Writing Skills through Jane Schaffer

Jane Schaffer has a formula for middle school and high school students who need to improve their skills in paragraph and essay writing. More than a thousand schools have used her method and her step-by-step teaching materials. Teachers of English Learners who wish to work on the paragraph and essay level and want to start with a formula guide should give Jane Schaffer a try. Here's her site: www.janeschafffer.com

Translating Online

There are quite a number of online websites that deal with translation but I would personally recommend Babel Fish from Alta Vista. On this site, not only can you input words and sentences to have then instantly translated, but you can also type in or paste website addresses that you'd like translated into various languages. This is a great resource for parents and students who are not too confident in their English skills. Yet, just as any mechanical translation device, please beware - it's not 100% correct most of the times you use it. Please carefully check any online translations to ensure clarity and proper use of the language. Check out Babel Fish for yourself and let me know what you think:
http://babelfish.altavista.com/

Great Online Resource - VOA Special English

Improving reading, pronounciation, and knowledge of current events is possible for anyone with an internet connection or short-band radio, capable of reaching Voice of America.
I have been using VOA Special English programming for several weeks now with my ELD students, especially my Early Intermediate and Intermediate level ELD students. What's so great about VOA Special English? I'll write about this later, but for now, check out http://www.voaspecialenglish.com and see for yourself. If you're reluctant to go there yet, let me just say that it offers written and audio transcripts of news, with the option of actually downloading Mp3 or RealNetworks encoded sound. Let me know what you think of this...

Welcome to English Learners Online Official Blog

Greetings,
Are you an English Learner, ELD/EFL Teacher, or school/district administrator who wishes to obtain information about learning English online? This blog accompanies www.englishlearnersonline.com, a website currently under construction, designed to assist with the learning of English through the internet through various materials and activities in a transformative, dynamic manner, rather than a drill and kill, static online platform. As the website is currently under construction and unavailable for your perusal, please check back regularly on this blog to learn about progress towards the opening of the site, as well as new materials, activities, and services offered. Until then, please check out the discussion board I've created for my English Language Development students and some of the SEI teachers at Lancaster High School, AVUHSD, California: http://englishlearners.proboards58.com
Please feel free to leave comments here, and if there are any specific topics you'd like me to cover, please post them.
Best wishes,
MaestroSersea aka Elvis