Conditional Clauses

Conditional forms are used to imagine events in certain conditions. The conditional can be used to speak about real events that always happen (first conditional), imaginary events (second conditional), or imagined past events (third conditional). Conditional sentences are also known as 'if' sentences. 

Here are some examples:

If we finish early, we will go out for lunch. - First conditional - possible situation
If we had time, we would visit our friends.

- Second conditional - imaginary situation
If we had gone to New York, we would have visited the exhibit. - Third conditional - past imagined situation

English learners should study conditional forms to speak about past, present and future situations that depend on other events happening. There are four forms of the conditional in English. Students should study each of the forms to understand how to use conditionals to speak about:

• Something that is always true if something happens - conditional zero
• Something that will be true in the future if something happens - conditional one or real conditional
• Something that would be true if something happened in the present - conditional two or unreal conditional
• Something that would have been true in the past if something had happened - conditional three or unreal conditional

At times it might be difficult to make the choice between the first and second (real or unreal) conditional form. You can study this guide to the first or second conditional for more information on making the proper choice between these two forms.

Once you have studied conditional structures, practice your understanding of the conditional forms by taking the conditional forms quiz. Teachers can also use the printable conditional forms quiz in-class.

Listed below are examples, uses and formation of Conditionals followed by a quiz.

Conditional 0

Situations that are always true if something happens.

NOTE

This use is similar to, and can usually be replaced by, a time clause using 'when' (example: When I am late, my father takes me to school.)

If I am late, my father takes me to school.
She doesn't worry if Jack stays out after school.

Conditional 0 is formed by the use of the present simple in the if clause followed by a comma the present simple in the result clause.

You can also put the result clause first without using a comma between the clauses.

If he comes to town, we have dinner.
OR
We have dinner if he comes to town.

Conditional 1

Often called the "real" conditional because it is used for real - or possible - situations. These situations take place if a certain condition is met.

NOTE

In the conditional 1 we often use unless which means 'if ... not'. In other words, '...unless he hurries up.' could also be written, '...if he doesn't hurry up.'.

If it rains, we will stay at home.
He will arrive late unless he hurries up.
Peter will buy a new car, if he gets his raise.

Conditional 1 is formed by the use of the present simple in the if clause followed by a comma will verb (base form) in the result clause. You can also put the result clause first without using a comma between the clauses.

If he finishes on time, we will go to the movies.
OR
We will go to the movies if he finishes on time.

Conditional 2

Often called the "unreal" conditional because it is used for unreal - impossible or improbable - situations. This conditional provides an imaginary result for a given situation.

NOTE

The verb 'to be', when used in the 2nd conditional, is always conjugated as 'were'.

If he studied more, he would pass the exam.
I would lower taxes if I were the President.
They would buy a new house if they had more money.

Conditional 2 is formed by the use of the past simple in the if clause followed by a comma would verb (base form) in the result clause. You can also put the result clause first without using a comma between the clauses.

If they had more money, they would buy a new house.
OR
They would buy a new house if they had more money.

Conditional 3

Often referred to as the "past" conditional because it concerns only past situations with hypothetical results. Used to express a hypothetical result to a past given situation.

If he had known that, he would have decided differently.
Jane would have found a new job if she had stayed in Boston.

Conditional 3 is formed by the use of the past perfect in the if clause followed by a comma would have past participle in the result clause. You can also put the result clause first without using a comma between the clauses.

If Alice had won the competition, life would have changed OR Life would have changed if Alice had won the competition.

Source: http://esl.about.com/od/gramma1/a/conditional.htm

Bringing mindfulness to the school curriculum

Aliza Naqvi, a 14-year-old student at Dr. Norman Bethune Collegiate Institute in Toronto, carries a key chain strung with seven coloured beads. When she’s feeling stressed or anxious, she can pull it out as a reminder: The first bead, which is blue, stands for “breathe.” The second, red, cues her to reflect on her thoughts; yellow is to consider her emotions, and so on. “At any school, there’s a lot of stress involved,” Naqvi says. “The expectations are really high.” This small token, which fits in her pocket or handbag, reminds her to “take a mindful breath, and to be a little more stable.”

Bringing mindfulness to the school curriculum

  

Aliza Naqvi, a 14-year-old student at Dr. Norman Bethune Collegiate Institute in Toronto, carries a key chain strung with seven coloured beads. When she’s feeling stressed or anxious, she can pull it out as a reminder: The first bead, which is blue, stands for “breathe.” The second, red, cues her to reflect on her thoughts; yellow is to consider her emotions, and so on. “At any school, there’s a lot of stress involved,” Naqvi says. “The expectations are really high.” This small token, which fits in her pocket or handbag, reminds her to “take a mindful breath, and to be a little more stable.”

This year, Bethune, which is part of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), introduced lessons in mindfulness—a type of meditation that encourages awareness of the present moment, in a non-judgmental way—to all of its 200 Grade 9 students, including Naqvi. In six workshops over a two-month period, led by the school’s own teachers, students practised breathing, “body scans” (a meditation exercise that draws attention to different parts of the body), and learned to “surf the wave” of difficult emotions, like anger or anxiety, as Naqvi puts it. The program at Bethune—where one-third of all students have lived in Canada for less than five years—grew out of concern that students faced “a great deal of pressure,” says principal Sandy Kaskens. Surveys showed they had “high expectations of themselves, and their social and emotional well-being was low.” Naqvi admits she was skeptical in the beginning, as were her classmates. That first session, “a lot of people were giggling,” she says. But she was won over, as were her parents, who “realize how much stress we go through.”

According to Kaskens, the response was overwhelmingly positive. This fall’s Grade 9 class will benefit from the same lessons in mindfulness—a practice that’s spreading to schools across the country, even at the elementary level. At Vancouver’s Renfrew Community Elementary School, for example, students begin their day by heading outside to do tai chi, and school assemblies kick off with a mindful breathing exercise. “There are 415 kids in a gym,” says principal Hugh Blackman, “and you can hear a pin drop.”

Entire school boards are adopting similar programs. The Vancouver School District, which includes Renfrew, offers mindfulness training to teachers through the MindUp program, which include classroom “brain breaks” three times daily. The Toronto Catholic District School Board also runs mindfulness sessions for teachers, focusing on those who deal with vulnerable and special needs kids. There are signs the movement is growing further yet. In August, the U.K.-based Mindfulness in Schools Project, which trains teachers across Europe, will offer its first-ever Canadian teacher-training course in Ottawa, with another to follow shortly after in Vancouver. Soon enough, kids across Canada might be practising deep breaths and body scans alongside their math and English homework. Still, not everyone is onside: Some parents (and teachers) worry the practice of meditation is akin to bringing religion into schools—or simply that time in the classroom could be better spent.

Mindfulness, a non-religious meditation practice with roots in Buddhism, has been taught to everyone from medical patients to prison inmates in Canada. There’s a growing body of evidence to back it up, at least among adult practitioners. A 2013 study from the University of Calgary found that it could help breast cancer patients cope with diagnosis, perhaps because it encouraged them to accept the news without jumping to conclusions or getting bogged down in negative thoughts. In 2010, researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto concluded that, when it comes to warding off a relapse into major depression, mindfulness is as effective as medication. Brain-scan studies in adults have shown that a regular practice brings about changes in the brain, positively affecting regions associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress.

But when it comes to meditation’s impact on the child or adolescent brain, “there hasn’t been a single [brain scan] study,” says Brown University neuroscientist Willoughby Britton. “We have no idea what’s happening, but we can make some educated guesses.” As we pay attention, areas in the prefrontal cortex—which is responsible for higher thinking and self-control—activate, she says; this region is underdeveloped in kids (it continues to develop well into our twenties). Mindfulness seems to engage these parts of the brain.

Teaching this skill set in schools is relatively new, and controversial, not only because research exploring its impact on kids and teens has lagged. “People connect meditation with religion,” explains Jack Miller, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, who instructs teachers on how to use mindfulness in classrooms. In the U.S., where even school yoga practice has raised eyebrows, it’s been especially problematic. Last year, a mindfulness program at an Ohio elementary school was shut down amid a flurry of parent complaints, partly over perceived overtones of Eastern religion. Not only that: “They were taking valuable time away from education to put students in a room of darkness to lie on their backs,” one mother of three kids complained to a local newspaper.

In Vermont, where mindfulness programs are now available in some elementary and high schools, “we worked the most on language,” says Marilyn Neagley, director of the Talk About Wellness initiative, which teaches self-calming skills to school-age kids. “When we say ‘mindfulness,’ we feel it’s safer than saying ‘meditation,’ ” whereas yoga is often simply referred to as “stretching,” adds Neagley, who was instrumental to introducing these programs across the state. (In Canada, this has been less of an issue: At Bethune, teachers use a Tibetan singing bowl to sound the beginning of mindfulness practice, whereas U.S. teachers have been encouraged to use “secular” chimes.) The main objection Neagley runs into isn’t from parents. It’s from teachers, who say they’re already too busy: “I can’t do one more program.”

At Bethune, last November, interested teachers started practising mindfulness together over the lunch hour; after a full day of training in January, they launched student workshops a month later. “It’s become really clear that if you want to do this in schools, you have to start with teachers,” says Willem Kuyken, professor of clinical psychology at the University of Exeter, who has studied mindfulness programs in U.K. schools, where they’re more established. “The teacher needs to embody the qualities [of mindfulness] they’re trying to teach.”

Jon Gold, who teaches seventh- and eighth- grade history at Moses Brown School in Providence, R.I., has been practising mindfulness for years. He starts each class by ringing a bell, closing his eyes and inviting students to join him in silent meditation. “Once in a while, I’d give the hairy eyeball to a kid,” he says, “but they came to value that time. They felt calmer and better able to focus.” Gold collaborated on a new study in the Journal of School Psychology, which randomized Grade 6 students into two groups: One took an Asian history course with a daily mindfulness exercise, and the other an African history course with another activity (instead of meditating, they built a life-size Egyptian mummy). According to the study’s lead author, Brown University’s Britton, both groups saw benefits on anxiety and depression, suggesting that experiential activity in school can support kids’ mental health; the young meditators were also significantly less likely to develop suicidal ideation, or thoughts of self-harm.

More studies are beginning to explore the impact of mindfulness on kids and teens. In the U.K., a 2013 paper found that 10- and 11-year-olds who participated in an eight-week program were better able to ignore distractions. Another found that 12-to-16-year-old students had fewer symptoms of stress and depression. “The effect became larger at the most challenging time of the school year, during the end-of-year exams,” says Exeter’s Kuyken, the lead author. Some research has suggested that mindfulness can help children and adults cope with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, maybe offering an alternative (at least for some) to medication. As far as the effects of mindfulness on the youngest kids, though, “that’s pretty much an evidence-free zone,” Kuyken continues. The programs now sprouting up at elementary schools in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. will be a boon to researchers, who wish to explore the effects of meditation on the young mind.

Since the mindfulness sessions at Bethune came to a close, Naqvi finds herself drawing on lessons they learned. In times of stress, she says, it helps her understand “it’s okay, everyone feels the same way. Taking a deep breath makes you feel more confident, and ready for what you’re about to do.”

Source: http://www.macleans.ca/society/health/bringing-mindfulness-to-the-school-curriculum/

New ESL Teaching jobs as of February 8, 2016

This Week's Worldwide Jobs

The following ESL teaching jobs have been added to our database during the past 7 days. We only show countries where English is not the first language. A ‘v’ after a number indicates a volunteer (unpaid) position. All others, to the best of our knowledge are salaried and contracted positions.

Austria 2, Bangladesh 2, Belgium 1, Brazil 6, Cambodia 3 + 3V, Chile 6, China 100 +, Colombia 10 + 4V, Czech Republic 10, Denmark 3, East Timor 1, Ecuador 2, France 38, Germany 4, Honduras 3V, Hong Kong 12, India 10, Indonesia 16, Italy 60 +, Japan 16, Kazakhstan 2, Kuwait 1, Kyrgyzstan 1, Malaysia 5, Malta 1, Mexico 1, Myanmar 8, Oman 3, Poland 3, Portugal 4, Romania 1, Russian Federation 14, Saudi Arabia 40 +, Singapore 3, Slovakia 4, South Korea 20 +, Spain 100 +, Sudan 4, Sweden 2, Taiwan 6, Tanzania 1, Thailand 4, Tunisia 4, Turkey 12, Ukraine 2, Vietnam 25 +

Wow! 583 ESL teaching jobs are waiting for you! If you have a degree, all you have to do is complete our TESOL or TEFL Certificate course and start applying. 

If you are just starting out or want to make a career change to teaching, my recommendation is to go where the jobs are. Why? You have a much higher chance of getting hired quickly. Remember, you are competing with ESL teachers from around the world. Our course is only $300 USD and you can complete it in 4 – 6 weeks! 

You can even start applying while you are enrolled in our course, and, you wouldn’t be the first student to be hired with a job to go to as soon as you complete the course.

Click here to get started: http://www.teachesl.org/tesol.shtml