322 Chances to Make a Difference Somewhere in the World!

Here’s an enjoyable way you can change your life and make a real difference to hundreds... perhaps thousands... of people somewhere in the world.

Take our TESOL Certificate Course and qualify to teach overseas. Four to six weeks is all the time it takes to earn our TESOL qualification. With that and your degree, you will be in demand as a teacher of English around the world.

Below are 322 new teaching jobs we just received today! These teaching jobs are available to people who are either native English speakers or who have a good knowledge of the language and who want to teach English to children or adults, and - you don't have to already be a teacher! Millions of people in many countries want / need to learn English to better themselves and YOU can help a lot of them to do it!

Here are the latest teaching jobs from around the world as of February 24, 2014. Bear in mind that this represents only a small portion of all the jobs out there.

Current Database Status (country/jobs):

Australia[1], Brunei[1], Cambodia[1], Chile[1], China[46], Colombia[1], Czech Republic[2], France[3], Germany[2], Hong Kong[1], India[1], Indonesia[6], Italy[12], Japan[3], Kazakhstan[2], Kuwait[1], Kyrgyzstan[1], Macedonia[1], Malaysia[4], Myanmar[1], Oman[1], Poland[2], Portugal[1], Russian Federation[16], Saudi Arabia[15], Singapore[1], South Korea[5], Spain[18], Switzerland[1], Taiwan[1], Thailand[1], Turkey[4], Ukraine[1], United Kingdom[131], Vietnam[5], Worldwide[28]

Wherever you want to go, teaching jobs are likely available but it is harder to get hired in some places. Western Europe is a tough nut to crack. Eastern Europe has many opportunities as does South America. Still atop the list of areas that desperately need a huge number of English teachers is Asia.

It is tougher to get a teaching job in Hong Kong and Japan but South Korea, Thailand, China and Indonesia offer many exciting opportunities. Be flexible and prepared to go where the jobs are to gain experience.

All it takes is a degree, our TESOL certificate and a valid passport. Most schools will pay for your teaching visa, offer a settling in allowance, salary, medical benefits and even reimburse your airfare if you are hired from your home country! WAIT! No degree? Contact us through our web site! We can help you!

There couldn't be a better time to get started than right now! You could be teaching in one of these countries within a few weeks. Some of our students are hired even before they complete their TESOL course with us. We are delighted to forward their certificate to their new school!

If you are keen to change your life...add some excitement...see a foreign land...or simply make a change in your life for whatever reason, then, go to our web site and get started today on a course that will change your life very quickly! Jobs are tough to get at home. Not so overseas. All you need is a willingness to accept other cultures, a degree in any discipline and our TESOL certificate.  There's no time like the present to change your life for the better and the lives of thousands of people around the world!

Click here to learn how YOU can start on a whole new exciting adventure and life experience in 2014!

Dr. Robert Taylor

Dean of Studies         

Sunbridge Institute of English

When Do You Put a Comma before 'But'?

This reader’s question illustrates the uncertainty felt by many writers about when to use a comma before the conjunction but:

In the following sentence, the secondary clause isn’t truly independent; it lacks a subject, yet it conveys an almost-complete thought: “I left Susan a message last week but haven’t heard back from her yet.” My question is whether a comma precedes but even though a subject doesn’t follow but. Put another way, is the secondary clause’s implied subject, I¸ sufficient to require a comma before the coordinating conjunction?

There is no “implied” subject in the sentence “I left Susan a message last week but haven’t heard back from her yet.” The sentence’s stated subject is I. It’s the subject of both verbs, the one before and the one after the but. The answer, therefore, is that no comma is needed before the but.

The rule for but is the same as that for the other six coordinating conjunctions: and, for, or, nor, so, and yet.

If the conjunction precedes an independent (main) clause, use a comma: “Jack tried a new diet, but he still gained weight.” 

If the but is not followed by an independent clause, no comma is needed: “Jack tried a new diet but still gained weight.”

If a writer finds himself hesitating over a sentence like the one in the example, the easiest way to settle the comma question is to supply another subject for the second verb: “I left Susan a message last week, but I haven’t heard back from her yet.” 

Source: Daily Writing Tips
 

Interesting English - Genius!

A reader has asked for a post on the word genius, commenting,

It’s part of the word engineering but, in French, engineering is genie, which I associate with Aladdin’s lamp. Then, there is the genius spirit that ancient Romans associated with places.

This comment offers much to address. I’ll begin with the Latin origin of the word.

In classical religious belief, every human being was allotted a personal spirit at birth. This guiding spirit was called a genius, plural, genii. 

The role of the genius was to govern a person’s fortunes, determine his character, and to conduct him out of the world at death. The Latin word comes from a Greek verb meaning “to be born, to come into being.” 

This quotation from the OED show the word used in the sense of “guardian spirit”:

Let their Guardian Genii still be watchful. –N. Rowe Ambitious Step-mother.

In addition to the kind of genii assigned to individual human beings, there was the genius loci, “genius of the place.” This spirit presided over a particular place:

Watch’d by the Genius of this Royal place. Dryden –To Dr. Charleton in W. Charleton Chorea Gigantum.

The “emperor worship” that the early Christians objected to involved burning a bit of incense not to the emperor, but to the emperor’s genius:

Christians…who would die rather than fling into the altar-flame a pinch of incense to the Genius of the Emperors. –F. W. Farrar Witness of Hist.

  
Genius in the sense of a guiding spirit is applied to abstract nouns and to periods of history. One may speak of “the genius of Democracy” and “the Genius of the Age.” Nowadays the word genius is often replaced by the word spirit.

We’ve all seen cartoons showing a character being tempted: on one shoulder sits a little angel trying to restrain him, while on the other, a little red devil eggs him on. This depiction reflects the idea that people have not one, but two guiding genii:

(a person’s) good, evil genius: the two mutually opposed spirits (in Christian language angels) by whom every person was supposed to be attended throughout his life. Hence applied to a person who powerfully influences for good or evil the character, conduct, or fortunes of another.

Genie and genii came to be used for demons or spiritual beings in general. Arabic jinn, the word for a class of spirits that may be good or evil, came to be spelled genii in English; singular genie became the word for one of these spirits, for example, one that might be imprisoned in a bottle.

The use of genius as adjective meaning “intellectually superior” and a noun meaning “an intellectually superior person” developed in the 18th century as art critics began using genius to describe “native endowment” contrasted with “aptitudes that can be acquired by study.” 

This question on a homework site illustrates how this use of genius has obscured the word’s earlier meanings:

If Hitler killed so many people, why is he called a genius?

The youngster asking this question has no doubt seen Hitler referred to as “an evil genius” by someone who did not understand the meaning of the term.
The answer given to the student’s question reflects the same confusion:

You can say Hitler was a genius because he was so good at manipulating people.  He was able to get people to go along with his ideas even when they seemed to be completely crazy. Because he was able to do this, you would have to say he was a genius.  Sadly, he used his great talents for one of the most evil goals ever.

Hitler might be seen as the evil genius who influenced German doctors and prison camp directors to do abominable things, but labeling him “an evil genius” without reference to another person or persons is meaningless.
The term “evil genius” refers to any person–of whatever degree of intellect–who influences another person to do evil:

The evil genius of the second half of Hitler’s career was Goebbels. –Ernst Hanfstaengel, Hitler: The Missing Years (1957).

Finally, génie is the French word for engineering, but not because it has anything to do with the word genius.

French génie means the same things that English genius does. The fact that the French word for engineering is also spelled génie is a coincidence: it’s a homonym derived from Middle French engigneour, “person who designs and constructs military works for attack and defense.” 

Source: http://www.dailywritingtips.com/genius/

How Can Busy Teachers Learn Next-Gen Skills?

Most of today’s classroom teachers are digital immigrants, who need to not only learn the latest technologies but also help students learn skills for workplaces that don’t yet exist. This imperative, compounded by the advanced skills of their digital native students, creates a daunting task for the best of teachers.

Most teachers work very hard to keep up with today’s technology and related jargon, with mixed success. For example, a teacher at my son’s school walked around telling the students she had been twerking all day because she thought the term meant texting and working! It made perfect sense to her and brought great amusement to all of her students. However, it is a perfect example of the challenges that teachers face when trying to keep up.

Learning Next-Gen Skills

So, how do teachers help students develop modern learning skills? Start with the basics. Technology is not a replacement for learning core information. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are still essential; technology should be used as a tool for teaching these areas. Critical thinking, communication, and creativity stem from learning in these areas and should not be neglected.
Special focus should be put on information literacy, media skills, and technology skills. Students need to be taught to analyze information sources, determine authenticity, and synthesize information presented, all of which require the ability to read and write critically. They also need to be able to navigate information and present information through a variety of media and technology tools and formats.

Teachers teach skills that don’t yet exist through the development of critical and analytical thinking skills. Students must be able to problem- solve in order to access information and think through applications of that information that they have never encountered.

If anything, technology has created a greater need for understanding basic information in order to adapt to unforeseeable situations. What an exciting time to teach!

There are a variety of resources available that provide information specifically to help develop the modern learner. Here are a few:

By accessing this information, and making a concerted effort, teachers and other school leaders can provide an environment where learners thrive and succeed, today and throughout their lifetime.

Source:http://www.feedspot.com/#feed/f_35027/article/770783945?dd=10021615
Author: Dr. Amy Burkman – Senior Manager of Assessment & Accreditation, School of Education, American Public University System

February 3, 2014 Overseas Teaching Jobs!

Sunbridge Institute of English has been offering TESOL and other teacher training courses since I formed it in 1998 - sixteen years ago. It never fails to amaze me how many overseas teaching jobs there are available. In other words, how great the need is for qualified people to teach English. As an example, here is a listing of jobs we just received today (and which we get updated every Monday). Believe me, it is only the tip of a huge iceberg. There are literally thousands of teaching jobs waiting for you:

Current Database Status: country [jobs]:

Belgium[1], Brunei[1], Burma[1], Cambodia[1], Chile[1], China[50], Czech Republic[3], Egypt[1], France[3], Germany[2], Greece[1], Guatemala[1], Honduras[2], Hong Kong[3], Indonesia[8], Iraq[1], Italy[13], Japan[3], Kazakhstan[3], Kuwait[2], Kyrgyzstan[1], Macau[1], Malaysia[4], Mexico[2], Oman[1], Pakistan[1], Poland[1], Qatar[1], Romania[1], Russian Federation[12], Saudi Arabia[16], Singapore[2], South Korea[6], Spain[20], Taiwan[1], Thailand[1], Turkey[1], Ukraine[1], United Kingdom[98], Vietnam[3], Worldwide[23]

Some of these jobs will pay very well - others not much. But... if you want an experience that will broaden your mental horizons, teaching overseas is a splendid way to achieve this. As a teacher, you will learn much about a new culture, its people, their dreams and aspirations, their way of life, and you will grow as a person - and as a teacher. Why not consider spending a year or two teaching abroad? Our course also shows you where to find jobs.

You can begin today and earn our TESOL Certificate (what schools ask for) in about 4-6 weeks if you have the time to devote to it. At $375 USD, that's not only good value, it's a great investment in your future. Click the highlighted link for course information. Questions? Email me.


Dr. Robert Taylor
President and Dean of Studies
Sunbridge Institute of English

Include Interactive Technology in the Classroom

There are examples of technology all around us, and the ways we approach tasks are constantly changing. The classroom should be a place in which students can explore and embrace these new developments; advances in technology can be used as a way to supplement curriculum and enrich the learning environment. My students have always loved to try the newest gadgets and online educational resources. With so many technological advances, but finite resources to access them, it is important to know about the best free resources and classroom applications.

Creating Interactive Stories

With the advent of computers and the Internet, a whole new world of reading has opened up for students. Books are no longer their only choices for reading activities; they can tap into computer and website-related reading resources, like hybrid-interactive stories. These can be accessed easily online and have a range of fun features. Some stories include features to help students read, like highlighting words as they progress through the story. Other resources give students the chance to create and read their own tales. 

Virtual Learning Experiences

When time or money don't allow for a real journey, why not take your students on a virtual trip? They can view monuments, museums, and much more from the comfort of your classroom. Virtual field trips or tours are provided by many organizations, museums, and major companies. While teaching in Arizona, I used to love using the Monterey Bay Aquarium's webcam as a way to augment our explorations of ocean life.

Online Interactive Manipulatives

When resources are limited, do not worry! You can always look on the Internet for free online manipulatives. You can find virtual scales, rulers, and blocks for your students to use. These tools can be utilized by students while completing a group lesson, or for practice during their free time.

Music From Online Sources

Music has the power to grab students’ attention. It can be used to inspire creativity, to set the atmosphere in the classroom, and as a supplement to the content being taught. There are many ways to access free songs or lyrics to share with all grade levels. There are programs to help students create their own songs as well.

Interactive Videos Can Augment Curriculum

Movies have gotten a bad reputation as the lazy way to access content. Although movies can certainly be used incorrectly, as a time waster or as a substitute for curriculum, there are a wealth of amazing multimedia videos that can support and promote learning. One of the main attractions of interactive videos is the fact that they include an element or feature that pulls in the viewer. Students might be asked to stop and share, or to respond to an onscreen prompt. These types of activities can be used with the whole class or at a learning center. It makes learning more interesting and personalized.
What follows are more technology lessons and activities.

Innovative Technology Lessons:

Technology that Makes Phonics Fun
This lesson shares a number of activities involving different free phonics software programs available online. Students are able to do everything from creating mind maps to reading along with favorite storybook characters.
Hyperlinking Partnership 
This lesson explores how to set up a virtual partnership between high school students and professionals in the world of architecture. Students build problem-solving and life skills while working with varied technology resources.
Personal Timeline
Students use the software Timeliner to create a personal timeline, including seven important events from their life. The lesson includes samples of students work, and the software program can be downloaded for free online.

Source: Lesson Planet (a great online resource for teachers)

Shone vs. Shined, Lit vs. Lighted

A Canadian reader asks,

Has it become okay to change irregular past verbs like lit and shone to lighted and shined?

The answer to the first part of the question is that irregular verbs have been in a state of flux for centuries, so I suppose that it’s always “okay” to change them. 

The dominant tendency in English has been for irregular past tense forms to be replaced by the “regular” -ed past tense ending. For example, the past participle of help used to be holpen:

Now, when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help… –KJV, Daniel 11:34

As only about 300 strong verbs (what we call “irregular” verbs) existed in the Old English spoken and written a thousand years ago, I think it’s amazing that any of them have survived into modern English.
The reader who posed the question implied that writing lighted and shined for lit and shone must have something to do with American spelling habits:

I’m from Canada and we often struggle between American and British rules.

A persistent misconception is that when American usage differs from British usage, the American version must be a corruption. I’ve received many a comment comparing American English to “real English,” as if Standard American English (SAE) were a usurper of the “real thing.” The fact is, King Alfred would have as much difficulty in understanding Queen Elizabeth II as he would President Obama. Both SAE and BrE flow from the same source, but both have traveled a long way from it. 

Generally speaking, shone and lit are preferred in British English and shined and lighted in American English. Both the OED and Merriam-Webster show the inflected forms lighted/lit and alighted/alit. In both dictionaries, the -ed form is listed first. 

Generalities aside, both weak (regular) and strong (irregular) past tense forms are in use on both sides of the Atlantic. I grew up in the American South and was quite comfortable saying “Mother lit the birthday candles,” and “The sun shone all day long.” 

The verb shine is used with two meanings:

shine: of a heavenly body or an object that is alight; to shed beams of bright light

shine: to cause to shine, put a polish on

According to some authorities, context determines whether an American speaker will use shone or shined. when speaking of the sun or some other object that emits light:

The transitive form of the verb “shine” is ”shined.” If the context describes something shining on something else, use “shined”: “He shined his flashlight on the skunk eating from the dog dish.” You can remember this because another sense of the word meaning “polished” obviously requires “shined”: “I shined your shoes for you.” –Paul Brians, professor emeritus, Washington State University.

As for shine in the sense of “to polish,” British speakers would say neither “I shined your shoes for you,” nor “I shone your shoes for you.” For a statement in the past, they would probably use the verb polish: “I polished your shoes for you.”

Now for the really interesting bit: The OED tells us that irregular shone is unrecorded in Old English and appears only once in Middle English. The form shined was in common use from 1300-1800. The form shone first appeared as a past participle in the second half of the 16th century.

As for the forms lighted and alighted (to descend from a horse or conveyance), these -ed forms were in use before the 16th century. 

Shakespeare uses lighted in the “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” solioquy in Macbeth:

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death.

My conclusion is that shined and lighted are no less “okay” than shone or lit. But then, my dialect is American English.

Note: British speakers pronounce shone to rhyme with gone; for Americans, shone rhymes with bone.

Source: Daily writing tips: http://www.dailywritingtips.com/shone-vs-shined-lit-vs-lighted/