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ESL Program Ideas Holidays Seasonal

Ideas for celebrating Christmas with our ESL students under COVID

We asked the ESL teachers within our circles what they are planning to do this year with their students for Christmas. Since we’re under COVID, and some of us in lockdown, many in-person activities cannot be done. We need to be creative in finding new ways. Here is what some of them said: Latin American […]

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Holidays Seasonal

Christmas and New Year ESL Resources

Check out the rich Christmas resources on our SOCEM site including Christmas lessons from the Virtues series and the Conversation Guides: An excellent reading about the North American Christmas traditions, with a glossary: Christmas traditions around the world; good for starting conversations with students: Stories behind favourite Christmas carols and hymns: A Christmas story from […]

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Language Aspects Language Learning

Pronunciation Resources for Chinese English Speakers

What words do your Chinese-speaking students have most difficulty with? Perhaps you thought of ‘walk’ and ‘work’; ‘bit’ and ‘beet’; and pronouncing words starting with a consonant cluster like ‘drape’ and ‘French’. Here are some articles on common errors of Chinese English speakers: 10 English Pronunciation Errors by Mandarin Speakers Chinese Pronunciation Problems in English […]

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ESL Lessons Seasonal

Resources for ESL Summer Lessons

Maybe your online ESL program will continue throughout the summer. Although it is harder this year to go on outings with our students, or to talk about travel-related themes, it may still be good to talk with your students about summer in Canada, Canada Day, cultural activities like camping or going to cottages. Here are […]

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Conversation Lessons ESL Lessons Other Language Resources

Encouragements During COVID-19: Resources and Ideas

During the COVID-19 global health crisis, most church ESL programs are cancelled. Some programs continue online. Other teachers may be thinking of creative ways of connecting with their students either individually or as a class. We’d like to offer some resources during this unusual time. COVID-19 ESL Resources Quite a few ESL lessons that pertain […]

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Devotional Seasonal

Jesus Is Alive!

By Timo Posti 9 Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. 11 And when they heard that He was alive […]

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ESL Lessons Seasonal

Valentine’s Day ESL Resources

Valentine’s Day Love and Valentine’s Day lessons (The Virtues series) (readings, including from the Bible; discussion questions, quotes and other activities) http://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/valentinesday.pdf (excellent reading on the history and customs of Valentine’s Day, with glossary) http://www.eslholidaylessons.com/02/valentines_day.pdf (a reading with lots of accompanying activities) http://iteslj.org/questions/valentine.html (Valentine’s Day conversation questions) http://bogglesworldesl.com/valentines_day_worksheets.htm (vocabulary and writing activities for lower level) […]

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Devotional Holidays Seasonal

A Christmas Eve Story

Abridged by Colin Brewster There was a man. He was a kind, and mostly good man. He was generous to his family, and honest in his dealings with others, but each year when Christmas came along, he had a problem. He just couldn’t accept the Christmas story.  “I’m really sorry to upset you”, he told […]

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ESL Lessons Holidays Seasonal

Christmas and New Year Resources

Check out the rich Christmas resources on our SOCEM site including Christmas lessons from the Virtues series and the Conversation Guides: https://eslministries.org/resources/teaching-materials/seasonal-resources/ An excellent reading about the North American Christmas traditions, with a glossary: http://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/christmasday.pdf Christmas traditions around the world; good for starting conversations with students: http://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/ http://www.santas.net/aroundtheworld.htm https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/ Stories behind favourite Christmas carols and […]

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ESL Program Ideas Holidays Seasonal

Helping Interpret Christmas

By Marion Chang Imagine that you are a tourist visiting Canada for the very first time during this holiday season. You see coloured lights on houses and gaudily festive store windows as you tour the city streets. There also seems to be a large, bearded, old man in a red uniform all over the media. […]