Pen Pals

I received such a nice email today from a woman I used to tutor in Málaga. She asked me how my adjustment to New York was going, what the weather is like (always a popular question), if I have found a new job yet and if I have any exciting trips coming up. She ended the email by saying that she is so nervous she will not be able to find another English tutor as good as me come September.

It was so nice to hear from her and that I was able to help her so much with English. I am excited to stay in touch with the people that I spent an entire year getting to know and working with. Many people know this about me, but I rarely lose touch with someone. This past year when I was in Spain I had 6 dinners with Mercedes (the woman I lived with while studying in Madrid) and met up with several other friends that I had met two years before during my studies. Thanks to technology and the various ways we can communicate (email, skype, bbm, facebook, blog etc) you can stay in touch with everyone you meet! It is great for when you want to go back and visit a city or for when someone wants to come visit you! Some friends have told me they feel "strange" or "awkward" reaching out to someone they haven't spoken in a while but from my experience people are always very happy and excited to reconnect.

Phrasal verbs

Phrasal verbs are extremely hard for ESL learners in part because there are just SO many of them. Here are some really helpful worksheets I have been using to teach phrasal verbs:

Phrasal verbs quizzes

Phrasal verbs lesson plan

Phrasal verbs worksheets

Phrasal verbs list

The best of ESL on the web

Here are the great ESL websites I have been using for teaching:

For teaching adults:

• ESL Discussions
• Using English
• ESL Tutor
• Boggles World ESL

For teaching kids:

• ESL Kids
• English 4 Kids
• Mes English
• A to Z Teacher Stuff

Side Hustle...CHECK

I hustled and bustled and I finally got a side hustle! The first month I was here I browsed through Loquo and saw an ad that struck my fancy. A woman was looking for experienced English teachers to become tutors. I sent her an email and since my schedule was pretty hectic for a few weeks we had not been able to get a timetable worked out until last week. She acts as my "agent" and finds people for me to tutor through the English academy she works for. So far I have two clients and one on the way.

The TEFL course that I took over the summer has really come in handy. I went over most of the modules and used several of them to help plan my lessons. The women that I tutor have different levels of English. One has a lot of trouble with grammar and pronunciation especially with words ending in "-ed." I found this blog called esl-tutor which has been a life saver. The other woman I tutor reads and writes very well, but wishes to improve her conversational skills. This website is excellent for conversation topics. I highly reccomend both of them for esl teaching and tutoring!