Larry M. Lynch asked:




Handicapped or Disabled English Learners

In some institutions, disabled learners study English for both academia and communicative purposes. Basically, two forms of disability are encountered by English, as a second or foreign language, teachers; physical and mental. Adaptation of methodologies and didactics for teaching and learning success with handicapped learners or with learners who may be disabled in some way can help to improve teaching and learning with many other types of EFL class groups and therefore merits the attention of all EFL or ESL language professionals.

Physical Disabilities

At the Santiago de Cali University where I teach, students are allowed to enter programs even when physically disabled or handicapped in some ways. There are legally or physically blind (invident), wheelchair-bound and cerebrally-palsied students currently enrolled and engaged in academic study along side of regular students. These disabled or handicapped learners can be subjected to distinctive problems and difficulties in integrating into an EFL, ESL or foreign language class room setting.

A few commonly encountered problems include:

o Not being able to access institutional facilities

o Need for specially-adapted teaching and learning methods

o Class schedule adjustments

o Specialized programming of computer room and listening lab facilities

o Alteration of language acquisition methods

o Sensitivity to environmental conditions like heat, cold, noise and lighting

o Highly-focused or distinct learning styles and learning characteristics

o Need for alternative methods for note-taking and test-taking

o Need for multi-media texts and input sessions

Mental Disabilities

Although mental disabilities are more strictly monitored and controlled as far as student admissions are concerned, nonetheless they can be encountered at a number of institutions, most likely those that specialized in these types of learners. I think that in many cases grouping “these types” of learners together may be doing more harm than good, but that’s another story not intended for this short article post. From schizophrenia to Autism and ADD to even Alzheimer’s, learners actually may benefit more by being placed in, learning and functioning in a “normal” environment. The same may be true for selected Home-schooled learners at certain points in their academic growth and development. Not in each and every case, mind you, but only in a selected number of them.

The Need for Adaptive Methodology and Didactics

The need for adaptive methodologies and didactics when teaching disabled or handicapped learners cannot be over-emphasized. Rather than “lumping these types of learners together”, more may actually be accomplished by “mainstreaming” more of them and adapting the EFL or ESL methodologies and didactics to suit class groups of more widely diverse learners. This is highly effective for virtually ANY class group of language learners and not just simply a means of addressing the needs of handicapped learners. In my experience, action research and investigations, I have definitely found this to be true, albeit on a somewhat limited scale.

Sunil Tanna asked:




If you teach a foreign language class, whether it be French, German, Spanish, even English as a Second/Foreign Language (ESL or TEFL), or for that matter any language at all, you’ve almost certainly observed that students learn best and fastest when they actively participate in the class, especially if such participation includes the opportunity to converse in the language. Activities which encourage such participation are therefore very popular with language teachers - including, of course, educational games.

One game that you may not have considered is bingo. Many people tend to think of it as a game played in bingo halls or church basements, as well as online, often by older people, mainly as a social activity, but also for the opportunity to win relatively modest prizes. However, bingo is a very simple game that can easily be adapted to a wide variety of different situations, is quickly learned by students, and is ideal for use in education.

To play in the classroom each student is given a bingo card, and the teacher acts as the caller. However there are differences from the normal game - the main one being that usually special cards containing words (including the possibility of foreign vocabulary) are used. The teacher also has the option of changing the game play process, for example to encourage class discussion between calling each item.

Here are a few ideas for variations of the game suitable for use in a language class:

1. If teaching a language that uses a different alphabet (such as Greek, Russian, Arabic or Hebrew), you could prepare bingo cards with letters of that language’s alphabet. Play a quick game at the start of every lesson, and you’ll be amazed at how quickly students will learn to instantly recognize any character.

2. You could use cards with words in the foreign language (for example French), but make the calls in English. Conversely, you could use cards containing English words, and make the calls in the foreign language.

3. Language classes are of course mainly about learning the language, but if students are learning French or German, you probably also want to teach them at least a little bit about the people, geography and culture of France or Germany. Fortunately there’s no reason why you couldn’t, for example, play using cards containing the names of cities, foods, historical figures from the country, etc.

4. Even bingo cards containing numbers can be used. If you want your students to learn to recognize numbers in the language, call out the numbers in that language.

To summarize, there are a wide variety of ways that the game can be used to help with language teaching - and no doubt you can probably think of some more ideas too! One thing that you are probably wondering about though is where to get special bingo cards containing foreign characters or vocabulary? Well, the answer is simple… the simplest and cheapest thing to do is for you to print them from your computer. Free ready-to-use bingo printables can be downloaded from the Internet, or easy-to-use software for printing bingo cards (as many as you want, containing any items that you want) is available at a surprisingly affordable price.

Sarfaraz Ali asked:




It is the most effective type of communication and is conveyed via set of image, aural or physical signs. It refers to their usage as a common occurrence. Although it is normally considered as a mode of communication amongst the human beings, animals are not exclusive to its practice either. But owing to their complicated mode of communication they are not known to fulfill the criteria of the formal definition of the languages as given by the linguistics.

Every country has its own national language. It has various dialects of the same verbal communication prevalent in the various areas of that particular country. It is flexible and prone to change, in contrast a language that does not change is labeled as dead. Whereas a language that continues to change continuously is categorized as a modern language. Further distinguishing between two languages is near to impossible as a particular language has several dialects and the dialect of one language may resemble the dialect of another language.

There are several types of languages some of the common ones having been explained here. Artificial language is the first kind, it involves the construction of a language fro the useful, tentative or individual causes. There are numerous auxiliary languages that are easier to grasp in comparison to the natural languages. Many authors have also constructed fantasy verbal communications for fictional and mythical reasons.

Then comes the controlled languages which as the name suggests have controlled sentence structures and vocabulary and eradicates vagueness and intricacy. The idea behind its expansion is the implementation of effortlessness understanding and usage by a non resident orator.

The more formal languages include the sciences and mathematical subjects that employ the usage of simulated bodies such as languages for programming and mark ups that are used for the facilitation of communication.

Hayi Mansoor asked:




Pakistan has two official languages. Urdu became the official language of the region during the 11th Century. The rulers of the region urged the many different tribes to learn and use Urdu.

Spoken Urdu had been used by residents in neighboring Afghanistan from the time of Alexander the Great. He had marched east from Persia, bringing elements of the Farsi language with him. As Farsi blended with other tribal languages, Urdu was created.

Then during the Islamic conquests, those crusaders intent on spreading the Muslim religion journeyed into what is now Pakistan. They entered the region under the control of the Mughal Empire. They wanted to present the Islamic teachings to the diverse people in that region.

Urged on, no doubt, by the Islamic crusaders, the leaders of the Mughal Empire tried to unite the many diverse tribes, tribes that respected the leaders’ right to rule the region. The Mughal leaders thus made Urdu the official language.

The written Urdu language uses the same letters as both the Farsi language and the Arabic language. The Urdu speaker, however, does not pronounce each letter the same way that an Arabic speaker pronounces that letter Urdu has been based on the alphabet used by Farsi speakers.

Urdu has the same words that one finds in Farsi. Still, Urdu differs from Farsi. Not every Urdu word represents the same thing to both a Farsi speaker and a speaker of Urdu.

In the Twentieth Century, as Pakistan strived to become a participant in world events, Pakistan’s rulers discovered the benefits of knowing how to converse in English. Thus English became yet another official language of Pakistan. Today government officials in Pakistan conduct business in English.

By the same token, those business leaders who took part in commerce between Pakistan and other countries chose to carry-out their transactions in English. That fact underscored the veracity of claims that English had become an official language of Pakistan. Urdu had evolved into an official language and a national language.

Now the various regions and provinces of Pakistan have not abandoned all of the languages that so challenged the rulers of the Mughal Empire. Moreover, each of the tribes within any region or province has adopted its own version of the regional or provincial language. That adopted language is called a dialect.

In order to fully appreciate the great diversity among the languages of Pakistan, one should look at the languages spoken in the Province of Punjab. When listening to the residents of Punjab, one soon discovers that there is no one way to speak Punjabi. In fact, there are 36 different Punjabi dialects.

All of the languages of Pakistan belong under the heading “Indo-European languages.” Still, not all of them belong within the same language family. The long history of both Arabic and Persian has caused those languages to be viewed as classical languages by the people of Pakistan.

Religion and literature have influenced greatly the development of the languages of Pakistan. All three dialects of Balochi, a well-recognized provincial language, are found in the Province’s Sunni Muslim literature.

Philip Nicosia asked:




In today’s competitive and evolving world, the importance of education has never been more important. People are now more aware of the continuing need to improve one’s self through adult learning. Due to factors such as time constraint, e-learning has quickly emerged as an alternative means of continuing education.

As globalization continues to be the trend these days, more and more people feel the need to learn at least one foreign language. Again, due to the fast-paced lives many lead today, online courses present a viable alternative to the traditional face to face, or classroom, language learning. The major advantage of learning foreign languages through e-learning is the convenience it presents to the learner. Materials can be made available anytime, anywhere. The learner can access modules at his own time and he work on his courses at his own pace.

Computer assisted language learning has been in existence for many years now. In fact, its roots can be traced back to the 1960s. This technique began with a simple drill and practice approach. As more pedagogical elements were introduced, computer assisted language learning evolved into a more interactive experience.

The question many people ask is just how effective is learning a foreign language online? The main difference between classroom learning and e-learning is the presence of a teacher. A good teacher recognizes the learning needs of the student. In addition to that, a good teacher recognizes the learning style of each individual student. He capitalizes on both factors and enhances learning through different techniques. Due to advances is many e-learning platforms, these factors have been taken into consideration. The learner’s needs and learning styles can now be dealt with accordingly.

Today’s e-learning platforms offer a wide range of approaches to suit each learner’s specific needs. Some platforms even make use of facilitators - human or otherwise - to encourage the student and enhance the learning process. When combined with the convenience of studying at one’s own pace, e-learning proves to be an effective way of learning a new language.

Studies show that more people prefer e-learning to the traditional classroom sessions. The flexibility the e-learning offers seems to be one of the major factors that students take into consideration. Some personalities react more positively to the online learning environment. One explanation is that the relative anonymity that this type of learning gives a student more confidence. Studies show that learning languages online seems to present a more relaxed learning atmosphere. It has been proven time and again that such a learning atmosphere does a lot in terms of enhancing the learning process. The student learns more and in a shorter span of time than normal. The student also tends to remember more of what he has learned.

Online foreign language learning also capitalizes on the amount and quality of information and resources that can be found on the Internet. E-learning programs take advantage of this situation, enhancing learning even more. So if you are seeking to learn a foreign language, whether for professional or personal reasons, online learning just might be the right choice for you.

Larry M. Lynch asked:




In this article, I invited a native English speaker now living and working abroad; to share his best tips and experiences in picking up a foreign lingo once you’ve been relocated onto foreign soil. As mentioned before, when it comes to foreign language learning, be it English or any one of the other 6912 spoken languages in the world, we could all use any help we can get. Here are some segments from his extensive comments excerpted from my e-book, “You CAN Learn a Foreign Language: Tested Techniques Anyone Can Use to Learn ANY Foreign Language”.

Meet Kayleigh Garman

Kayleigh “Kees” Garman, Director of Language Studies at a large language institute in Europe, offers the following additional comments during an interview on foreign language learning. He speaks English, German, Dutch, Spanish, Danish, and Turkish and is now working on his Hungarian.

Learning a new language can be challenging for anyone As a learner of multiple languages, admittedly some better than others, there are indeed some tricks I have used to make the process easier for me personally which hopefully will benefit those who might be intimidated by the idea of trying to master (whatever that means actually) a new language. Some are rather obvious tips, but others are possibly things not much considered before.

Never fear

“One of the biggest and most obvious ways people hold themselves back in developing a new language is by being afraid to make mistakes.”

“Strive for meaning above accuracy, especially at the beginning!”

What do you mean Kees?

Are you saying that it’s okay not to have perfect grammar and language skills at the outset, even on simple structures? Are you suggesting that foreign language teachers and foreign language learners shouldn’t correct all their mistakes to keep from becoming “fossilized” in some mistakes?

“Yes and yes!”

Learn to laugh

On top of not fearing your mistakes, a very healthy dose of laughter can really take the sting out of those dreadful and “inevitable” mistakes.

“I’ll never forget some years ago being in a kitchen meeting at the dormitory in Denmark where I was living for a year and the horrible blunder I made. After waiting my turn to say that we needed to clear out the freezer of old bread and vegetables from days gone by, I made the following embarrassing mistake: Instead of saying “I’m very unhappy with the freezer situation” (fryseren), I said to my 23 friends at the table that I was “immensely unhappy about my hairdresser” (frisøren). It wouldn’t have been so bad, except that I was practically banging my fist about it – you can imagine the querying looks I got from my friends. You can also imagine the good laughs we had about in the days to come.”

But as they say; “It’s better to laugh than to cry!”

Get your pronunciation right

The mistake above was due to stress and intonation. Obviously you’re going to get it wrong sometimes, but why people (and often teachers as well) are seemingly rather lazy or uninterested in addressing pronunciation will forever be beyond me. Naturally, no one expects a learner of a new language to step off the plane sounding like a native-speaker, but let me say very clearly that …

… “The earlier one deals with getting pronunciation as close to natural as possible, the better off everyone is in the long run.”

Your speech doesn’t need to be the “Queen’s English”, in most settings one sounds quite silly speaking in such a way, but your language needs to understandable and acceptable to the community you’re in.

No matter which foreign language you might wish to tackle, these “from the trenches” tips can be useful tools in your English or other foreign language learning arsenal.

Jeff Krotzer asked:




You may know them as a stud gun, a Hilti or a Ramset. Powder actuated tools are actually a form of a gun, using gun powder to drive nails into concrete and steel. Many think of these tools for fastening 2 x 4 material to concrete, perhaps in finishing off your basement, but they have a very broad use in all facets of the building trades.

Uses in the trades

Framers use them to shoot lumber and metal studs to concrete and steel. Foundation contractors and waterproofing contractors shoot foam on to foundations. Electricians use the tools to fasten junction boxes, emt straps and to suspend light fixtures. Many mechanical contractors use a special gun that will shoot a 3/8″ threaded stud into concrete.

Fastening to concrete

Shooting a fastener in to concrete is the fastest way to mount anything to concrete or steel, just load the pin, pull the trigger and your done. There are many different types and sizes of fasteners to choose from depending on what you are mounting.

When fastening into concrete, you can expect the pin to penetrate the concrete any where from 3/4″ to 1″. Keeping that in mind, to fasten a 2 x 4 to concrete take the actual thickness of the 2 x 4 (1 1/2″) and add 3/4″ to 1″. This would bring you to a 2 1/2″ pin. Please note, some codes require a 3″ pin. Ramset, Hilti, Powers and Simpson make tools that will fit the bill nicely.

Fastening to steel

To fasten into steel, keep in mind the pin will go in about 1/2″ and stop. Therefore the same 2 x 4 (1 1/2″ actual) would use a 2″ pin. If you try to use a longer pin, the pin will go in about 1/2″ then stop and the pin will either bend or break. Many people are hesitant about shooting into steel, but most times it is easier to shoot than concrete, just a lot louder! Some tools will do a better job than others, again, stick with a higher end Ramset or Hilti for this application.

Power Load Selection

As for the loads or “bullets” , the loads are color coded and numbered to identify power level. Starting from lowest to highest you have gray, brown, green, yellow, red and purple. The rule of thumb when choosing a load is start low and work your way up. The trick is to use just enough power to set the fastener properly without over driving the tool. Some tools have power adjustments allowing you to use just one color and adjust down.

Tool Selection

What is the right tool for your job? If you just want to do your own basement, you can probably get away with using a single shot tool that you actuate with a hammer, available at any big box store. If you are a contractor, remember, you get what you pay for. Don’t buy the cheapest tool you can find. Some of the less expensive tools are actually considered disposable, with no replacement parts available. Again the names Ramset, Hilti, Powers and Simpson lead the way. Some of the consumer grade tools like a the Remington you find in big box stores will get you through a small remodel, but many of these are considered through away tools.

Consider what the majority of your work is. If you are a general contractor, you may want a good brand name middle of the road semi-automatic tool that can be serviced. If you are a commercial drywall contractor you may opt of a good quality single shot too or even consider stepping up to a fully automatic gas tool or a tool with a magazine.

An electrician may consider a power adjustable tool that can offer him more flexibility. If you do a lot of over head work, consider a tool that works well on an extension pole. If you hang a lot of 3/8″ rod, check out a 3/8″ stud gun.

In conclusion…

Powder actuated tools are a useful tool for most any trade. If you fasten to concrete or steel on a regular basis, consider adding them to your tool box.

Jack Waley-Cohen asked:




All languages evolve against a backdrop of a country’s historical and technological advances and along the way, new words and usage become part of the vocabulary. These new words will generally fall into two categories; words that have evolved within their own cultural milieu and words that have been ‘borrowed’ from other languages.

For the most part, a vast number of the latter type of words refer to technological developments and it is usually the country that the development originated in, that lends its name for it to other countries.

This has in fact caused some problems in recent years; some years ago both France and Russia had a linguistic nationalist resurgence which led them to ban all foreign derived words from public signage and to replace them with newly created equivalent words.

For some countries, however, this would be impossible. Some countries have developed culturally, in a technologically underdeveloped historical milieu thus, there are simply not terms in existence to accurately convey the meaning of some modern technological expressions, much less replace them with newly derived ones.

These countries pose a real challenge to companies wishing to do business within them, as their languages constitute the most difficult to work with in localisation. An example of this and also what is considered to be the most difficult language to localise, is the Arabic language.

A major factor in this difficulty is that the Arab countries lack the widespread technology that is an everyday part of life in many countries worldwide. Because of this, the Arabic language lacks many of the linguistic developments to deal on a par with more technological languages. As an addendum, it is worth noting that the difficulty is also compounded by poor software support for the Arabic language.

Of the other languages that are the hardest to localise, the Finno-Ugric languages (the Finnish and Hungarian family, including Estonian) tend to be cited as ranking near the top of the league. Perhaps a clue as to why this is, can be illustrated in a converse example, the Latin based languages (French, Spanish, Italian). These languages are very similar and having mastered one of them, it is relatively easy to learn the others. The converse is true with the Finno-Ugric family…because they are so grammatically different from the Latin, or indeed, Germanic family of languages localisation is not an easy task. A further compounding factor is the relatively few people proficient in the language.

No discourse would be complete, however, without mentioning Chinese as a top ranker, along with Arabic, for the top position of most difficult language for localisation. The reasons most cited for this are that the Chinese language works totally differently to the linguistic rules that we are accustomed to; the script is also totally different, with each character being symbolic and not phonetic. Add to this mix, the technological difficulties in adapting the Chinese script to internet usage and the problems are greatly compounded.

Great efforts are constantly being made to conquer the hurdles in localising languages, in the final analysis; it is of immense benefit to ensure that this is done. A country will benefit culturally by gaining a linguistic equivalency and the world of commerce will benefit by the opening of new markets.

Dennis Bandy asked:




Cars today are advanced, their computers can tell us when the tire pressure is low, some give us the exact tire pressure reading. But what about when the low tire pressure warning light stays on after a tire has been repaired or replaced? Tire and auto repair shops today need to have the right auto specialty tool to deal with this. Choosing a TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) tool that can reset the warning light on most makes of vehicles is needed, since most shops work on more than one type of car.

Direct or Indirect TPM systems are used on cars today. Direct tire pressure monitoring systems have sensors that can measure the exact tire pressure in each tire (including the spare on some models). The tire pressure sensors are either mounted by a steel band or built into the valve stem. These type sensors have a battery that can fail over time like any other battery. The sensors are not serviceable, so when the battery fails the unit is replaced. Caution must be taken when changing tires with the direct type TPM sensors, they can be damaged inadvertently when breaking the bead of the tire when using the tire machine. Consumers should also be aware that “fix a flat” or any similar tire sealer can damage the sensors.

Indirect TPM systems do not have tire pressure sensors on each wheel, they use the vehicle’s ABS (Anti Lock Brake) wheel speed sensors to calculate the speed of each tire. The idea is that equally inflated tires will travel at the same speed. The computer detects the slight difference in speed of the under inflated tire and turns the warning on.

OTC is the primary OE (original equipment) tool manufacturer, therefore OTC makes most of the car dealer manufacturer specific essential (required by the manufacturer) TPM diagnostic/reset tools GM’s OTC TPM reset tool number is J-46079 (Kent Moore), Ford’s auto specialty tool number for resetting the TPM warning light is Rotunda 204-363 ( Rotunda TKIT-20006V4-FLM). OTC owns both Kent Moore and Rotunda along with other manufacturer specific auto specialty tool manufactures. The problem for the average auto repair shop is that it is not feasible to own each of the manufacturer specific TPMS auto specialty tool for each vehicle manufacturer. And, each manufacturer specific tool is only capable of resetting their specific brand. For instance if you have the Ford Rotunda TPMS tool it will work only on Ford and not Chevrolet, Nissan etc. The OTC 3833 Tire Pressure Monitoring Reset Tool is a very popular choice when it comes to TPMS auto specialty tools. The reason is that it is made by OTC and has software that allows it to have a wide range of coverage, not just one manufacturer.

David Savage asked:




Under my bench right now I can see three bench planes. There is a long one, a medium length and a short one. The long plane is used for truing edges and dead flat surfaces, the medium sized one is an everyday bench plane and the short one is used for smoothing finished carcasses and final truing up of surfaces. A Number 6 is for a reasonably well built male is the standard everyday plane, quite frequently referred to as a Jack plane.

If you are a strong dude then you may go for Number 7, or if you are relatively light of frame a Number 5 or 5 1/2. The number is the indication usually of the length of the plane, though some planes are slightly narrower than others, so start with this plane and just get that one plane to start off with. Later on you can add in a Number 7 or Number 8 plane for a long jointing plane for jointing edges and flattening dead flat surfaces, and you can later on add a smoothing plane, a Number 4 or 4 1/2 plane.

Don’t buy either of these unless you have to. Start off somewhere in the middle. We’ve seen many students buying hundreds of planes over the years and it’s come clear to us that the Lie Neilson brand and the Clifton brand are the two ones to go for. Veritas have made some interesting new planes however their bench planes have given a couple of our guys problems with flatness and with the adjustment mechanism. When they get this sorted and I am sure we will we will start recommending them.

We have had students who have had problems with the Clifton planes not being as flat as their own specification demands but we are assured by the manufacturers that those problems have now been overcome. However I think if I were buying a plane right now I would be buying a Lie Neilson plane. They are the most expensive available but they have been reliably flat which is the essential quality that you are looking for in a plane and the machining of the blades and back irons have been acceptable. I would however change the blade to a high carbon forged steel blade from Clifton. The Victor blade fits real easy.

In our sharpening workshop we have a large granite surface plate usually used by engineers.We bought this when we had to argue with some tool suppliers that their planes were not as flat as they said. This surface is flat within a measured number of microns and has a Warrantee signed by an inspector to prove it. Lee Neilson and Clifton have been the most reliable suppliers though we have had planes of both returned as being outside their own specification. “Tom will be upset”, she said, I really dont care, my student was even more upset having spent lots of money and lots of time with a tool that was not to specification. You can buy less expensive planes but you will spend an awful lot of time faffing around with flatness and making the blade sit securely within the mechanism of the plane.

Dont waste your time. Buy a decent plane and learn how to use it properly.

York Pitch

When buying bench planes you need to understand what is normal and what is “York” pitch. The overall cutting angle that the blade is set to the sole of the plane is usually 45degrees. This is standard and fine. The front plane below is at standard pitch. Look at the smoother plane behind it this has a slightly higher pitch at about 50 degrees. this is York pitch and is usefull for finishing difficult grained timber such as cherry. You can buy a different “frog” the block of steel that the blade sits on to give you “York” pitch.

Low Angle Bench Planes

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH LOW ANGLE BLOCK PLANES. We’ve recently had a spate of these low angle bench planes in our workshops. Again these are Lie Neilson and Veritas planes and we can recommend these only partially. The attraction of these planes is that the blade is set at a very low angle with support to the cutting edge quite near that cutting edge. These blade have the bevel facing up and do not have a back iron making the planes more simple in construction. These planes are giving exceptionally high quality finish to the timber even on very figured timber. They are however not a replacement for a general bench plane. The adjustment of these planes are very critical. They need setting up once and leaving alone, so we would only recommend one of these planes as an addition to your armoury. Maybe bought after a few months on the job. In that case the favourite in the workshop seems to be a Number 6 or a Number 7 low angle plane, again manufactured by Lie Neilson though Veritas are also good and recommended.