips” from his animated stories. Change the situation. Alter the characters. Modify an ending or a beginning to cause a whole different outlook on age-old themes. Are your stories and characters better? As long as they’re different, stimulating and generate interest or discussion, that’s all that matters. Everyone, even you, will have a great time coming up with new twists on these classic themes. Try it!
Visit Disney online here:

• http://disney.go.com/home/today/index.html

• http://www.justdisney.com/walt_disney/

4. Letting Learners Create Lesson Materials

Turnabout is fair play, or so they say. Take a day to switch roles. Have you ever let your learners write an exam? How about planning a fun class? Having a “hot” conversation on a topic that THEY want to talk about – music, movies, cute guys / gals, techno-babble? Nothing is taboo – well almost nothing, anyway! What do you think they’ll talk about? You’d be surprised!

5. Join the Club

Let’s all go to the Conversation Club. What you don’t have one? Okay then, start one – every Thursday from 2:00 pm to 2:30 pm or whatever time, day and duration may suit you and your learners. The key is to give THEM the majority of control, or at least as much as possible. Use props, use realia, use pictures, music or whatever you and your learners may have on hand to start, stop and sustain the activities. Other “clubs” you could join include:

• Pronunciation clubs

• Reading clubs

• Movie clubs

• Acting Clubs

Use your and your learners’ imaginations. The sky’s the limit – or maybe the Administration’s sky is the limit. But no matter, just try something new for starters.

Try out some of these not-so-commonly-used techniques for adding that “new twist” to your English or foreign language classes. Give your learners something new to relieve any boredom and spike their interest. Can’t you just hear those Affective Filters falling now?

Five Creative Methods of Teaching English to TEFL Learners
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Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free.

For more information on entering or advancing in the fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language send for his no-cost PDF Ebook, "If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know", immediate delivery details and no-obligation information are available online now at: http://bettereflteacher.blogspot.com/

Need professional, original content or articles for your blog, newsletter or website? Have a question, request, or want to receive more information or to be added to his articles and teaching materials mailing list? Then contact the author at this website for a prompt response.

How To Choose The Best External Sound Card For Recording and-or Podcasting

The question of choosing the best External Sound Card for a particular use or application gets asked a lot. I have put together this quick guide which highlights the main considerations when choosing the right audio interface for your PC or Mac for recording and/or podcasting.

The first question: What are you going to be using an external sound card / audio interface for?
Podcasting Recording simple vocals for presentations Home recording vocals and instruments Recording an entire band or group

Benefits of an External Sound Card
An external sound card or audio interface, often called a "break out" box, has a major advantage over an internal PCI / PCI-Express card when it comes to recording and podcasting. The Analog to Digital (A/D) and Digital to Analog (D/A) conversion engine is located in the external box, therefore, all of the processing that goes on to change the analogue stream into a digital stream and vice versa is undertaken inside the box away from the electrical noise of your computer. The resulting digital signal is sent via cable to an input in your PC or Mac via a USB, Firewire or a dedicated card specifically designed to couple the box to your computer.

How To Choose The Best External Sound Card For Recording and-or Podcasting

Other important advantages include, ease of installation and connectivity; advanced functionality such as pre-amps; Hi-Z inputs; in-built hardware effects; mobility; use with laptops, notebooks and desktops.

Considerations
How many analog inputs do you need? Are you podcasting using one or two microphones (2 inputs)? Do you need inputs for musical instruments such as a guitar and/or keyboards (4 - 8 Inputs)? Or perhaps you want to record your entire band and microphone up the drum kit (20+ simultaneous inputs)?

The more inputs you need, the more you will need to spend. From experience it is advisable to choose an external sound card with a few more inputs, just in case.

Pre-Amps
Pre-amps boost the very low signal input from microphones up to a level that mixers, sound cards, effects, etc can work with. Pre-amps are not optional if you are recording with microphones. You need a pre-amp channel for every microphone you are recording simultaneously. I recommend you get the same amount of pre-amps as you have analog inputs in your external sound card. It doesn't do you any good to have the inputs if you can't use them.

Connecting your external sound card to your PC or Mac
PCI or PCI-Express (Via internal card to "Break out" box) - Desktop only - not easy to install USB 1.1 - Slowest connection speed- only good for one input at a time USB 2.0 - Faster, The standard - better for simultaneously recording up to 8 inputs, Mobile USB 3.0 - NEW, Faster still, awaiting audio peripherals to be released (One to keep an eye on) Firewire - Stable, fast, low latency, preferred solution by seasoned recordists

PC, Mac or both.
Make sure your chosen external sound card works on your machine - the specifications will tell you. There are externals sound cards that work just on PCs and just on Mac's and those that work fine on both.

MIDI
Many external sound cards come with MIDI in and out ports. If you need MIDI or think you may want to experiment with MIDI, I recommend that you purchase a sound card with MIDI already built-in. You'll want to make sure that the sound card uses a standard MIDI jack as some include ports that need adaptors. It is best to avoid adaptors.

MIDI can trigger synthesizers (which essentially shapes and moulds sound electronically to model various instruments) or samplers (which instantaneously play back short recordings of sound files). Because of this, MIDI is used all the time in music ranging from techno to metal to movie scores. With the right samples, it is easy to switch from working on an orchestral score to a rap beat in seconds.

Hi-Z Input
Increase the quality of your direct guitar recordings, by plugging your guitar into a high impedance input. Your standard sound card input was not designed to work with a guitar and therefore, some high frequencies can be lost. Hi-Z input is Included on many audio interfaces.

Monitoring
Do you need to monitor vocals / guitars through headphones, have separate monitoring for each member of the band? Most recording software will allow direct monitoring of the signal through the main outs (which is how you listen on playback through you studio monitors). This is usually satisfactory for a drummer but may not be nearly as useful for the rest of the band.

Do some research before buying an external audio interface to make sure that your monitoring needs are taken care of.

Software
Some sound cards come with recording software included. Make sure you factor this into your decision and into the price as well. Most recording programs bundled with sound cards are the "LE" version which means they generally are lacking some of the features of the given companies flagship model.

With that said, most people do not need the features included in the most high end recording software. You will probably be fine with whatever software that comes with your audio hardware (assuming it comes with any at all). If you find that the program that comes with your sound card is lacking in features, most companies will allow you to upgrade to more high end versions at a discounted price.

A selection of well known software companies that work well with an external sound card include Cakewalk, Cubase Alberton and Pro Tools.

How To Choose The Best External Sound Card For Recording and-or Podcasting
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Dr SGriff has over 25 years of experience in performing and recording live music, he is also a qualified systems engineer and addicted to technology and how it can be used to improve ones quality of life. Dr SGriff, has a particular interest in External Sound Card and audio interfaces and is very happy to share his experiences and knowledge in audio, in order that those with a passion for quality digital sound can make informed decisions when building computer systems for there particular application. Whether your interest be home recording, gaming, home theatre or creating professional presentations, read more about making the right choices here:

http://myexternalsoundcard.com

http://myexternalsoundcard.com/external-sound-card/external-sound-card-solutions

How to Convert Video Files to Video Podcast/iPod Friendly MP4's For Free

If you are a podcaster and you want to get into video podcasting but wondered how to get those big fat video files into your tiny iPod, rest easy my podcasting compadre, I'll show you how it's done, so you can podcast like a pro too.

First you need this free software:

http://www.videora.com/en-us/Converter/iPod/ - When you go there you can see there are other tools there which you can use to convert videos for Tivo, xBox360, and PSP too!

How to Convert Video Files to Video Podcast/iPod Friendly MP4's For Free

So, follow steps on the site, download the software, install it and then run it.

Click on "one click transcode", and find the video file you want to convert will instantly be transcoded into an mp4 file, just about any video format works for conversion.

It will take a few moments to convert the file, based on file size, and then once it is done, it will have saved your file to your computer, which you'll tag and upload into your podcast site and publish the feed/link for people to watch your Video Podcast.

There ar emany customization features which are great for making sure your videos fit many size formats too.

Use the customization features to allow for faster downloading, by lowering the output quality or increase the output quality, while increasing the download times, but have a very nice looking and sweet sounding podcast.

It's like having your own tv show! Podcasting is a lot of fun, take the time to learn how you can podcast too!

How to Convert Video Files to Video Podcast/iPod Friendly MP4's For Free
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Jeff Mills is a popular internet entrepreneur, speaker and author. Want to learn more tricks about Podcasting? See the [http://www.PodcastCreationMastermind.com] for more info. Listen to a free 1 hour podcast on how to podcast at my site.

How to Get Radio Interviews - Get Booked on Radio Shows to Promote Yourself and Your Products Free

How to get radio interviews is a common public relations question, especially for authors, experts, and marketers. You can get booked for free radio publicity interviews as an interview guest to promote your product or book on radio show interviews, if you follow these steps:

1. Identify radio shows that book guest experts like you for interviews:

The fastest way to do this is to search on Google using search terms like "radio talk show"+ "your topic". (NOTE: You want to search on "talk radio" rather than just "radio" to find shows that book guest experts for promotional interviews instead of only playing music!)

How to Get Radio Interviews - Get Booked on Radio Shows to Promote Yourself and Your Products Free

2. Find contact info for the radio show's producers or bookers:

Big, nationally-syndicated talk radio shows have a staff of producers. The best producers to reach are those that find and schedule expert guests and authors for on the air interviews. These producers are called "bookers". For smaller or local radio shows or Internet radio podcasts, the booker, the producers, and the host may all be the same person.

3. Create and send a targeted pitch:

You need to e-mail, fax, FedEx, Tweet or call the producers to offer your expertise and information. Remember that they are not interested in you, your book, or your products. Their goal is to find interesting new information that educates and/or entertains their audience. Your job is to craft a pitch that gets their attention. To get radio interviews, your radio interview pitch should offer helpful details of your expertise that fit into their current radio show programming needs.

(Tip: Offer real information, not just a product pitch. A radio interview, podcast appearance, or TV segment is a big opportunity for you to establish yourself as an expert, not just to get a free commercial.)

While the strategies above are proven methods for getting interviewed on radio and being booked to appear on TV, they are the same steps that thousands of other publicity-seeking experts are following right now, too.

How to Get Radio Interviews - Get Booked on Radio Shows to Promote Yourself and Your Products Free
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Scott Fox runs RadioGuestList.com, a free radio interview and TV public relations booking service that can help you skip many of the steps above.

Signing up for the free RadioGuestList.com service will bring you daily "Guest Request" emails from radio show hosts, TV bookers, or podcast producers looking for expert guests and authors to interview on the air. To get radio interviews you can reply by email to those that are seeking guest experts or authors like you to interview for their shows.

Visit RadioGuestList.com now to sign up for this free service. You'll start getting free radio and TV "Guest Requests" by e-mail tomorrow.

Coffee Shop Millionaire - Detailed Review

When I heard there was going to be a launch of a product called Coffee Shop Millionaire, it intrigued me so I pulled some strings and was able to get a look into what this product was all about, so here is what you get when you become a member of Coffee Shop Millionaire.

Before I begin, I have to tell you that this product is set up in a very unique way, it basically has self made millionaires telling how they were able to become exactly that. Since there is so much content within this product I am going to try and tell you exactly about each section of the course but since there is so much that comes with this product I will not be able to cover all the specifics of Coffee Shop Millionaire, because it would make this article way to long.

So here are all the sections that you will get if you become a member of Coffee Shop Millionaire, before I go further I think it is important for me to note that each of the video's are Standard, High Def, and can be Downloaded in video, audio, or pod casting formats.

Coffee Shop Millionaire - Detailed Review

Cash Machines Section - This is broken down into 4 parts and they are:

Local Cash Machine - shows you how to make an extra 0 to 00 as a local internet marketing consultant, this is a very easy to get going. This does not even require cold calling or anything like that. They even show you how to outsource if you do not want to do this yourself, and even though it is local they show you exactly how to do this in other cities as well.

Newsletter Cash Machine- This shows you how to get money anywhere from about ,500 to ,000 a month by sending simple email newsletters to customers and subscribers and website visitors of an existing business. Essentially it is list management, and the nice part is you are getting paid to leverage other peoples assets.

Article Cash Machine - this shows you how to make money as a Freelance Article writer. This shows you how to start out with no experience, no clients, etc. and how to start earning 00 a month in income, very fast. This is broken down into 3 parts

1. Brief introduction on article writing, success mindset, setting up "Tools of the Trade"
2. How to quickly write and deliver articles.
3. How to get paying clients fast.

Video Cash Machine- This shows you how to create 30 to 90 second promotion video for local businesses and exactly how to get this up and running.

Million Dollar Launch Secrets Section - This is then broken down into 15 parts, each part is fairly self explanatory:

Product Creation Army of Affiliates Art of Launches Getting Affiliates Excited New Partnerships Keys to a Mega Launch Launch Contest Launch Processes Meet Big Players Rolling Launches The Launch Schedule The Ultimate Product Pack - 21k System Underground Affiliates Upsell Path Webinar Replays

Skill Set Video's Section - This is then broken down into 3 parts that each then go into a lot of detail, that slowly builds up your knowledge of internet marketing:

Beginner - Covers Fundamentals, Mindset, and Keyword Research

Intermediate - This covers Blogging, Membership Sites, Million Dollar Sales, Traffic ( this includes Ad Swaps, Forum Marketing, Link Building, PPC, SEO, Podcasting, Press Releases, Video Traffic, JV Traffic.)

Advance - This covers The Next Level, Advanced Webinar Replay

The next section is Tech Tutorials - this section covers just about any technical question or problem that you may ever come across, it is broken down into 13 Parts:

Registering Domains Hosting Setup Modify Content Autoresponder Setup Adding Audio and Video Adding PayPal Button Adding ClickBank Payment Button Blogger Setup WordPress Setup Upload using FTP PHP Redirect Elance EzineArticle Submission

The next section is Your Content Library (pretty self explanatory)

Bonuses Section - Kevin Wilke, Now I am sure there is more coming in this BONUS SECTION, however I am getting a look at this product ahead of the actual launch so I am not completely sure what all of the bonuses are.

Rolodex Section - Is divided into 2 parts they are:

Rolodex - This has a list of basically all the RESOURCES that you are going to need in running a profitable and successful online business.

Coffee Shop Millionaires Interviews - Once again I am getting a look before the actual release of the product, however this is where there are going to be interviews with people who have started out with basically a job at a Coffee Shop (hence the name for the product) and have made themselves into millionaires.

Forum

PRO's of Coffee Shop Millionaire:

They give you a complete model of how to start a profitable online business. You can start setting up your online business by just doing it part time. They give several ways for you to start making money online, so you do not have to follow just one way of starting to create an online income. You can learn from real life examples of people who started essentially from where you are, and are now millionaires. All of the ways that Coffee Shop Millionaire explains on how to start a successful online business, are very realistic and easy to implement. So if you get this course and do not start earning money online, then the only person you have to blame is yourself for not TAKING ACTION. Although this is a membership site, it will most likely save you money in the long run of things, this is because most people buy a product and then purchase another product as soon as they get an email in their inbox selling them on the newest way to start making money online. However if you know that you already are going to be having a certain amount of income going towards your membership fee you are going to be less likely to purchase another product and stick with just this, which if you follow their easy directions you will be able to start earning money online. The other upside is that since it is a membership site you are going to be getting the newest and best information, on internet marketing. Coffee Shop Millionaire is perfect for both new and experienced internet marketers, because it covers each of the ways to make money online very well. A lot of the income streams that Coffee Shop Millionaire shows you how to make can be outsourced either in the beginning or after you start to make money with it and can then afford to outsource it. You get your money's worth from the Content Library alone.

CON's of Coffee Shop Millionaire:

It is a membership site, I am not usually very fond of sites that you have to keep renewing each month. (although you could get this product and then download all of the initial content and then unsubscribe from the site.) There is so much information that it is possible that some may get information overload, however unlike most products where you are learning just one single system, you will be able to learn about several different ways to create an online income and some of these are very easy to start implementing right away. As with most internet marketing products, experienced internet marketers may get bored with certain parts of Coffee Shop Millionaire, because they will already know some of the parts that are covered by this product. However that is to be expected with most products in the internet marketing niche.

CONCLUSION

Coffee Shop Millionaire is a very well put together product that will show you several different ways to start making money online, and very fast as well. The nice thing about this product is that since it shows you how to create multiple streams of online income, you can get one stream of income flowing in and then start on another.

It would be very realistic for someone to expect to be able to start earning a part time or even a full time income from what they learn from Coffee Shop Millionaire, it is even quite possible to become a millionaire after you begin to take action and start creating multiple streams of income, from what you have learned with this product. Coffee Shop Millionaire is a very good product for anyone who is serous about earning money online.

Coffee Shop Millionaire - Detailed Review
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Tim Nesbitt is devoted to helping others reach their full potential in every area of their life. If you would like to learn more details about Coffee Shop Millionaire go here: http://4hourworkweek.net/coffee-shop-millionaire/ and for more honest internet marketing product reviews, affiliate marketing tips, motivation, as well as grab a FREE REPORT ( A Value) "The Secret To Earning 0 A Day, Every Day In Under A Month" go to http://onlineinternetmarketingbusiness.net

The Science of Podcasting

Creating a podcast might seem like smoke and mirrors or some form of mystic art. But there is a great deal of science involved. A basic process that anyone can follow to be successful. A repeatable process with a guaranteed result.

So what is the science of podcasting?

Well, actually there are four separate elements that form the science portion of podcasting.

The Science of Podcasting

1. The tools you require.

You could if you wish, trick out a complete audio recording studio in which to record your podcast. Or rent one if you prefer that alternative. But it really isn't necessary. All you require is a headset, a computer and audio editing software. The former can be obtained for less than . And Audacity is one of the best versions of the latter -- and it's free. As for the computer literally anything will do from a basic netbook to an ultra powerful desktop gaming system.

2. The process you need to follow.

One of the cornerstones of science is a repeatable process. Producing a quality podcast also requires a repeatable process. Generally there is a four step process involved in producing podcasts. This is just a subset of the standard learning content process. Since podcasts are marketing products, we will use the same target audience, solution and system as every other product in the product line. As a result the process begins with the planning of the podcasts (part of the product line planning).

3. How to record a podcast.

While the performance of the podcast content is part of the art of podcasting, the actual recording is part of the science. You could record it using high quality microphones and a mixing board. But really all you require is the headset and software mentioned above. Making the actual recording is simply a matter of putting on the headset, setting the recording levels and making the recording. However, you should record the level settings and how you adjusted your microphone. Why? Because by doing so you can ensure that the recording level of your podcast is uniform for all your podcasts.

4. How to edit a podcast.

The editing process consists of using Audacity or a similar audio editing tool. Errors should be removed -- within reason -- and the entire podcast brought within the required time length. Once the errors and dead air have been removed, you can begin to correct any sound quality issues. The frequency can be adjusted for example to provide depth to the individual's voice. Once the podcast content is acceptable, you need to add the packaging. This is the added musical content during the opening and closing credits and between columns.

The Science of Podcasting
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Do you want to learn how to create information products (learning content)? Check out my new free eBook "7 Myths and Seven Tricks in Nine Steps": http://www.learningcreators.com/myths.htm

Do you want to read more free information like this? Go to my blog: http://www.learningcreators.com/blog/

Glen Ford is an accomplished consultant, trainer and writer. He has far too many years experience as a trainer and facilitator to willingly admit.