Posts organised thematically

Theme-based arrangement

To ease visitors’ accessibility to my posts, I’ve arranged them thematically: listening, speaking, reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar, teaching, learning and general etc.

Arrangement of posts in boxes

Guide to visitors

Gratitude to visitors

General—soft skills

Job-related posts

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1. Listening

2. Speaking

3. Reading

4. Writing

5. Vocabulary

6. Grammar

7. Teaching

8. Learning

9. General—English language

10. Pronunciation

11. My published books

Guide to visitors 132  Theme-based arrangement                              October 2015 131  Guide to locating posts                                    October 2015

Gratitude to visitors 125   A big thanks                                                                  October 2015 102   happy tidings                                                                 July 2015                                68   a dream come true                                                         June 2015   58   request to visitors                                                          December 2014

General 122   a story worth reading                                                          October 2015 119   to be or not to be—texting                                                  October 2015 114   for parents                                                                           September 2015   64   history of Thelugu new year’s day                                     March 2015   61  how to have a small waist                                                    February 2015   48  a critique on ‘The Argumentative Indian’ by Amartya Sen July 2014   20  a case for Indian grammar of English                                  December 2013   19  etiquette, word games, information                                      November 2013      01  Grammar Educates                                                               October 2013   40  the nitty-gritties                                                                    May 2014   39  know who we are                                                                 May 2014   36  Indian English                                                                      April 2014   33  pearls                                                                                    April 2014   28  check list                                                                              February 2014 Soft Skills   44    creativity                                                                              May 2014   43    decision-making                                                                   May 2014   42    positive thinking                                                                   May 2014   41    relationship                                                                            May 2014   27    managing people                                                                  February 2014   26    negotiation                                                                             February 2014   21    presentation skills and strategies                                           February 2014

Job-related   62  caution to job seekers                                                               February 2015   56  job interviews                                                                           October 2014   53   job application letters                                                              August 2014   30    campus to company                                                                February 2014

1. Listening 100   discussion series 32—ELT Resources                                    October 2015          Topic 117          What kind of techniques really help learners to get better at listening—          Nick Edwards   93  discussion series 25—ELT Professionals around the World    June 2015         Topic 89         Key Aspects of a Listening Lesson—David Deubelbeiss   24    active listening                                                                        February 2014

2. Speaking 129   Brainstorming                                                                          October 2015  128   Interview by telephone                                                            October 2015 127   Personal interviews—skills                                                     October 2015 100   discussion series 32—ELT Resources                                    June 2015          Topic 117          What makes a successful speaker in English—Nick Edwards           Topic 125           One student asked: I want to speak English as fluently as native speakers.           Leila boussena 99  discussion series 31—Professional English Teachers Network   June 2015        Topic 98        Tips on how to run on to one conversation—Said Ibrahim       Topic 103       There are some students who are afraid to talk in straight English in front of       their classmates. What can be done to lessen the public speaking anxiety?        Rodel Bryan Valdez  93  discussion series 25—ELT Professionals around the World      June 2015       Topic 83       A member said she was looking for ideas to help her students speak and not        clam up in open class.  92 discussion series 24—ELT Professionals around the World       June 2015       Topic 61       How would you test someone’s interpersonal communication skills?        Ferd Roeboom  90 discussion series 22—ELT Professionals around the World        June 2015       Topic 59       When your students ask you, what is the best way of improving        speaking? What are your suggestions? Let me know. –Nzl MT  86  discussion series 18—ELT Professionals around the World        June 2015        Topic 55        I am looking for ideas to make students speak more in open class. My students         speak in pair and group work but clam up when I pose a question to the class.         Grateful for all ideas here. Marjorie Rosenberg   29    speech making                                                                             February 2014

3. Reading 70  discussion series 02—EFL English as a foreign language                 June 2015       Topic 21       There was a request to suggest novels for students below upper intermediate. 63.  speed reading                                                                                     February 2015 50    key to reading comprehension questions                                          July 2014 49    reading comprehension exercises                                                     July 2014 22    re-gifted reading                                                                               February 2014

4. Writing 130   Editing                                                                                       October 2015 124   Taking Notes                                                                             October 2015   99  discussion series 31—Professional English Teachers Network June 2015          Topic 104          What is your best advice for people trying to improve their writing style?          Tenya Suprykina           Topic 105           Can you suggest me how to write a recommendation letter in order to            Pursue my Masters abroad.  Leone Agnes   98   discussion series 30—Professional English Teachers Network  June 2015           Topic 97         Essay writing: Where is the flare????—James Donahue   93  discussion series 25—ELT Professionals around the World       June 2015         Topic 64         Could you please tell me about the useful methods of improving students’         writing? How could it be facilitated?  Reza Baharloui         topic 74         Mystery Quiz—Heath Jeffrey     59  Nick Baron of Grammarly—why writing skills matter              February 2015     38  summary writing                                                                         May 2014     31  statement of purpose (SOP)                                                        March 2014     25. essay writing                                                                              February  2014

Vocabulary 123   Some Idioms                                                                                    October 2015 100   discussion series 32—ELT Resources                                            October 2015          Topic 120          When to use these: ‘since’, ‘for’, ‘as’ and ‘because’?—K R Lakshminarayanan          Topic 121          What is the difference between home and house?—umesh sharma          What to do if you do not know the meaning of a word in class?—Nick Edwards          Topic 128          What is the best way to teach vocabulary?—Nick Edwards    99  discussion series 31—Professional English Teachers Network     October 2015          Topic 100          Pick up or fetch?—anjali chatterji    93   discussion series 25—ELT Professionals around the World         June 2015         Topic 78          Words with a story—K R Lakshminarayanan    87  discussion series 19—ELT Professionals around the World         June 2015          Topic 56          Can synonyms be substituted for each other?  K R Lakshminarayanan    70  discussion series 02—EFL English as a foreign language            June 2015          Topic 29            Collocations—K R Lakshminarayanan          Topic 35          A famous person need not be popular, need they be? K R Lakshminarayanan    69 discussion series 01—EFL English as a foreign language            June 2015           Due to or owing to—K R Lakshminarayanan    52   key to vocabulary exercises                                                         August 2014    51   vocabulary exercises                                                                    August 2014

6. Grammar 121   contronyms                                                                                   October 2015 120   ten rules you can forget                                                                October 2015 113   nine corrections that make smart people look silly                      September 2015 100   discussion series 32—ELT Resources                                         June 2015          Topic 118          Can’t a verb be used in the plural after ‘who’?—K R Lakshminarayanan           Topic 119          Can ‘no’, ‘correct’ or ‘right’ be used in place of question tags? K R L          Topic 122         6 ways to use the verb ‘go’: http://youtu.be/gDLX3jqkEhI via YouTube--Nick         Topic 130         What is the most difficult part of English grammar?—Nick Edwards         Topic 132         ‘Why was the poor man felt sad?—Why was the conductor refuse to take the frog           On a ride” Are there any rules for this kind auxiliary error?—Arzoo Baker    99 discussion series 31—Professional English Teachers Network    June 2015          Topic 101             Hi all, Any excellent English (UK) grammar reference books recommended          For all learning in  order to achieve proficient level from only fluent?             Jason W Y Chee         Topic 102          Ha, ha…, the poor old apostrophe seems to be suffering yet again.            Victor Romain          Topic 107          The use of ‘can’ and ‘may’—anjali chatterji         Topic 109          Let us look at simple prepositions: in, at, on, to , of and for. Is there any text          That defines their usage. How do you make learners understand their usage?           Prof Iyer          Topic 110          Who is/who are—Mansoureh IR          Topic 111          Could anyone explain why these sentences are ambiguous, please? 1.      They are eating apples.   2. The lamb is too hot to eat.          3. What annoys him is being ignored by his best friend.          4. They are building a small arms factory. 97   discussion series 29—Professional English Teachers Network    June 2015        Topic 96        I wonder why many teahers use ‘English teaher’ instead of ‘teacher         of English’ or ‘English language teacher’ when talking about their          profession. They confuse profession with nationality.—         Jessica Hermosilla Magaña  96    discussion series 28—ELT Professionals around the World        June 2015         Topic 95         What common ‘mistakes’ do native speakers make?—David Dubelbeiss  95   discussion series 27—ELT Professionals around the World          June 2015           Topic 94            Lack of an important wh question in English—Naghizade Mohammad   93  discussion series 25—ELT Professionals around the World          June 2015         Topic 71          As a result, consequently hence; The meanings of these linkers seem to be same,         Can they be substitute each other…? Mehmet Deniz         Topic 72         Error correction: Does it help?  Thomas Keller         Topic 75         Is this sentence correct? The team whom Mrs perea guided performed well          at the debate.--Kumari Amaradasa         Topic 79        Use of will in first person interrogation—K R Lakshminarayanan         Topic 80         Can ‘no’, ‘correct’ or ‘right’ be used in place of question tags?           KR Lakshminarayanan         Topic 84         How good is your grammar? Quiz—Angus Proctor         Topic 88         If there are rules in English grammar then why exceptions?            Bb Spoghmay         Topic 90         Usage in structuring Here are some sentences I’ve copied from novels;          I believe they are American rather than British—K R Lakshminarayanan         Topic 91         I stumbled upon this: use a or an in front of a countable noun. Use any in          questions. So how come it is better to say: ‘Is there a dog in the garden?”         ?—Agnes Glenn   83   discussion series 15—ELT Professionals around the World        June 2015          Topic 52          Horse around           Now the time of using horse around to mean wasting time, I believe,           has been finished we had better use ‘driving around’ to mean such a thing           nowadays horsing around is a great pleasure or exultation.            Naghizade Mohammad   82   discussion series 14—ELT Professionals around the World       June 2015           Topic 51           When do we use the second verb as ‘-ing’ and ‘to-infinitive’?             K R Lakshminarayanan   81   discussion series 13—ELT Professionals around the World        June 2015          Topic 50          What is the best WAY to EXPLAIN the difference between ‘present perfect’           and ‘present perfect continuous’?  Saeid Noorbar   80   discussion series 12—ELT Professionals around the World         June 2015           Topic 49          Which is correct? There IS a book, a pen and a rubber on the desk?           Or There ARE a book, a pen and a rubber on the desk? Irina-Critina             78  discussion series 10—ELT Professionals around the World          June 2015          Topic 47          Can we use a possessive with non-living objects-eg. Table’s legs?           Dr Aniruddha Burmon    77   discussion series 09—ELT Professionals around the World         June 2015           Topic 46           The death of the past participle—David Deubelbeiss    72   discussion series 04—ELT Professionals around the World         June 2015           Anyone come across a rule for when to use Verb+infi. Vs verb+participle?           Ferd Roseboom     71  discussion series 03—ELT Professionals around the World         June 2015         Topic 40          Learning phrasal verbs are difficult for learners of English. Are there any           effective ways for them to teach except for memorization?   Mehmet Deniz     70  discussion series 02—EFL English as a foreign language            June 2015         topic 22           What’s the difference: Tell me, You tell me—Alexander Tsmokalyuk          Topic 23          Little confused with this question: “What are your parents hoping you to do for them?          How this question can be answered? Stephen George Jacob          Topic 25          There was a discussion thread asking for the common mistakes among EFL students.          Topic 28          Telling time—Mansoureh IR          Topic 30          Words as both count and noncount nouns—K R Lakshminarayanan          Topic 32          Possessive ‘s (Again?)          Omar Sattar           Topic 33          Grammar question—Clayton Ive          I have been thinking about how to phrase something and it always feels awkward…          My partner and I work together on a project and when I try refer to it using the                   possessive it feels awkward.          “My partner’s and my project”…ugh, that sounds weird to me. “our project” works, but             isn’t necessarily clear about who is in the project … if you don’t talk about that             beforehand.           I feel tongue tied trying to thin about how you talk about something that belongs to            yourself and to another person           Maybe writing this post has cleared my thoughts a bt…possibly the solution is along            the lines of—specify who is being talked about, then use ‘our’            My partner and I have a project. Our project is etc etc            Topic 34            Is there a difference between ‘fill in’ and ‘fill out’?   Amanda Jayne Schwarcz            Topic 36            Articles—Mansoureh IR            Topic 37             1. Between you and I? or Between you and me? 2. Amanda, Marty, and               I or Amanda, Marty and me? Which is correct?  Amanda Jayne Schwarcz    69  discussion series 01—EFL English as a foreign language       June 2015            Topic 7           Colleagues, I need assistance on teaching question tags. Is it really true            that question tags cannot be formed using demonstratives as in AREN'T           THERE? or ISN'T THERE?   Sekagva Eric           Topic 8           She 1. Was walking  2. Walked  in the rain the whole morning           Amanda Jayne Schwarcz            Topic 15           Grammar: Out with the old and in with the new! Should we take a different            approach to teaching grammar? Zoe Harwood           Topic 16           Is there any difference between ‘error’ and ‘mistake’? Eleni World    67   order of adjectives                                                                   June 2015    66   active and passive voice                                                          June 2015    60  by or until                                                                              February 2015    57  tense forms and messages                                                        October 2014    55  verb tenses—present                                                             September 2014    54  verb tenses—future                                                               September 2014    47  past tense forms                                                                         June 2014    46  The Articles                                                                               May 2014    37    coordination and subordination                                               April 2014    35    reported speech                                                                        April 2014    34    punctuation                                                                             April 2014    23    modal verbs                                                                              February 2014

7. Teaching 100   discussion series 32—ELT Resources                                                June 2015          Topic 124          If you could change one thing about teaching what would it be? Nick Edwards   94   discussion series 26—ELT Professionals around the World               June 2015          Topic 93          What invaluable lessons have you learned from your students?          Anes Abdelrahim Mohamed   93   discussion series 25—ELT Professionals around the World               June 2015          Topic 62          Worst practices?—David Deubelbeiss   92   discussion series 24—ELT Professionals around the World               June 2015          Topic 63          What should I do the first day of classes?—Duane flanigan   79   discussion series 11—ELT Professionals around the World               June 2015          Topic 48          In teaching English, which one should come first, vocabulary or grammar?          Mehmet Deniz DEMIRCIOGLU   73   discussion series 05—ELT Professionals around the World               June 2015          Topic 42          Challenges faced by English language teachers          Albert P’Ryan     70  discussion series 02—EFL English as a foreign language                  June 2015          Topic 31          Teaching one-to-one (feedback requested please)  Anne Huscroft    69  discussion series 01—EFL English as a foreign language                   June 2015          Topic 4            LESSON PLANNING          How important is lesson planning? Do you always manage to stick to            it? Why / why not? Omar Sattar          topic 6          Is it ok for an EFL teacher to hate teaching a particular grammatical            structure? I, personally hate teaching Adverbial phrases…  Sara Almassi          topic 9          What is an EFL teacher’s worst enemy? Asgar Mahmoudi          Topic 11          What type of teacher are you? Eliette Maria Veintemilla Grandos          Topic 12          What would you have liked to be if not teacher?            Eliette Maria Veintemilla Grandos          Topic 14          What is the best way to teach English as a foreign language?          Abdoulaye Melene TOURE      32    the yawning gap—for English teachers                                            March 2014

  

8. Learning 99   discussion series 31—Professional English Teachers Network              June 2015        Topic 99        10 tips about how to learn a new language—Sergio Casado Rodríguez         topic 131           15 things to STOP Doing When Learning English   93  discussion series 25—ELT Professionals around the World                 June 2015         Topic 67         Do you think body language is important for learning English?          K M Abdul Mumin         Topic 68         Do students learnig English as a  second language learn differently from          those who are native speakers?   Judith Morais         topic 73         In other words, how did you learn English? Was there one thing that           helped you more than the others? Talking to natives? Watching movies           or series? Reading? A teacher? A method?  Agnès Glenn         Topic 76         Pair work: advantages, disadvantages, and when appropriate.—Heath Jeffrey         Topic 86         Some people think that children should learn to compete but others think that they              should be taught to cooperate with others. What is your opinion? Mitra Niroomand

9. General—English language 126   Fluency in another’s language                                                       October 2015 118   an introduction to models in ELT—a somewhat indepth                  description—Part 2                                                                   September 2015         117   an introduction to models in ELT—a somewhat indepth               description—Part 1                                                                     September 2015 116   a broad overview of language teaching                                            September 2015 115   Nick Edwards—did you know this about…English?                      September 2015 112   free e-book for PhD students                                                           September 2015 111  communicative competence in SLA                                                 August  2015                          110  appropriate terms for language—ESL or EFL?                                 August 2015 109   two contrasting theories                                                                    August 2015 108   relationship between linguistics and classroom teaching                  August 2015 107   traditional grammar                                                                           August 2015 106  two modes of language—spoken and written                                    August 2015                      105   do learn grammar                                                                              August 2015 104   interpreting a visual                                                                           August 2015 103   a permanent solution                                                                         August 2015 101   useful sources for English teachers and students                               July 2015 100   discussion series 32—ELT Resources                                               June 2015          Topic 112          I’m really interested in making resources. I’ve been working on creating          lessons to improve teaching the writing process using Unusual Animals.          Let me know what you think.—Sara Devilla          Topic 113          How can you deal with the use of mother tongue in an English Class? Nick Edwards          Topic 114           Is it possible to learn a language without studying grammar? Nick Edwards              Topic 115          Should/Can students evaluate their teachers?—Nick Edwards          Topic 116          Using the textbook may give a backbone to a course but working with it cannot be the           only thing we do. María Inés Brumana Espinosa           topic 123           what body language signs should you be aware of in class?—Nick Edwards   99  discussion series 31—Professional English Teachers Network               June 2015          Topic 106          I wish I had known—Sarwan Singh   93   discussion series 25—ELT Professionals around the World                  June 2015          Topic 66            Does the English language need more letters? David Deubelbeiss           Topic 70          Announcements fro ELT Professionals Around the World—David Deubelbeisss          Topic 77          BTW is the ‘native speaker’ tag still relevant? Winston peter Thomas          Topic 81         A needs analysis—how do you do this?—David Deubelbeiss          Topic 82          In the world of ELT, what distinguishes experts from novices?—Thomas Orr         Topic 85          I thought I’d share this article here as it’s got some interesting comments for you to add           to—‘new wave’ versus ‘old wave’—education-philosophical, psychological           perspectives—Sylvia guinan         topic 87          Teacher’s Thread—Nelson Bank         Topic 92          What constitutes indoctrination in the context of language teaching?... Anes Abdelrahim   91   discussion series 23—ELT Professionals around the World                  June 2015         Topic 60         How ‘global’ is English language?—Anes Abdelrahim Mohamed   89  discussion series 21—ELT Professionals around the World                    June 2015         Topic 58         What should I do the first day of class? Neither the students nor I will have books          or the class objectives/curriculum by then. What do I talk about or do?         Duane Flanigan   88  discussion series 20—ELT Professionals around the World                     June 2015         Topic 57         Mixed Ability classes!!!!   85  discussion series 17—ELT Professionals around the World                     June 2015         Topic 54         To what extent do you as an ELT teacher consider it your responsibility to address         student motivation when teaching English? Judith Moraes   84  discussion series 16—ELT Professionals around the World                     June 2015         Topic 53         What time is it? Why do we say “what time is it?’ Shouldn’t correct grammar be          ‘when time is it?’ Brian Crossan   76  discussion series 08—ELT Professionals around the World                     June 2015        topic 45         Grammar takes precedence, since it is the foundation to which vocabulary acquisition         gradually adds.  Vincent Walsh   70  discussion series 02—EFL English as a foreign language                         June 2015          Topic 20          What is the difference between ESL and EFL? Ali Farag          Topic 26          Could anybody tell me the meaning of these sentences please? Sharifa Sulaiman          Topic 27          In your opinion what are the top qualities/skills a teacher must have to become a           GREAT teacher?  Elsa Hoff   69    discussion series 01—EFL English as a foreign language                       June 2015           Topic 1           How can English with its very big linguistic tool kit affect out thinking process?           Asgar Mahmoudi           Topic 2           How do you CORRECT students without correcting them? Amanda Jayne Schwarcz           Topic 3           How sources outside the linguistic system of English (contextual factors) affect its           organization?  Asgar Mahmoudi           topic 5           My friends and I shared our thoughts in limericks.           Topic 10           What metaphors and similes do you like to teach in class? Amanda Jayne Schwarcz           Topic 13           Do you think we should tell students to ‘think in English’?Theresa Pole Baker Gouveia           Topic 18           Below you’ll find responses to a discussion topic on the ownership of the English           Language.

10. Pronunciation 75     discussion series 07—ELT Professionals around the World                       June 2015          Topic 44            Good pronunciation skills is key to every ESL student’s ability to communicate in          English. So why is it a neglected area in the ESL classroom? mia khalifa

11. My published books 45    my autobiography                                                                                    May 2014    18    Advanced English Communication Lab                                                  November 2013 17    Effective Technical English and a Coursebook on English                     November 2013 16    A Coursebook on Technical English                                                       November 2013 15    Communication Skills for Engineers 2008                                              November 2013 14    Technical English 2006                                                                            November 2013 13    English for technical communication—1 and 2                                       November 2013 12    Communication Skills for Engineers                                                       November 2013 11    English for Technical Communication 1988                                           November 2013 10    a means to an end                                                                                     November 2013 09    Challenges in Written English                                                                 November 2013 08    The Communicating Art                                                                          November 2013 07    Pen your letters                                                                                        November 2013 06    Managing Soft Skills                                                                               November 2013 05    Learn to Edit in Style                                                                              November 2013 04    A Handy Book on English Grammar                                                      November 2013 03    English Via Thamizh                                                                               November 2013 02    Speak in English you Can (with a free CD)                                            November 2013