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An active life often makes it hard to squeeze in everything you want to read. Sometimes we do not notice how lengthy journeys and other chores may take up sizable chunks of our precious time. A demanding job, taking care of kids or housework can all cut down the free time available to persue your hobbies. It’s simple to simply use the time you spend driving to catch up on those books you can’t get around to reading. Thanks to technology, it’s simple to savor Glenn Harrold’s Ultimate Guide Quitting Smoking Forever by Glenn Harrold available from Download Audio Book Online, or audio books recounted by Charles Chilton without ever flipping a page.

In today’s hectic environmant multi-tasking fast becoming important. Audiobooks such as Pimsleur German II & III Complete Courses by Dr. Paul Pimsleur for sale from Download Audio Book Online fill the dead moments in our daily routine, it may be time spent waiting in a dentist’s surgery or maybe buying groceries. Audiobooks are obtainable to download as audio files suited for personal computers, laptop computers and ipods these titles include Pimsleur Hebrew (Modern) I Part 1 by Dr. Paul Pimsleur, and if you have an iPod or other mp3 player and connect it to to your car’s audio system and take the opportunity to check out a bestseller or a great novel, such as audible books by Garrett Sutton without hauling heavy books around.

An added benefit of audible books is hiring or purchasing the title which interests you then savoring it in your own time. Need to learn another language? Try audiobooks! It’s easy to catch up on the latest business practises, or you can enjoy reflecting on the most radical notions in religious belief.

A huge choice of writing styles and titles are accessible. It doesn’t matter if you love travel writing, or you are crazy about politics or even if your interests lie in self-help, most are available through online downloads. Various programs are available; it’s simple to take a subscription to a service and hire titles or instead make a purchase.

Reading devotees can always seek out a way to read, nevertheless audiobooks offer a convenient alternative. A author or celebrity can enhance the enjoyment of some books. Reading a book is not the same as listening to audio books recounted by Michael J. Gelb and Sarah Miller Caldicott, with subtleties of an real performance. Enjoying audio titles recounted by Clayborne Carson and Peter Holloran can contribute more meaning to your reading experience and often can mean more to you than the written words. So remember audio titles next time you want to buy books, audio-books can give you wonderful means to squeeze all the books you desire into a busy schedule.

The invention of the internet has made everything easier right? You can now shop online, send letters, find information at the drop of a hat, even find your house in satellite pictures on Google Earth. However, you would of course think that as learning a language involves speaking, this is something you would not be able to do online. You would be wrong. If you type learn Spanish online into Google you get approximately 72 million results. Now as with anything else, I am sure most of these are useless but you see my point.

There are now many websites that allow you free access to conversation exercises and vocabulary drills among other things. My personal favorite is LearnSpanish.com. I am sure it is structured much like its competitors however when I find something I like I tend to stick with it. This site allows you access to an amazing amount of drills and exercises for free. It of course also has another more extensive version that you have to pay for as I am sure most of the websites do.

So you can very simply sit in front of your computer and commence your lessons. My one recommendation though, is that if you plan to learn Spanish online, do not do what I did and go to an internet café to do so. If you do not have a computer try to find a friend that will let you borrow a laptop or come to their house to study. Trust me when I say it is very difficult to do pronunciation drills with 20 people who all speak the language perfectly sitting around and looking at you like you have lost your mind.

Of course it is probably close to impossible to actually learn Spanish solely online as it is quite necessary to hear the pronunciation and practice with actual human beings in order to be able to carry on a conversation. However if you are looking for some base knowledge to work with the internet provides a wealth of possibilities.

Gregory Newell is a web author who’s written about hot to learn to speak Spanish. If you want to learn Spanish online then you might be interested in reading more.

In the Reading and Listening tasks of the IELTS exam, band scores are determined only by the number of questions answered correctly. There usually are about 40 questions on each of the two tests.

Many candidates who do not understand the questions or do not know or are not sure of the answers leave blanks on the answer sheets for those questions. Never leave questions unanswered! Always write something on the answer sheet. No answer is automatically wrong, but you may guess the right answer, in which case you receive the point for it.

To score the highest number of correct answers:

- Do your best to understand the question and answer it correctly.

- If you do not understand the question or know the answer, figure out what kind of answer is required – T (true) or F (false), F (fact) or O (opinion), the letter or letters that correspond to the correct answers to multiple choice questions, short answers, and the like – and write an answer that is possibly correct. It may be.

- Keep careful track of question numbers so that you put answers in the correct places. One of the problems with not answering a question is that you may forget to leave a space for the answer. If you answer the next question on a line you have left blank, you could create a situation in which a whole series of answers – some of which might be correct – will be scored as incorrect. Examiners who correct answer sheets do so from master answer sheet keys and do not make allowances for answers that appear on the wrong line.

- Pay special attention for some answers that come in a series. Sometimes IELTS questions ask you to put a number of answers in a particular series. In some of those cases, if some of the answers in the series are in the correct order, they are considered correct. Do your best at getting the entire series right, but if you are confident of only a portion of the series, make sure those answers are in the proper order.

- Even with short answer questions, put some words in the blanks – but never more than three – of questions whose answers you are not sure of. In the case of IELTS Reading task short answer questions, choose words that come directly from the text, as they are more likely to be correct.

- To maximize the number of correct answers in the IELTS Listening test, mark the answers you choose in the question booklet and then, in the 10 minutes you are allowed for transferring the answers to the answer sheets after the tape is finished playing, carefully transfer them to the answer sheet. If you are unsure of the correct answer to a question while the tape is playing, mark the answer you think is best. You can think about it more after the tape has finished. Remember: do not use the time after each section of the IETLS Listening test tape has finished to “check your answers” (as you will be instructed to on the tape). Instead, go on to read the next set of questions, to add to the time you have to read them. You have nothing to check your answers against after the tape has finished.

- In the IETLS Reading test, if for some reason you have not allowed yourself enough time for the third reading, give yourself enough time before the 60 minutes has elapsed to look at the questions and see what kinds of answers are required. Then guess.

In all cases, never leave answers blank on IELTS answer sheets!

Svend Nelson is a university lecturer and Internet entrepreneur. He is director of UniRoute Limited, a Hong Kong based company with offices in Bangkok and London providing IELTS preparation and a free online application service to study in UK including courses like tourism management. Svend lived and worked in various countries across Latin America, Europe and Asia before settling in Thailand.

The Esperanto language was developed by Dr. L. L. Zamenhof in Europe over a hundred years ago. No one knows exactly how many people speak any language fluently. Some estimates put the speakers of Esperanto at more than a million. They live everywhere in the world. Zamenhof`s idea came from his experience in European communities which were made up of separate groups who gathered together because they spoke the same language. Next door to them was another enclave of people who spoke only their own language. There may have been ten or more different groups clustered near each other, yet they could not communicate outside their little language zones.

This led to great difficulties in trade and social interaction. Zamenhof felt that he could create a simple language which everyone could learn as their second tongue. Then they could peacefully and productively communicate.

As you can imagine, there was great resistance. Learning another language is time-consuming and difficult. But many people did learn Esperanto and communication did improve.

Today people around the world who speak only their native language and Esperanto can communicate fully with each other. With email and the internet, I can and do write to people in China, Mali, Russia, Italy, France, Korea, and any other country in the world where someone speaks Esperanto.

The subtitle of this article says that Esperanto can be good for you. Here`s how: Esperanto is so much easier to learn than a national language that you can be speaking and writing it within months. Because of its logical organization of roots and affixes, what you learn about Esperanto transfers easily to your study of other languages. It is estimated that a person who studies Esperanto first, can learn another language in about half the time it would usually take.

You can find more information about Esperanto at this site:

http://www.esperanto-usa.org/

Esperanto, the word, is made up of the root -esper- hope, the noun ending -o-, and the suffix -ant- doer. So the word means - one who hopes.

Dr. Zamenhof published his book under the name, Dr. Esperanto, one who hopes for a better world through increased communication.

All Esperantists have the same hope and invite you to learn more.

Jack Wilson ©2006

Japan really seems to be a foreign culture to our Western minds. You may think you don’t know much about Japan, but in the past few decades there has been increased communication with our neighbor in the Far East. Our great grandparents probably didn’t know nearly as much about Japan as we do.

Think about it. I’ll bet you know nearly a dozen Japanese words! Sushi, karaoke, anime, kimono, sake, Suzuki, Toyota, teriyaki, origami and bonsai. That’s ten! How did you do? I’ll bet you knew at least 8 of them, if not all 10. I’m sure you know that a kimono is a traditional Japanese dress that women wear with a sash tied around their waists.

You’ve probably had Japanese food, too, right? Nearly everyone has had teriyaki chicken or steak. Are you a sushi lover? I am. We may make it into a California roll, but the basic idea is still from Japan. Generally, it’s raw fish served in rolls with rice, soy sauce and wasabe, the green mustard. Did you have a little sake with your meal? Sake is Japanese alcohol, often served warm by the shot.

What about karaoke? You may never have been into a karaoke bar, but you’ve at least heard of them or seen parodies of it in comedy routines. People singing to recorded music, mostly amateurs who probably had a little sake before they got up on stage. It’s a lot of fun that came from Japan.

Then there are Japanese cars and motorcycles: Suzuki, Toyota, Hyundai, Subaru and more. For the longest time, I have chosen Japanese cars because of their performance and low maintenance requirements. They have historically done better on gas mileage than a lot of other cars, too.

The Japanese are definitely known for their attention to detail in the arts. That gives us origami, the Japanese art of paper folding and the art of growing those little bonsai trees, which require such meticulous care and pruning.

Last, but not least, what about this computer you’re reading me on? I’ll bet that at least part of it, if not all of it, was made in Japan. The Japanese are masters of detail and computers require very close detail work.

See? You know a lot about Japan and you didn’t even know it! I’ll bet you’d even feel at home there to some degree, because even if they do drive on the other side of the road, most of their signs are in both English and Japanese! It’s a sign of the bigger world community that we are becoming. “It’s a small world after all!”

About this writer

Tisho Mettarod teaches Japanese to American businessmen. He travels to his native Japan to visit his family at least once a year. Sometimes he teaches English to Japanese travelers on cruise ships for his summer vacation. You can read more articles about Japan at 1st Choice Japan

When we are learning any foreign language, we are bound to compare it with our mother tongue (let’s assume that yours is English).

Learning Russian has already brought you pleasant surprises — for example, remember the moment when you found out that spelling in Russian is much simpler than in English? It means that it is easier for a learner to start reading. You don’t agree and think that reading Russian is difficult? Then imagine a native Russian-speaker learning English and trying to figure out how to read double-o in words like “book”, “floor”, or “blood”. If he hasn’t yet heard these words and the teacher is far away at the moment, learning how to read takes tremendous effort. Compared to him, YOU are lucky.

But all the same — reading in Russian can sometimes be tricky for a beginner, whose native language is English. Hard and soft consonants are usually the most difficult thing for a student to remember.

In English it doesn’t matter whether the consonant you pronounce is hard or soft, but in Russian it can make another word. Your teacher surely has told you this, but there is a pretty long distance between knowing a rule and applying it automatically. That is why beginners often read words like “СЕЛ” and “СЪЕЛ” the same. Listening, memorizing, imitating native speakers will help — in time. What to do here and now, especially if there is no tutor to correct?

Well, you can control your reading yourself so you won’t confuse “Он сел” (He sat down/have sat down) Он съел… (He has eaten…).

To sort out this mess with the consonants, let’s take a look at Russian VOWELS. Yes, vowels, because that’s what causes the trouble. There are 4 vowels that soften the preceding consonant — Я, Ё, Е, Ю, И…

But probably we’d better begin from the beginning.

Let’s divide Russian vowels into two groups:

Group 1: А О Э У Ы

Group 2: Я Ё Е Ю И

Have you noticed something? Not yet? Well, let’s put them in pairs: А –Я, О – Ё, Э – Е, У – Ю, Ы – И

Now you see…Я sounds ЙА, Ё is ЙО, Ю is ЙУ and Е is ЙЭ.

Now the pairs are like: А –ЙА, О – ЙО, Э – ЙЭ, У – ЙУ

In 4 out of 5 pairs the sound from the second group = Й + the sound from the first group.

Remember that, it will help you in reading.

Now some good news: You will never have any problem reading vowels from the Group 1. Letters А,О,Э,У,Ы are read always the same.

Now about Group 2.
Letters Я,Ё,Е,Ю can cause some trouble in reading. What’s more, they are responsible for most of your foreign accent when you’re speaking Russian. To avoid both, remember these simple rules:

If letters Я,Е,Ё,Ю,И go after a consonant, they:

• soften this consonant

AND

• Я,Е,Ё,Ю lose Й and turn into А,Э,О,У

Example: the word НЯНЯ (a nanny, a babysitter)
The most common mistake is reading it as н’йа-н’йа (an apostrophe after the letter means the sound is soft).
The right pronunciation is н’а-н’а
more examples: ВЕСНА = в’эсна (spring)

The letter И after a consonant simply softens it (it has no Й to lose).
СИНИЙ = с’и-н’ий (navy blue)
МИР = м’ир (world/peace)

You read these four letters AS THEY ARE IN THE ALPHABET (Я=ЙА, etc.) ONLY WHEN THESE LETTERS DON’T FOLLOW A CONSONANT.

It happens when:

1. The word begins with such a letter:

Яблоко = read it as ЙАблоко (apple)
Ёжик = ЙОжык (hedgehog)
Ехать = ЙЕхать (to go, usually by some means of transport)
Юпитер = ЙУп’ит’эр (Jupiter)

2. When such a letter follows a vowel:

маЯк = маЙАк (lighthouse)
моЁ =моЙО (mine, or my – with a neuter noun, like my coat = моё пальто)

приЕхать =приЙЭхать (to come by some means of transport)

3. When these vowels follow Ъ and Ь.These two letters indicate that after them those 4 vowels will sound as йа, йэ, йо, йу. That’s what Ъ and Ь and are for.

ВЪЕЗД=вЙЕзд (entrance for transport)
СВИНЬЯ= свин’ЙА (pig)

But how to use all this to improve reading? For example, you can do like this:

• Print a page with the Russian text you are going to read
• Underline the Group 2 vowels in this text (Я,Е,Ё,Ю,И)
• Start reading, paying attention to where these letters are in the word – at the beginning of a word; after ъ, ь, or a vowel; or after a consonant.

Very soon you won’t need to underline these vowels anymore.

Just a couple of more tips to keep in mind:

When you see ЦИ, read it as ЦЫ:

ЦИРК = цЫрк (circus)

The same with ЖИ and ШИ – they sound ЖЫ and ШЫ:

ЖИВОЙ = жЫвой (alive)
ШИТЬ=ШЫть (to sew)

Remember what your teacher told you about reading unstressed vowels. They sound more relaxed than stressed ones. Pretty much the same as in English – compare two Os in the word “doctor”

The similar thing happens to consonants at the end of Russian words. Some of them (called sonants) begin to sound more like other sounds, called breath consonants: Б sounds like П, В - Ф, Б - П, and the like (see textbooks). Just pronounce consonants at the end of words with less strain, and you will say them correct - automatically.

Keep training and soon your reading and speaking skills will be superb. Good luck!

Linguist by profession, Alexandra Gamanenko currently takes part in a design studio project. It offers localization and translation of websites into Russian and Ukrainian, as well as lots of other useful services.

Learn more — visit the website http://www.clever-crayon.com

With the unstoppable globalization of economy, careers and culture are breaking barriers and making a borderless world. Nowhere is this more apparent than in careers. Internet has literally become the window to the world. As information and opportunities abound, the choice in careers is no longer limited to a region, but spread wide across the world. This has opened the field for newer pastures and wide range of job opportunities. Consequently, the need for learning foreign languages has become necessary. Besides, in the highly competitive business world that we are in, knowing additional languages invariably gives you the added edge.

But learning a foreign language has its own subtle intricacies. The pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and the use of proper syntax are just some of the major problems confronting any learner. However, there are some sound techniques for mastering a language. Ideally they are best done using memory techniques.

One of the basic methods is to associate the foreign word with a similar sounding word in the language you are very fluent in. For e,g., the French word for rug/carpet is ‘tapis’. You can associate the word with tap in English. Similarly, the equivalent of grump in French is ‘grogon’. By associating ‘grogon’ with the word groggy in English, which means sleepy and tired, you will be able to remember the French word.

Another memory technique is to use images for improving your foreign vocabulary. So for the above two words in French - ‘tapis’ and ‘grogon’, you can imagine taps being open and water running on a rug or carpet, and use the image to reinforce the meaning of the word ‘tapis’. In the same way, you can use a grumpy looking sleepy face to remember ‘grogon’ to convey the meaning grumpy. The image of drooping eyelids and mouth can be visualized to remember ‘grogon’ as grumpy.

Yet another well-known technique is using town language mnemonics. Since the basic vocabulary of a language pertains to everyday things – things that you will find in a town, village or city - you can use the different areas and objects to link the images and the corresponding foreign words. You can associate all the food-related words by visualizing a familiar supermarket and substituting the images and the words of food items sold there with the corresponding foreign language words.

Likewise, all foreign words concerning animals and birds can be remembered by imagining a zoo, and linking the images of different animals and birds in the zoo to the corresponding foreign words. In this way, you can cover different working zones of a town, village or city such as library, park, shopping mall, etc., and master the related foreign words associated with each sphere of activities. This way you will reinforce your foreign language vocabulary thoroughly.

Incidentally, Tony Buzan in his book ‘Using your Memory’ lists 100 basic words that are elementary to any language learning. This could be used to learn the primary words of the foreign language.

In all these methods, it would be obvious that memory has a chief role to play in learning a language, more so for increasing your vocabulary. You need to be familiar with the words in order to use them effectively. Since Mind Mapping technique was born out of the need for enhancing memory, Mind Maps serve as an indispensable memory tool. Indeed Mind Mapping is the most ideal method for improving your memory. Using Mind Maps to learn foreign language is a highly useful and proven technique for mastering a foreign language. Many people are using Mind Maps as a vital tool for learning languages.

As the Mind Map technique is based on information processing abilities of the brain, Mind Maps have a crucial role as a memory-enhancing process. And deploying this technique for mastering foreign language can only speed up the process of learning. The simplicity of the technique and the efficacy of its process, gives Mind Maps not just a clear edge but in elevating it as a time-tested method for mastering any language.

About the Author:

Dr. Vj Mariaraj is a Mind Map enthusiast and has been using Mind Maps for the past twelve years. He has created over 5650 Mind Maps. To learn more about mind mapping send an email to freemindmap@aweber.com He is the founder of BusinessBookMindMap.com that creates Mind Map Summaries of Business Books. To learn more visit http://BusinessBookMindMap.com/mind-map.php?ea17

There are lots of ways to learn a language, but nothing can beat actually visiting and studying in the country where the language is spoken. Daily immersion in the language and culture is the key to gaining proficiency in a language. So where better to learn the Italian language than in Italy! Italy is a beautiful and diverse country with friendly people, fantastic food and an astonishingly rich cultural heritage.

For anyone who hasn’t realised, Italy is a country rich in history, beauty, romance and style. It’s also a country where good taste in fashion and food abound. Italians take an immense, and justifiable, pride in their national assets, and often refer to their country as the ‘bel paese’ or ‘beautiful country’. Italy is among the oldest and most fascinating European countries, with art and architecture are second to none. Whether you choose to explore Italy by foot, by gondola, or by Vespa, the journey is breathtaking! To appreciate ‘la dolce vita’ fully, knowledge of the Italian language is essential, and there is no better place to learn than right in the midst of Italian life.

Italian language schools are located throughout Italy, from world-famous Venice and Milan in northern Italy to historic Taormina and Otranto in the south. Choice of location is one of the most important factors in deciding which language school to attend. Without a doubt, time spent outside the language classroom is at least as important as time spent in class. In larger cities, language programs typically emphasise amenities and activities but, depending on the size of the program, can neglect individual student attention. While there may be no shortage of cultural activities and museum visits, intimate cultural experiences are more likely to occur in smaller towns and villages. It is also much easier to fall back on speaking English in large cities, which of course defeats your original purpose entirely!

Throughout Italy, English is less spoken in smaller towns and villages than in cities. In such locations, it is almost impossible not to speak the language you’re there to study. Generally, people in the more rural areas of Italy will be quite honored that you’ve chosen to learn Italian in their home town and will be more welcoming, making it easier to establish lasting friendships and feel right at home.

The type of Italian language program you choose will of course be determined partly by your specific needs. There are many different types of program offered by language schools in Italy, including general Italian, Italian for business, Italian for academic studies, and Italian for art courses, music, design and culinary arts.

Whichever program you choose, there are several features to look for which are shared by all good programs: flexible, communicative instruction methodologies, a friendly atmosphere, personal attention, enthusiastic and qualified teachers, small groups. Depending on your requirements, the program should also provide a language qualification recognised by national and international colleges and universities.

In summary, to get the most out of an Italian language program in Italy, look for schools with small groups, qualified native-speaking teachers and programs providing plenty of individual attention. Cultural programs including excursions and activities are important, but they should not substitute for real language learning which occurs best in smaller groups and more intimate contexts. Whatever happens during your time in Italy, the most important thing is that you thoroughly enjoy the language learning experience! You will learn much better if you are happy with your program and enjoying yourself!

Chinese is a language, or a group of languages, spoken by 1.3 billion people worldwide. If you believe Chinese to be one language, rather than a grouping, it is the single most commonly spoken language on the planet. It is spoken in countries like China, Taiwan Singapore, and Malaysia. If you are interested in learning Chinese, it can be intimidating and challenging. But learning Chinese can also be rewarding, and knowing it can have benefits for your career, and help to improve your travels to Asia.

If you decide to learn the Chinese language, there a number of ways you can go about doing so. As a college student, you can study Mandarin Chinese and earn a degree in it. Earning a college degree in Chinese will provide you with a solid knowledge of formal, or Mandarin, Chinese. You will also be proficient in reading and writing the alphabet, which is a standard alphabet throughout the Chinese-speaking world. If you are established in your career, and find it necessary to learn Chinese for business dealings and /or business-associated travel, you can enroll in an accelerated Chinese language course online, or by purchasing audiotapes that teach quick techniques, which will help you to rapidly learn how to speak basic Mandarin Chinese. Learning to speak Chinese this way is convenient if you need to learn it before an important business trip. There are several learning centers that provide accelerated online programs in Chinese, and many lesson on tape available for purchase.

If you are a student majoring of minoring in Chinese, or if you are a tourist with a desire to travel to Asia, an ideal way to learn the Chinese language is through participation in an immersion program. By doing this, you will not only learn how to speak Chinese, but you will learn about and experience Chinese culture. By studying Chinese in a city like Beijing, where the language is natively spoken, you will become part of the life and culture, and you will find learning to speak the Chinese language is much easier than you thought. Since it is a total immersion into the Chinese world, you will learn all conversational and idiomatic styles of the language. You will interact everyday with people who are native speakers of Chinese, and who can’t or won’t speak English with you. You will be taken on guided tours of the famous landmarks, as well as the everyday places. You will grow to understand and recognize the value of the ancient Chinese culture: the history, the art, the architecture, the food, and the people. You will attend courses in which you will learn the complex Chinese alphabet, how to read it, and how to write it as well. Learning the Chinese language by attending an immersion program is an ideal way to go.

If you are fluent in the Chinese language, not only could it help you if are established in a career, but it could also open doors to new careers for you. For example, you could take a job as a foreign language translator, where you would be responsible for translating websites, training documents, and other important business documents, while helping to bridge the communication gap between two very different cultures. You might also consider a career as a teacher if English as a second language. You have the opportunity to relocate to a Chinese-speaking nation, and teach the English language to Chinese students. Being fluent in Chinese will definitely make your relocation less stressful.

Learning how to speak, read, and write the Chinese language has many advantages. It gives you the potential to enhance you career by working and/or traveling abroad, or you would have opportunities to embark on new careers as a translator or a teacher. If you plan to travel to Asia, learning Chinese will make your journeys less stressful and more enjoyable. Taking the time to learning the Chinese language will open your eyes to a new and often misunderstood culture, and is an achievement that can be personally and professionally fulfilling.

John is a director of numerous Internet companies and is a published author. Many articles have been produced on a variety of subjects with excellent content and depth. All his articles may be reproduced provided that an active link is included to www.foreign-languages-school.com

Learning a language is a complex and long process as anyone
who has tried will agree. One of the most difficult and
frustrating things is making the transition from the
classroom to the ‘real’ world. In the classroom, everyone
knows you are a student and mistakes are allowed, and the
environment is contained and safe. Speaking another language
outside the classroom is completely different and often
students are lost at sea as soon as they step outside the
door. Lists of memorized vocabulary are suddenly useless
when ordering in a restaurant.

Role-plays, or simulations are one of the ways ESL
instructors can ease students’ transition into using
English in real world situations. A simulation is where
students act out a real-life situation, for example
checking into at a hotel, but do not act out a different
personality. Role-plays are where students take on
different personalities. In a role-play, for example, one
student may be asked to take on the role of “an angry
neighbor” which is out of character for the student.

Role-plays require more imagination by students and teacher
and can be difficult to manage because they are
unpredictable. The initial scenario develops from the
students interacting with each other and can literally go
in any direction. This gives students practice in a
non-threatening environment, and gives the motivation and
involvement where they have to think in English. Role-plays
are interesting, memorable and engaging, and students
retain the material they have learned. In their assumed
role, students drop their shyness and other personality and
cultural inhibitions, making them one of the best tools
available for teaching a second language.

Here are a few pointers and suggestions to assist ESL
teachers using and managing role-plays:

-The more engaging the better. The value of role-plays
come from students immersing themselves in the material. -
Choose a ‘hot’ topic and stage a debate. Assign students
positions on the topic (for/against). This will get students

out of their personality and into the role where they do
not have the same inhibitions. - Preparation is very
important to success. Give students ‘personality cards’
which sketch out their personal characteristics or scenario.
Divide students into groups and give them time to sketch
out various scenarios, and go over extra or special
vocabulary ask them to discuss how they will act, think
about the character and plan what they will say. For
example, what are possible responses/replies for the angry
neighbor? - The teacher, as facilitator of the role-play
must support students in their role, i.e. they ‘are’ in the
backyard arguing over the fence. Don’t do anything to
interrupt the pretend environment. Leave grammar correction
to the end. Correcting students in the middle of an argument
interrupts the pretend environment. Make notes and do a
debriefing after. - Exaggeration is good! Encourage
students to exaggerate their actions, opinions and
movements. Exaggeration helps students immerse themselves in

the role. - Stage a rehearsal first. Have students
practice their role in small groups with coaching from the
other students. - While the role-play or debate is in
progress, have other students suggest vocabulary first, and
act as backup if they do not know.

Role-plays are unpredictable which makes them both a
valuable learning tool and at the same time difficult to
manage. Sketch out the various routes the role-play can
take from the initial scenario. This will give you some
idea what to expect and avoid any surprises.

Suggested topics for role-plays:

- Lovers problems (He has to move away to get a new and
better job) Spending money (Government, United Nations
etc. spending money, who gets what)

- Traveling (where would you go? what would you do?)

- Debates on current affairs/politics. Extreme opinions or
opinions at the opposite ends of the spectrum work well (i.e. left
wing/right wing etc.)

Role-plays can range from 30 minutes or one hour to a year-long
corporate simulation for business English. Staging role-plays can
be challenging for an instructor, but is also great fun. After you
have done a few, you will know what to expect and feel more
confident.

My experience is students love them retain what they learn, and
often leave the classroom laughing and still arguing all the way
out of the building!

George and Daisy Stocker have traveled the world teaching
ESL to children and adults. Their website, http://www.efl-esl.com
offers ESL curriculum, activities, an online forum for ESL teachers and students, plus a free newsletter for ESL teachers. Their second site, http://www.esl-storybooks.com offers storybooks and ESL curriculum for children.