Now available: Compelling Conversations Vietnam bilingual supplement comes to Amazon Kindle!

“The mind is not a vessel that needs filling but wood that needs igniting.” —Plutarch (45-120), ancient Greek biographer and essayist Learn, work and dream in English! We are proud to release Compelling Conversations – Vietnam: Supplementary Bilingual English-Vietnamese Conversation Questions for Vietnamese Learners of English. A bilingual companion to last year’s...

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Coming Soon: An eBook of essentials from Compelling Conversations – Japan!

“No art or learning is to be pursued halfheartedly…and any art worth learning will certainly reward more or less generously the effort made to study it.” —Murasaki Shikibu (c. 973-1014), Japanese author, The Tale of Genji Same book, new look! Teachers and tutors of English: do you currently work with Japanese English language learners? Are you looking for engaging, fresh...

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Worksheet: Express Opinions and Improve Critical Thinking with Consumer Product Reviews

“A man’s most valuable trait is a judicious sense of what not to believe.” — Euripides (485-406 B.C.E.), ancient Greek playwright Why use consumer product reviews as a teaching tool? How does this exercise benefit English language learners? Which skillsets are strengthened as a result? The giving and receiving of gifts has become a central feature of Christmas, Hanukkah,...

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Worksheet: Reviewing TED Talks to Create Compelling Conversations

“Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.” —Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990), American entrepreneur and publisher How can you encourage your advanced ESL students to develop their speaking skills and tap into their interest in our rapidly changing world? By creating compelling classroom assignments that respect their intelligence, engage their...

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Sharing is Caring: Substituting Connectivity for Communication

“Technology is a word that describes something that doesn’t work yet.”  –Douglas Adams (1952-2001), English author and satirist Is the cult of oversharing online preventing us from establishing genuine connections? Do we expect more from our phones than our neighbors? Is this natural or healthy? “I share, therefore I am” Many believe relying on instant...

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Teaching Matters: Correcting Error in the Classroom

“I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.” -Socrates (c. 470-399 BCE), Ancient Greek philosopher What are “good mistakes?” How can we – as teachers of English – encourage students to make more of them? When can we use error as an opportunity to increase students’ confidence in their speech? Recently, we’ve stumbled onto an...

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