This groundbreaking adventure game will be the first of its kind.  Students around the world are in love with computer games.  However, they don’t share the same sentiments about learning English.  This is why we have created and developed an addictive computer game that is geared toward students between the ages of 4-12.  Nevertheless, it has been said that students above the ages of twelve have enjoyed playing the game as well.  The initial version of the game will be for Korean students.  Thereafter, it will be translated into other languages.  At the end of this month, schools and parents everywhere in Korea will have access to this game via download or compact disc at http://www.eslplay.com.  We have tested the game by allowing students between the ages of 4-16 have a whirl.  This is what they had to say while playing the game.

"I like the going through the hoops and getting more petrol”

"can we play again, that is great fun" was another comment?”

"the plane starts going down when you don't have enough fuel, that is really exciting, then you need to go through the hoops to get more fuel, I liked that!"

"It is cool that you can land and then go off and fly about when you have still got petrol left and you have won"

"CAN I HAVE A TURN, CAN I HAVE A TURN"

Kids are really into the game - Learning has never been so much fun : )  The kids could not wait until the game was finished to play more!  LEARNING IS FUN with ESL PLAY.

For further details about the game visit http://www.eslplay.com or contact Christoph Jenkins: eslplay@gmail.com

        

The forums this week focused more around tips for the beginner EFL teacher.  ESL Teachers board goes through an excellent thread on ‘Tips for Newbie Teachers’.   Tips include not revealing too much personal information in your resume, having emergency backup funds, advice on saving money and general items to bring while teaching.  Also this week many forums have been talking about warnings for teachers.  ESL Teachers board started a topic of ‘Avoiding Cultural Pitfalls when Teaching Abroad’.  This thread gets into certain issues that are considered taboo in some cultures and goes through some basic etiquettes while teaching.  ESL Jobs Forum posted the warning ‘Beware! UAE Ministry of labor scam.’  A Nigerian passport scam that targeting EFL teachers that are searching for overseas employment.  A must read for those that are questioning the legitimacy of some jobs.

The Blogs too this week got into some helpful tips for the beginning EFL teacher.  Ezine Articles got into 'How to Teach Overseas Without a Degree', a constant question that quietly spins around the teachers community.  Dave’s English Teaching World wrote an article entitled: ‘Classic Articles: Secrets of those that do the TEFL Hiring’ a great read for those that are preparing for a job interview.  Teach Abroad China gave a really good article: What To Do When Teaching English in China Stops Being Fun, a situation that most teachers encounter but may find it difficult to ask for help while overseas.

        

Blame it on the economy or blame it on the Korean increase in homeland English education, the facts are in, Korea is spending less on foreign education.  The English Chosun newspaper reports:

In the first half of 2008, Korean expenditures on education and language training abroad fell by the biggest margin since the 1997 financial crisis. According to a Bank of Korea report on the balance of international payments released Sunday, Koreans spent US$2.256 billion on overseas training in the first half of 2008, down 5.8 percent, or $138 million year on year. This is the biggest drop since the first half of 1998, when comparable spending posted a 35 percent fall.

Spending on overseas training has risen by 30 to 40 percent on average, every year since 2002, when the Korean economy began recovering from the crisis. But the upward trend slowed for the first time, hovering at 16.3 percent during the first half of 2007. The rate then turned downward in the first half of this year. - Chosun

This year Korea has implemented many new educational features that may play in the decrease in the educational migration: more foreign teachers in the public schools through programs like TaLK, and promises of increased English education time.  Other educational promises include foreign teachers in every public school, and the opening of an English education complex on Jeju Island. 

However, if you examine the Korean Won with the Euro over the past year and a half, you can see that there is over a 20% drop in the Won’s value.  This drop makes tuition and living expenses that much more difficult in foreign countries.  Further, like most Asian countries the past year, has been hard hit by inflation.  BBC News reports in May:

Consumer prices in May were up 4.9% from a year earlier - the strongest growth since June 2001.
Economists had expected the annual rate of inflation to hit 4.3% in May, up from April's level of 4.1%. - BBC News

The combination of inflation and the decrease in the Korean Won’s value has had serious impact on the Korean households.  The Korean education reform may be the preferred alternative for most middle class homes.

        

Situation:  You, the foreign teacher flip open a standard English text book an hour before class begins and notice that today’s English topic is ‘Where are you from?’ Being a well prepared and creative teacher, you zip over to your computer and do a Google Image search for “coloring flags” or “coloring book flags” and make a printout of 15 or 20 flags for students to color and practice “I’m from China,” with.  You hand out the photo copies to students and practice the activity for five to ten minutes and have the young students complete the coloring activity for homework.

Perfect day of teaching you think, students are responsive and lean a bit about the world outside of the country… you go home and feel confident that nothing could have gone wrong.

Problem:  The following day you return to school and see a parent is in office.  Nothing but bad looks from your co-workers… Perhaps even an officer in the hallway staring you down.  One of your close work mates walk by and whispers in your ear… “what did you do…”

August 16, 2008, one of your flags was from Israel, and your are in Bahrain (small island country just off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf), a place that does not take lightly such an activity.  Islamist deputy, Ebrahim Al Hadi, explains:

Little is known about the situation but the Bahrain embassy in Washington USA stated:


If the situation is compared to the seemingly innocent action of last year’s Sudan Teddy Bear incident, who knows the possible outcome.  (Gillian Gibbons was arrested in Sudan last November, given lashes and deported for her misconduct…for letting her students name her stuffed animal Muhammad.  However, many Muslim extremists protested that she be put to death for her actions. <More>

A word of advice for readers in sensitive countries:  You should always double check your homework prior to giving it to students, ask a co-worker if the material is suitable.  Further, prior to teaching, do some research into the customs and morals of the people, if possible, take a culture course to prepare for possible tensions.  What maybe encouraged in one country, may cause you a serious problem in another.

        

According to a 2008 cost of living survey - Seoul has been listed as the 5th most
expensive city. But it was only a year ago,  when Seoul was ranked 3rd.

When a veteran instructor was asked about the differences of then and now - he simply shrugged,

"It's seems all the same, just as expensive...or just as cheap."
 
Although Seoul has been de-ranked - this still does not mean that Korea is immune from the current
economic and resource crisis.

Just this week, National Public Radio (NPR), has just reported the continuing increase of
cost of Beef in the U.S.  Despite the massive protests against U.S Beef imports,
the Korean Government is still accepting cheap  U.S Beef products - for the consumer market.
 
It's possible that the economic effects wont be on such a large scale.

Eating out in downtown Seoul, is still relatively cheap. But one has to remember, back in The U.S, many would never have foreseen these unsuspecting rise of costs, only a year ago.

Perhaps some teachers may start budgeting more carefully - going extra lengths to a cheaper markets
and buying in Costco-Bulk quantities to save.

But considering the effort and time required to save - one might also start to consider an alternative diet.
The most efficient solution to the problem.  A diet without meat.

Jyu Young Lee

References:

Cost of Living Survey (2008)
http://www.mercer.com/costoflivingpr

Rise in cost of U.S Beef
htp://www.npr.org

        

Last fall alleged pedophile (paedophile) Christopher Paul Neil was arrested in Bangkok Thailand after fleeing his job in Korea  <Full Story>.  Now after 10 months Neil has been sentenced for kidnapping and sexual abusing an underage 13 year old boy.  The now convicted Christopher will be imprisoned for 3 years and 3 months in Thai prison with a 60 000 Baht fine (almost $2000 US).  His sentence was reduced from a previous 6 years and 6 months due to his cooperation and eventual confession.

For teachers who believe that Mr. Neil’s jail time does not match the crime, the pedophile still awaits a ruling for similar charges with the victims 9 year old brother!  Further, there is good chance that Christopher will be extradited to face similar convictions in nearby Cambodia and Vietnam. 

Get ESL and EFL related news twice a month right to your in-box!!

Source: Canadian paedophile jailed The Times

        

Yes, that’s right ESL Daily is hosing a FREE photo contest.  Beginning September 1st (August 25 Deadline for photo submissions), you the readers will be able to submit and rate photos.  You the viewers will be able to rate the photos once a day, so tell your friends and family to come and rate your photo.  It’s simple to operate, select the photo at the bottom of the viewer, and at the top select the number of stars you believe that the picture is worth.  Winner will be selected on September 25th.  Come and see for yourself!

Contest: http://esldaily.org/contest.htm
Contest details and Submission form: http://esldaily.org/contest_form.htm

This month’s prize is an ESL Daily Survival Pack!  Going without deodorant?  How about some ‘Tim Hortons’ coffee?  We got a gift pack for our viewers that wish to have some Western supplies delivered right to you.  

Full Survival Pack includes:

Delivery: ESL Daily Will pay up to $50 US for delivery costs.  If delivery costs run over $50 US contestant may choose to have equivalent money value wired to a bank account.

Not only will the winner of the photo contest get an Daily Survival Pack, but also front page coverage (great idea for you bloggers that wish to get your name out)!  Photos should include a teaching related theme or an experience that you had during your teaching experience. 

To see the contest: http://esldaily.org/contest.htm
To find out more details or to submit:  http://esldaily.org/contest_form.htm

Terms and conditions for submission:
I herby grant ESL Daily the right to use, reproduce, adopt, distribute, publish and publicly display the photograph that are the subject of this Agreement for any advertising, commercial or non-commercial purposes (Winner will be displayed on front page, contestants will be published on upcoming photo blog). ESL Daily reserves the right to remove or edit any inappropriate material that is entered into this contest (resizing of photo).

I warrant and represent that the Photograph which is the subject matter of this agreement is original with me in all respects. I am the sole and exclusive owner of the Photograph. No part of them is taken from or based on any other work; no part infringes the copyright or any other right of any person; and the reproduction, publication, exhibition, or any other use by the RELEASED PARTIES of the Photograph in any form whatever will not in any way, directly or indirectly, infringe on the rights of any person.

I am 18 years old or older.

        

Summer holidays are in full swing and most blogs and forums have turned to a crawling pace when it comes to lesson plans, teaching strategies, and tips.  However, the Chinese forums are booming with entries related to the Chinese Olympics.  Other than general chatting about where they are going to watch the summer games, teachers and websites alike are talking about the hysteria of English in China.

  The ‘Foreign Language Blog’ posted a very interesting short ‘You Tube’ video about English in China.  The film exhibits several Olympic tourists traveling and visiting some of Beijing’s sites and being greeted by over zealous Chinese.  One thing for sure the video expresses is the Chinese eagerness and desire to express themselves in English. The video shows an energetic taxi driver, a restaurant greeter, and a police officer. - Foreign Language Blog

ABC News also put out an article entitled ‘Learning English for the Olympics,’ which also gets into the Olympic English spirit.  The article gets into the huge increase in English language learning and the Chinese attitude with language learning while preparing for volunteer jobs for the Summer games.


Taking the Language learning a step further, KSL News Radio put out an article entitled: ‘Olympic language learning a two-way street.’  The Broadcast gets into the future potential of Chinese language learning in Utah schools and universities.  The article primarily talks about Utah, however with the Olympic influence and the ever growing economy of China, there may be more and more programs for Chinese language learning though out the world. - KSL News Radio

        

The 'MetroWest Daily News' reports a teacher’s life in China from 1980 to 1987.  The teacher recalls his experiences and compares it to his current encounters while returning to China for the Summer Olympics.

"Returning now for the first time since I left in 1987 to watch the Olympic Games and see old friends, I realize the China I knew has transformed itself into an emerging superpower with a blast furnace economy that's revolutionized the way people live…" - MetroWest Daily News

Chris Bergeron, a pioneer ESL teacher in China, shares his stories of what it was like teaching prior to the current reforms and his reunion with old students.  

"Instead of picturesque temples and distinctive art, I found rundown Soviet-era cement buildings, Buddhist shrines vandalized by Red Guards and an entire population clothed in identical drab blue cotton trousers and jackets that made me think of an army of maintenance workers.

When the college held its first-ever Christmas party for me, a crew cut People's Liberation Army soldier named Niu Xiao waltzed with me most of the night because the leaders feared a foreigner might ``corrupt'' Chinese girls." - MetroWest Daily News

Great story for those teachers who wonder what it was like in China years ago.

For full story: MetroWest Daily News

        

Sri Lanka currently holds more than 20000 ESL teachers and over 2100 private English education facilities though out the country.  However, English is far from being a communication tool.  The English instructors are simply not fluent enough and students are not properly immersed in English. 

English was taught so extensively in all parts of the country, the sad experience of the private sector was that they could not find persons with adequate spoken English skills for employment. – The Island Business Online

In an effort to battle this non-productive cycle of education, the government is pushing businesses to adopt the ‘English as a Life Skill’ program.  English will be taught as a tool that can be used in the business world rather than previous education methods.  Private English schools will be granted government assistance while switching over to the new model of education:


Additionally, those who desire to instruct teachers on the English education system will be granted government scholarships to study in India and later sent to ‘SLICELT at Peradeniya for advanced training’.  With English improvements in the country, the government believes employment opportunities will in turn grow, for example:


The end result of this new system of English education is employability of Sri Lanka’s people; teachers who can teach, and students who can work in an English environment.  
Further Reading:
Language, Education, and Software
Success in English skills will depend on private sector support